0264. THY WAVES AND BILLOWS

THY WAVES AND BILLOWS.

"All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me"

Psa_42:7

Introduction.

1. A father who had one little child, in whom his very soul was bound up, was told that the boy must undergo a serious operation. With his own hands he laid the little fellow on the operating table. The surgeons administered the anaesthetic, the father clasping the boy’s hand, whilst his heart quivered with agony. The brave little lad whispered as he felt unconsciousness stealing over him: "It’s all right, fader."

2. Often we are called to suffer pain and sorrow. May we at such times look up to God and say with peaceful heart: "It’s all right, Father!" "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight."

3. This is a Psalm of comfort and consolation. It was written either during David’s exile from Jerusalem, or during Israel’s captivity in Babylon.

4. Our text was the exclamation of one submerged by sorrow.

I. No, Not "All."

1. "Deep calleth unto deep." The waves of sorrow keep rolling over me; one wave follows another, as if it was beckoned on by its predecessor.

2. Not only waves, but billows. Those huge waves raised by the" strong wind, that threaten to overwhelm everything.

3. But surely the Psalmist was exaggerating! Not "all Thy waves and billows."

4. Ah, it does seem as if all sorrow had met to overwhelm us.

5. There was only One who ever could say with truth this statement. It was that One on Whom all our sins were made to meet.

6. Let us never exaggerate-for others, too, are being submerged.

II. Thy Waves and Billows.

1. Even if all are meeting on your head, rejoice in that they are the Lord’s: "Thy waves," etc.

2. The surging sorrows of life are ministers of His to do His good pleasure.

3. Even the winds and the waves obey His will.

III. But Why?

a. Ah, that question is often on our lips.

b. It is not always given for us to see the purpose of suffering.

c. But may we give one helpful and comforting thought Why does the photographer put his negative in the developer? The picture is laid in the vessel, and the liquid is moved across it, backwards and forwards.

d. The photographer’s negative might exclaim: "All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me." Why?

1. To Bring Out the Hidden Graces.

a. Every true born-again Christian has hidden within Him Divine graces.

b. He has the Holy Spirit with all His fruit and graces.

c. The waves of sorrow are to ripen these graces.

d. The ripest saints are those who generally suffer greatest sorrows.

e. "Work out your own salvation." God works in, and to work it out He sends the billows.

2. To Develop and Make Clearer the Picture.

a. A Christian bears the image of His Master in his face and character.

b. To make the image and likeness clearer and more perfect He causes wave after wave of sorrow to pass over you.

3. To Make (Fasten) the Likeness.

a. If the photographer exposed the negative to the light without "fixing" the picture by the aid of the waves of liquid, it would fly away.

b. The Lord wants us to bear His likeness at all times.

c. He does not want it to fade or wash out. Hence the ministry of the waves and billows.

Autor: James Smith