Persecuted, but not forsaken
Pursued from place to place, and followed with menaces, curses,
and reproaches; laid hold on, proscribed, imprisoned, and
threatened with the severest tortures, and death itself; but our
God never leaves us nor forsakes us; though we are followed close
by evil men, and left by our friends, we are not forsaken of God:
cast down
we sometimes are, as an earthen vessel; ( 2
Corinthians 4:7 ) , which may be cast out of a man's hands,
in order to be dashed to pieces; or as a man in wrestling, see (
Ephesians 6:12 ) may be
thrown to the ground by his antagonist, so we are sometimes
foiled by sin, Satan, and the world:
but not destroyed;
we are still safe in the hands of Christ, and are kept by the
power of God; and, indeed, to what else can all this be ascribed?
it is surprising that earthen vessels should bear and suffer so
much, and not fall, or be dashed to pieces.