“Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.”—Psal. 90:15.
This “prayer of Moses the man of God,” as it is entitled, is thought to have been occasioned by the sentence denounced against that generation of Israelites which came out of Egypt, viz. that they should perish in the wilderness. In it we see much of the plaintive, and yet much of the man of God, cleaving to God under his judgments, and hoping in his covenant mercy and truth. Forbidden to enter their promised dwelling-place, they are directed to make up their loss in God, ver. 1, 2. Cut short as to the number of their days, to apply their hearts to wisdom, ver. 12. And though they, and himself with them, were doomed to die, they are taught to pray that the cause of God may live, ver. 16, 17.
The language of the text implies that it is usual for God, in dealing with his people in this world, to balance evil with good, and good with evil. He neither exempts them from chastisement, nor contends with them for ever. If he had dealt with us on the mere footing of justice, we had had a cup of wrath only; but through his dear Son it is mixed with mercy. The alternate changes of night and day, winter and summer, are not more fixed in the course of nature, than the mixture of judgment and mercy in the present state.
The children of Israel were long afflicted in Egypt, and when delivered from that grievous yoke, their numerous sins against God brought on them numerous evils in the wilderness, till at length it issued in the dismal sentence which is supposed to have occasioned this plaintive song. Yet this dark night was preparatory to a morning of hope and joy. The people that were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness. The judgments upon the first generation proved a source of wholesome discipline to the second, who appear to have been the best of all the generations of Israel. It was of them that God spoke in such high terms by Jeremiah:—“I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the first-fruits of his increase.” All that God had done for them till then was but ploughing up the fallow ground; but now he began to reap the fruits of his work. Now Balaam, instead of being able to curse them, is compelled to bless and envy them. And now the prayer of the man of God is answered. They are made glad according to the days in which they were afflicted, and the years in which they had seen evil. God’s work appeared to his servants, and his glory unto their children. His beauty was upon them, and he prospered the work of their hands.
We might refer to numerous instances in the Scriptures in which the same truth is exemplified. In the first hundred and thirty years of Adam’s life, he drank deeply of the bitter effects of his fall. He had a son; but after high hopes had been entertained of him, he proved wicked. He had another son, but him his brother murdered; and as the murderer was spared and his family increased, it would seem as if the world was to be peopled by a race of wicked men. But it did not end thus: God gave Adam another seed, instead of Abel whom Cain slew; and soon after this men began to call upon the name of the Lord. It must have been very afflictive for Noah to have been “a preacher of righteousness” century after century, and at last, instead of seeing his hearers converted to God, to see them all swept away by the deluge. But as the waters were assuaged when they had risen to their height, so the wrath of Heaven issued in mercy. God accepted the sacrifice of his servant, and made a covenant of peace with him and his posterity.
Similar remarks might be made from the histories of Jacob, and Joseph, and David, and many others: these were made glad according to the days wherein they had been afflicted, and the years wherein they had seen evil. Nor is it confined to individuals. When idolatrous Israel drew down the Divine displeasure in Hazael’s wars, Jehu’s revolution, and Elisha’s prophecies, it was very afflictive. Yet when Jehoahaz besought the Lord, the Lord hearkened unto him, and was gracious to his people, in respect of the covenant which he had made with their fathers, 2 Kings 13:3–5, 23. Thus the wind, the earthquake, and the fire were succeeded by the still small voice, 1 Kings 19:11, 12. Finally, the great afflictions of the church during the successive overturnings of the monarchies issued, according to Ezekiel’s prophecy, (chap. 21:27,) in Christ’s coming and kingdom.
It is not difficult to perceive the wisdom and goodness of God in thus causing evil to precede good, and good to follow evil. If the whole of our days were covered with darkness, there would be but little of the exercise of love, and joy, and praise; our spirits would contract a habit of gloominess and despondency; and religion itself would be reproached, as rendering us miserable. If, on the other hand, we had uninterrupted prosperity, we should not enjoy it. What is rest to him that is never weary, or peace to one that is a stranger to trouble? Heaven itself would not be that to us which it will be, if we came not out of great tribulation to the possession of it.
Evil and good being thus connected together, the one furnishes a plea for the other. Moses pleaded it, and so may we. We may have seen days of affliction, and years of evil, both as individuals and families. Borne down, it may be, with poverty and disappointment, our spirits are broken. Or if circumstances have been favourable, yet some deep-rooted disease preys upon our constitution, and passes a sentence of death within us long before it comes. Or if neither of these has befallen us, yet relative troubles may eat up all the enjoyment of life. A cruel and faithless husband, a peevish and unamiable wife, or a disobedient child, may cause us to say with Rebecca, What good does my life do me? Or if none of these evils afflict us, yet if the peace of God rule not in our hearts, all the blessings of life will be bestowed upon us in vain. It may be owing to the want of just views of the gospel, or to some iniquity regarded in our heart, that we spend days and years with but little communion with God.
Finally, If, as in some cases, a number of these evils should be combined, this will make the load still heavier. But, whatever be our afflictions, and however complicated, we may carry them to the Lord, and then turn them into a plea for mercy. Though the thorn should not be immediately extracted, yet if God cause his grace to be sufficient for us, we shall have reason to be glad.
Excerpt from: “Past Trials a Plea for Future Mercy,” Sermon LV in Sermons and Sketches.
Fuller, A. G. (1988). The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller: Memoirs, Sermons, Etc. (J. Belcher, Ed.) (Vol. 1, pp. 459–461). Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications.
