February 12

Surely, the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. - Genesis 28:16.

HOW strikingly does the ignorance of Jacob on this occasion represent the ignorance of mankind at large! We cannot go from the presence of God, nor flee from his Spirit. He is in every place; “he fills heaven and earth, beholding the evil and the good.” He sees all we do, hears all we say, knows all we think, whether it be good or whether it be evil; but how little do men in general imagine this! They do not realize this solemn fact, nor think that God “compasseth their path and their lying down, and is acquainted with all their ways.”

It also represents the ignorance of God’s people themselves. They are prone to imagine that they shall be alone, or that they are alone, in trying situations and circumstances. God’s manifestions to his people are often very unlooked for, for he looks not only to deliver and to relieve them, but to surprise them; to cause it at “even-tide to be light,” and to turn the “shadow of death into the morning.”

Still we should look for these tokens of his gracious presence, especially in trouble; because he has expressly said, not only “I will never leave nor forsake thee,” but “I will be with thee in trouble.” We should, therefore, be sure to expect him there; for, have not his people always found him there? Spilsbury suffered for conscience sake; he had been in prison and released once, and when he was apprehended a second time, and they were leading him away to prison, and his wife and children were weeping around, he said “O, weep not for me; I am not afraid to go to prison now, for I found God there the first time.” Did not John find him when labouring as a slave in the Isle of Patmos? Did not Daniel find him in the den of lions? Did not the three Hebrew children find him in the fiery furnace? Did not Joseph find him in the prison?

Have not his people in all ages found him a very present help in every time of trouble? Little did Jacob imagine that such a scene awaited him here.