God's Signals by T. L. Cuyler

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 5, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 10.

God's Signals.

By T. L. Cuyler

On a bright May morning I rode across the verdant plain of Rephaim, which lies on the Bethlehem road south of Jerusalem. I recalled the wonderful encounter with the Philistines on that plain, when God ordered King David to “fetch a compass behind the Philistines and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going [or a rustling] in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself, for the Lord shall then go out before thee.” That sound in the tree-tops—perhaps like the sound of the march of an army in the air—was to be the signal for an advance. It was the token of the divine presence. David heard and obeyed the signal. When God moved, he moved. The result was a glorious victory; and the Philistines were swept away like chaff before a gale. This unique incident in Jewish history is full of practical suggestion. God orders special steps at special times. Faith must watch Providence and be on the lookout for the signals. When God moves is our time to move. If we move with him, success is certain to come; if we move without him, then the failure is our fault. How clearly was the divine signal manifested to the little company in the upper room at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost! The Holy Spirit descended, and the apostles fell into line with the Spirit's leadings; when the Spirit worked, they worked, and thousands of souls were converted in a single day! Equally clear was the signal to Martin Luther to “move on the enemy's works,” and within the Reformer's life-time the spiritual face of one-third of Europe was changed. Why the Reformation ran along the lines of certain races and nations and did not touch others, is to us a mystery; but that God's hand was in the movement, no sane man can question.—T. L. Cuyler.