Psa. 77:13, 1913Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? (Psalm 77:13)
19Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. (Psalm 77:19).PSA 77:13-1913Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? 14Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people. 15Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. 16The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. 17The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad. 18The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. 19Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. (Psalm 77:13‑19)
His way is "in the sanctuary," and His way is "in the sea," but there is a great difference between these two things. First of all, God's way is in the sanctuary where all is light and clear. There is no mistake there. There is nothing in the least degree that is a harassment to the spirit. On the contrary, it is when the poor troubled one enters into the sanctuary and views things there in the light of God, that he sees the end of all else—everything that appears to be entangled, the end of which he cannot find on the earth.
We have the same thing in Psa. 73:16, 1716When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; 17Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. (Psalm 73:16‑17). "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end." That is, in the sanctuary of God, everything is understood, no matter how difficult, trying or painful in regard to ourselves or others. When we once enter there, we are in the place of God's light and God's love. Then whatever the difficulty may be, we understand all about it.
Not only is God's way in the sanctuary where all is bright and happy, but God's way is in the sea also. He walks where we cannot always trace His footsteps. God moves mysteriously at times, as we all know. There are ways of God which are purposely to try us. I need not say that it is not at all as if God had pleasure in our perplexities. Nor is it as if we had no sanctuary to draw near to where we can rise above them. But still, there is a great deal in the ways of God that must be left entirely in His own hands.
The way of God is thus not only in the sanctuary, but also in the sea. And yet, what we find even in connection with His footsteps being in the sea is, "Thou leddest Thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." That was through the sea; afterward it was through the wilderness. But it had been through the sea. The beginnings of the ways of God with His people were there, because from first to last, God must be the confidence of the saint. It may be an early lesson of his soul, but it never ceases to be the thing to learn. How happy to know that while the sanctuary is open to us, yet God Himself is nearer still, and to Him we are brought now. As it is said, "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." 1 Peter 3:18.
This is a most precious thing, because there we are in the sanctuary and brought to God Himself. Even heaven itself would not satisfy our hearts if we were not brought to God there. It is better than any freedom from trial—better than any blessing to be in the presence of the One to whom we belong, who is Himself the source of all blessing and joy. That we are brought to Him now is infinitely precious. There we are in the sanctuary brought to God.
There are other ways of God outside the sanctuary—the sea. And there we often find ourselves at a loss. If we are occupied with the sea itself and with trying to scan God's footsteps there, we become perplexed. But confidence in God Himself is always the strength of faith. May the Lord grant us increasing simplicity and quietness in the midst of all that we pass through for His name's sake.