Troops going up the Rue Marechale
While we were in Bruges we had opportunities of realizing in some measure the effect the German occupation had on the people. It was a time of terrible trouble, often a time of cruelty, always a time shadowed over by the hateful presence of an enemy. Our English prisoners of war were constantly paraded for the Belgians to see.
When deliverance came the people were almost delirious with joy. Today, when they speak of those four terrible years, you can see how hard their servitude was by their thanksgivings for deliverance.
And so with us, enslaved by Satan, led captive by the devil at his will, a far harder taskmaster than the Germans, for years and years, we were freed by the Lord Jesus, delivered from the wrath to come, taken out of the place of bondage and of death, and the song of our redemption was heard in heaven. He gave the song, and He gave the power to sing.