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Hitherto Hath The Lord Helped Us, July 31
O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds
among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his
wondrous works.
Psalm 105:1, 2
.
The dealings of God with His people should be often repeated. How frequently
were the waymarks set up by the Lord in His dealings with ancient Israel! Lest
they should forget the history of the past, He commanded Moses to frame these
events into song, that parents might teach them to their children. They were to
gather up memorials and to lay them up in sight. Special pains were taken to
preserve them, that when the children should inquire concerning these things, the
whole story might be repeated. Thus the providential dealings and the marked
goodness and mercy of God in His care and deliverance of His people were kept
in mind. We are exhorted to “call to remembrance the former days, in which, after
ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions” (
Hebrews 10:32
). For
His people in this generation the Lord has wrought as a wonder-working God....
We need often to recount God’s goodness and to praise Him for His wonderful
works.
Let us not cast away our confidence, but have firm assurance, firmer than
ever before. “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us,” and He will help us to the end
(
1 Samuel 7:12
). Let us look to the monumental pillars, reminders of what the
Lord has done to comfort us and to save us from the hand of the destroyer. Let
us keep fresh in our memory all the tender mercies that God has shown us—the
tears He has wiped away, the pains He has soothed, the anxieties removed, the
fears dispelled, the wants supplied, the blessings bestowed—thus strengthening
ourselves for all that is before us through the remainder of our pilgrimage.
We cannot but look forward to new perplexities in the coming conflict, but we
may look on what is past as well as on what is to come, and say, “Hitherto hath the
Lord helped us.”“As thy days, so shall thy strength be” (
Deuteronomy 33:25
). The
trial will not exceed the strength that shall be given us to bear it. Then let us take
up our work just where we find it, believing that whatever may come, strength
proportionate to the trial will be given.
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