The Watch of God

We are told of General Sir John French that no matter how hard he had to fight during the day, he always tries to spend a little time in the field hospital at night with the wounded. He strolls in, sometimes accompanied by an orderly, but often alone. He asks the wounded how they are getting on, and tells them he hopes “they will soon be out and back with us.” And sometimes the General would stay too long, and find that he could not get back to headquarters that night. In that case he would wrap a blanket around him and curl up on a vacant cot or on the floor alongside a wounded Tommy and go to sleep. So they tell us every British soldier loves Sir John French, and they think him a real man as well as a soldier.
And so the French soldiers loved Marshal Turenne, for he thought of them and did all he could for them. Once when a regiment was wading through a morass the younger men began to complain. But the older soldiers silenced their criticism. “Depend upon it, Marshal Turenne is more concerned than we are about these difficulties. At this moment he is thinking how to deliver us. He watches while we sleep.”
When we are in the midst of life’s morasses, let us remember that He that keepeth Israel slumbereth not nor sleeps. He is thinking of us to deliver us. If earthly generals watch over and care for their soldiers, how much more does the blessed Lord care for His own, whether at home or on the battlefield! May every soldier and sailor believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved!