“I will sing of mercy and judgment.” 
              — Psalms 101:1

Faith triumphs in trial. When reason is thrust into the inner prison,
with her feet made fast in the stocks, faith makes the dungeon walls
ring with her merry notes as she cries, “I will sing of mercy and of
judgment. Unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.” Faith pulls the black mask
from the face of trouble, and discovers the angel beneath. Faith looks
up at the cloud, and sees that

“‘Tis big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on her head.”

There is a subject for song even in the judgments of God towards us.
For, first, the trial is not so heavy as it might have been; next, the
trouble is not so severe as we deserved to have borne; and our
affliction is not so crushing as the burden which others have to carry.
Faith sees that in her worst sorrow there is nothing penal; there is
not a drop of God’s wrath in it; it is all sent in love. Faith discerns
love gleaming like a jewel on the breast of an angry God. Faith says of
her grief, “This is a badge of honour, for the child must feel the
rod”; and then she sings of the sweet result of her sorrows, because
they work her spiritual good. Nay, more, says Faith, “These light
afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for me a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” So Faith rides forth on the
black horse, conquering and to conquer, trampling down carnal reason
and fleshly sense, and chanting notes of victory amid the thickest of
the fray.

“All I meet I find assists me
In my path to heavenly joy:
Where, though trials now attend me,
Trials never more annoy.
“Blest there with a weight of glory,
Still the path I’ll ne’er forget,
But, exulting, cry, it led me
To my blessed Saviour’s seat.”

On this day...

• Psalm 17 - 2023
• Psalm 16 - 2023
• 5 Essential Doctrines to Believe In - 2011
• Guidelines for Leading Leadership in Major Decisions - 2011
• The Marks of a Spiritual Leader - 2011
• For Our People and for the Cities of God - 2011
• Christian Elders in the New Testament - 2011
• Westminster Larger Catechism - 2009
• Luther's Small Catechism - 2009
• Luther's Large Catechism - 2009