Through the Waters of Affliction
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.” Isa. xliii, 2. “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.” Ps. lxix, 1, 2. The roads in the East are often through marshes and swamps, which during the rainy season are generally overflown with water. Passing through these the traveler has often cause to say, “I sink in deep mire where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters.” They are intersected also with streams, over which there are no bridges, through which it is always difficult and often dangerous to pass. On the banks of these waters, persons station themselves to conduct travelers through them. If mounted they conduct them by taking hold of the horse's bridle; if on foot, they carry them on their shoulders. I have often been carried “through the waters” in both of these ways. What the guide does for the traveler in passing through these waters, God promises to do for the traveler heavenward, when passing through the waters of affliction, and the River of Death.