The Wisdom Journey

God Leads His Dear Children Along

• Stephen Davey

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Grief can feel like a closed room, but sometimes it opens into a song. We start with the tender story behind the hymn God Leads Us Along and trace its roots to Psalm 66, where the writer speaks of crushing burdens, fire, and water—and the God who leads through all of it. That lived theology takes shape in the life of evangelist George Young, whose new home was burned to the ground by an enemy, and whose response became a hymn that still steadies hearts a century later.

From there, we widen the lens. Psalm 67 invites the nations to sing for joy under a Judge who is fair and a Guide who directs peoples. We talk through a biblical timeline that points toward real hope: the church gathered to Christ, global evangelization in the face of darkness, a turning of Israel to the Messiah, and the establishment of a literal kingdom. This isn’t abstract optimism; it’s a map of where history is going, grounded in Scripture and anchored in the character of God.

Psalm 68 then supplies the power behind the promise. Enemies melt like wax before fire, the fatherless find a home, widows are protected, and the needy are sustained. Mount Zion rises as the future seat of the King, a concrete reminder that God’s care and God’s reign go hand in hand. Along the way, we keep returning to a simple, daily practice: Blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up. Whether you’re on the sunlit heights or in the darkest valley, this conversation pairs honest lament with sturdy hope and invites you to sing while you wait for the King.

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The first of Stephen's two volumes set through the Book of Revelation is now available. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQ3XCJMY

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SPEAKER_00:

When my wife and I were dating in college, preparing for ministry, one of the hymns of the faith that we would sing in church that came to mean a lot to us was entitled, God Leads Us Along. Now we'd met just a year after her brother had been killed in a car accident, and she understood much more than I did what it meant to sing the lyrics to that hymn. Some of the lyrics go like this: sometimes on the mount, where the sun shines so bright, God leads his dear children along. Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night, God leads his dear children along. Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night season and all the day long. Well, I thought about that as I arrived at this next psalm in our wisdom journey, because this happened to be the inspiration for that hymn writer a century ago. Right in the middle of Psalm sixty six, the psalmist writes this here in verse twelve. Now the author of this particular psalm is anonymous. We don't know who penned these lyrics here, but we we do know as believers that they're true, don't we? When we're facing a crushing blow or some great sorrow or setback in life. We know we can look back later on and see that even then that valley was a place God was leading us as we walked through it as his dear children. Now the Psalmist writes here in verse ten, for you, O God, have tested us. You've tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net. You laid a crushing burden on our backs. You let men ride over our heads. Here it is. We went through fire and through water, yet you have brought us out. This is the text that inspired an evangelist by the name of George Young to write that hymn of the faith more than a hundred years ago. George and his family spent their years, as I've read their brief biography, serving small churches in poor areas in rural areas there in the Midwest of the United States. They lived in borrowed places over the years. They lived hand to mouth. George would often remind his family that the hand to their mouth was God's hand. When they finally had enough money to buy the lumber, George built a house for his family with his own hands. And at last the day came. They stood on the porch, they sang the doxology to their faithful Lord who'd provided for them. Well, sometime later, when they were away holding evangelistic services, somebody who'd been upset by George's preaching slipped over in the night and set their new home on fire. When the family returned, they found that everything they owned had been destroyed, and you can't imagine this loss. What a crushing blow. But within a few days, George sat down by himself and he wrote out that hymn that would be published in nineteen oh three. Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood, some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night season and all the day long. Now, for this inspired psalmist, it wasn't just about being led through life, it was about being led all the way to the glory of God's presence in the coming kingdom. In fact, in the next Psalm, Psalm 67, it's also anonymous, but it picks up the theme of Psalm 66, and it leads us to that moment when the glory of God is known all around the world. The author writes here in verse four, let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Now, if you put the timeline together, the Bible tells us that after the church is raptured, taken away by God the Son, and taken to his father's house, the Antichrist is going to be revealed on the earth. Seven years of tribulation are going to transpire, and during that time, God's primary focus on earth won't be the church. It will return to Israel. Now, Revelation chapter 7 tells us that God will redeem, he will commission 144,000 Jewish evangelists, and they're going to circle the globe, delivering the gospel. And the spiritual awakening that takes place on earth is going to be absolutely amazing. So while the Antichrist is doing his worst, people representing every language and nation on earth are going to place their faith in Jesus Christ. And Israel, the Jewish people, the descendants of Jacob, are going to repent. They're going to return to the land of Israel in mass, and they're going to await the Lord's return with us, is redeemed when we come back with the Lord to earth. Now, with that, we return with the Lord, and then the Antichrist is defeated. And the judgment of the nations are described in Matthew 25. And then the Lord sets up this thousand-year, this millennial kingdom on earth. And we're going to reign with Christ over all these people who've accepted Jesus as their Messiah. They won't have died. They're going to be ushered as believers into the kingdom age of Christ on earth. All the Old Testament promises and all the New Testament promises to Israel are going to be literally fulfilled. The nation is going to literally be established in their land. There's going to be a literal throne in Jerusalem. It's going to be the headquarters of a literal kingdom on earth with Christ reigning supreme. Well, that's the prophetic promise here in Psalm 67 and verse 4. In fact, let me read it again. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. What a day that's going to be. Now, Psalm 68 follows here, and it's perfectly placed to illustrate the power of God who guides us and leads us as we listen to Him. And I want you to think of Psalm 68 as overwhelming evidence that God can be trusted to deliver every promise he has ever made. In verse 1 of Psalm 68, the Lord's power here is seen as his enemies are scattered, and those who hate him flee before him. Verse 2 says, As wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God. Now at the same time, he's described here in verse 5 as the father of the fatherless and protector of widows. Verse six says God settles the solitary in a home. In every way, verse 10 reminds us he has provided for the needy. Oh, yes, it it it might be hand at mouth at times during your lifetime, but the hand to your mouth is indeed the hand of God. Now in verse 16, the language turns toward the Lord uh settling himself on the mount that God desires or desired for his abode. Now that would be Mount Zion. That would be Jerusalem. This is a prophetic statement, then, that Jerusalem is going to be the capital city in the Lord's coming millennial kingdom. Now, what's going to happen as God ushers in this new kingdom age? Well, uh, we're told here in this prophetic poetry of Psalm 68, here in verse 32, O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, sing praises to the Lord, to him who rides in the heavens, ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God from his sanctuary, the God of Israel. He is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God. Well, until that day of the kingdom, what are we doing in the meantime? Well, we need to sing these lyrics back to God. We're giving them in verse 19. Blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up. You know, this sounds a lot like the testimony of George Young, as he along with his family stood there and looked at a pile of ashes that had once been their family home. It sounds to me like his personal statement of faith as he sat down to write those lyrics. Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright, God leads his dear children along. Oh, but sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night, God leads his dear children along. Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood, some through great sorrow, but God gives us song in the night season and all the day long. With that, we're out of time. Until our next stop on our wisdom journey, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.