Their Desired Haven
(No. 3316)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 1912.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON SUNDAY EVENING, JUNE 17,
1866.
"So He brings them to their desired haven." Psalm 107:30.
TAKEN strictly, according to its original context, the text plainly and
powerfully reminds us that our Providential mercies ought never be
forgotten–and more especially those remarkable mercies which concern
the safety of our life in times of great peril.
If there are any of you who have been exposed to storms at sea, or who
have in any other way been brought near death's door, and have then
been strikingly rescued, should you not devote your life to Him who has
spared and prolonged it? Do you think it was without a design that God
brought you into the peril? And is it without a purpose that He has
lengthened out your span of life? Oh, I pray you, if you have hitherto
been ungrateful, let this tenderness of His in sparing your useless
life–(for remember it has been useless to Him)–excite in you a
hundredfold tenderness! A tenderness of repentance for the past, and of
holy desire for the future. In such an assembly as this I have surely
some who have either been restored from a bed of sickness when they
were almost given over, or who have been preserved from accidents on
land, or have had hairbreadth escapes at sea. Oh, praise the Lord for
His goodness and for His wonderful works toward you! And at the foot of
the Cross of Calvary dedicate your few remaining days to the service of
the Preserver of men!
But this evening, while remembering these important Truths of God, we
intend to use the text with yet another objective. This natural voyage
on the sea may be a very excellent type and picture of the spiritual
voyage which all men undertake in their soul's life. And we should
first interpret the text as it concerns the seeking sinner on the sea
of soul-trouble, brought at length by the gracious Pilot to his desired
haven of peace through believing. And then we shall very briefly
construe the text with reference to the saint brought through all the
troubles of life to the desired haven of the New Jerusalem, where he
shall rest forever free from all future storms and perils.
First, then, let us look at I. THE SEEKING SINNER AS A SOUL-VOYAGER.
Our first thought suggested here is that with regard to the sinner,
there is a haven. The soul of the man or woman is far out at sea,
liable to be wrecked and in such a storm he or she willbe wrecked, for
no craft can live it out unless it makes all speed for the haven. And
there is a haven for storm-tossed, ship-wrecked souls! There is a
harbor of refuge for tempest-driven sinners! That haven is Christ
Jesus, received by faith into the soul. I compare Him to a haven
because of the peace which those enjoy who once shelter in Him. It is
wild, and black, and fierce out there, Sinner, where you are! But there
is peace–"the peace of God that passes all understanding"–where the
true Believer is. It is not because his ship is different from yours.
If he were where you are, as once he was, he would still be in the same
peril and suffer the same damage as you. But he is now "in Christ" and
you are not. He has changed the hurricane for the haven, the danger for
the calm confidence of safety! Oh, if you only knew the peace which
faith brings, it would not be long before you cried to God in your
trouble and He would bring you to His dear Son and Savior, Jesus
Christ!
I also call Jesus a haven because of the safety that there is to every
soul that is in Him. Ships are wrecked and broken to pieces out there,
on the shoals, on the quicksand, or on the iron-bound coasts–but they
escape wreck in the haven. There let the storm-king rage his worst and
angriest abroad–they are in perfect peace! Sometimes, not a ripple
disturbs the vessel that is in the harbor. My Hearer, you are in great
danger tonight! You may soon be in Hell and even now the wrath of God
abides on you, for you are "without God" and, consequently, "without
hope in the world." But the Christian is in no such danger! Sin, which
is the source of all soul-danger, has been fully forgiven him. He will
not need even to
fear death, for to him death is but the gate of life! He need have no
fears of temporal trouble, for he has left his burdens with the great
Burden-Bearer and may cast all his care on Him who cares for him. He
has a peace which is founded upon the Immutable Truth of God! It is not
a false peace which expects that there will never come a storm, but a
true solid peace which knows that though the though the storm will
come, he needs not dread it because his vessel is safe in the haven!
I call Christ a haven, again, because when we get into Him, we do very
much what ships do in the haven–we begin unloading. Oh, what a cargo
of black sins we had! Oh, what a store of grief, fears, follies and
doubts! But when we come to Jesus Christ we unload them all. We cast
overboard even what we once thought precious, counting it but dross and
dung that we may win Christ and be found in Him. What a blessed
riddance to be free of such foul rubbish as once threatened to founder
our souls! Says the hymn–
"I lay my sins on Jesus, The spotless Lamb of God! He bears them all
and frees us, From the accursed load."
That is what faith is helped to do. It casts all its sins, doubts,
fears and cares upon Jesus Christ, the great Sin-Bearer, and so is made
free!
I call Him a haven, too, because when a ship gets to the haven, it
begins to load again. The haven is as frequently the starting place for
a new voyage, as the goal to the previous one. And emphatically is that
so in our soul's experience.
What fine store does the trustful soul take on board when it comes to
Jesus Christ! Of joy, of love, privilege, holiness, delight and
fellowship, for we have inexhaustible riches of Grace and blessing in
Him. When we come to Him, these unbounded treasures are all ours! God
All-Sufficient is revealed to us in the Person of the Man, Christ
Jesus. Like the haven of Araby, where the ships take on board their
gold and their perfume, so the soul receives its most precious and
priceless gifts from the All-Bountiful Redeemer Lord! Oh, you who are
still out on the restless, wild sea of sin and dissatisfaction of storm
and dread, will you not long to reach the haven that you may be
peaceful and safe, happy and secure because you lose your sins and in
their place may receive of His fullness, Grace for Grace?
Mariner! I think I hear you say, "I would gladly came to the port, but
what about it, Sir? What are the dues there?" Sinner, it is a free
port–there is nothing to pay! Of all the keels that ever floated into
that haven there was never one that had anything to bring that was
worth receiving. There has been much taken out, but nothing has been
brought in that was worth the acceptance. Christ will charge you no
custom's dues, so run to this port, for it is freely open to every
sinner that desires to cast anchor there! There is room for you, too.
There are many vessels–there is a great fleet, a blessedly peaceful
fleet, within, but there is room for you. Do you tell me that there was
once a bar before the harbor? Yes, but it has been blasted clean away
and is now altogether removed! There is sea-room for the heaviest
craft! Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as wool! Though
they are red like crimson they shall be whiter than snow! You say that
your heavy-laden boat will draw many a foot of Mercy's water? Ah, but
there's many a foot here! There is room even though your ship is
burdened up to the bulwarks. There is no fear of your touching the
bottom of God's bottomless Grace, wisdom and love! There is always room
for you to come. Some ports are only open at certain states of the
tide, and so when the tide is out and low, the boat that makes for the
haven may run upon the rocks, or the Black Middens somewhere–but of
this there is no fear for you–
"The blessed gates of Gospel Grace Stand open night and day!"
Some souls have run for the haven at the very last and, by His mercy,
they have got in–while others have run for it, blessed be God, while
yet quite young! Oh, may it be your happy lot at the very commencement
of life's voyage, young men and women, to run for this blessed haven
and find yourselves strong and secure and serene!
At any rate, let me say to you, however despairing you may be, if God
gives you the will to run for this harbor, you may do so and find
without doubt that it will be found open to receive you! Christ Jesus,
then, is a true haven for the soul–and they who trust in Him are made
perfectly secure!
We must not stay longer on this point, however, fair and attractive as
it is, but note that the text speaks of "a desired haven." Now I wonder
whether to all of us, Christ Jesus is a desired haven. He is a haven,
but is He a desiredhaven to you? Put your hand now upon your heart and
see if you can find a deep desire after Christ there. Oh, I would have
hope
in preaching to such a congregation, even though none of you knew
Christ, if you did but truly desire Him! You would then be like tinder
to my spark and be like prepared ground. I should only have to sow the
Seed and you would be that fruitful soil which receive it–and yield a
harvest a hundred-fold! Christ is not desired by some of you and why
not? But I think I can easily find out those who desire the haven. They
are just these. The sailor desires the haven when he has an unfavorable
breeze. Do you feel as if Providence were blowing in your teeth? And
are temptations setting in very strong? And does the recollection of
your past sin come blowing a hard gale against you? But a little while
ago you sailed and were very comfortable, for 'twas all smooth water
with you! The sea was like a millpond! But now the waves roll and break
mountains high and the wind is in your teeth. I hope you will come to
desire the Savior now. Sick of the world and all its turbulence, may
you now be anxious after Him and His peace. The sailor desires to get
into harbor, too, when he finds he is in weather which he is not likely
to ride out. "Would God," says the boatswain, "that we could see the
light." "Oh, that we were now in the haven," says the master, "for
there are threatening, angry breakers ahead." Do you not see the
breakers ahead, Sinner? Are you not afraid of dying and more afraid of
living? Do not the storms and trials of life drive you to desire
something better than the vain world can give you? And does not the
prospect of the afterlife alarm you? Then I hope that to your belabored
soul Christ is the desired haven!
But even more, the haven is desired by the sailor whose ship is leaky.
"She will soon go down," he says, "we have kept the pump going, but the
water gains upon us." Do you feel your spirit to be such an unseaworthy
craft that you are afraid to go out into or stay out in the depths of
the sea with her? Do you begin to feel, or fear, she is sinking? If so,
then my Lord Jesus Christ will be to you a "desired haven," indeed! Ah,
no sinner prizes salvation like the sinner who knows he is lost! May
our God give you to know that you are!–
"The sinner is a sacred thing, The Holy Spirit has made him so." That
is, a really awakened sinner, for his ship he will not take to harbor
unless he feels that she must sink unless he does! I pray God that you
may get into such a sinking state that you may be compelled to go to
Him. And when the sailor himself is sick, it is then he needs the
haven. When he feels as if he must die, then he says, "I wish I were
safe on shore!" Do you feel sick at heart? Does your very soul turn
within you till you reel and stagger like a drunken man? Then you will
desire the haven and I bless God you will have it! There is many a
sailor who has desired the haven who has yet never reached it but gone
down into the depths–but there has never been one upon the sea of life
who has desiredChrist with a really intense longing and a loving and
anxious heart, but he has found Him before long! Oh, Sinner, I have
hope for you, for if you desire Christ, Christ even more desires you!
We cannot stop, however, even here, for next we have to talk about the
Pilot. How do they get into the haven? He brings them there. The text
is speaking of God. "So He brings them to their desired haven." We know
nothing of the navigator of the sea of salvation. To get into the
harbor is never effected by human skill nor wisdom. "I am a Christian"
said a young woman once. Said the minister, "When did you become a
Christian?" "I am sure I don't know, Sir," was the reply, "but I
supposed it was when I was christened." A great many people have the
same notion. Ah, but "so" He does not bring any to the desired haven,
but in quite an altogether different way! It is by the personally
coming on board of the soul, of the Great Pilot, the Holy Spirit, that
the heart is steered into the safe haven. But she will rot or wreck
outside, or founder to the bottom unless God, Himself, shall bring her
into the quiet harbor of His glorious Redemption. "So He brings them."
Dear Hearer, do you say, "There is a haven, and I desire to make for
the land, but the wind is contrary. I would tack and tack about, but
the more I try, the farther off from the haven do I seem to be"? Yes,
but He who is the Haven is also the Pilot to bring you to the haven!
You have no repentance, you say. He gives it! Ask Him for it. You have
no faith. He gives it–seek it at His hands. Oh, that you had Grace to
trust Him as much as to bring you to Himself, as to bring you to
Heaven! You may not get at Him, you toiling boat. You cannot reach
Christ who is on the land, but He comes walking on the water to meet
you. "It is I," He says, "be not afraid."
Despair not, doubt not, you who desire! Put up the signals of
distress–fire the guns of prayer again and again– and He will come!
The Pilot who has weathered and rescued you from many a storm, before,
will bring you safely to harbor. He is a Pilot who knows the sea well–
"He knows what strong temptations mean, For He has felt the same."
He has steered many a vessel into port that was in quite as bad a
condition as you are now. He is well-skilled! He has got a Divine
Certificate from the Trinity House. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me;
He has anointed Me to do this very work of bringing poor shipwrecked
mariners to the Port of Peace." Commit yourself to His hands! Let Him
board your vessel and He will make your ship tack about and bring you
soon into the still and quiet waters of the desired haven!
But I come now to the point I want specially to drive at, and that is
the passage to the haven. They are brought to the haven they desire and
they are brought there by the Pilot, but how are they brought? The text
says, "So He brings them to their desired haven." The way into the
haven is not always a smooth one. Some are brought to Christ as if they
had never known a storm. Do not, of course, desire and seek a
storm–but as long as you get safely into the haven it matters not how
you get there. If you trust Christ, do not trouble yourselves because
you never went through the Slough of Despond. Read the life of John
Bunyan and you will find him much troubled and tumbled up and down for
years. You may have felt little of this, perhaps, yet if your trust in
Christ is sincere and real, it matters not! If the ship reaches the
haven and is safely sheltered there, whether she had a stormy passage
or a smooth one is of little importance. The great thing is to be "Safe
home, safe home in port." Still, it often happens that we come into the
port of Christ's salvation through a storm. Read the passage and you
will see how frequently this occurs. "They mount up to Heaven, they go
down again into the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.
They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man. They cry unto the
Lord in their trouble and He brings them out of their distresses. He
makes the storm to be a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then
are they glad because they are quite. So He brings them to their
desired haven." They are greatly troubled, but it drives them to
prayer–prayer gets its answer and so they get Christ! I thank God that
I was brought into peace by believing. It was many and many a day
before I found Christ. It is a strange thing, but as I was talking this
afternoon with a dear friend in Christ about spiritual things, we
remarked to one another that the most of the men who had been made
useful in winning souls had a hard time of it, when they first came to
Christ. For the most part a deep and painful experience seems to be
absolutely necessary to enable a minister to get a hold and a grip upon
the Doctrines of Grace. Still, let us never forget that the tossing is
not the haven and the storm is not the port. A sense of sin does not
save–and terrors of conscience do not justify. "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." That is the great message to us
all! Trust in Jesus–this it is that brings you into port. May God
bring you there! And we will then sing together, and "praise the Lord
for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men."
I hope to meet full many of you in that other port above. Meanwhile,
what a blessing and privilege it is that there are so many of us in the
port of Christ here and now, on this sin-afflicted earth! Let us hand
out the flags tonight, everyone of them as we try to bless and magnify
the King who is, Himself, the Pilot, who made the haven, who Himself
bears the storm upon His own bosom, that we may be saved from it and be
hidden from all the rolling billows, and find a secure resting place in
Him!
And now for only a few minutes let us apply the text to Believers and
see–II. THE SINCERE SAINT AS A SOUL-VOYAGER. We are accustomed to
speak of Heaven as our home and I think we would not strain the point,
tonight, if we speak of it as our haven. The Church in the olden times
was often pictured in symbols by a ship and, perhaps, no better type of
the Church could be found. The ship is out at sea. We are on our
journey home. The prow is towards the Promised Land. We hope to reach
the Isles of the Happy in the land of the hereafter where the waters
are eternally still and the billows roll no more. In yonder haven of
our soul there is a peace transcending even the peace which we have
learned upon earth though it passes all understanding–a peace that no
storm can by any possibility even break–no storm within, no tempest
without. There shall be no panics there, no losses of money there, no
sickening wife, no dying child, no tortured brain, no anguish in the
heart–there we shall be free from all the storms that tossed us on the
sea of life.
That port is one from which the ship shall never make another
voyage–she is home for good–not to be broken up, but to be re-filled
after a better fashion! No longer mortal, for this mortal shall put on
immortality and this corruption must put on incorruption. She shall
make voyages, but still be in the haven, for the eternal haven is wide
as infinity and we may sail on and on forever–and it shall always be
upon a sea where not a wave of trouble, a breaker of sin or sorrow
shall beat on our serene soul! There shall be no more leakage there, no
more complaint that the vessel is out of trim. The sin that has pierced
us through and through like some of these sea-worms which eat through
the staunchest timbers shall be forever done with! Yes, forever and
ever!
I love to think often and deeply of that haven, dear Friends! If not to
you, I am sure it is to me, a "desired haven." If you ask me why it is
desired, I can only answer that when I see the perils of the way–the
storms we have had to face and outride and how little our poor vessel
is able to overcome them–we may well long to be forever where such
trials and, indeed, alltrials, shall never come! I desire to be in that
haven, I think, as much as anything–that I may meet there my many
comrades who have gone before.
It has been my lot to serve under the Great Captain now for some few
years. There are names that are on the roll of my Master in Heaven
which I venerate and men whom I long to see. Rowland Hill once took a
journey, we are told, from Cambridge, some ten or twelve miles, to see
an old dying saint, and he said to her, "Now, you will be in Heaven
before me, but do tell them that poor old Rowland is on the road. And
when you get there give my love to the three Johns– John who leaned on
the Savior's bosom, John Calvin and John Bunyan." Well, we may well
wish to see them and the many who shall be there, for we shall have
near and intimate communion with them! Let us drink tonight the cup of
fellowship and toast the friends that are ahead! We have been long
enough out from shore, I think, almost to forget those behind and begin
to remember those who are ahead. We are homeward bound and we long to
be at home for the sake of the friends who have gone before. Some dear
to us in ties of flesh are there–those who were to us as father,
mother, wife or child. Your little ones are beckoning some of you to
the celestial shore! How much a desired haven it should be to you! I
have many spiritual children on the other side of life's Jordan.
Multitudes are now there who learned the Savior's name from my
stammering words–and came to see His transcendent beauties as He was
being set forth, lifted up and exhibited here in the midst of this
great congregation! I know they will welcome me, their spiritual
father, and I long to be with them!
But best of all it is a desired haven, because He is there, who though
He was of a human mother born, is yet truly Divine! He, whom though–
"We have not seen His face, Unceasing we adore! The Man of Sorrows at
the Father's side, The Man of Love, the Crucified."
Blow, blow you winds! Let the sails go to ribbons if they must! Let the
vessel rush and fly before the gale, if only she does but get safely
into "the desired haven!" We may even think the storm is blest that
drives her the more quickly there, for it is, indeed, a desired haven!
Are you now desiring it, my dear Brothers and Sisters? It is not always
that we do. We get a trick of loitering along the road or merely
cruising on the ocean. What a strange thing that anything here should
beguile us!–
"What is there that I should wait, My hope's alone in Thee! When will
You open Glory's gate, And take me up to Thee?"
Is there anything here that ought to make us stop a moment if there is
that prospect beyond of the Savior's face and the vision of His Glory?
I think we can say, some of us, that at times–
"Our thirsty spirit faints To reach the land we love– The bright
inheritance of saints, Jerusalem above!"
You see I am running over the same heads as we had in the first part–a
haven, a desired haven, and then the Pilot. Shall I ever get to the
desired haven? I would despair of it in going through so tortuous a
channel so thickly set with difficulties and perils, but my Pilot knows
the course! My Pilot found the way to Heaven, Himself, and if I trust
Him absolutely, giving the vessel entirely to His charge, He will find
the way for me, too! Besides this, He has this advantage–He is the
Master of the winds and waves! And so I may confidently–
"Leave to His sovereign will To choose and to command." For He will
certainly bring me safely home.
But the passage to the haven needs, too, your thought. My Christian
Brothers and Sisters, you are now being tossed on the sea. You came
here tonight wondering what God was doing with you. You old sailors
ought not to be astonished or alarmed at a storm. Did you imagine the
sea had turned to dry land? Did you expect to reach yonder distant
shore without feeling the heave of the waves? Why the youngsters and
novices may expect such things if they will! But you who are seasoned
mariners and are getting gray ought to know better! Has it been smooth
all the way until now? Why expect it to be sunny and serene now? Master
John Bunyan's ditty has it–
"A Christian is seldom long at ease,
When one trouble's gone, another does him seize." Do you not expect it?
If you do not, I would alter my reckoning if I were you! Just turn to
the log-book of your memory–how many days together have you generally
been in smooth water? Not many, I will guarantee you. You ancient
mariners who have lived at sea these many years and have got your
sea-legs now, and can stand where others fall, I ask you whether you
have not been more accustomed to rolling billows than you have been to
the ocean smooth as a mill-pond? And do you expect to see it alter for
you now? Between you and Canaan there are a few more storms. Between
here and the everlasting rest there are turmoils yet to encounter, but,
"so He brings them to their desired haven." Perhaps if it were always
smooth, they would never get there–the treacherous stream of earthly
ease would bear them out to the cataract of everlasting destruction!
Perhaps without the wind and without the storm, yes, and without the
clouds and the tempest, and the thunder and the lightning, the boat
might never reach the haven! The boats upon earth's seas may reach
their haven without the aid of storms, but not so with us, for, to
again repeat the words of Cowper, here if not in the other case–
"Thepath of sorrow, and that path alone, Leads to the land where sorrow
is unknown."
And now my last word that I would venture to say is this–"So he brings
them to their desired haven." That does not mean you, young man, for
Christ is not on board your heart and life–you do not desire the haven
and you will never be brought there against your will! Who are they,
then, that are brought there? The text and its context tells us. They
are those who "cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saves them
out of their distress." Are you a crying soul? Pleading, entreating His
rescue and deliverance? That word, "cry," is a very appropriate and
suggestive one. That is the true way to pray. As God inspires, cry to
Him! A girl who had been converted was asked what was the difference
between her prayers now and before she was converted. She answered,
"Sir, first I prayed as my mother taught me, but now I pray as God
prompts and teaches me." That is a blessed and vital difference! You
have seen and heard your children cry. Well, how is it done? Some of
them seem to cry all over. When they want something very badly, they
not only cry with their throats, but they cry also with their legs and
hands and eyes! And, indeed, they cry with all their nature. And that,
too, is the right way to pray. You cannot get it out, perhaps–well
then, feel it within, for God can see the inward feeling. "He hears the
desires of the humble."
A man once in great trouble, a poor Hottentot, went to his Dutch master
and said he felt a great weight and he needed to pray–would he tell
him how? The Dutchman did not know and could not tell him. But when the
Hottentot went to the place at Cape Town where he heard the Bible read,
he listened to the story of the Pharisee. And as he heard it he said,
"Dat man a good man. I can't pray like him. Dat prayer not suit me. I
can't pray dat." Presently the preacher went on reading the publican's
prayer, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." The man said, "Dat man a bad
man. God not hear dat prayer." But when he came to, "That man went down
to his house justified rather than the other," he said, "Den I'll pray
dat bad man's prayer. God hear him, God hear me," and not long after he
was heard to say, "Rocks, hills, rivers, trees, tell God my soul so
happy, for He has heard my prayer and put my sins away!"
Now, you who want to cry to God but do not know how, I recommend to you
the publican's prayer, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." Breathe that
out before the Throne of God and you shall one day be among the company
of whom it is said, "So He brings them to their desired haven," and you
shall rest in Jesus–
"Forever with the Lord."
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM119:81-96.
Verse 81. My soul faints for Your salvation: but I hope in Your Word.
The ship rocks, but the anchor holds. The singer is ready to faint, but
he is not ready to despair. He knows where his restoring will come.
82. My eyes fail for Your Word, saying, When will You comfort me? What
a mercy it is to have our eyes on God's Word, full as it is of
blessing–to be waiting till the blessing comes out of it! My eyes
watch Your Word that is so full of the rain of comfort–and I say to
myself, "When will it descend and refresh me? When will the clouds let
fall their silver drops upon my thirsty soul?"
83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget
Your statues. I feel dried up, smeared and smirched as with soot–my
very beauty is gone from me and my usefulness, too. I am not fit to
hold anything, for I have become like a skin bottle that is parched up.
Yet for all that, I have a memory of Your Word–the smoke and the heat
have not dried out of me the flavor of that good old "wine on the lees
well refined" that once filled my heart.
84. How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute
judgment on them that persecute me?"How many are the days of Your
servant?" Or rather, how few they are–be not long in coming to me,
lest I die while You are still on the road.
85. The proud have dug pits for me, which are not after Your Law. They
might make pits for lions and tigers, but not for sheep. These pits
were not after God's Law. There are still cruel enemies who would, if
they could, entrap the people of God–shall not this make us feel what
a great mercy it is we have one to be our Guardian and Defender who
knows where the pitfalls are?
86. All Your commandments are faithful: they persecute me
wrongfully–help me. There is a fine prayer for us every day in the
week–"Help me." Lord, I am helpless if You do not help me. You are the
helper of Israel–He that keeps Israel will not slumber nor sleep.
"Help me."
87. They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not Your
precepts. "They had almost consumed me upon earth." They seemed as if
they would swallow me up entirely, "but I forsook not Your precepts"
and, therefore, they could not consume me. I was invulnerable and
invincible because I stuck to rectitude and kept to Your precepts.
88. 89. Quicken me after Your loving kindness; so shall I keep the
testimony of Your mouth Forever, O LORD, Your Word is settled in
Heaven.There is not a new Divine Word, or a new Gospel, or a new
Law–but it is a settled Gospel, a settled Law, a settled
Revelation–"settled in Heaven," stereotyped, fixed, made permanent! If
perfect, then unalterable–if alterable, then would it be imperfect.
90. Your faithfulness is unto all generations: You have established the
earth, and it abides. "Your faithfulness is unto all generations." You
who were true to Abraham will be true to David. You who were true to
David will be true to me. You are always faithful to Your own Nature
and Godhead. "You have established the earth, and it abides." It would
rot out of its place. It would rush into space like a truant planet if
You did not hold it where it is. You, therefore, will hold Your Gospel
where it is and Your servants where they are.
91. They continue this day according to Your ordinances: for all are
Your servants. The fixed laws of the universe have their analogy in the
fixed rules of Revelation. Are not all material things Your servants?
And they are kept–You will therefore keep us.
92. 93. Unless Your Lawhad been my delights, I should then have
perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts: for with
them You have quickened me. We may well keep to that which is our life!
If God's precepts breed life in us and then quicken us, and so renew
that life, let us stand to them, be obedient to them and that at all
times!
94. I am Yours, save me; for I have sought Your precepts. "I am Yours,
save me." Oh, what a sweet assertion. "I am Yours"–Your creature, Your
redeemed one, Your chosen, Your espoused. "I am Yours, save me; for I
have sought Your precepts."
95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me. Let them wait.
95. But I will consider Your testimonies.I will not consider the
wicked–they are not worth it–they would only distract or distress me.
I will keep my thoughts fixed upon Your Word, and so shall I be at
peace and escape from their malice.
96. I have seen an end of all perfection: but Your commandment is
exceedingly broad. Yes, all perfection in the creature! In very deed it
is an attribute of the Creator, and whether it is true or false,
whether men have the excellence they boast of, or have it not, there
must be an end to it all–either as to its extent or its duration–but
Your commandment
has no limit, it covers everything! And it has no termination, it
endures forever! "Your commandment is exceedingly
broad."