Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 89 · March 30
The Fourth Watch
“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”
It is somewhere between three and six in the morning, in the middle of a lake. The disciples have been rowing into the wind since evening, and the shore is not getting any closer.
Matthew is exact about the time: "in the fourth watch of the night." He is just as exact about who sent them out there: "Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side." Constrained means He made them go. They are out in that wind because He sent them.
Then they see a figure walking on the water, and they cry out in fear, until His voice reaches them across the waves: "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." Peter then does what nobody else in the boat does: "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." He asks for a command before he moves, which is more careful than people usually give him credit for. The command comes back in one word: "Come."
So Peter walks. Then, "when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink," he cried out, "Lord, save me." Boisterous means strong and rough. Yet nothing about the weather had changed. The wind was against them while he asked, while he climbed over the side, and the whole time he stood on the water. What changed was where Peter was looking.
"And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him." Look at that word immediately. Only afterwards does Jesus name what went wrong: "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" His hand did not wait until Peter had an answer to that question.
Look also at who is never scolded. Eleven men stayed in the boat, and Matthew has no word of blame for them. When Jesus and Peter climb in, the wind stops, and everyone in the boat worships Him. That should make us careful with the sermon that says the whole lesson here is to get out of the boat.
So carry this picture with you today. Think of something you asked the Lord about and got an answer on, and then spent the next two weeks watching the wind instead of Him. You can look back to Him now. And if you are already sinking, Peter's prayer is enough, "Lord, save me," because Jesus reaches out His hand immediately.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 89 is Betrothed Forever (Hosea 2:19).