How often have the words of the Psalmist King charmed us:—"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." (Psa. 37:25), and how often have the deliverances recorded in Scripture found a present-day illustration in our own lives or under our own observation?
The Bible teems with deliverances and is pregnant with hope. Not always does God deliver out of trials, but He always carries His people through them, and gives them hope. But God often delivers; indeed, in some cases (we say it reverently) He must, because of His own character.
It is when circumstances close around us and leave no possible way of escape unless God makes it that deliverance is sure to come. What escape was possible to the Israelites when the Egyptians pursued them? None, absolutely none, humanly speaking. How often we have sung,
" Thine arm hath safely brought us
A way no more expected,
Than when Thy sheep passed through the deep
By crystal walls protected."
Again, only God could have made a way of escape for the three Hebrew children. Who would have thought of the fire burning their bands and slaying their enemies and giving them the company of the Son of God in such a special fashion?
Again, only God could have made a way of escape for Daniel in the den of lions. Only God could have shut their mouths and used them as a bodyguard for His servant instead of devouring him. They were hungry enough, as Daniel's enemies soon found out when they themselves were thrown into the den.
What need to multiply instances? The Bible teems with them. The Apostle Paul's life was made up of deliverances when he wrote of God those grateful and triumphant words:—" Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust that He will yet deliver." (2 Cor. 1:10).
Past, present and future! What a God! How we can trust Him.
Two instances come to my mind as happening under my own observation.
An old Christian lady sitting in her armchair. Her aged husband, an invalid, on the sofa. The last piece of food taken from the shelf and eaten, and the last shovelful of coal burning out on the hearth. Yet her spirit was brave, and her trust, deepened by many an experience, strong as ever. Her husband grew petulant, and wanted to know what was to be done. " God will provide," she calmly replied, and his impatient rejoinder was cut short by a knock at the door. A Christian lady handed in an envelope with the message that her mother could not rest till it was brought. The envelope contained a five-pound note. The aged husband burst into tears when he saw how God had answered his wife's faith.
A Christian young man was in need of work. Most industriously he looked for it, and wore out two or three pairs of boots in its search. Meanwhile he was living on a small sum of money realized by the sale of an aunt's furniture. Smaller and smaller it dwindled, till at length the last shilling was spent and hope of work seemed as far off as ever. A Christian, who had taken a deep interest in his case, gave him a sovereign (which he could not well spare), but before it was spent work was found most unexpectedly; and from that day to this, an interval of several years, he has not wanted health or work.
I have often noticed that it is when the circumstances are hopeless as far as men are concerned God comes in.
" God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
(1 Cor. 10:13).