At Thy Word

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

Now when he had left speaking, He said unto Simon, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. " And Simon answering said unto Him, "Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net. "

And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. (Luke 5:7)

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. " For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men." And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

-- Luke 5:1-11

It would seem distressing -- or at least unusual -- to go all night without catching a single fish. But even if it were the normal course of things, the contrast between taking nothing and catching "a great multitude of fishes" is quite extraordinary, and the impact of the occasion on the fishermen was duly awe-inspiring. However, to have this effect, the first requirement was for the fishermen to have caught nothing all night long.

Such is the nature of Providence. Toil as we might, it is God that gives both the fat years and the lean years. Imagine Joseph looking up from the pit as his brothers haggled with the Ishmeelites to sell him into slavery (Gen 37:28). He could not have known at that moment that he would some day be the governor of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. It wasn't until years later that he was able to see that his brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good (Gen 50:20).

"Go to now, you that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that you ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." (James 4:13-15)

The wonderful and fascinating thing about the Providence of God is that it requires nothing more of us than to do what we know to do and accept the outcome by faith. "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established." (Prov 16:3) When seen through the eye of faith, Providence is a humbling glimpse of the wisdom of a sovereign Creator. Like Job confronted by the whirlwind, we should say "Behold, I am vile" (Job 40:4).

The fishermen in the passage we now consider had no doubt listened to the teaching of the Lord Jesus (Luke 5:3). At first, Simon recognizes Him as a "Master" or teacher (Luke 5:5). But after seeing the draught of fishes they had taken, he falls at Jesus' knees to say "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord". Self-deprecation is the context of true repentance and right thinking toward Jehovah.

He Who created the stars and commands the morning also commanded the fishes to flee the net not as punishment of the fishermen, but that He might show His power. This providential act is immediately preceded by "at Thy word" because without faith, it is impossible to please Him. (Heb 11:6)

"At Thy word", says Peter. "At Thy word", we live, and move, and have our being. (Acts 17:28) "At Thy word", we see the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. (Eph 1:11) "At Thy word" we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28)