2 Samuel 22:17

He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.

Progress from above

All real progress is from God. There is no little truth in the observation of Mephistopheles “that the human mind merely advances spirally, and reverts to a spot close to its origin.” Dr. R. D. Hitch-cock says: “In all human advancement, the motive power has not been a force in man, lifting him upward, or on the earthward side, driving him onward, but the movement has been along an inclined plane, due to an engine drawing from the top. (A. T. Pierson, D. D.)

Christ a deliverer

I have heard of the following story of a Chinaman who had become a disciple of the Lord Jesus. In explaining to others what Christ had done for him, he put it thus: “It seemed as if I was at the bottom of a pit in great distress crying for help. Buddha passed and said, ‘If you crawl up, never get clown again.’ Confucius then came to the pit’s mouth, and said, ‘I have a rope at home that will go two-thirds down the pit, if you can crawl up one-third,’ but he left me; then the Lord Jesus, hearing my cry, came quickly to my rescue, put His hand down and helped me out of the pit; put my feet upon a rock, and established my goings; that is what Christ has done for me.” (Newton Jones.)