“MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND.”
I SAW a beautiful child held high in the hand of her tall, strong father. It seemed so perilous I trembled lest the little one should fall. “Who’s got you?” asked her father. Without a shade of fear, with a merry laugh of delight, the baby said, “Papa.” So safe, so sure, so happy, even in a place of apparent danger, because her father held her there! O, for the simple faith of a child! In theory we do believe that God holds us in his hand, and that all our ways are directed by him; but how often in our real life do we doubt it, especially in hours of greatest need! “My times are in thy hand!”—what a pillow for your weary head, my friend, is this. Your head, tired with regrets, disappointments, failures, mistakes of the days gone by; weary with plans and, perhaps, forebodings for the future, what a resting-place for you is here! . . . “God holds the key of the unknown, and I am glad.” My times, my circumstances, my opportunities, my training, my discipline, the answer to my prayers, all that concerns me, are in his hand. When David said, long ago, “My times are in thy hand,” he was full of trouble. His was a human heart just like our own. He was a sinful man, a repentant man, a forgiven man, a trusting man. His faith was not perfect, for he said in his haste, “I am cut off from before thine eyes.” He thought sometimes that God had forgotten him. But even when his faith was small God heard the voice of his supplications when he cried unto him. He is the Lord; he changes not. He will hear us also. Even tho we have not honored him with that unvarying faith which is his due, we may confidently say: “Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand.”—Christian Advocate.