Message from the Pastor
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Psalm 32:10
It is impossible to reflect seriously upon life in this world without being struck by the many contrasts which it presents. There are the obvious contrasts between the rich and the poor, between the healthy and the ill, between the employed and the unemployed, between the young and the old. Then too there are the less obvious, we might even say the hidden contrasts, between those who know great happiness and those who know deep sorrow, between those who know relative inner peace and those whose minds are a battleground of anxiety, fear or depression. Some of these contrasts are themselves subject to change. A sudden change of circumstance may bring about a sharp and remarkable contrast in a person’s standing and happiness.
The Bible is a book of contrasts. It acknowledges these and the many other contrasts with which we are all familiar. But chiefly it draws our attention to one contrast which runs like an unbroken seam through the lives of all in this world – a contrast indeed which affects everything else in our lives and which will determine our eternal destiny. That contrast is described in different ways, but in our verse it is put in terms of “the sorrows” which are experienced by “the wicked” and “the mercy” which surrounds the person who trusts in the Lord.
It is important that we understand what the Psalmist is NOT saying. He is not suggesting that the person who trusts in God is totally free from sorrows. That is the very reverse of the case. The godly know many sorrows too ...read more