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The Arrow of Prayer?
Octavius Winslow's "Prayer Out of Soul Depths"
"Out of the depths have I cried unto You, O Lord." Psalm 130:1.
Beloved, out of the depths of your difficulty,
your need, your sorrow, cry mightily unto God.
There is....
no depth so profound,
no darkness so dense,
no privation so pressing, or
perplexity so great, but from it you may
cry unto God; the Lord inclining His ear to
the softest, faintest breathing of your soul.
Sink the soul as it may, the arrow of prayer,
feathered with a divine promise, springing
from the bow of faith, and winged by the
power of the Spirit, will overcome every
obstacle, pierce every cloud, and fasten
itself upon the throne of the Eternal God!
Cries out of the depths of 'soul distress' have
a peculiar eloquence and an irresistible success
with God; just as the plaintive wail of a sick
and suffering child reaches and penetrates a
parent's heart more quickly and more deeply
than all others.
Tried and desponding soul, you can never
sink below the everlasting arms of God!
God frequently permits His children to descend
into great "depths" of spiritual and mental conflict,
and even temporal need, that He might display
His love and power in stooping to their necessity.
"I was brought low, and He helped me."
We are but imperfectly aware how low the great
God can bend to our case; how condescendingly
Christ can stoop to our condition!
We may be brought very low;
our case sad and desperate;
riches may flee;
poverty may come upon us as an armed man;
character may be assailed;
children may try;
friends may change;
enemies may wound;
death may bereave; and
our soul be plunged as into fathomless depths.
Nevertheless, sink deep as we may, we shall but
sink more deeply into the embrace of
Christ, 'the everlasting arms' still underneath us.
"He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters."
Oh we must descend into great depths
of affliction, of trial, and of need, to
fathom, in some measure, the soundless
depths of God's love, of the Savior's
fullness, of the Spirit's comfort!
Your heavenly Father waits to enfold
you to His loving and forgiving heart!
Soon the soul desponding saint will ascend
from the lowest depths of earth to the loftiest
height of heaven. Long before the body springs
from the dust, your soul, O believer, will have
taken its place amid the blood-ransomed throng,
clustering in shining ranks around the throne of
God and the Lamb. And, reviewing all the way
the Lord your God led you, through the wilderness
and across the desert, you shall blend the old song
of free grace with the new song of eternal glory!
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