397. Tuesday after Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity.
“Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks,
unto thee do we give thanks;
for that thy name is near
thy wondrous works declare.”
Lamentations 3, 22-33. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them, that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off for ever: but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
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The Lord does you no evil. He smites you because he loves you, and wants to prepare you for eternal happiness. If you be converted, the afflictions with which he visits you will cause you to heed his word and obey his call. Thousands who are in heaven would have been in hell, had not their tribulations taught them obedience to the word of God. That man who was sick of the palsy would not have been prepared to receive absolution, had he not been suffering with a painful disease; nor would David have been able to speak of the bliss of those on whom God had bestowed favor, had he not previously felt the hand of the Lord heavy upon him. It was not for his own pleasure that the Lord put the hollow of Jacob’s thigh out of joint; nor was it without a purpose that he let sorrow visit the house of Jairus. The saved in heaven thank God that he brought them out of their sleep by laying on them the sharp lash of affliction; and who shall say that the sorrow which now oppresses you may not become a blessed aid in the hand of God for your conversion? As you live, this is at all events the Lord’s purpose. — If you be a believer, it should not be necessary for me to assure you that the cross is a blessing; but alas, we are slow to learn to thank God for our tribulations. Know, then, that the adversity and sorrow which you have are the very best things that can befall you, and that the Lord’s great mercy has sent them to you. By this means you are humbled and become like Jesus; by this means your heart is loosed from the world; by this means you are taught to pray, and to have patience, hope, and confidence in God; by this means you are sanctified, and prepared to enjoy the bliss of heaven. “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God”; and none is become great before the Lord except through humiliations. Through what deep waters were not such men as Jeremiah and David compelled to go in order to become the comforters of the church of God; in order that they might be able to sing the pilgrims across the dark valleys on to Jerusalem! — What should I do in my great distress and anxiety, if thou, O Lord, didst not strengthen me with thy holy word? If I do but reach the haven of safety at last, what care I how many severe storms I must encounter on the voyage! — Thou, Lord, art my portion; what more do I desire? If thou do hide thy face, I will wait and hope; and thou shalt change my lamentation to songs of praise, and gird me round with eternal joy. Blessed be thy name! Amen.*
Whate’er the burden be,
The cross upon me laid,
Or want or shame, I look to thee:
Be thou, O Christ, my aid.
And let thy sorrows cheer
My soul when I depart:
Give strength to cast away all fear,
Console, sustain my heart.
Since thou hast died for me,
Help me to trust thy grace,
That thou wilt take me up to thee,
Where I shall see thy face.
[Common Service Book 75; listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.