Guidance in the Dark From Thoughts
of God by John McDuff, 1864 How precious are your thoughts unto
me, O God! And I will bring the blind by
a way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that
they have not known. I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. These things I will do unto them
and not forsake them. Isaiah chapter 42 verse 16 There are times when God's dealings
with his people are perplexing. His thoughts vary deep, his ways
past finding out. When the present is full of difficulty
and the future is full of anxiety, their condition is that of blind
men groping about. The whole of life a mazey labyrinth
of which they have lost the guiding thread. Their path seems shut
up. Pharaoh is behind and the raging
Red Sea in front. Their feeling is, we are entangled. The wilderness has shot us in.
Or they may be confounded in solving some question of duty.
The employment and destiny of a lifetime may depend on a moment's
choice. They may feel the responsibility
of deciding between rival and competing claims. Trembling and
fearful lest some selfish, carnal, unworthy motive may mingle in
the decision, and yet experiencing a painful inability to decide
what is best. perplexed or despondent one,
amid these your anxious, wavering, undecided thoughts, be this your
comfort. God's thoughts are upon you.
He is the leader of the blind. Speak, says He, to the children
of Israel, that they go forward. At the crisis hour of difficulty
or trial, He will appear to all His seeking, trusting people
and grant either guidance or deliverance. Not perhaps what
they expect, but what He knows to be best for them. At the fourth
watch of the night Jesus came to his disciples, walking upon
the sea. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go
to a city of habitation. Rely on the God of the pillar
cloud. He will bring you, as he did
Israel, through the flood on foot. Be still, is his tender
rebuke to the distrustful soul, and know that I am God. how it
would disarm life of many of its anxieties and take the sting
from many perplexities if we were careful to listen to his
voice, the expression and utterance of his precious thoughts. This
is the way, walk in it, a wondrous way, a tender way, but with all
its humiliations, the right way. Yes, believe it. All the paths
of the Lord, and this present and dark perplexing path of yours,
whatever it may be, is one of them. Our mercy and truth, to
such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. Confide in no
fallible guidance. Be this your lofty resolve. In
the Lord I put my trust. Regard every new turn in existence
as a wise, provident thought of your Heavenly Father. Make
it your earnest prayer in the words of Nehemiah, Think upon
me, my God, for good. Thus, putting your case in His
hands and leaving it there, He shall bring forth your righteousness
as the light and your judgment as the noon day. Yours may be
a mingled, checkered past. Yet, too, how bright with blessing,
how full of remembrances of God's loving thoughts, His gracious
interventions, His signal deliverances. Make these an argument and reason
for implicit trust in the future. You have been my help. Leave
me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. Those who are
wise will take all this to heart. They will see in our history
the faithful love of the Lord.