The Steps And Stops Of The Godly

Psalm 37:23-29

23The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD.

He delights in every detail of their lives.

24Though they stumble, they will not fall,

for the LORD holds them by the hand.

25Once I was young, and now I am old.

Yet I have never seen the godly forsaken,

nor seen their children begging for bread.

26The godly always give generous loans to others,

and their children are a blessing.

27Turn from evil and do good,

and you will live in the land forever.

28For the LORD loves justice,

and he will never abandon the godly.

He will keep them safe forever,

but the children of the wicked will perish.

29The godly will inherit the land

and will live there forever.

Through Charles Dickens’s famous novel Oliver Twist many people have read about the problems of orphans in England. But George Müller of Bristol, England, was a man who did something about the problem.

Müller was an amazing man of faith. When he felt God was directing him to do something, he did it without arguing. In 1836, by faith, he opened an orphanage for twenty-six girls. Through prayer and faith and no money of his own, he opened more and more such houses, until in 1875 he was feeding and housing thousands of orphans. By the time of his death, more than ten thousand orphans had been cared for in his orphanages.

Müller never asked for money. He simply fell on his knees and prayed, and miraculously the provision arrived, sometimes in the nick of time.

There was no doubt that he valued Psalm 37:23. A stickler for details, George found comfort in the fact that God took delight in all the details of his life. And Müller had no doubt that the steps of the godly were ordered by the Lord.

But it is interesting to learn that Müller added two words to this verse in his Bible. His rendition read, “The steps and stops of the godly . . .” It may have seemed that there were no “stops,” or closed doors, in George Müller’s life, but he knew better. He knew that he could trust the one who ordered the stops as well as the steps.

Though they lead o’er the cold, dark mountains, seeking His sheep;

Or along by Siloam’s fountains, helping the weak.

Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow;

We will follow the steps of Jesus where’er they go.

MARY SLADE

Bible Networking

Trace the steps of Joseph in Genesis 39–50 or the steps of the apostle Paul in Acts 16–18.

Notable Quotable

“The godly man is not left in the trackless forest without a guide, or doomed to struggle in the darkness without a kindly light; he is not orphaned in the world without a loving hand to aid. His Father, unseen but not unknown, has prepared the path and somehow guides the steps of those who commit their way to him.”

JAMES AND EDWARD HASTINGS