Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1216
“The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of Hell got hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech You, deliver my soul…You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.” Psalm 116:3,4,8.
THE great trouble which is here described very probably happened to David long after he had been a Believer. He had been living the life of faith, perhaps, for years, in a calm, happy and quiet manner. But by-and-by he met with outward tribulation and not a little of inward conflict. At some time or other it generally happens to a Believer, between the setting out at the wicket gate and the crossing of the last river, that he endures a great fight of afflictions. My observation leads me to notice that those who begin with rough times frequently have a smooth path afterwards, while others, whose first experience was very sunny and peaceful, meet with fierce conflicts farther on.
Those who have enjoyed a long, calm and comparatively easy life, may meet their stormiest hours at the close of their days, for some of the best of God’s children, to use an old Puritan’s expression, “are put to bed in the dark.” Their sun sets in clouds, but doubtless it rises again in the full splendor of the eternal morning! Somewhere or other, Brothers and Sisters, you will learn to acknowledge that—
“The path of sorrow, and that path, alone, Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown.” The saints above who sing the new song are, at least many of them, described by the words, “These are they which came out of great tribulation.” That is the general way to Heaven and perhaps few travelers reach Paradise by any other road. Let Believers, therefore, not count upon immunity from trouble, but let them reckon upon sufficient Grace for it. Let them believe that God’s choicest letters of love are sent to us in black-edged envelopes. We are frightened at the envelope, but inside, if we know how to break the seal, we shall find riches for our souls.
Great trials are the clouds out of which God gives great mercies. Very frequently, when the Lord has an extraordinary mercy to send to us, He employs His rough and grizzled horses to drag it to the door. The smooth rivers of ease are usually navigated by little vessels filled with common commodities, but a huge galleon loaded with treasure traverses the deep seas. Let the children of God learn from this passage in David’s experience that their best resort in trouble is prayer. When the sorrows of death compass you, pray! When the pains of Hell get hold upon you, pray! When you find trouble and sorrow, pray! Everything else which prudence and wisdom suggest is to be done in a time of difficulty, but none of these things are to be relied upon by themselves.
“Salvation is of the Lord,” whether it is salvation from troubles or from sins. You do right to provide the horse for the day of battle, but still, safety is of the Lord. Use the means, but never supplant faith by the use of means. When you have done all, trust in God as though you had done nothing, for, “Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman watches but in vain.” In all things pray! And be well assured that if at this moment you are in the same plight as David was, prayer will bring you out of it. Prayer is the catholicon, the universal cure! It subdues every disease. In spiritual conflicts it has a thousand uses. You may say of it, “By this will I break through a troop; by this will I leap over a wall; by this will I put on shield and buckler and by this will I smite the foe.” Prayer can unlock the treasures of God and shut the gates of Hell! Prayer can quench the violence of flames and stop the lions’ mouths. Prayer can overcome Heaven and bend Omnipotence to its will. Only pray, Brothers and Sisters, believingly and in the name of the Well-Beloved, and answers of peace must be given to you.
I intend, this evening, to use the text with another view. I mean to accommodate it, as I think lawfully, and to use it as a description of the condition of an awakened sinner. To sinners under conviction I would address myself, for I know there are such in the congregation. I was glad to hear their cries the other night, and I hope, with that, the Lord means to bless them and bring them into liberty. We shall speak, first, of this poor soul’s condition. Then of his course of action. And then of the deliverance he obtained.
I. First, here is THE WRETCHED CONDITION into which many a poor awakened soul has been brought. But let me, before I proceed further, say, that if any of you are believers in Christ and have not felt all that I speak of, you are not to condemn yourselves because of it. There are many maladies in the world. If I am describing a sickness and the way in which the physician cures it, you must not say, “I am surely wrong, for I never felt that phase of the disease.” That does not matter. No man suffers all maladies. If you are resting only upon Jesus, do not disturb yourself—that which I am about to utter is not meant for your disturbance, but for other people’s comfort.