“The Lord has done great things for us — and we are filled with joy!” Psalm 126:3
Some Christians are prone to look on the dark side of everything and to dwell more upon the difficulties which they have gone through — than upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts — yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help that God has granted them.
But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state will come forward joyously and say, “I will speak not about myself — but to the honor of my God. He has brought me up out of a horrible pit and out of the miry clay. He has set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord has done great things for me — and I am filled with joy.”
It is true that we endure trials — but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully we know this — but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Savior who overcomes these corruptions and delivers us from their dominion.
The deeper our troubles — the louder our thanks to God who has led us through them and preserved us.
Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise; we reckon them to be the bass part of our life’s song: “The Lord has done great things for us—and we are filled with joy!”
Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) is one of the most widely read preachers in history and is known by many as the Prince of Preachers. Spurgeon was pastor of the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London. His works are now in the public domain.
