HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
“Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.” Psalm 77:19
Men tell us that there are few more impressive sights than that of a burial at sea. It is even more solemn and arresting than the last rites beside an earthly grave. There is the ceasing of the throbbing engines, the gathering of the hushed crowd upon the deck. There is a simple service, the lifting of the body, and then–the plunge into the deep. And it is this element of silent secrecy, this hiding in unfathomable depths, which thrills and solemnizes and subdues.
Something like that was in the poet’s mind when he said of God, “Thy way is in the sea.” Mingling with all his other thoughts was the thought that God has His unfathomable secrets. And it is upon that element of secrecy, so characteristic of the divine procedure, that I want to dwell.
The Divine Secrecy of God’s Gifts
The best gifts are always at our hands. The brightest are never far away. All things needed for the song and crown are in the region where our hearts are beating. And yet though they are here, they are not flaunting themselves. They are by our side, but they are never showy. There is no name inscribed upon their foreheads nor any blast of the trumpet on their lips.
Think, for example, of the gift of love. In the darkest spot on earth, some love is found. I doubt if there is a man so brutal and so base that no one loves him and thrills at his approach. And yet how silent and how secret love is, hiding away from the human eye and speaking in a momentary glance. Our poets liken love to a flower. It is red as the rose, white as the lily. Yet love is not a flower of the field; love is the treasure hidden in the field. And thousands cross the field and never see it nor do they dream of the treasure hidden there until at last, in the appointed hour, passes the traveller who understands.
It is always so with the love of man. It is always so with the love of God. God’s love is here, and yet how secret and hidden it all is—how meaningless to the blinded–till Christ has come and shown His wounded side and led us to the glory of the cross.
TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW …
