the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
John Gossner's Treasury
O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not: and in the night season, and am not silent. Psalms 22:2. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Psalms 28:1. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long? Psalms 6:3. How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? forever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? Psalms 13:1.
Be not offended with your gracious God when He deals with you as with His dearest friends. He often permits them to cry long without giving a sign that He hears them, so that they are near to despair and believe that they are, as it were, already in hell. Do not take offence when you receive no answer to all your prayers; when you must cry, "Oh, how long? " when it seems to you that the Lord has forgotten you and that He does not heed your supplications. All of God’s beloved have experienced the same before you. No answer to your ardent prayers is, nevertheless, an answer, and it reads thus: Wait; be silent; suffer; strive and hope! At last you shall be able to confess with David, who complained even more than you: "But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me" (Psalms 13:5-6). Profound as is the silence of the Lord now causing you sorrow, so distinctly and comfortingly will He speak to you. As full as your heart now is of complaining, so full will your mouth be of gladness and rejoicing when the Lord sees fit to answer you
Who fully yields to God’s direction,
And puts in Him his confidence,
Has found deliverance and protection,
A rock of refuge and defence.
Who trusts in heaven unshaken stands;
He builds not on the shifting sands.
