A Visit From the Lord
(No. 2599)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 4, 1898.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT CHRIST CHURCH, WESTMINSTER BRIDGE ROAD, (during the renovation of
the Tabernacle), ON THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 30, 1883.
"O visit me with Your salvation." Psalm 106:4.
THIS is the prayer of a man who understood the art of praise. He begins
this Psalm with a Hallelujah. "Praise you the Lord. O give thanks unto
the Lord, for He is good." Now, mark, there is no prayer that is purer,
more spiritual, more heavenly than the prayer which comes out of a
heart full of praise! How often have I said that prayer is the
breathing in of the air of Heaven and praise is the breathing of it out
again? Prayer and praise make up the best life of the Christian and he
is not yet thoroughly in spiritual health who is all for prayer and not
at all for praise–but he is the really healthy Christian who has these
two things rightly balanced. Such a man one moment cries, "O give
thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endures forever."
And then, directly afterwards, prays, "Remember me, O Lord, with the
favor that You bear unto Your people." Is it not possible, my dear
Brothers and Sisters, that you have lost some of your power in prayer
because you have somewhat neglected praise? If we do not bless God for
the mercies we have received, how can we go and ask Him for more? If we
have already been heard in our prayers and yet have failed to
acknowledge our obligation to the Giver, do we not come to prayer with
a very bad attitude? Might not God say to us, "You did not thank Me the
last time I granted your request. Why should I answer you this time?"
Let us, therefore, each one, take care that our prayer is the petition
of one who can and who does praise the Lord.
Next, observe that this prayer was offered by one who knew the
blessedness of the saints. In the third verse he says, "Blessed are
they that keep justice and he that does righteousness at all times." I
introduce this remark because, to a large extent, the prayer of the
text is the prayer of a sinner–the prayer of one who felt that he did
not bear the character of a saint as fully as he ought to have done.
And, Beloved, if we were more saintly, we would have much more power in
prayer and we should be much more happy. If we walked with God more
closely, and kept justice, and did righteousness at all times, we would
be saved from many of those trials and afflictions and disappointments
which now fall to our lot. The Psalmist tells us about what troubles
the children of Israel had in the wilderness, but those troubles
resulted from their sin. They need not have had to endure half what
they suffered if they had only been right with God. And so, in the
later days of their history, they would never have been captives to
their enemies if they had not first been captives to their sins. If
they had walked as God would have had them walk, their peace would have
been like a river–one of them would have chased a thousand–and two
would have put ten thousand to flight! There will be, practically,
hardly any limit to the blessedness which a child of God may enjoy even
in this life if he will but walk carefully with his God.
So, dear Friends, if you and I feel that we have wandered and if our
prayer has to be presented "out of the depths," yet I trust that we
have not forgotten that there is a peace, a rest, a joy which God
bestows upon those who walk uprightly, those who live more carefully
than we have done and keep nearer to Him than some of His erring
children do.
Now, coming to the text, I want you to notice the prayer itself. I have
nothing new to say, but I shall try to utter some very simple Truths of
God suggested by the Psalmist's prayer, "O visit me with Your
salvation."
I. The first thought is, that the Psalmist here prays for SALVATION.
What a wonderful word that word, "salvation," is! Well might Dr. Watts
say–
"Salvation! Let the echo fly The spacious earth around,"
for there is something in it to be heard by all who dwell on this
spacious earth. Salvation is the one thing which all men need, and when
it is given to them, it conveys to them innumerable mercies for time
and for eternity. Indeed, everything good is wrapped up in that word,
salvation. As we read this Psalm, you probably noticed how the Psalmist
sings concerning salvation in it. He says, first, that God saved the
people out of Egypt There they were, a nation of captives and bond
slaves–and He began to work with a high hand and an outstretched arm
to bring them out of their captivity! And though they did not
understand His wonders, yet, nevertheless, He saved them. That is a
salvation in which you and I also delight–salvation by the sprinkled
blood–salvation by the Paschal Lamb–salvation by the right hand of
God and His out-stretched arm–a salvation which reveals His
faithfulness, His mercy and His power. Let us bless God if we
experimentally know what this salvation means! And if we do not, let
this be the prayer of each one of us, "O visit me with Your salvation."
One of the worst results of the Fall is that men who are spiritually
dead do not pray for life. But if there is one here who is sufficiently
under the influence of the Holy Spirit to know that he needs spiritual
life, he may begin at once to pray, "O visit me with Your salvation."
If you have not yet felt the burden of sin. If you do not yet savingly
know the Sin-Bearer. If you are still a bond slave to your sin, you
have, indeed, need to pray this prayer. If you know that you are not
what you ought to be and that, living and dying as you now are, you
will perish everlastingly, then with all your heart and with as much
desire as there may be in you, do breathe the prayer to God, "O visit
me with Your salvation."
O poor Heart, as soon as you begin to pray, you begin to live! You may
have very little power in prayer. In fact, your prayer may be no better
than the first feeble cry of a newborn child, but it is a sign of life
and the Lord hears even a groan! And the tears that fall without a
sound are liquid music to Jehovah, for He knows what they mean. May I
not hope that somebody here, if he cannot pray spiritually, will yet
pray as do the young ravens who, in their nests, when they are hungry,
cry, and the Lord hears them and relieves their hunger? If you think
that your prayer is no better than the cry of a poor bird, or the
roaring of a wild beast, yet still cry, still pray! One trick of the
devil is to try to stop you from praying–he will tell you that you
will not be heard. But I can assure you that the cry of misery, the sob
of inward grief is certain to be heard by the tender and gracious God
whom we worship. Somewhere in this building, I think, there must be
some heart that has been, up to now, giddy, thoughtless, careless–that
will now begin to pray–"O visit me with Your salvation."
Further on in the Psalm, the writer sings of a second salvation when
the people were delivered at the Red Sea. Its waves rolled before them
and they could not tell how they were to escape from Pharaoh who was
close behind with all the chariots and horsemen of Egypt pursuing them.
Ah, poor timid Israelites! They could almost hear the whips of their
taskmasters and they probably feared that something worse would come
upon them and that they would feel their oppressors' swords and that
their blood would soon be shed! They were in a state of great anxiety
and trouble, yet we read just now, "Nevertheless He saved them for His
name's sake. He rebuked the Red Sea, also, and it was dried up–and He
saved them from the hand of him that hated them and redeemed them from
the hand of the enemy."
Perhaps I am addressing some who are so fully conscious of their sin
that they are driven almost to despair by it. Instead of believing that
this awakened conscience of theirs is an evidence of God's Grace, they
are afraid that it is a sign of condemnation. The weight of their sin
crushes them–they hardly dare hope that there may be a way of escape
for them, but, poor Soul, if this is your sad state, I trust that you
will be able to pray, "'O visit me with Your salvation.' O God, the Red
Sea rolls in front of me, the rocks frown upon me on either hand and my
sins pursue me, and seek to slay me. 'O visit me with Your salvation.'
Come, and dry up this Red Sea of iniquity! Come and destroy these
adversaries of mine and let me sing with the Psalmist, 'And the waters
covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.' 'O visit me
with Your salvation.'"
You know how it was with Israel–I always delight to dwell upon it–how
the Lord brought again the waters of the Red Sea and Pharaoh and all
his hosts were swallowed up. And then Miriam took her timbrel and all
the women went forth after her and sang unto the Lord who had triumphed
gloriously, and thrown the horses and their riders into the sea! And
this was one of the most jubilant notes of their song, "The depths have
covered them; there is not one of them left." So it was, Beloved, when
you and I, having cried to God for mercy, at last found it through
Jesus Christ our Savior! Then we saw our sins cast into the depths of
the sea and we were ready to dance for joy as we said, "The depths have
covered them! There is not one of them left." Our experience ought to
be an encouragement to others. Come, despairing Soul, you that are like
a mouse in a hole and hardly dare to pop your head out to look! Never
mind about coming out! Stay where you are and there breathe the prayer,
"O visit me with Your salvation," and you shall yet come out into light
and liberty, and you shall joy and rejoice in God!
It may be that you and I, dear Friends, have gone further on than this.
We have been saved from our natural ruin and saved from the power of
despair worked in us by conviction–and now we are fighting with our
uprising corruptions. Our inbred sin is like the deep that lies under
and, perhaps, lately, the fountains of the great deep have been broken
up within us. We cannot sin without being grieved and troubled by it.
It is a vexation even to hear the report of it. Oh, that we could live
without sinning at all! Well, now, Beloved, if you are struggling
against it, let this be your prayer to the Most High, "O visit me with
Your salvation." The Lord is able at once to come into your heart and
to put an end to your temptation whatever it may be. Is it unbelief? He
can strengthen your faith. Is it covetousness? He can deliver you from
that abomination and give you a contented spirit. Is it anger? Oh, how
sweetly can He come and fill you with love! Whatever may be the evil
against which you are fighting, He can help you overthrow it and you
shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved you! I earnestly
commend this prayer to every struggling Believer, to everyone who feels
the two natures within him striving for the mastery and who is,
sometimes, in doubt whether the house of David or the house of Saul
will get the victory! Doubt not, my Brothers and Sisters, the Lord is
with the true seed. He that quickened you will keep the new life in
you–it cannot die, for it is born of God and you shall yet overcome
sin and death and Hell! Only forget not to breathe the cry from your
very soul, "O visit me with Your salvation," and you shall prove what a
salvation it is to be saved from the power of sin.
Our text may also be used in another sense, for salvation means
deliverance from grievous affliction, ]ust as, in this Psalm, when the
children of Israel were brought into great distress by their enemies,
God came and saved them from their foes. So, at this time, dear Friend,
you may be in great distress. It may be temporal distress, or mental
distress, or spiritual distress. Whether you are suffering in body, or
in mind, or in heart, God knows how to deliver you. "Many are the
afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them
all." "He that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord
belong the issues from death." If you should ever get so low in spirit
that you can only compare yourself with Jonah when the whale went down
to the very bottom of the sea and he felt that the earth with her bars
was about him forever and he was at the very foundations of the
everlasting hills–yet even then the God who brought up Jonah from the
depths can bring you up! See how the wheel turns–that spoke which was
lowest just now has become the highest! Mark how the stars which shall,
tonight, descend, and shall not be seen all day long, shall yet, when
night comes round again, climb once more to their zenith and occupy
their appointed places! You are not doomed to be down forever! You
shall yet mount up again and you may say to the adversary, "Rejoice not
against me, O my enemy! When I fall, I shall arise." "The Lord said, I
will bring again from Bashan, I will bring My people again from the
depths of the sea."
To every tried and troubled one, then, I suggest the prayer of our
text, "O visit me with Your salvation," for it points out the way of
deliverance for them, whatever their trouble may be, and it specially
concerns the all-important matter of salvation!
II. Now let us think for a few minutes upon the second thing which is
very manifest in the text, and that is, VISITA-TION–"O visit me with
Your salvation."
You have read in the newspapers of men having "died in the visitation
of God." Sometimes, that has been the verdict of the jury at the close
of an inquest. But here is a man who livedby the visitation of God!
And, truly, it is a most blessed thing to know that the very best and
truest way of living is to live by being visited by God–visited by His
salvation! I admire the wording of this prayer. It does not say, "O
save me." That would be a very proper petition. It does not say, "O
send me salvation." That, under some aspects, would be proper enough.
But the petition is, "Lord, come Yourself and bring the salvation that
I need, by Yourself coming to me. 'O visit me with Your salvation.'"
What a blessed prayer this is! "O visit me! Lord, visit me!" It takes
some faith to pray it, for humility prompts us to say, "Lord, I am not
worthy that you should come under my roof." Yet faith, and a childlike
spirit teach us to pray, "Lord, visit me. I hear that You visit Your
people. Lord, visit me. I have heard one of them say that you came
under his roof and stayed with him all through the night and make him
unspeakably glad. 'Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that You bear
unto Your people: O visit me'–yes, even me–'with Your salvation.'
Though the Heaven of heavens cannot contain You, for You are so great,
yet I know that You dwell in every humble and contrite heart. Lord,
come and visit me, and dwell within me." I think this is indeed a
blessed prayer.
Mark the condescension which the Psalmist feels that the Lord will thus
manifest. "'O visit me with Your salvation.' Lord, I cannot be saved
unless You will visit me. Visit me not as a saved one, but, 'visit me
with Your salvation.' I am lost until You come to me. O come, Lord, and
visit me as a Savior! Come and visit me as a Physician, for I am sick!
Pay me a visit of mercy, a visit of Grace and tenderness. O You great
and glorious Lord, I beseech You, come and visit me! By the remembrance
of Bethlehem's manger, the horned oxen, the straw and the stable, so
ill fitted for Your reception, come and visit me! And, as the angels
sang when You thus descended to the lowliest of lowliness, so shall my
heart sing yet more sweetly if You will visit me–even me! It will be
great condescension on Your part, but, 'O visit me with Your
salvation.'"
And it will be compassion, too. "'O visit me.' I am a prisoner, yet
come, Lord, and visit me. I am lame and very weak. Lord, I have not a
leg to carry me to Your House, so, come to my house, Lord. 'O visit
me!' My heart is heavy and sorely burdened. My very wishes lag, my
prayers limp, my desires halt. O come and visit me! If I cannot come to
You, yet come You to me, my God." It seems to me that this is a sweet,
sweet prayer for one who is under a sense of inability and whose
strength is utterly gone. "O visit me with Your salvation." In it I see
condescension and compassion.
But there is more in it even than that, there is also communion–"O
visit me with Your salvation." This means more than a complimentary
call such as ladies and gentlemen make when they spend half a day in
going around to their friends distributing little bits of cardboard. I
believe it is a wonderful token of friendship to do that, but you and I
do not move in that artificial region. When we visit anyone, we mean
it, and we do not make calls of mere ceremony or custom, but a visit
from a beloved friend–oh, what a joy it is! Occasionally I have the
opportunity of meeting dear friends who have been asking me to pay them
a visit and I can see, by the very way that they receive me, that they
are almost as happy as the black men were when Mungo Park went to them!
They said that they began to date their existence from the day when the
white man came that way. Most of you must have some friends who love
you so much that when they see you at their house, they do not need to
know when you are going, but, if they could, they would make you always
stay there. Dr. Watts went to see Sir Thomas Abney, at Abney Park, to
spend a week–but that week lasted through all the rest of his life,
for he never went away from there–and he lies buried in Abney Park.
And Sir Thomas is buried there, also, so that even in death, the
friends are not separated from one another! They never meant to part
after they once came together. That is the kind of visit we need from
the Lord, so let us breathe this prayer now, "O Lord, come and visit
me, but do not merely pay me a brief visit, but come to stay with me."
"That is a bold request," says one, "to ask God to come and abide with
us." Listen, listen, listen! There was a certain Church–you know the
name of it–Laodicea, of which Christ said that it made Him sick. But
what did He say next? "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any
man hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will
sup with him, and he with Me." That passage is not a call from Christ
to sinners, as it is often used–it may, perhaps, be so used by way of
illustration. But that is not its first meaning. It is this. Here are
some people of God who have fallen so low in Grace that they are
neither cold nor hot and Christ prescribes this remedy for their
lukewarmness–that He should come and sup with them–that He should
come and pay them a visit. Now, if our blessed Lord was willing to
visit the Laodiceans who were neither cold nor hot, I am sure that He
will come to us who are cold! And He will come to us who are hot–He
would rather come to such than to the lukewarm! Let us, then, each one,
breathe the prayer, "Come, Lord, and tarry not. Come now and visit me
with Your salvation." And when He does come, Brothers and Sisters, let
us do as Sir Thomas Abney did with Dr. Watts–let us get Him to
protract His visit! He will act as though He would go further, as He
did when at Emmaus, but our wisdom will be to say, as the two disciples
did, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far
spent." And when He says, "No, I must go," we must not take His, "No,"
for an answer, but we must do as they did–"They constrained Him." He
will go, if you let Him, but you must not let Him! Perhaps He will say,
"Let Me go, for the day breaks," but you must follow Jacob's example
and say, "I will not let You go," and you need not add, "except You
bless me," but you may say, "I will not let you go at all! I mean to
hold to You on and on and on, by day and night–You shall not leave
me." You will be blessed, indeed, if you can pray the prayer of our
text in this sense, "O visit me with Your salvation."
III. Now, with great brevity, I turn to a third thing in my text and
that is, PERSONALITY–"O visit me with Your salvation." We ought to
pray for one another. We must pray for the peace and prosperity of the
whole Church of Christ, but there are times when it will be well that
all our desire should run in this direction and that we should cry to
the Lord, "O visit me with Your salvation."
This petition of the Psalmist shows great necessity. It is as if he had
said, "Lord, I need You more than any others do, therefore, visit me.
Unless you come to me, I shall be a wretch undone forever. 'O visit me
with Your salvation.'" It is always unwise to make your necessity
appear little. It is so great that you never can exaggerate it–take
care that you do not set it in a diminished form! When you come before
God, do not try to make yourself out to be a little sinner. You are not
likely to make yourself appear more guilty than you are, but your
highest wisdom is to state your case to the Lord in all its blackness
and its badness–and then to cry to Him, "O visit me with Your
salvation."
It seems to me that this personality of the prayer also betokens great
unworthiness, as if the Psalmist felt that the Lord might go and visit
others and, perhaps, find some reason for so doing, but, as for him, he
must cry, and cry mightily, too, or else he would be passed by, for he
felt himself so unworthy. "O Lord, visit me; visit me to save me! If
ever a soul needed saving, I am that one. If ever there was a sinner
near despair, I am that sinner! Lord, come and visit me with Your
salvation!"
The prayer also reveals great concentration of desire. "O visit me with
Your salvation." It seems to me as if the Psalmist put all his
thoughts, all his desires, yes, and his very life into that prayer. Let
us imitate him in this earnestness and concentration. Where are you, my
dear Friend? –for I feel certain that there is somebody present who
can pray this prayer. "O visit me." If you are growing old, well may
you say, "O visit me." If you are feeling ill–if the doctor tells you
that there is something amiss with that heart of yours–you may well
pray, "O visit me." Or do you feel yourself very weak and feeble in
spirit? Well, then, do not hesitate to make your prayer, tonight, a
personal one–there is nothing selfish in crying with the publican,
"God be merciful to me a sinner!" If anybody says that it is selfish to
pray for yourself so much, just ask him what he would do if he were
drowning? Does anybody say that it is selfish for him to strike out and
try to swim, or selfish to seize the lifebuoy that is thrown to him? If
you were in a fire and likely to be burned to death, would anybody call
you selfish because you looked for the fire escape and climbed on it as
soon as it touched your window?
And when your very soul is in danger, it is a hallowed selfishness to
seek, first, its salvation! If your own soul is lost, what can you do
for the salvation of other people? If you perish, what benefit can you
be to your fellow men? Truly, this is a holy charity which ought to
begin at home and I do not believe that any man really cares for the
souls of others who does not first and foremost care about his own
soul! If you do not pray, "O visit me with Your salvation," I am sure
that you do not pray, "O visit my wife with Your salvation. O visit my
children with Your salvation." Therefore, keep to this personal prayer
till it is answered! And when it is, then pray for all others as
earnestly as you have prayed for yourself!
IV. And now to finish. Notice one thing more in this text and that is,
A SPECIALTY–"O visit me with Your salva-tion"–the kind of salvation
he has been describing in this Psalm–the salvation worked by
Omnipotent Grace, the salvation of enduring love!
Dear Friends, I have heard of a good many so-called salvations in my
time. I heard, some time ago, of a woman who said that she had been
saved already six times and it had not done her much good. She had been
to different revival meetings and joined various societies that make a
great row–and call it salvation–and in that way she had been "saved"
six times and she did not know that she was any better. No, and you may
be "saved" in such a fashion as that six thousand times and be none the
better, for that is not God's salvation!
The Psalmist prayed, "O visit me with Your salvation," and by that he
meant real salvation, a radical change, a thorough work of Grace. God's
salvation includes a perfect cleansing in the precious blood of Jesus,
a supernatural work in renewing the heart, a resurrection work in
raising the dead and giving a new life. So, when you pray, "O visit me
with Your salvation," you ask the Lord to give you real salvation, not
a sham.
This salvation is also compete salvation. It saves the man from the
love of sin. It not merely saves him from getting drunk, from lying,
from thieving and from uncleanness, but it saves him within as well as
without. It is a thorough renewal–a work of Grace that takes effect
upon every part of his nature. God grant that you and I may never be
content with a salvation which is not the work of Divine Grace! You
remember that it is said of Mr. Rowland Hill that he was met, somewhere
about the New Cut, by a drunk who reeled up to him and said, "Well, Mr.
Hill, I am glad to see you, Sir. I am one of your converts." "Yes,"
replied the good minister, "you may be one of my converts. If you had
been one of the Lord's converts, you would not be drunk." There are too
many of our converts about–we may find them everywhere except in
Heaven! But woe unto the man who is content with being the convert of
his fellow man! What we need is a visitation from God, Himself, and
therefore, we pray with the Psalmist, "O visit me with Your salvation."
Lastly, and chiefly, God's salvation is eternal salvation. We hear, in
various quarters, from time to time, about a salvation that is only
temporary. I have been told, again and again, of men who are said to
have been children of God one day, and children of the devil the next.
Now, I believe that a temporary salvation is a trumpery salvation and
that it is neither worth preaching nor receiving. But God's salvation
is both worth preaching and receiving because it is everlasting
salvation. A good old divine was once asked whether he believed in the
final perseverance of the saints. "Well," said he, "I do not know much
about that matter, but I firmly believe in the final perseverance of
God, that where He has begun a good work He will carry it on until it
is complete." To my mind, that Truth of God includes the final
perseverance of the saints–they persevere in the way of salvation
because God keeps them in it. Does the Holy Spirit renew the heart of a
man and then is His work, after all, undone, so that the man goes back
to his unregenerate state? What is to become of him then?
"Oh!" says someone, "he may be born again." What? A man to be born
again, and again, and again? Is there anything in the Bible to warrant
such teaching as that? I believe not! If the Holy Spirit's work in
renewing the heart could ever be undone, then this text would come in,
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy
Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the
world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto
repentance"–for God's greatest work has been already worked upon them
and if it could fail, nothing more could be done for them. "But,
Beloved," says the Apostle, after making this solemn declaration, "we
are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany
salvation, though we thus speak." So, dear Friends, if the Lord saves
you, you are saved forever! If He has worked within you a work of
Grace, it will assuredly end in Glory–
"All necessary Grace will God bestow,
And crown that Grace with Glory, too!
He gives us all things and withholds
No real good from upright souls." "Lord, visit me with Your salvation."
Others may have their own salvation of any sort or kind that they
please, but do visit me with Your salvation! Take my case in Your
hands, then the work will be done, well done, and done forever." Pray
thus, dear Friend, for yourself. "O visit me with Your salvation," and
He will do so. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be
saved." "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believes not shall be damned." God lead you all to accept His great
salvation even now, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM106.
This Psalm relates the story of God's mercy to Israel, of the people's
provocation of Jehovah, and of His great patience with them, It
commences with an exhortation to praise the Lord.
Verse 1. Praise you Jehovah. Or, "Hallelujah." I cannot help remarking,
here, that this is one of the most sacred words in the whole Bible and
it ought always to be pronounced with the utmost reverence. I sometimes
feel my blood chill when I hear of "hallelujah lasses" and, "hallelujah
bonnets." If those who use such expressions rightly understood the
meaning of the word, they would not thus take the name of the Lord in
vain!
1. O give thanks unto Jehovah; for He is good: for His mercy endures
forever As long as you and I are sinners, this will be one of the
sweetest notes in our song of thanksgiving unto Jehovah–"His mercy
endures forever."
2. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can show forth all
His praise? Neither the angels nor the perfect spirits who day without
night circle His throne rejoicing can show forth all Jehovah's praise.
3. Blessed are they that keep justice, and he that does righteousness
at all times. There is great comfort in walking near to God. The way of
peace, the way of blessing is the way of righteousness, but, alas, my
Brothers and Sisters, we do not always keep in that way as we should.
The Psalmist himself felt that he did not, therefore he prayed–
4. Remember me, O LORD, with the favor that You bear unto Your people:
O visit me with Your salvation. He felt that he needed God's Grace in
all its saving power.
5. That I may see the good of Your chosen, that I may rejoice in the
gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance. He
longs to get in among the people of God. He wants to share the favor
which God bestows upon them–the Free Grace which He manifests to them.
He wants to be included in their election, to rejoice in their gladness
and to glory in their inheritance.
6. 7. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we
have dose wickedly. Our fathers understood not Your wonders in Egypt
Very great wonders were worked there when God's time came to set His
people free from their cruel bondage. There was a marvelous display of
power on God's part, yet the Psalmist had to say, "Our fathers
understood not Your wonders in Egypt."
7. They remembered not the multitude of Your mercies; but provoked Him
at the sea, even at the Red Sea. They had hardly started out of Egypt
before they provoked Jehovah. They had only just caught sight of the
rolling waters of the Red Sea when they began to murmur against God and
against His servant, Moses.
8. Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake. Oh, is not that a
grand word? Well might Jehovah say, "Not for Your sakes do I this, O
house of Israel." He saved them for His own sake.
8. That He might make His mighty power to be known. Free Grace finds in
itself, not in us, its own motive, and discovers its own reason for
acting on our behalf. God's reason for mercy is found in His mercy.
9-13. He rebuked the Red Sea, also, and it was dried up: so He led them
through the depths, as through the wilderness. And He saved them from
the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the
enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them
left Then believed they His words; they sang His praise. They soon
forgot His works; they waited not for His counsel Ah, me! Even the
divided sea is soon forgotten! Enemies walled up by water speedily pass
from remembrance. "They soon forgot His works; they waited not for His
counsel."
14, 15. But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in
the desert And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their
soul I do not know of anything more dreadful than that–to be fattened
outside and to be starved within–to have everything that heart could
wish for and yet not to have the best thing that the heart ought to
wish for! May God save us from that appearance of prosperity which is
only a veiled desolation!
16. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the
LORD. These two men had done everything for the children of Israel.
They had been the instruments in the hand of God of innumerable
blessings to them, yet they envied Moses and Aaron.
17, 18. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the
company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame
burned up the wicked. Jehovah's mercy did not melt the people's hard
hearts, so perhaps the fear of His judgment would. God tried both
methods with them, as He has done with us, for sometimes He has been
very gracious to us and at other times He has chastened us very sorely.
He has tried the kiss and He has tried the blow. Yet what happened in
the case of Israel?
19-22. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus
they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God their Savior, which had done great things in Egypt;
wondrous works in the land of Ham and terrible things by the Red Sea.
What was to become of such a people, provoking Him again and again?
23. Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses, His
chosen, stood before Him in the breach to turn away His wrath, lest He
should destroy them. How often has our blessed Mediator, who is far
greater than Moses, stood before the Lord in the breach! How often has
the great Husbandman said, concerning the fruitless tree, "Cut it down;
why cumbers it the ground?" And then that Divine Dresser of the
vineyard has pleaded, "Let it alone this year, also, till I shall dig
about it." And here we are, still spared and still blessed through the
intercession of God's chosen Mediator.
24. Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They said that the Canaan
towards which they were traveling was not worth the trouble of getting
to it–"They despised the pleasant land."
24-28. They believednot His Word: but murmured in their tents, and
hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD. Therefore He lifted up His
hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow
their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.
They joined themselves also unto Baal-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of
the dead. They began to study necromancy and spiritualism and to join
in the abominations of the worship of Baal.
29. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their inventions: and the
plague broke in upon them. Now notice how something always happened to
spare them from the destruction which they deserved.
30, 31. Then stood up Phinehas and executed judgment: and so the plague
was stayed. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all
generations forevermore. Yet they still went on sinning against the
Most High.
32, 33. They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went
ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so
that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. Does it not seem remarkable
that Moses, the true servant of God, was not spared from punishment
when it was but a word that He spoke unadvisedly, yet still the mercy
of God was continued to that provoking generation? Ah, that is always
the way with our jealous God–those whom He loves best will be sure to
feel His chastising rod, whatever happens to others. At last the
Israelites reached Canaan–they entered into the land that flowed with
milk and honey! Did that change their character? No, not in the least.
34-38. They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD
commanded them: but were mingled among the heathen and learned their
works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yes,
they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed
innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was
polluted with blood. Just think how low they had sunk! God's own people
had come down to this–that they actually offered their own children in
sacrifice to Moloch!
39-43. Thus were they defiled with their own works and went a whoring
with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled
against Hispeople, insomuch that He abhorred His own inheritance. And
He gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them
ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were
brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did He deliver
them. You would not have expected to find such a sentence as that,
here, yet there it stands! Notwithstanding all that these people did,
"many times did He deliver them."
43-45. But they provoked Him with their counsel, and were brought low
for their iniquity. Nevertheless He regarded their affliction when He
heard their cry: and He remembered His Covenant with them and repented
according to the multitude of His mercies. Was there ever so strange a
story as this–a story of provocation continued almost beyond belief,
and yet of mercy which would not be overcome–of persevering love that
would not turn aside?
46-48. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them
captives. Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the
heathen, to give thanks unto Your holy name, and to triumph in Your
praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to
everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise you the LORD. So
the Psalm ends upon its keynote–"Hallelujah"–"Praise You Jehovah."