An Epistle Illustrated by a Psalm
(No. 2538)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, OCTOBER 10, 1897.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, In connection with the
dedication of the Jubilee House, which commemorated the completion of
the beloved Pastor's 500th year, June 19, 1886.
"You have pushed me violently that I might fall: but the LORD helped
me. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation."
Psalm 118:13,14.
In memory of my 50th birthday, our friends have built a house at the
back of the Tabernacle, to be used for the purposes of the Church, and
to be called JUBILEE HOUSE. It will be a lasting Ebenezer bearing this
witness, "Hitherto has the Lord helped us." I was asked to select a
text of Scripture to put upon a stone which all could read and,
thereby, be made to understand the meaning of the house and its name.
The chosen text of Scripture (Psalm 118:13-18) was cut into a stone
after a fashion, but the words were not set forth in full–the mason
thought it sufficient to inscribe the chapter and the verses. Now, as
people do not generally carry their Bibles with them to refer to, this
appeared to me to be a failure. I like a matter made boldly clear, so
that he may run that reads it! Therefore, I have had the words,
themselves, engraved upon a large slab of marble, to be read by all of
our day and by coming generations, also. I believe that such memorials
silently work for lasting good and the more of them the better. In this
case, at least, if there are not "sermons in stones," there will be
texts of sermons, which is even better.
The passage which is thus made conspicuous is a truthful summary of my
personal experience in reference to the faithfulness of God. It may
seem to be a long inscription, but I could not afford to give up a line
of it. David wrote of himself and I can appropriate every word as
descriptive of God's dealings with me. Let me read the whole of it in
your hearing–"YOU HAVE PUSHED ME VIOLENTLY THAT I MIGHT FALL: BUT THE
LORD HELPED ME. THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH AND SONG, AND HE HAS BECOME MY
SALVATION. THE VOICE OF REJOICING AND SALVATION IS IN THE TABERNACLES
OF THE RIGHTEOUS: THE RIGHT HAND OF THE LORD DOES VALIANTLY. THE RIGHT
HAND OF THE LORD IS EXALTED: I SHALL NOT DIE, BUT LIVE, AND DECLARE THE
WORKS OF THE LORD. THE LORD HAS CHASTENED ME SORELY, BUT HE HAS NOT
GIVEN ME OVER TO DEATH."
You may not see why this Scripture is strikingly suitable to the
occasion, but I see it most clearly and, as it is my own testimony, I
will endeavor to make you sympathize with me in it by explaining it. I
would say to you, "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His
name forever." A life so full of the loving kindness of the Lord should
yield more praise to God than any one tongue can possibly utter. "The
Lord has done great things for us, thereof we are glad." Let us,
therefore, praise Him with all our hearts!
Christian experience is the richest product of Grace and it ought to be
laid at the feet of the Well-Beloved from whom it comes, and to whom it
belongs. What God has done for one of His people is an indication of
what He will do for others of His chosen. The Lord's Providences are
promises and His benedictions are predictions. To be silent concerning
the loving kindness of the Lord is a robbery of the worst kind–it is
taking from our God the glory due unto His holy name.
Some are afraid to tell what the Lord has done for them–lost men would
count them boastful and proud–but this is usually quite a groundless
fear. A sense of the goodness of God tends to humble a man and to make
him lie low at the feet of his Savior. The more conscious he is of the
Grace that has been so richly bestowed upon him, the more will he
realize his own unworthiness of such abounding mercy. The best of men
have continually to endure severe heart-troubles and to mourn over
inward failures, so that when they tell how the Lord has delivered them
with His right hand and His holy arm, there is little in that
confession to minister to self-conceit. The wine that is pressed from
the grapes of Christian gratitude will never cause anyone to be
intoxicated with pride.
It may also be remarked that many of those who never bear witness to
the goodness of the Lord are quite as proud as they could very well
become and, therefore, the evil of self-exaltation would seem to be a
natural weed which grows on any soil. Our business is to pull up the
weed and not to lay the blame of its existence on what is a harmless
and even a beneficial thing. If a dim eye is apt to be dazzled with
light, that is no reason why every man should put his candle under a
bushel. To kill one evil by encouraging another is a doubtful gain and
a sure loss. Dear Brother, if the Lord has dealt well with you, publish
it to the honor of His name and to the strengthening of your brethren!
God has not blessed you for yourself, or given you bread that you may
eat your morsel alone! But He intends that everything He entrusts to
you should be employed for the good of all your brethren. It were a
pity that a householder should be too modest to feed his family, or a
Christian so much afraid of egotism as to refuse to cheer his fellow
travelers.
I would stir up all experienced Believers to speak well of the name of
the Lord. Do not conceal the loving kindness of the Lord. It is too
much our nature to tell out our sorrows–let us not be silent as to our
joys. If we fall into a little trouble, we run from one to another and
repeat it till it eats into our souls like a burning acid. We do not
let the funeral bells be still, but the marriage peals lie quiet year
after year. Let us be eloquent upon our mercies and silent upon our
miseries! Why should we have a shout for our complaints and scarcely a
whisper for our thanksgivings? Shall we leave behind us no memorials
but gravestones? Generations gone before us have cheered us into
confidence by the records which they have left behind of the Lord's
great goodness–shall we not, also, bequeath a testimony to our
descendants? Do we mean to pass on to them a flying roll written within
and without with lamentations? Shall they inherit a dreary desert of
unbelief? Far from it! We will write them songs of praises to be sung
upon their stringed instruments from century to century! We will
engrave upon eternal brass the inscription, "The Lord is good, and His
mercy endures forever, and His truth throughout all generations!"
We now come to the first verses of our chosen inscription–"You have
pushed me violently that I might fall: but the LORD helped me. The Lord
is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation." David
remembered his past conflicts–the scars were in his flesh. I will
handle the text in the way which the Apostle points out to me in the
fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, at the third, fourth and
fifth verses–"Tribulation works patience; and patience, experience;
and experience, hope: and hope makes not ashamed." First, in my text, I
see tribulation and patience. "You have pushed me violently that I
might fall." In the second place, I see patience and experience. "But
the LORD helped me." And in the third place, I see experience and hope
that makes not ashamed. ' 'The Lord is my strength and song, and He has
become my salvation."
I. First, then, in the text I see TRIBULATION AND PATIENCE–"You have
pushed me violently that I might fall."
Perhaps, in that word, "you," David points to all his enemies as if
they had been so united in their hate and so undivided in their
attacks, that he looked at them as one single person. If they had not
one neck, they were guided by one head and excited by one heart. Yet
David had many enemies–so many that in another place he compares them
to bees compassing him about. It may be for the information of some who
have lately become Christians, if I tell them that as surely as ever
they are the followers of Jesus, they will find themselves the object
of enmity. That same Master who has come to make men peaceable, also
says in another sense, "Think not I am come to send peace on earth: I
came not to send peace, but a sword." In bringing in peace, we
necessarily contend with the contentious. In establishing
righteousness, we inevitably wage war against injustice and oppression.
Truth must always strive against error and holiness must battle against
sin. Do not expect to be wafted to Heaven on the wings of fame–you may
have to force your way there in the teeth of slander!
Our pilgrimage may cause us blistered feet, for it is no holiday trip,
but a stern march. It is an up-hill journey to Glory and that man had
need be a hardy mountaineer who resolves to ascend into the hill of the
Lord and to dwell in His Holy Place. You will be attacked on all
sides–yes, even from within. Your own household may furnish you the
most desperate of your foes–yes, your own bed may supply the cruelest
adversary. From every corner an arrow may be aimed at you. In work and
rest, in the world and in the Church you may be called upon to draw
your sword! Strange is it that we may do the maddest actions and awaken
no opposition–but the moment we become truly wise, all men are up in
arms against us! Is there nothing to ridicule in all the world save the
fear of God? Many of God's people, both in private life and in public
stations, find that their piety acts upon the ungodly as a red rag upon
a bull–they close their eyes and rush fiercely to the attack. The
ribald throng no sooner catch sight of a Christian than they cry, "Here
is a target for our witticisms. Let us be sarcastic with him."
If you do not meet with that kind of persecution, yet you will have to
endure affliction and temptation in the world. He who is born for the
Crown is bound for the Cross. A thousand snares are laid in your path
and only He who made you a Christian can cover your head and carry you
safely through the bombardment which awaits you. "They compassed me
about like bees," says David. That is to say, they were very many and
very furious. When bees are excited, they are among the most terrible
of assailants. Their stings are sharp and they inject a venom which
sets the blood on fire. I read, the other day, of a traveler in Africa
who learned this by experience. Negroes were pulling his boat up the
river and as the rope trailed along, it disturbed a bee's nest, and in
a moment the bees were upon him in his cabin. He said that he was stung
in the face, the hands and the eyes. He was, all over, a mass of fire,
and to escape from his assailants he plunged into the river, but they
still persecuted him, attacking his head whenever it emerged from the
water. After what he suffered from them, he said he would sooner meet
two lions at once, or a whole herd of buffaloes, than ever be attacked
by bees, again! So that the simile which David gives is a very striking
one.
A company of mean-spirited, wicked men, who are no bigger than bees,
mentally or spiritually, can get together and sting a good man in a
thousand places till he is well-near maddened by their scorn, their
ridicule, their slander and their misrepresentation! Their very
littleness gives them the power to wound with impunity. Such has been
the experience of some of us, especially in days now happily past. For
one, I can say, I grew used to falsehood and spite. The stings, at
last, caused me no more pain than if I had been made of iron! But at
first they were galling enough. Do not be surprised, dear Friends, if
you have the same experience. Look for it and when it comes, count it
no strange thing, for in this way the saints of God have been treated
in all time. Thank God the wounds are not fatal, nor of long
continuance! Time brings ease and use creates hardihood. No real harm
has come to any of us who have run the gauntlet of abuse–not even a
bruise remains.
But I do not think that this is quite all that the Psalmist meant. He
intended to point out some grand adversary who had led the attack–"You
have thrust sore at me." Perhaps it was Saul. Perhaps Ahithophel.
Perhaps his own son, Absalom. In our case, we remember no adversary but
Satan–"you"–I think I see him now before me. That dread fallen
spirit, the arch-enemy of our souls. "O Satan, you have thrust sorely
at me!" Many a child of God must utter this exclamation. It is no fault
of Satan's if we are not quite destroyed! It is not for want of malice,
or subtlety, or fury, or perseverance on the devil's part if we still
hold the field! He has met us many times, using all kinds of weapons,
shooting from the right hand and from the left. He has tempted us to
pride and despair, to care and to carelessness, to presumption and to
idleness, to self-confidence and to mistrust of God! We are not
ignorant of his devices, nor inexperienced in his cruelties. He has
fixed himself in our memory so that we recognize him and cry, "You have
thrust sorely at me."
I know that I am addressing many saints of God who can use David's
language with emphasis–"You have pushed me violently that I might
fall," for I dwell among a tried and tempted people. The battle between
the soul of the Believer and the devil is a stern one. No doubt there
are multitudes of inferior spirits who tempt men and tempt them
successfully, too, but they are much more easily put aside by godly men
than their great leader can be. Apollyon is master of legions and
possesses the highest degree of power and craftiness. He who has once
stood foot to foot with him will know that Christian was, indeed, hard
put to it in the Valley of Humiliation, when the dragon stopped the
pilgrim's way and made him fight for his life. Bunyan says–"In this
combat no man can imagine, unless he has seen and heard, as I did, what
yelling and hideous roaring Apollyon made all the time of the fight! He
spoke like a dragon and, on the other side, what sighs and groans burst
from Christian's heart. I never saw him, all the while, give so much as
one pleasant look, till he perceived he had wounded Apollyon with his
two-edged sword. Then, indeed, he did smile and looked upward–but it
was the most dreadful sight I ever saw."
No Christian will find much to smile at while he is contending for his
faith, his hope, his life with this most cruel of foes! Messengers of
Satan buffet us terribly, but Satan, himself, wounds desperately.
Therefore we are wisely taught to pray, "Deliver us from the Evil One."
Single combat with the arch-enemy will strain every muscle of the soul
and pain every nerve of the spirit. It will force the cold sweat from
the brow and make the heart leap with palpitations of fear and thus, in
some degree, bring us to our Gethsemane and make us feel that the pains
of Hell have gotten hold of us. This prince of darkness has a sharp
sword, great cunning of fence, tremendous power of aim, and boundless
malice of heart! And thus he is no mean adversary, but one whom it is a
terrible trial to meet. In his dread personality is contained a mass of
danger for us poor mortals and, as we think of our experience of him in
the past, we cry with emphasis, "You have thrust sorely at me!"
Carefully notice that while David thus speaks of one enemy, he
indicates the subtlety of his attack by the language which he uses–"
You have thrust sorely at me." That is not a cutting with the edge of
the sword, but a piercing with the rapier, a stabbing with a dagger! A
practiced soldier may guard himself against the full swing of the
sword, but the rapier leaps in all of a sudden and reaches the heart.
Armor protected the ancient warrior from the sword, but the thrust
found out the joint of the harness and penetrated the body. Thus Satan
deals with us. We stand upon our guard against him and we fancy we have
shielded ourselves at all points from head to foot. We watch him, for
we are not ignorant of his devices, And when he smites, we turn his
blow aside. Again falls his stroke and we ward it off, but just when we
half think that we may rest a minute, the rapier is thrust in and the
blood flows! Ah, me, I have heard of a ruler who, in olden times, wore
armor all day and all night long for a full year, for he was aware that
an assassin dogged his footsteps. But it grew burdensome to wear this
heavy suit continually, so he took it off and within five minutes he
was stabbed and dead! Mind that you never remove your armor, for the
foe who seeks your destruction watches you so carefully that he will
perceive your momentary carelessness.
Even with your armor on, you may not be secure, for he knows where the
joints are, where one piece of the harness fits into another and how to
give his thrust where it will count. O God, if Your servants are kept
throughout life secure from such a foe as this, how they will glorify
Your blessed name! In each case where, "that Evil One touches him not,"
the Lord will have a grateful minstrel to sound forth His praise
eternally, even as I do this day!
Remember, also, dear Friends, that the design of these assaults is most
malicious. The objective of the enemy is to make us sin–"You have
pushed me violently that I might fall." That is, either that I might
fall from my upright walk in true doctrine, or that I might decline
from my first love, or, worst of all, that I might stumble into open
sin and dishonor my profession. Satan would not be content for us to
stagger–he desires that we fall. He has fallen and he would hurl us
down if he could. This he especially desires for those who take the
lead in the Church of God. If they were seen to fall, the devil would
publish the wretched news through all the streets of Hades! The
triumphant shout, "A champion of God has fallen," would be heard both
on earth and in Hell and it would cause great rejoicing! If, in this
warfare, "The standard-bearer falls, as fall full well he may," for I
never heard, yet, of a more deadly fray, then the wish of Apollyon will
be gratified and his wretched soul will feel as much of satisfaction as
its misery can know! Oh, what a mercy to be kept standing where the
ground is so slippery, where so many have fallen, where we, ourselves,
are so apt to slide, and where such cunning foes are ready to push us
down!
What gratitude we owe to Him who has given His angels charge concerning
us, to keep us in all our ways! How earnestly should we adore Him who
has kept us from falling and who will still do so till He presents us
faultless before His Father's face! In the course of 50 years, many
have been the times when my feet had almost gone–and I cannot forget
them. I remember traveling in the Alps over a road that they called
Hell Place because the rocks were so terribly smooth that neither men
nor mules could get sure foothold. I was glad when that bit of the road
was passed, even as I am this day happy to have come so far on my
journey. "When I said, my foot slips; Your mercy, O Lord, held me up."
I would at this moment bless the Lord who keeps the feet of His saints.
II. I turn from the first to the second head, that I may speak of
patience and experience–"You have pushed me violently that I might
fall, but the LORD helped me."
It would be well to set those words to music and let the whole
congregation of the faithful sing aloud with glad hearts, "But the Lord
helped me." The bass would sound well from a venerable Brother who
would roll it forth ponderously, "The Lord helped me" And many an aged
Sister would take another part and sing, in a higher key, "The Lord
helped me." Fathers and mothers, who have had a large family of
children about them and have, by a hard struggle, brought them up, will
each one sing, "Hitherto has the Lord helped me," while the lone
sufferer will sing, "I was brought low, and He helped me." The younger
Believers, though they have not gone so far on the journey, have,
nevertheless, had their share of trial and of Grace–they also can each
one say, "The Lord helped me." Let it go round the assembly, till every
child of God has added his note and the enemy, in his deep abodes, can
hear us shout exultingly, "You have pushed me violently that I might
fall: but Jehovah helped me!"
Helped me to what? Well, helped me, first, to believe, for David
evidently had trusted in the Lord and found it better than trusting in
man. Satan makes a special attack upon our faith. If he could destroy
it, he would have captured the citadel of our spiritual life. But this
he cannot do. Faith is a dear child of the Holy Spirit and He that
creates faith will not desert it, but keep it as the apple of His eye.
He gives more Grace and increases our faith! He enables us to trust our
God and to hold fast by His way. It is He who has helped our faith to
"laugh at impossibilities and say, 'It shall be done.'" In the dark
hour, the Lord has given us to see by faith and in the storm He has
made us to ride the billows by faith. That is the great matter, for so
long as faith survives, hope is not sick unto death! I do not doubt
that some of you wonder tonight that your faith has survived the putrid
skepticism of the age, the stagnant atmosphere of indifference, the
foul air of heresy which surrounds all things. If it were possible, the
enemies of Christ would deceive the very elect, but the godly live by
faith!
Next, the Lord has not only helped us to believe, but He has helped us
to pray. When David was brought low, then he prayed, and from this holy
practice we have never desisted, though tempted many a time to do so.
Long waiting for an answer has been an inducement to many of you to
cease from pleading. But, like the poor importunate widow, you have
pressed your suit and now you are able to bear witness that it is no
vain thing to wait upon the Lord! Who was it that kept you pleading?
Was it not the Lord who helped you to continue in prayer? You would
soon have heard the devil say, "Behold, he has ceased to pray," if the
Lord had not daily led you to the Mercy Seat and enabled you to plead,
there, the sprinkled blood. The fire of devotion would have been
quenched by the black fiend who threw water upon it if it had not been
secretly kept alive by One who was hidden behind the wall and secretly
poured oil upon the flames! Men do not cry to their Heavenly Father, in
their closets, unless the Divine Spirit draws them into this hallowed
communion! Jacob wrestled with the Angel because the Angel wrestled
with him. When the Holy Spirit creates in us the inwrought prayer, it
is sure to be an effectual prayer–but the ineffectual prayers of our
own unaided spirit are such failures that we are soon induced to give
them up. Help in prayer is the best of help! God never fails that man
in public whom He has strengthened in private. So long as our
infirmities are helped by the Spirit in prayer, we may rest assured
that they will also be helped in all other respects. When blind Samson
began to pray for strength, it was a sign that, notwithstanding all
that the enemy had done against him, he was yet to win a great victory
and declare again that the Lord had helped him!
Surely, this text also means that as the enemy tries to make us fall,
so God has helped us to stand. O child of God, if you have maintained
your integrity. If with all your losses you have never been
unrighteous, but have been honest before God. If, under slander you
have not lost your temper, nor rendered railing for railing. If, when
much tempted of the devil, you have still said, "Get you behind me,
Satan," and have strived against him, then you are ready with all your
heart to Bless the Lord who has helped you! The way of the upright is
beset with snares and he who has run therein for many years without
stumbling is, indeed, favored of the Lord!
When I think of some professors of my acquaintance who have grievously
defiled their garments, I hope that they will be saved, but I know that
it must be "so as by fire." This reflection makes me pray God that
others of us and especially that I, myself, may be graciously preserved
so that we do not transgress. How can we stand, so feeble, so
encompassed with infirmity and tempted in so many points, unless our
God shall help us? Hitherto He has helped us and, therefore, we look
forward to the future with a joyous confidence!–
"He who has led will lead
All through the wilderness.
He who has fed will feed.
He who has blessed will bless.
He who has heard your cry
Will never close His ears.
He who has marked your faintest sigh
Will not forget your tears.
He loves always, fails never.
We rest on Him today, forever!"
Beside that, God has helped us to fight. "You have thrust sorely at
me," says David, "But the LORD helped me." Helped him to do what? Why,
to thrust back, again, quite as sorely against his spiritual foes! He
says of the bees, in the verse to which we have referred, "In the name
of the Lord will I destroy them." Some of us can thank God that we have
kept our fighting arm in trim till this very day. A bow of steel is
broken by our arms even now. We have not changed our testimony for
Christ, nor cast away our confidence which has great recompense of
reward. We have been sorely put to it by the Rationalists of the age,
but still we have held up the Gospel and nothing but the Gospel! And
still we cry, "God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world." Dear Brothers and Sisters, take care that when the battle
rages you do not stand altogether on the defensive. Carry the war into
the enemy's country! Let us not only hold our own, but seek to win
souls for Christ! Let us put Satan on the defensive–it is much better
for us to attack him than to be attacked by him. Let us give him cause
to look to his own domains, that he may not have so much force to spare
for his onslaughts upon us.
When poor Christian was down under Apollyon's foot, his life was nearly
pressed out of him, but he saw that as God would have it, the sword
which had fallen out of his hand was just within his reach. So he
stretched out his hand and grasped that, "sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God," and therewith he gave his adversary such a terrible
stab that he spread his dragon-wings and flew away! Oh, to give the
fiend such a stab as that! Let us proclaim the promises! Let us
proclaim the Gospel! Let us publish everywhere the Free Grace of
God–and in this way we shall turn the battle to the gate and cause
those who pursued us to be, themselves, pursued. Hallelujah for the
Cross of Christ! We bear it forward into the ranks of the foe,
confident of victory! Our courage fails not, neither does our hope wax
faint–the Lord who has helped us is the God of victories! "The Lord of
Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge."
III. I will conclude this meditation with the third head, which is,
EXPERIENCE AND A HOPE THAT MAKES
NOT ASHAMED.
What says the voice of experience? "The Lord is my strength and song,
and He has become my salvation." When you are home, I wish you would
read the song of Moses which the children of Israel sang at the Red
Sea. You will find that these words are borrowed from that grand old
song. One of our proverbs says, "Old songs and old wine are the best."
Certainly they lose nothing by age and we may truly say of this blessed
verse that it is all the sweeter because there is a ring of Miriam's
timbrels about it–and we note the sound of dancing feet as we read the
words! Hear you not the glorious shout, "Sing unto the Lord, for He has
triumphed gloriously. The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has
become my salvation"? Come then, Brothers and Sisters, let us sing this
song upon our stringed instruments all the days of our lives!
First, our God has become our strength. We are weak enough, but what a
power is His! He is our strength to suffer, giving us patience. He is
our strength to work, working in us, with us, by us. He is our strength
to fight, for it is He that girds us for the battle. The Lord is our
strength–what an unfailing fountain of force! Did you say, just now,
"I will speak no more in the name of the Lord"? Did you complain of
being dull and weak? Have you forgotten where your strength lies? Did
you allude to your own native strength? Indeed, that is utter weakness!
Complain of it as much as you please, for in you there is neither power
nor wisdom! But would it not be wise to remember that your real
strength is the Lord? "The Lord is my strength." In such a case,
weakness is lost, and I can say, with Paul, "When I am weak, then am I
strong."
Did I hear you say, my dear Sister, that you would have to give up that
Bible class because you do not feel equal to it? What do you mean by
being equal to it? Why, that you do not seem to have the personal
strength! That is no news! It is well that you remember it and are
emptied of your former self-reliance! Still, believe that in you there
is no spiritual power and turn at once to the Strong for strength! When
a man is called to any holy work, the sooner he is persuaded that he is
not, of himself, equal to it, the better! But, at the same time, it
will be well for him to receive that further persuasion–"The Lord is
my strength." If the Holy Spirit takes possession of a man, or a woman,
what can they not say? What can they not do? The Lord can take up the
poorest worm among us and make him thresh the mountains till they
become like chaff! Let us, therefore, sing this charming sonnet with
all our hearts, "The Lord is my strength." I will rely in no degree
upon oratorical power, or human learning, or natural gifts, or acquired
aptitude, or on anything that I have, but I will rest in the Lord
alone. Brother, when God is your strength, you are girt with
Omnipotence! Go to your work, whatever it may be, and believe in the
Lord as to your ability to perform it.
A Negro slave used to explain what practical faith meant in this
manner–"Why, Massa, if de Lord say, 'Sam, jump tro' that wall,' all
Sam got to do is to jump; it's God's part to get him tro' the wall."
Just so. He who gives the command will justify it by enabling us to
obey it if we give our whole hearts to the doing of it. If God bids you
do what is quite beyond your strength, it is yours to proceed in the
way of obedience–and God will enable you to accomplish His bidding. He
never did send His soldiers on a warfare at their own charges and He
never will. He will supply His armies with rations, and weapons and
ammunition–you can be you sure of that. He does not reap where He has
not sown, nor gather where He has not strewed. He is the Lord
All-Sufficient when we are most insufficient. With Him for our
strength, we cannot faint, or fail, but, on the contrary, we shall
renew our force and rise continually to something higher and better
than before.
Notice the next word, our God has also become our song.' 'The Lord is
my strength and song." I find that the commentators refer this to the
period after the battle, so that it may mean, "The Lord is my strength
while I am waging the war, and my song when I have won the victory."
This is an excellent sense, but another seems, to me, more clearly in
the words, "The Lord is my strength and song." Both are in the present
tense–we sing while we fight! When Cromwell's men marched to battle,
singing a grand old Psalm with one accord, the battle was half won
before they struck a blow! Their hearts were fortified and their arms
were strengthened by their song. Do you desire a far nobler example?
Your great Lord and mine, when He went to His last tremendous conflict
where the powers of darkness marshaled all their strength against Him,
and He strove until He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood–how did
He go?
Here is the answer, "After supper, they sang a hymn." After they had
sung a hymn they went out into the Mount of Olives, that is, to
Gethsemane–He went to His agony singing! That brave heart was about to
be deserted by His friends and even forsaken of His God, but into that
deadly contest, wherein He must be cast into the disgrace and dishonor
of scourging and shameful spitting–even to that, our Champion went
with a song upon His lips because the Lord was His song! So, my
Friends, while we are working, let us sing! You will do your work much
better if your hands keep time to a cheery strain. While we are
fighting let us sing and plant our blows while we chant our
hallelujahs–
"Ever this our war cry– Victory, victory!"
Let us claim the victory, anticipate it and shout it while yet we are
contending! On our beds let us sing God's high praises and magnify Him
in the midst of the fires! Set your whole lives to music. Make your
entire career a Psalm. Let not your life be a dirge, as it is with
some, who, from morning till night, are mournfully wailing miseries.
Let us not moan out, to the tune, "Job"–
"Lord, what a wretched land is this, That yields us no supply!" But let
us lift up our voices to some such jubilant hymn as this–
"The men of Grace have found Glory begun below! Celestial fhuits on
earthly ground From faith and hope may grow. Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry! We're marching through Immanuel's ground To
fairer worlds on high!"
But what shall we sing about? Well, "The Lord is my song." Sing the
Father and His eternal love. Sing how He chose His people and made them
His own before the earth was. Sing the Son of God, whose delights were
with the sons of men before He came here to dwell. Tell how He took our
flesh to take away our guilt. Tell how He died and rose again, and led
captivity captive, and ascended up on high! Tell how He will surely
come again to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords when the earth shall
ring with welcome hosannas at His glorious appearing! Make that your
song, but do not forget to sing the Holy Spirit's love. Magnify the
Holy Spirit, the Illuminator, Comforter, Guide, abiding Advocate and
Paraclete. You will never need to cease from this song, for, "this God
is our God forever and ever! He will be our Guide even unto death."
Glory be unto the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!
Whenever I grow very dull through pain, or heavy through lack of sleep,
I say to myself, "I will note down what I owe to God of praise, which I
cannot just now pay to Him, that I may do so when I get a little
better." And then my conscience chides me, saying, "Praise Him NOW!
Bless God for aching bones! Bless God for a weary head! Bless God for
troubles and trials, for he who can so praise the Lord is singing a
truer and more acceptable song than youth, health and happiness can
present!" A seraph never praised God with an aching head. Cherubs never
blessed the Lord upon a sick bed–so you will excel even the angels if
you magnify the Lord in sickness! Why should you not, since you also
can say, "The Lord is my strength and song"?
The close of the text says, "and He has become my salvation." Brothers
and Sisters, after all our experience, we know that there is salvation
in none but the Lord. If we have not any experience because we only
began to believe in Jesus Christ five minutes ago, yet we know that He
has become our salvation. The moment we trust the Savior, we are saved.
But I want you to consider this little sentence and so to believe it
intelligently. What do I mean when I say that you are saved? If you
believe in Jesus, you are saved from the guilt of sin. Yes, bless God
for pardon! But do you not know that you are also saved from the power
of sin? The dominion of sin is over! It lives like a snake with its
head broken. It wriggles and writhes, but its head is crashed! The
power of sin in every Believer is overcome–there is no sin from which
we cannot escape. There is no evil habit that we cannot cast off if we
are really saved. The Lord has become our salvation from all sin!
"Alas," cries one, "I have to endure very fierce temptation."
Temptation in itself cannot harm you if you do not yield to it. And you
need not, for the Lord has become your salvation! Temptation is, "the
time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." "Oh, but I
am so poor and I am so sick, and I am so tried in a thousand ways!"
Never mind, you are saved from all the evil which is in these trials!
Affliction cannot hurt you–nothing of that kind can do you any injury,
for the Lord has become your salvation. "Oh, but think of the dark,
black night which may come over us in the future!" Never fear–He who
has become your salvation will be your light. You are as safe in the
dark as in the light, if the Lord has become your Helper. "But I have
to die." Bless God for that! It were not worth while living if we could
not die! It is the very joy of this earthly life to think that it will
come to an end! What would a sailor say who was on a voyage that would
never bring him to a port? What would a traveler say if he was toiling
along a road which would never bring him home? Blessed be God, we shall
come to the pearly gates, by-and-by! Let us not be alarmed about that,
for the Lord has become our salvation.
We are saved from death–we cannot really die! We shall fall asleep, to
wake up in the likeness of our Lord. Blessed sleep! Who does not long
for it? "He has become my salvation," not for a time, but forever–my
sure salvation, my eternal salvation! Therefore, take courage and let
us go forward in our walk and warfare, for this is our note of victory,
as it was the hymn of Moses and the children of Israel at the Red Sea,
"The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He
is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation; my father's God, and I
will exalt Him." Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen.