"Delivered....Out"

“Led... Through”
“When Thou Passest Through”
ARE you passing through experiences which you do not understand — trials, temptations, afflictions, misunderstandings, loneliness, sorrows — and is your heart beginning to fail you for fear?
May this message of hope and encouragement come with peculiar sweetness and comfort to you from the Master Himself.
Some of us are inclined to think that things must be going wrong, or that we must have got out of the will of God, when we find ourselves plunged into circumstances which bring suffering and distress.
We are apt to grow disheartened and perplexed, and our faith is sorely tried when everything seems so contrary to what we had expected, and there appears to be no way out of our troubles.
And yet, if we look into God’s precious Word we find that just such experiences have been the lot of His Own chosen ones all down the ages, and we are definitely forewarned in Acts 14:22,22Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22) that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
The Captain of our salvation Himself was made perfect through suffering. He passed through the temptation in the wilderness; through every kind of test and trial to which flesh and blood can be subjected; through Gethsemane; through death; through the grave; but God raised Him from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1515Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. (1 Corinthians 15:15)), brought Him out of the tomb, gave Him all authority in Heaven and in earth (Matt. 28:1818And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)).
Believe me, there is no crown without a cross—” It we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:1212If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: (2 Timothy 2:12)).
There is no increase of life except through death “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (John 12:24)).
There is no purging away of the dross of the old self life except as the “gold” is refined in the furnace— “Everything that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire and it shall be clean” (Num. 31:2323Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water. (Numbers 31:23)).
There is no real gain without corresponding loss― “Whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:2525For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matthew 16:25)).
But, if this is so, it is equally true that the soul which “passes through” the valley of weeping (see Psalms 84:66Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. (Psalm 84:6) margin) will be “brought out.”
And, moreover, the Bible is full of precious promises, encouragement, and exhortations to those who are “going through.”
It will be an inspiration to our faith and a tonic to our courage to look at some of these, and I purpose giving them in the very words of Scripture.
We will notice particularly the two expressions “through” and “out”... in connection with their various contexts.
1. Promises. — “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee (Isa. 43:22When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. (Isaiah 43:2)). (Read Daniel 2:8-288The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 9But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof. 10The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 11And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. 14Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: 15He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. 17Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter. 24Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation. 25Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 26The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; 28But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; (Daniel 2:8‑28).)
2. Testimony. — “O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of His praise to be heard; Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. For Thou, O God, hast proved us: Thou hast tried us as silver is tried.
“Thou broughtest us into the net; Thou laidest affliction upon our loins.
3. Confidence. — “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me” (Psa. 23:44Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)).
6. Testimony. — “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the Name of the Lord” (Psa. 124:7,87Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 8Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:7‑8)).
7. Prayer. — “Send Thine Hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters” (Psa. 144:77Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children; (Psalm 144:7)).
8. Testimony. — “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psa. 34:66This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. (Psalm 34:6)).
9. Assurances. — “The righteous cry and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles” (Psa. 34:1717The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. (Psalm 34:17)).
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Psa. 34:1919Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)).
The whole of the 107th Psalm is a recital of case after case in which those who cried unto the Lord in their troubles were saved out of their distresses.
And the Psalmist sums up his conclusion in the last verse, where he says: “Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.”
A. C. L.
And with this I close, praying that henceforth you and I may press on through the fire and through the water, as He may permit, with the Lord Himself as Our Divine Companion until at last He brings us out “into a wealthy place,” and we share with Him in His Kingdom.