Margaret Clarkson

“God teaches His children that human strength offers less security than spiritual strength, for the weakness of God is stronger than men’s strength, and His strength is perfected in our weakness. No man will prevail by mortal strength, He tells us, but we are able to do all things through the strengthening of Christ. The race is not won by the swift, not the battle by the strong, but by the power of God those who stumble are girded with strength. Mighty men are no delivered by much strength, but Scriptural story abounds with the exploits of those “who through faith . . . out of weakness were made strong.” Since God is the God of our strength, why should even the weakest of saints go mourning because of the oppression of his soul? (1 Corinthians 1:25; 2 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Samuel 2:9; Philippians 4:13; Ecclesiastes 9:11; 1 Samuel 2:4; Psalms 33:16; Hebrews 11:33-34; Psalms 43:2)”

“Paul tells us one reason why God allows the pressures of weakness to bear down on us. “We were pressed out of measure, above strength,” he writes, “. . . that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God.” As long as we have one ounce of our own strength in which to trust, our human hearts will place our confidence there, even through we sometimes do it unconsciously; but God wants us to prove Him, to be strengthened with all might by His Spirit according to His glorious power. When we truly realize it is God who has girded us for the battles of life, we are able to cry exultantly, “O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength!” for we know that in Him we have not only strength for our needs, but strength to spare. And it is so that His people may glorify Him in learning these truths and living triumphantly by His power that sometimes takes our human strength away.” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9; Colossians 1:11; Ephesians 3:16; 2 Samuel 22:40; Judges 5:21). ”

My God Shall Be My Strength
Isaiah 49:5

My God shall be my strength
Throughout my pilgrim way;
My sure defence, my guard, my guide
 My shield and stay; 
Secure in Him my heart is strong
And lifts aloft faith's triumph-song.

My God shall be my strength
Though fierce may be the foe; 
No hosts of hell my trusting soul
Shall overthrow:
Through Christ I conquer: by His power
I triumph in the evil hour.

My God shall be my strength
Though flesh and heart may fail; 
O'er want and weakness by His might
I shall prevail. 
In Christ I triumph over pain
And rise to face the foe again. 

My God shall be my strength
In sorrow's bitter hour; 
In loneliness and loss I plead
His sovereign power.
No harm can pass His perfect will,
And in His love my heart is still. 

My God shall be my strength
When death shall press his claim,
When languishing in weakness lies
This mortal frame:
Through Christ triumphant I shall rise
To sing His grace in Paradise.

Source: Margaret Clarkson, Grace Grows Best in Winter, Grand Rapids Michigan, WM B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984. (pages 166; 170-171)

Margaret Clarkson was a gifted Christian writer who penned hundreds of poems, articles, and hymns. Her name was mentioned in one of the episodes of the “Crisis, Christ, and Confidence” series that I have been sharing here. I was compelled to find out more about her after Dr. Peter Lillback shared a quote which, to me, revealed a woman of strong faith and a high regard for the sovereignty of God.

In the preface to her book, “Grace Grows Best in Winter“, which I have just started, she writes, “This is a book of help for those who must live with a continuing problem of suffering, of whatever kind. It seeks to lead sufferers so to discover and to embrace the character of God that they will be enabled to live triumphantly within the hedge of suffering wherein He has placed them, and from which in His inscrutable sovereignty He has not yet seen fit to release them.” I’ve only just started and had to stop and share this poem. I hope to share more about her, and her work in the near future.

O for a faith that will not shrink
  Tho pressed by many a foe,
That will not tremble on the brink
  Of any earthly woe; 

That will not murmur nor complain
  Beneath the chast'ning rod,
But in the hour of grief or pain
  Can lean upon its God; 

A faith that shines more bright and clear
  When tempests rage without, 
That, when in danger, knows no fear, 
  In darkness feels no doubt; 

A faith that keeps the narrow way
  Til life's last spark is fled,
And with a pure and heavenly ray
  Lights up a dying bed; 

Lord, give me such a faith as this, 
  And then, whate'er may come, 
I'll taste e'en now the hallowed bliss
  Of an eternal home.

Margaret Clarkson, “Grace Grows Best in Winter”, Grand Rapids, Michigan. WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, page 23.

Margaret Clarkson on Human Weakness and the Power of God

O For A Faith That Will Not Shrink