GOD LEADS US ALONG

Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the light of the living?  (Psalm 56:13b)

“God leads His dear children along.”  That’s what the old hymn says—that message thoroughly attested by Scripture and affirmed by our experience.  The way He leads us, however, may be at times perplexing.  The road of life is filled with many twists and turns; we cannot see but a portion of the road before us, so we must trust God who knows the destination where He intends to bring us.  That’s what David discovered on his journey of faith.  It is the testimony of Psalm 56.

Our path does not take us through a playground, but a battleground (v.1-4)!  So long as we are in this world, we will find ourselves in a fight.  Our environment is hostile to faith.  David—a man of war—would say, “Amen!”  The introduction to the Psalm tells us it was written, “When the Philistines Captured Him in Gath.”  Gath was the hometown of the giant Goliath whom David had slain.  David was running for his life from King Saul.  In a moment of panic, he fled into Philistine territory, and ended up in a place where the people would delight to kill him—out of the frying pan and into the fire!  Yet, even so, God had a purpose for David’s life.  We may wish for the: “shady green pastures, so rich and so sweet…Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet…Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright…” and yet find ourselves, “sometimes in the valley in darkest of night that God leads His dear children along.”

We may survive the frontal assault and succumb to the surprise attack (v.5-7).  There were those who would not dare to attack David to his face, but would stab him in the back—distorting his words, organizing opposition from the malcontents, and setting snares to trap him.  This broke his heart and drove him to the One he could trust, as David cast himself on the promises of God (v.8-11).  The hymn writer put it this way:

Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along.
Some through the water, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.

God knows every step we take through dark seasons.  He sees every tear we shed as we walk through deep sorrows.  According to David, God stores the tears in His bottle and records them in His book!  He is mindful of our tears and trials.  He does not exempt us from traveling the trail of tears, but He promises grace that is sufficient for the journey now and that our destiny will end in glory.

David expressed confidence that the Lord would establish His feet in the right path and on solid ground (v.12-13).  He always had; He always would. 

Away from the mire, and away from the clay,
God leads His dear children along;
Away up in glory, eternity’s day,
God leads His dear children along.”

The trip may bring many changing conditions in the terrain—sudden storms can break upon us—but one condition never alters—we get there, “all through the blood.”  The One who died for us, while never desert us.  He will deliver us!