“When I said, My foot slippeth; Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.” — Psalm 94:18-19
The Psalmist, as you may have noticed, is often distracted by the “workers of iniquity” in the world around him. It is not much different with many a sincere believer in the world today. In fact we may be not only distracted but, as with the writer here, greatly distressed by the state of our environment, culture, community.
We live in a tumultuous world from which there is little or no escape. In fact, no generation in history has had greater access to that which tempts to agitating thoughts than ours. At the touch of a button we may be confronted with natural and moral disasters the world over in a moment of time, and not only hear of them, but witness them visually in “real time.”
It was the contemplation of these external circumstances that generated in the psalmist’s heart a state of unrest so overwhelming that he declares in v. 17 that were it not for God’s help he might have died. In any case, he had reached a point where he thought he could stand no more, and said,”My foot is slipping.” He seemed about to go over the edge. Perhaps you have been there, about to slip beneath the waves of circumstance whether from the state of the world or the accumulated stresses and distresses of your own personal affairs. If you thought yourself alone in such a condition, this psalm will bring assurance that you are in good company!
Most of us can identify some time in our history when the soul was awash with “the multitude of…thoughts within,” tossing to and fro, colliding with one another, defying every attempt to bring order into the chaos of the soul. The lesson in our text is the life preserver for the believer in such troublous times. None of this is new, but it is truth of which we need often to be reminded in a world where “man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward [Job 5:7].”
Survival comes by way of God’s mercy. “Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.” “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not,” and “They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness,” writes the prophet Jeremiah (Lam. 3:22,23). It is a great thing to know that God in His mercy is committed to keeping us when we are so desperately aware that we have no power to keep ourselves.
However, God has more for us than that. The psalmist moves from survival to serenity, from tumult to tranquillity. “My thoughts” are replaced by “Thy comforts.” And let it be noted that the two cannot occupy the mind at the same time. Either my thoughts will obscure His comforts, or His comforts will still my storm. The commentators tend here to focus upon what His comforts are. I think rather the New Testament believer should consider from whence they come. When the Savior said to his disciples, distressed by the announcement that He was about to leave them, “Let not your heart be troubled,” He reassured them, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth…[Who]…shall be in you.” And later, “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace give I unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (Read John 14)
Ultimately God’s comforts are conveyed to us through the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Whom the proverbial ‘little girl’ is said to have referred to as “Jesus’ other self.” Indeed, the Savior Himself said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you [John 14:18].” Having the Holy Spirit is the equivalent to having the Son of God Himself within. And note what the Holy Spirit does; He does not merely still the storm, but replaces it with ecstasy: “Thy comforts delight my soul!” A paper faith will not accomplish this miracle; it requires a personal awareness of the Spirit of God as present and active in whatever our situation may be.
Notice, finally, that the delights do not necessarily come from altered circumstances. The storm without may continue to rage; it is within that wind and waves are stilled when the focus has shifted from the circumstances to the Living God. Note the emphasis of the scriptures: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee[Isa. 26:3].” “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise [Ps. 57:7].” “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings [whose] heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord [Ps. 112:7].”
God can fix a troubled soul if the heart is fixed on Him.
For tranquillity in troublous times,
"Pastor" Frasier
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