Transcribed from the 1906 Macmillan and Co. edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org Out of the Deep: WORDS FOR THE SORROWFUL. _FROM THE WRITINGS OF_ CHARLES KINGSLEY. "Out of the deep have I cried unto Thee, O God." London MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1906 _All rights reserved_ Printed by Robert MacLehose & Co. Ltd. University Press, Glasgow. First Edition 1880. Reprinted 1883, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1889, 1891, 1893, 1896, 1900, 1906 THIS LITTLE BOOK IS Dedicated TO ALL TROUBLED SOULS AND TO THE DEAR MEMORY OF ONE WHO PASSED THROUGH THE DEEP INTO ETERNAL REST. F. E. K _June_ 12,1880. I. OUT OF THE DEEP OF SUFFERING AND SORROW. Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed my soul.--Ps. xciv. 17. Each heart knows its own bitterness; each soul has its own sorrow; each man's life has its dark days of storm and tempest, when all his joys seem blown away by some sudden blast of ill-fortune, and the desire of his eyes is taken from him, and all his hopes and plans, all which he intended to do or to enjoy, are hid with blinding mist, so that he cannot see his way before him, and knows not whither to go, or whither to flee for help; when faith in God seems broken up for the moment, when he feels no strength, no purpose, and knows not what to determine, what to do, what to believe, what to care for; when the very earth seems reeling under his feet, and the fountains of the abyss are broken up. When that day comes, let him think of God's covenant and take heart. Is the sun's warmth perished out of the sky because the storm is cold with hail and bitter winds? Is God's love changed because we cannot feel it in our trouble? Is the sun's light perished out of the sky because the world is black with cloud and mist? Has God forgotten to give light to suffering souls, because we cannot see our way for a few short days of perplexity?