God’s Tears
MY tears have been my meat, day and night, while they continually say unto me, where is thy God?" Psa.42:3. It is the general opinion that the forty-second Psalm was not written by David, but by a descendant of Korah, during the Babylonish captivity, and used by the children of Israel as a means of consolation during their stay in Babylon. They were captives in a heathen country, deprived of sanctuary privileges, and sighing for the desolations which had come upon them.
They remembered Zion in its prosperous days, when they could worship God in the sanctuary with the multitude that kept holy days. Now they were exiles; and, added to all their other griefs, were their feelings for the honor of God and his truth when those wicked idolaters would tauntingly ask, "Where is thy God?" thus insinuating that their God had forgotten them, and that their manner of worship was no better than that of the heathen about them.
Although many false gods were worshiped at that time, backsliding Israel had not wholly forsaken the true God, and there were those who from the heart sang, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. "It is said that the hart is not only fond of feeding near some brook for the benefit of drinking, but when he is hard chased by dogs, and nearly hunted down, he will plunge into a stream of water and remain until he is revived. Thus the repentant ones panted for the living God, who could save them from spiritual and eternal death. And although in the depths of their sorrow they were at times forced to cry out, "Thy waves and thy billows have gone over me," yet their confidence in God was unbounded, that he "would command his loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night his song should be with them."
Many gods are still worshiped, even in this land of Bibles. Although many of you may never have seen a graven image, made to represent a deity, for worship, yet there are probably as many gods here as in heathen countries, for this is a nation of idolaters. Anything which takes your attention or your affections from the true God is an idol. It may be your dress, your good looks, your talents, some worldly possession; but whatever it may be, you cannot worship it and the true God at the same time; for the Saviour declares,
"Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
When the Lord says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," he claims our undivided affections. Our actions will show what we worship—where our affections are placed. It is easy and quite common to place them upon some surrounding object. But we read of a class who will throw their idols to the moles and bats, by and by. If we worship the true God, he is able to deliver us; if false gods, we shall perish with them. Whom do you worship, dear youth? "Where is thy God?"
M. J. C.