October 9Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? — Matt. 8:26.
Each experience should be helpful to us. If at first we were fearful and cried aloud, by and by we received the succor, with perhaps the reprimand, "O, thou of little faith"; but as lesson after lesson has come to us, the Master will expect—and we should expect of ourselves—greater faith, greater trust, greater peace, greater joy in the Lord, greater confidence in His presence with us and His care over us, and in His power to deliver us from the Adversary and from every evil thing, and to bring us eventually in safety to the port we seek—the Kingdom—Z '04, 60 (R 3324). Sometimes the storms that the Christian mariner meets, as he sails over the sea of present evil conditions, cause the ship of his faith almost to capsize; at other times they cause it to fill with the water of distress, endangering its remaining above water; and nearly always they cause it to pitch to and fro by their violence. In such storms let us not forget that the Lord who commands wind and wave is near as our Protector. This will free our hearts from the fear that our ship of faith will sink. Like the Galilean storm, our tempests of trouble, subject to His mighty "Peace, be still!" will subside into a perfect calm. Knowing this let us neither fear nor lack faith, for He is with us—P '30, 166. Parallel passages: Psa. 31:22; 42:5, 6; 77:7-9; Isa. 49:14, 15; Matt. 6:30; 14:29-31; 17:17; Mark 4:38-40; 5:36; Luke 8:23-25; 17:5; John 14:1; Gal. 6:12; Phil. 4:6, 7; 2 Tim. 4:16; 1 John 5:4. Hymns: 56, 57, 124, 93, 330, 333, 60. Poems of Dawn, 65: O Thou of Little Faith. Tower Reading: Z '13, 60 (R 5188). Questions: Have I manifested little faith? What occasioned it? How did I overcome it? |
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"O THOU OF LITTLE FAITH"
O THOU of little faith, why dost thou fear?
The tempest hath no power when I am near;
Will not the angry waves be still at My command?
Step out, I'll hold thy hand,
Then, wherefore dost thou fear?
O thou of little faith, why dost thou doubt?
Doth not Mine Angel compass thee about?
Are not My Father's promises as sure to thee
As they have proved to Me?
Then, wherefore dost thou doubt?
O thou of little faith, what dost thou dread?
Are not the lilies clothed, the sparrows fed?
Heed not the world, nor marvel that it hateth thee,
For so it hated Me,—
What, therefore, dost thou dread?
O thou of little faith, why dost thou shrink?
Why dost thou tremble at the river's brink?
Oh, hark! Above its tumult sweetly sounds My
"Come,
Thou art not far from home!
Then, wherefore wouldst thou shrink?"
O THOU of little faith, why dost thou fear?
The tempest hath no power when I am near;
Will not the angry waves be still at My command?
Step out, I'll hold thy hand,
Then, wherefore dost thou fear?
O thou of little faith, why dost thou doubt?
Doth not Mine Angel compass thee about?
Are not My Father's promises as sure to thee
As they have proved to Me?
Then, wherefore dost thou doubt?
O thou of little faith, what dost thou dread?
Are not the lilies clothed, the sparrows fed?
Heed not the world, nor marvel that it hateth thee,
For so it hated Me,—
What, therefore, dost thou dread?
O thou of little faith, why dost thou shrink?
Why dost thou tremble at the river's brink?
Oh, hark! Above its tumult sweetly sounds My
"Come,
Thou art not far from home!
Then, wherefore wouldst thou shrink?"
