The Psalms of the Old Testament (which formed the Hymn Book of the Jewish Church) have became immortal as the expression of man's relationship to the Eternal. They so exquisitely reflect every mood and attitude of the human soul that even in this year of our Lord, 1940, men turn to them and find therein a mirror of their deepest experiences. "Like as the hart desire th the water brooks; so longeth my soul after thee, O God." Whoever wrote these words has surely given undying form to the thirst of the soul for God. And a few verses further on where the writer's truer "self" chides his weaker "soul" for its despondency and complaint: "Why art thou so heavy, O my soul: and why are thou so disquieted within me? O put thy trust in God: for I will yet give him thanks."
It is this latter note of buoyancy that I would emphasize today. "Put thy trust in God," or as another translation has expressed it "Wait for God." The Psalmist was convinced that in spite of appearances it was God who would have the last word, not the powers of evil. "Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea: Though the waters thereof rage and swell, and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same." Away with despair. away with dejection; let them find no place in our hearts these days. We must meet life with a smile and cultivate the quiet and equable mind, the courageous and imperturbable spirit that believes that though we are called upon to endure trials and wade through deep waters, it is rightness and justice that exalt a nation; not force and brutality. We are to be too stouthearted to grow afraid when things drag a little; too loyal to God to think of doubting Him when His promises seem slow in being fulfilled. This is the function of religious people during these dark and trying days when, on the surface, there is not much to encourage.
The secret of calm and courage is to have faith in God, to be assured that however long the sun may be obscured a break in the clouds will come. "My soul is cast down...therefore let me remember Thee." With wise resolve the Hebrew poet finds in difficulty and confusion a reason for drawing closer to God. The soul may be "heavy," a word suggesting the weary, slow, dragging gait of a man clad in mourning garb, but hope and confidence hold the field.
Last year an airman, publishing his reminiscences, remarked upon the vast difference between being almost choked in a London fog and looking at it from above. When he left the ground, a dense pall of fog was over everything, but in a short time having pierced the gloom, he reached the brightest sunshine and there marvelled at the shallowness of the cloud below, it was making life well-nigh intolerable, while above, the airman was able to gaze spell-bound at the matchless beauty of the upper surface of the fog, so dull and dismal on the other side. It is the prerogative of faith to see beyond the clouds.
"I will yet give Him thanks," writes the Psalmist. Tears might take the place of his daily bread, and a bitter ingredient in his cup of sorrow might be the sneers of the ungodly that the believer's plight demonstrates the impotence of he God Whom he serves, but defying these the happy pilgrim will put his trust in God, and God, being what He is, will satisfy the longing of his soul. Faith may have a long struggle with evil, but it will have the last word, and that word will be "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.