A Consistent Walk for Time to Come
(No. 3030)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1907.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, DURING THE YEAR 1864.
"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him."
Colossians 2:6.
THOUGH the shepherd cares for the lambs and carries them in his arms,
he does not cease his care when they become sheep. But, as long as they
shall need to be tended, so long will he watch over them. Hence it is
that our Apostle, though always quick of eye after newborn souls and
abundantly anxious to bring sinners to a knowledge of the Truth of God
as it is in Jesus, is equally in a conflict of soul for the spiritual
healthfulness of those who have been born-again. Our text contains one
of those loving admonitions. It is addressed, not to the ungodly, not
to those who are strangers to our Lord and Master, but to those who
have "received Christ Jesus the Lord." Longing for their spiritual good
and anxious that they should be established in the faith, he admonishes
them thus, "As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in
Him."
In endeavoring, by God's help, to speak upon this subject, we shall
have three points. There is here, first, a fact stated concerning
Believers–they have "received Christ Jesus the Lord." Then there is an
exhortation, or a counsel, offered to such–"walk in Him." Besides
which we have a model held up for our imitation. How are we to walk in
Him? Why, just in the same way as we at first received Him! Let our
first coming to Christ be to us the mirror of how we shall walk in Him
all our days.
I. All true Christians are here described in the text as HAVING
RECEIVED CHRIST JESUS THE LORD.
The first point to which I would particularly direct your attention is
the personality of this reception. Believers have, it is true, received
Christ's words. They prize every precept, they value every Doctrine,
but this is not all. They have received Christ Himself. While they have
received Christ's ordinances and are not slow to walk in obedience to
the things which He has commanded, they do not stay here. They have
received Christ Himself–His Person, His Godhead and His Humanity. They
have "received Christ Jesus the Lord." And, mark you, there is a very
great distinction here–and also a great mystery. A great distinction,
I say, for there are some who do, I think, wholly believe the doctrines
which Christ has taught, and are profoundly orthodox, full of an
earnest controversial spirit for the faith once delivered to the saints
and yet, for all that, they do not seem to have received Him, the very
Christ of God! And, truly, there are many who have received both
Baptism and the Lord's Supper, yet, despite what any may say, we
believe that they have not received Christ, but are still as great
strangers to Him as though they had only passed through the rites
common to mankind, or the rites in which heathens indulge! There is a
vast difference between the outward reception of the Doctrine, or the
ordinance, and the inward reception of Christ.
We also said that herein is a mystery–such a mystery that only he who
has received Christ can understand. The preacher cannot tell you what
it is to receive Christ. Human language is not adapted to convey to the
mind this deep enigma, this matchless secret. We know what it is, for
"truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus
Christ." We can describe it in such a measure that our friends who have
also received Christ will know that we understand the mystery–but to
the carnal mind it will always remain a puzzle how Christ can be "in us
the hope of glory"–how we can eat His flesh and drink His blood. They
run away to some carnal interpretation and suppose that the bread is
turned into flesh at the Eucharist or that the wine is transformed into
blood. That is carnal talk and this they talk because they know not
what is the mystery of this receiving Christ and this walking in
Christ.
This much, however, we may affirm. The Believer has received Christ
into his knowledge. He knows Him to be God and to be Man. He knows Him
to be set forth of the Father as the Redeemer, but, he also knows Him
by a personal acquaintance. His eyes have not seen Him and yet he has
looked to Him and has, by faith, seen the King in His beauty! His hands
have not handled Him and yet there has been a secret touch by which the
virtue has come out of Christ and has flowed into him! He has never sat
down at a Communion Table when Christ has been physically present and
yet full often he could say, "He brought me to the banqueting house and
His banner over me was love." He has talked with me as a man talks with
his friend and the strongest sense that can be attached to that sweet
word, "communion," is tame in reference to the Believer's connection
with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ! And in that sense of knowing
Him, intimately knowing Him, the Believer has received Christ!
Not only has he received Christ into his cognizance, but into his
understanding. He understands, with all saints, the love of Jesus in
its height, depth, length and breadth. He has so seen Christ as to
understand of Him that He was before all time as the Ancient of Days
and then had His delights with the sons of men in the great Covenant
decree of electing love. He understands how He became made flesh with
us–married to us–when He came on earth, the Son of Mary, "bone of our
bone, and flesh of our flesh." He knows by experience what is the
meaning of the Atonement. He can understand how Justice is satisfied
and Grace magnified. Without confounding or making mistakes, he knows
how God was always gracious and full of love and yet how Christ Jesus
came that the love of God might be shed abroad in our hearts and we
were reconciled unto God by His death. Hence the Christian does not
read of Christ as though He were a mere historical personage, nor of
His work as a great mystery which he cannot comprehend, but he has
received Christ into his understanding!
Ah, Beloved! This is a very poor and shallow sense compared with the
next. I have received but one ounce of Christ into my understanding,
but, bless His name, I have received the whole of Him into my
affections. Good Rutherford used to pray for a larger heart, that he
might hold more of Christ and, perhaps, you remember that strange
extravaganza of prayer in which he says, "Oh, that I had a heart as
deep, and wide, and high as Heaven, that I might hold Christ in it!"
And then he said, "Since the Heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, oh,
that I had a heart as vast as seven heavens, that I might get the whole
of Christ into me and hold Him in my arms!" And truly, Christian, in
one sense you have taken all of Christ into your soul, have you not? Do
you not love Him–not a part of Him, but the whole of Him? I hope you
can truly say to Christ–
"Have You a lamb in all Your flock
I would disdain to feed?
Have You a foe, before whose face
I fear Your cause to plead?
You know I love You, dearest Lord
But oh, I long to soar
Far from the sphere of mortal joys–
And learn to love You more!" We must not leave this part of the subject
without adding that the Believer has received Christ into his trust,
and this he did at his spiritual birth. He received Christ into the
arms of his faith. He took Jesus Christ to be, henceforth, the
unbuttressed pillar of his confidence, the one Rock of his salvation,
his strong castle and high tower. And, in this sense, every soul that
is saved has "received Christ Jesus the Lord."
Our text seems to point to a threefold character in which we have
received Christ. We have received Him as the Christ. My Soul, have you
ever seen Him as the Father's Anointed One–as the Chosen and Sent One,
ordained of old– as One that is mighty, upon whom help should be laid?
Have you seen Him as God's great High Priest, ordained as was Aaron,
chosen of God from among men? Have you looked upon Him as David did, as
One chosen out of the people? We must accept Christ as the Anointed One
and the right way to thus receive Him is to receive Him as the garments
of Aaron received the oil that flowed from his head. Christ is the
Anointed One and then you and I become anointed ones through the Holy
Spirit which distils from Him to us–and so we receive Him as Christ.
And then He is called, "Jesus," and we must receive Him as the Savior.
' 'You shall call His name, Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins." Justification is receiving Christ as Jesus. So is
sanctification! Only I think I must say
justification and pardon receive Christ as Jesus–and sanctification
receives Him as Christ Jesus, both as the Anointed One and the Savior.
May you and I be daily delivered from sin–the guilt and power of
it–and so receive Him as Jesus!
There is a peculiar emphasis about the next expression. The article is
emphatic here, "Christ Jesus the Lord." To me, if I receive Christ, He
must be Lord–not one of the lords that may have dominion over me, but
the Lord, peculiarly and specially. And though hitherto other lords
have had dominion over me, now I am to obey Him and only Him. What do
you say, professor? Have you received Christ Jesus the Lord?Is your
will subject to His will? Do you desire only to act according to His
bidding? Are His commands your desire? Is His will your will? Is He
your Lord? For, mark you, you can never truly receive Him as Christ, or
as Jesus, unless you receive Him as the Lord! Thus, another sense in
which we receive Him is by subjecting ourselves entirely to Him,
sitting at His feet, wearing His yoke, taking up His Cross and bearing
His reproach.
You will note that there is also, in this description of a Christian,
the thought of his entire dependence. The Apostle does not say, "As you
have therefore fought for and won or earned Christ Jesus," but, "as you
have therefore received Him." It is a humbling word which divests the
creature of everything like boasting! What is there to glory in if I am
a receiver? The Apostle in another place says, "If you did receive it,
why do you glory, as if you had not received it?" The vessel that is
filled under the flowing stream cannot boast, though it is ever so
full, for it was naturally empty and owes its fullness to the stream.
The beggar in the street, let him receive gold, yet cannot boast of the
gold because he is a receiver. He who gave must have the honor of the
benefaction–not the person who received! So let your faith be ever so
strong, let your confidence in Christ be ever so glorious, you have
nothing to boast of in it, for you have "received Christ Jesus."
Beloved, here is a test for us–is our religion a receiving religion,
or is it a working and an earning religion? An earning religion sends
souls to Hell! It is only a receivingreligion that will take you to
Heaven! You may tug and toil, and do your best and make yourselves, as
you think, as holy as the best of the Apostles–but when you have done
your utmost, you have done nothing whatever! You have built a house of
cards which shall soon fall down. But when you come as an empty-handed
sinner, having nothing of your own–and receive Christ Jesus–then you
have bowed your will to God's will. Or rather, Divine Grace has bowed
it and you are saved according to the Lord's own word, "He that
believes on Me is not condemned." Thus you have dependence connected
with the personality of the Christian's faith!
We also have here certainty–"As you have received Christ Jesus the
Lord." Oh, how many Christians–I hope they are Christians–talk as if
they really thought it was impossible to attain to any assurance of
faith whatever! It is the fashion with some Christians to say, "Well, I
hope," and, "I trust"–and they have a notion that this is being very
humble-minded. But to say, "I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto
Him," is thought to be pride! The declaration of Job, "I know that my
Redeemer lives," or of the spouse in the Canticles, "My Beloved is
mine, and I am His; He feeds among the lilies," is thought to be vain
presumption and boasting. But indeed, Beloved, it is no such thing!
Doubting is pride, but believing is humility! Let me prove it.
I think I used this illustration among you some little time ago. There
are two children of one parent and the father says to the two children,
"On such a day I intend to give you both a toy which has been the
object of your ambition for many a day." Well, the older boy of the two
sits down and calculates that the present will be expensive–and he
begins to doubt whether his father can afford to purchase it. He
remembers many times in which he has offended his parent, or broken his
parent's commands and, therefore, he doubts whether he shall ever have
it. He feels that he is unworthy– therefore he goes about the house
without any joy, without any confidence. If anybody asks him whether
his father will give him this present or not, he says, "Well, I–I hope
so. I trust so."
Now, there is his little brother and the moment he heard that he was to
have this present, he clapped his hands and ran out to his companions
and said, "I am to have such-and-such a thing given me!" His brother
checked him, "You are too presumptuous to say that." "No," said the
little one, "for Father said he would give these toys to us." "Oh,
but," said the other, "remember that you and I have often broken his
commands!" "But he said he would." "Oh, but the thing is expensive!"
"Ah, but Father said he would and unless you can prove that my father
tells lies, I shall go and rejoice in the bright hope that he will keep
his promise!" Now, I think that the younger of the two is less
presumptuous than his brother, for certainly it is a high presumption
for a child to doubt the veracity of his parent! No matter how
excellent your reasoning may seem to be, and how clear it may be to the
eyes of the flesh, it is always pride to doubt God! And to
believe God–though, to the carnal mind which can never understand the
bravery of faith, it may look like presumption–is always a badge of
the truest and most reverent humility!
Beloved, you mayknow whether you are Christ's or not! I exhort you not
to give sleep to your eyes till you know it! What? Can you rest when
you do not know whether you are saved or not? O Sirs, can you sit down
at your tables and feast–can you go about your daily business with
this thought in your mind, "If I should drop dead, I do not know
whether I should be found in Heaven or in Hell"? I tell you nothing but
certainties will suit my soul! I hope I never shall rest comfortable
while under a doubt of my interest in Christ. Doubts may come–these we
can understand–but to be comfortable under doubts, we hope we never
shall comprehend! No, nothing but to–
"Read my title clear To mansions in the skies"
can give me joy and peace through believing! "You have received Christ
the Lord." Just pass the question around the gallery there, and ask
yourselves down below, "Have I received Christ Jesus the Lord?" Say,
"Yes," or, "No," and God help you to give the answer solemnly as in His
sight!
II. As briefly as possible we turn to notice THE COUNSEL GIVEN–"As you
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." There
are three things suggested by the word, "walk"–continuance, progress,
activity.
To walk in a certain way means continuing in it. Now, Christian, you
took Christ to be your All-in-All, did you not? Well, then, continueto
take Him as your All-in-All. The true way for a Christian to live is to
live entirely upon Christ. Living by frames and feelings is a dying
form of life. "He lived by a feeling experience," said one–and a poor
method of living, too! Christians have experiences and they have
feelings, but, if they are wise, they never feed upon these things, but
upon Christ, Himself. You took Christ to be your All-in-All at first.
You did not, then, mix up your frames and feelings with Him–you looked
entirely out of self to Him. Well now, continue in the same frame of
mind! You sat down at the foot of the Cross and you said–
"Now free from sin, I'll walk at large My Savior's blood's my full
discharge! At His dear feet myself I lay– A sinner saved, and homage
pay."
Well, then stay there! Stay there! Never get an inch beyond that
position. When you get sanctified, still look to Christ as if you were
unsanctified! When you are on the verge of being glorified, look to Him
as if you were just newly come out of the hole of the Pit. Hang upon
Christ, you who are the best, just as though you were the worst! The
same faith which saved Mary Magdalene, which saved Saul of Tarsus–must
save you in the moment when you shall be the nearest to the perfect
image of Christ Jesus! It is "none but Jesus" now to your soul–let it
be "none but Jesus–none but Jesus," as long as you live!
In walking, there is not only continuance, but also progress. After a
man becomes a Christian, he has not to lay again the foundation, but he
has to go on and to advance in the Divine Life. Still, wherever he
shall advance, he is always to say, "None but Christ! Christ is all!"
Depend upon it, every inch of progress that you make beyond a simple
reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ will entail the painful necessity
of your going back. If you begin to patch Christ's robe of
righteousness with the very best rags of your own, no matter how
cleanly you may have washed them, every rag will have to be unraveled,
and every stitch will have to be cut! There is the Rock, Christ Jesus.
Some Christians begin building their own stages on the Rock. How
carefully they tie the timbers together. How neatly they plane and
smooth them. And then they get high up upon these stages that they have
built and they feel so happy–they have such frames! Such feelings!
Such graces! Such fullness! And they are inclined to look down upon
those poor souls who are crying, "None but Jesus!" By-and-by there
comes a storm and the edifice they have built begins to creak, and
crack, and rock to and fro–and they begin to cry, "Ah, where are we
now? Now we shall perish! Now Christ's love begins to dry up! Now He
will fail us!" No–no such thing! It is not Christ who is failing you!
It is not the Rock that is shaking, but what you have built upon the
Rock! Come down from the stage which you have built and, as Job says,
"embrace the Rock for want of a shelter." I believe those souls have
the most safety and comfort who simply trust to Christ. Was it not
Irving who said that he believed his good works had done him more harm
than his bad works had done him, for his bad ones drove him to Christ,
but his good ones led him to rely upon them? And, after all, are not
our good works, bad works, for is there not something in all of them to
make us fly to the fountain of the Savior's blood for cleansing?
"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,"
also implies activity. Christians are not to be lie-a-beds, nor forever
to sit still. There is an activityin religion without which it is of
little worth. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Help the poor. Teach
the ignorant. Comfort the miserable. But take care that when you do all
this, you do it in Christ, and for Christ–and let no thought of merit
stain the act! Let no reflection of getting salvation for yourself come
in to mar it all, but in Christ Jesus walk day by day. Ah, Brothers and
Sisters, if a thunderstorm were to come on just now while we are
sitting here, and if the lightning should come flashing in at these
windows and run with its blue flame down these columns, you and I might
begin to feel some alarm! And if one were struck dead in our presence,
in what kind of state would you and I likely to be amidst such
confusion and alarm? If I were to choose the words which I would like
to say at such a moment, they would be these–
"Nothing in my hands I bring–
Simply to Your Cross I cling." You are on board ship in a storm just
now. There goes a mast into the water! The lifeboats have all drifted
away. The ship is pretty sure to be dashed on yonder rock! Pallor is on
every cheek and turmoil every side. What is your prayer as you kneel
down? What are your thoughts? Do you think, now, about your sermons,
about your visiting the sick, about your prayers and your experiences?
No! I tell you that they will seem to you to be nothing better than
dross and dung when you are in such a state of apprehension! But you
will cling to Christ's Cross and be conveyed to Heaven, let the stormy
winds blow as they will! And if everything were silent, tonight–could
we hear nothing but the ticking of the clock were we, ourselves,
reclining on our death pillow? While loving friends wiped the clammy
sweat from our brow, surely we would, each one, wish to say–
"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness!
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand!
All other ground is sinking sand." Well, walk in Him just as you would
walk in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but walk on the mountaintops
of life's activities!
III. Let us now say a few words on our third point–THE MODEL WHICH IS
PRESENTED TO US HERE. We are to walk in Him as we received Him.
And how did we receive Him? Let us remember. You will not have to
strain your memories much, for, I think, though other days have mingled
with their fellows and, like coins worn in the circulation, have lost
their impression, yet the day when you first received Christ will be as
fresh as though it were newly minted in time. Oh, that first day!–
"Do mind the place, the spot of ground Where Jesus did you meet?" Some
of us can never forget either that place or that time. Well, how did we
receive Christ?'
We received Him very gratefully, having no claim whatever to His Grace.
We felt that we had done everything to deserve God's wrath. We
confessed that there was no merit in us, but we perceived that there
was mercy in Him–
"We saw One hanging on a tree In agonies and blood"
and as He told us to look at Him and assured us that there was life in
a look, we did–and we were lightened, and we found life in Him! Surely
we had shaken our hands of all merit, as Paul shook off the viper into
the fire at Melita. We had no confidence, then, in any resolutions of
our own, in any performances yet to come, much less in anything past.
Well, then, we are to come now as empty-handed as we came then! Our
song is to be–
"Nothing in my hands I bring– Simply to Your Cross I cling." How did
we receive Christ? Well, we received Him very humbly. Whatever pride
may be in our heart–and there is much of it–and, I suppose we shall
never get rid of it till we are wrapped in our winding-sheets–there
was as little that day as we ever had at any other time. Oh, how humbly
did we creep to the foot of the Cross! We were then broken in heart and
contrite in spirit. Ah, Christian, can you remember what humble views
you had of yourself–what a sink of
depravity you felt your heart to be? Do you not recollect Augustine's
expression when he compares himself to a walking dunghill? And did you
not feel yourself to be something of that kind–so base, so loathsome
that you could only stand afar off and cry, ' 'God be merciful to me, a
sinner"? And you cried to Christ just as Peter did, "Lord, save me!"
And just as the sea seemed about to swallow you up, you laid hold upon
His outstretched hand and you were saved! Now, tonight, do the same.
Your danger is as great as ever out of Christ. Your sin is as great as
ever out of Him. Come then, casting away all the pride which your
experiences and graces may have worked in you–come to Him and take Him
for your All-
in-All!
How did we receive Christ? If I recollect rightly–and I think I do–we
received Him very joyfully. Oh, what joy my soul had when first I knew
the Lord! It was holy day in my soul that day. Perhaps we have never
had such joyous days since then, and the reason has been, most likely,
because we have been thinking about other things and have not thought
so much about Christ Jesus the Lord. Come, let us again take Him! The
wine is as sweet–let us drink as deeply as ever. Christ, the Bread of
Heaven, is as nourishing. Come, let us eat as heartily as ever. Fill
your omers, O you poor and weak ones! Gather much, for you shall have
nothing left over. This Manna is very sweet–it tastes like wafers made
of honey. Come to my Master as you came at first and He will give you
to drink of the living waters once again!
How did we receive Christ? I am sure we received Him very graciously.
He stood at the door and knocked, and we said, "Come in." Your Savior,
my dear Friends, was long a stranger to your hearts. "Come in," we
said. We knew that He meant to take the best seat at the table. We
understood that He came as Master and Lord, but we said, "Come in." We
did not quite know all that the Cross might mean, but whatever it might
mean, we meant to take it! Surely that day, when He asked us, "Can you
drink of My cup, and can you be baptized with My Baptism?" our soul
said, "We are able." And though we have been unfaithful to Him, yet I
hope tonight we can take Christ as unreservedly as ever. Had I dreamed,
when first I preached His Gospel, that the way of the ministry would be
so rough and thorny, my flesh would have shunned it! But, despite all,
let it be what it is and ten thousand times worse, come in, my Master!
Come and take Your servant–let me lie like a consecrated bull upon the
altar, to be wholly burned, and not an atom left! Brothers, do you not
feel the same? On this platform I have sometimes prayed that if the
crushing of us might lift Christ one inch higher, it might be so! And
if the dragging of our names through mire and dirt could make Christ's
Church more pure, we have prayed that it might be so! We have prayed
that if any shame, if any dishonor, if any pain might put one more
jewel in His crown than could be there in any other way, we might have
the honor of suffering and being made ashamed for His sake!
And I think, Brothers and Sisters, though the flesh struggles, we may
pray tonight, "Lord, bind the sacrifice with cords, even with cords to
the horns of the altar." We have received Christ and in that same
way–unreservedly, we desire to walk in Him–
"Have you counted the cost? Have you counted the cost
You followers of the Cross?
And are you prepared, for your Master's sake,
To suffer all worldly loss?
And can you endure with that virgin band,
The lowly and pure in heart
Who, where ever the Lamb does lead,
From His footsteps never depart?
Do you answer, 'We can'? Do you answer, 'We can,
Through His love's constraining power'?
But do you remember the flesh is weak,
And will shrink in the trial-hour?
Yet yield to His love who around you now
The bands of a man would cast.
The cords of His love who was given for you
To His altar binding you fast
You may count the cost, you may count the cost
Of all Egypt's treasure,
But the riches of Christ you can never count–
His love you can never measure."
"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him."
But oh, some of you have never received Him, so my last word is to
them. Do you ask, "What is the way of salvation?" It is by receiving
Christ. Oh, then come and receive Him! May the Holy Spirit's power lead
sinners to Christ! You need not bring anything to Him. You need not
bring a soft heart to Him. You need not bring tears of repentance to
Him. But just come and take Christ. Remember, it is not what you are,
but it is what Christ is that saves you! Never look at yourself, but
look at the wounds of Jesus! There is life there. God help you to
look–to look tonight! And if you shall find Him, our prayer shall be
that from this day forth, you shall walk in Him and He shall have the
glory!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM90.
A Prayer of Moses, the Man of God.
It may help us to understand this Psalm if we recollect the
circumstances which surrounded Moses when he was in the desert. For
forty years he had to see a whole generation of people die in the
wilderness. In addition to the deaths which might occur among those who
were born in the wilderness, the whole of that great host which came
out of Egypt, numbering, probably, between two and three million
persons, must lie in their graves in the desert so that there must have
been constant funerals–and the march of the children of Israel could
be perceived along the desert track by the graves which they left
behind them. You do not wonder, therefore, at this expression of the
awe of "Moses, the man of God" as he was so continually reminded of the
mortality of mankind. And note how reverently and trustfully he turns
to the ever-living and eternal God and rests in Him.
Verse 1. LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
"Did not Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all our fathers dwell in
You? And though we are now weary-footed pilgrims who have no fixed
dwelling place on earth, we do dwell in You. You, Lord, are the true
home of all the generations of Your people."
2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or before You had formed
the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are
God. God is the only Being who has had eternal and essential Existence
independently of all others–and all others have owed their existence
to Him.
3. You turn man to destruction and say, Return, you children of men. He
sends us forth into life, and He calls us back again in death.
4. For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is
past, and as a watch in the night Yesterday, while it was with us, was
a short period of 24 hours. But when it is past, it seems like nothing
at all. A thousand years, all big with events which we consider to be
full of weight and importance, make up a long period in which myriads
of men come and go–yet those thousand years, in God's sight, "are but
as yesterday when it is past," or but as the few hours in the night
during which the mariner keeps watch at sea and then is relieved by
another. A thousand years are but "as a watch in the night" to the
Eternal–and He needs no one to relieve Him, for "He that keeps Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep."
5. You carry them away as with a flood. They have no power to stem the
torrent.
5. They are as a sleep. Our earthly existence is but "as a sleep." Many
things are not what they seem to us to be in our fevered dreams. The
time of awaking is coming and then things will appear very different to
us from what they seem to be now.
5. They are like grass which grows up. Fresh, green, vigorous, lovely,
restful to the eyes.
6. In the morning it flourishes, and grows up; in the evening it is cut
down and withers. It needs no long period, ages upon ages, to destroy
its beauty. Only let the swiftly-passing day come to its waning and the
grass "is cut down and withers."
7. For we are consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath are we
troubled. If we had to endure the flames of God's anger, we would be
consumed by it. But I think that Christians should not read this
passage as though it applied to them. They are not under the Divine
anger, nor need they fear being troubled by the Divine wrath, for His
anger is turned away from them through the great atoning Sacrifice of
His Son, Jesus Christ. But the children of Israel in the wilderness
were
being consumed by God's anger and by His wrath they were being
troubled, so that the words of Moses did apply to them.
8, 9. You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the
light of Your Countenance. For all our days are passed away in Your
wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. Like a romance, with
which the Orientals still delight to beguile the passing hours. Such is
the life of man–"as a tale that is told."
10. The days of our years are threescore years and ten. This was a
gloomy fact to Moses, who lived to be 120 years of age and who probably
remembered other men who had been far older than himself. Yet it is
well that the ordinary period of human life has been shortened. It is
still far too long for those who do evil, though it may not be too long
for those who do good. Yet there are, even now, some who outlive their
usefulness, and who might have been happier if they had finished their
course sooner. "The days of our years are threescore years and ten."
10. And if by reason of strength they are fourscore years, yet is their
strength labor and sorrow: for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Where do we fly? That is the all-important point! The cutting of the
string that holds the bird by the foot is a blessing or a curse
according to the way in which it takes its flight. If we fly up to
build our nest on yonder trees of God that are full of sap, then,
indeed, we do well when we fly away. And we may even long for the wings
of a dove, that we may fly away and be at rest.
11, 12. Who knows the power of Your anger? Even according to Your fear,
so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our
hearts unto wisdom. It has been well said that many men will number
their cows, and number their coins, but forget to number their days!
Yet that is a kind of arithmetic that would be exceedingly profitable
to those who practiced it aright. Counting our days and finding them
but few, we should seek to use them discreetly–we should not reckon
that we could afford to lose so much as one of them! Who would be a
spendthrift with so small a store as that which belongs to us?
13, 14. Return, O LORD, how long? And let it repent You concerning Your
servants. O satisfy us early with Your mercy that we may rejoice and be
glad all our days. "If they are but few, yet let them be happy. Give us
an abundance of Your mercy, O Lord, and let us have it at once, so that
however few our days may be, every one of them may be spent in the ways
of wisdom and, consequently, in the ways of peace and happiness."
15. Make us glad according to the days wherein You have afflicted us,
and the years wherein we have seen evil "Balance our sorrows with an
equal weight of joys. Give us Grace equivalent to our griefs and if You
have given us a bitter cup of woe, now let us drink from the golden
chalice of Your love, and so let our fainting spirits be refreshed."
16. Let Your work appear unto Your servants. May we have Grace to
devote ourselves entirely to God's service and do the work which He has
appointed us to do!
16. And Your glory unto their children. If we may not live to see the
success of our efforts, may our children see it! If the glory of that
bright millennial age, which is certain to come in due time, shall not
gladden our eyes before we fall asleep in Jesus, let us do the Lord's
work as far as we can that our children may see His Glory.
17. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish
You the work of our hands upon us. Even if we die, let our work live.
May there be something permanent remaining after we are gone–not wood,
hay, and stubble, which the fire will consume, but a building of gold,
silver, and precious stones which will endure the fire that, sooner or
later, will "try every man's work of what sort it is."
17. Yes, the work of our hands establish You it