God's Dealings With Egypt and Israel
(No. 2723)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 21, 1901.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JUNE
27, 1880.
"And smote all the first-born in Egypt; the chief of their strength in
the tabernacles of Ham: but made His own people to go forth like sheep,
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock." Psalm 78:51, 52.
THERE is a very sharp line of division here between the Egyptians and
the Lord's own people, and that line of division always has existed and
always will, for all attempts to blend the seed of the serpent with the
seed of the woman must fail. Between the Church and the world, however
debased the Church may become, and however reformed the world may be,
there will still be a clear distinction even until the end–and that
distinction will be seen in the day of the appearing of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, when "before Him shall be gathered all nations:
and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his
sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but
the goats on the left."
At the present moment, in this congregation, though no human eye can
read all our characters, there is a clear division among us who are
here. If some infallible "teller" could now divide the house into Yeses
and Noes, separating those who are on God's side from those who are
not, the spectacle would be a very striking one. I pray that each one's
own conscience may, at least in some measure, make that division and
that we may all think within ourselves whether we fear the God of
Israel or do not fear Him–whether we are for Him or against Him–for
you can be well assured that as God dealt with Egypt of old, so will He
deal with all His adversaries! And as He dealt with Israel of old, so
will He deal with all His own people. The "parable" (for that is the
expression with which the Psalm begins), will be written out again in
history, and be repeated, enlarged and intensified throughout eternity.
God has made an everlasting distinction between those who fear Him and
those who fear Him not–and that distinction will be seen in His
dealings with the children of men.
I want you, first, to spend a few minutes in solemnly and sadly
thinking of the punishment of Egypt. And then we will more joyfully
meditate upon the salvation of Israel
I. First, let us think of THE PUNISHMENT OF EGYPT.
Egypt, through its kings, had become the determined adversary of God.
"Who is Jehovah, that I should obey His voice?" was the challenge flung
down by Pharaoh in defiance. And the Lord, who is a Man of War, was not
slow to accept it. Then came that great conflict between the
stony-hearted king and Jehovah, the God of Israel. To all but the eye
of faith, it seemed a very hopeless thing to expect that Israel should
ever come forth out of Egypt. They had been so long oppressed and
down-trodden that they were really only a vast herd of slaves–they had
not the spirit of free men. And when Moses was sent by God to lead them
out of the house of bondage, they were rather a hindrance to their
deliverer than a help to him. They were a poor race of serfs crushed
beneath Pharaoh's iron heel, yet Jehovah was their God and they were
His people. They might be grimy with their labors at the brick kiln.
They might sweat in the iron furnace, but God was on their side and He
acknowledged them as His people. Notwithstanding their degradation and
their sorrow, He heard their cry and He came down to deliver them–and
then it became a battle royal between Jehovah of Hosts and proud
Pharaoh of Egypt. God determined to strike blow after blow–to deal
more gently with the tyrant at the first than He did at the last–and
to end the battle by letting all men see that potsherds cannot strive
successfully against a
rod of iron, and that puny man, at his strongest, is as nothing before
the might of his Maker! God caused all the firstborn of Egypt to die on
one night and so delivered His people with a high hand and an
outstretched arm.
Let us learn from this, that when God comes to try conclusions between
Himself and His enemies, He may allow a certain time to elapse before
He overthrows them. He may, for awhile, smite gently, and so give
opportunities for repentance. But if they are not accepted, we may
depend upon it that God is not playing with sinners. They may fancy
that He is, and they may delight to listen to those dulcet voices,
those velvet-lined mouths that preach, nowadays, soft things to sinners
who stand out in enmity against God–but they will find that they have
been deceived when God comes to close quarters with them–and they will
curse the man who has deceived them and made them continue to resist
the Most High to their eternal ruin! For, when He once lays hold of the
sword and buckler, His own words are, "I will ease Me of My
adversaries." And we may rest assured that when He comes forth to
execute judgment, He will do it as thoroughly as He did when He "smote
all the first-born in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the
tabernacles of Ham."
I can imagine Pharaoh dreaming that he had defeated Jehovah. He
possibly said to his courtiers, "I have not seen that man, Moses, for
the last four days. Certainly, he has plagued this country enough, but
he has played his last card now–we shall never hear of him anymore. I
have stood out and I have won the day–let us have a great feast unto
our gods, for, after all, we have triumphed." They spread the tables
and they brought out the goblets. And the impious king drank on till
far into the night. But what was that cry that made him start? What are
those thousands of cries all through the palace and all around it?
Pharaoh's eldest son has fallen dead in a moment! He had had him
crowned a little while before and associated him with himself in the
government of the kingdom–but there he lies, struck dead in his
father's presence and before all the nobles of the land! All in the
court who were first-born sons perished there in the king's sight! And
when he went out into the open air, that he might cool his fevered
brow, he heard those awful cries from all the houses of the Egyptians,
for there was not a house in the land in which there was not one dead.
What do you now think, proud king? Can you stand against this unseen
Power? God has struck you now even to the heart and broken your proud
spirit in pieces!
We may all rest assured that God has ways of punishing us if we
continue in rebellion against Him. We may live a long life and never
think of Him. We may live a blasphemous life and defy Him. And He may,
for a time, afflict us as He plagued Pharaoh with the flies and the
locusts and the milder judgments–but He will deal with our souls in
sterner fashion in the next world when He comes to mete out vengeance
without mercy, because His Grace was utterly despised by us. David
said, "Your hand shall find out all Your enemies: Your right hand shall
find out those that hate You." So He will and He will know how to
strike us in the most tender place if we still continue to resist Him.
In the case of Pharaoh, it was his own chickens that came home to
roost–his sins brought their own punishment. He had slain many of the
children of Israel and God had, in effect, said to Him, "Israel is My
first-born. Let My people go." But as he would not let God's first-born
go, God's stroke of judgment came upon his first-born. This is,
perhaps, the most dreadful truth about future retribution–that a man
will see his own sin in his suffering just as he sees his face in a
glass. Hell is sin fully developed–a man's own soul permitted to go to
extreme limits with that which it now carries out in a mitigated
form–and so, becoming like a furnace heated seven times hotter than
usual, tormenting itself beyond all power of imagination!
I do not know anything more awful to one's own self than to know that
one has done wrong. When conscience is aroused, then you can go to
Jesus and be washed from the stains of guilt–and how sweet is that
sense of perfect cleansing! But that conscience will still remain to
accuse those for whom there will be no washing! That sense of sin will
still be present, only a hundred times more vividly–and there will be
no bath that can take away the sin. We shall continue to feet the guilt
of our transgressions, but we shall not be able to find the sugar on
the pill which tempted us when we were here, and we shall have to let
it lie like a burning fire within our spirit, forever seeing our own
sin, the sin of our whole life, all that we did, said and thought,
coming home to us, just as Pharaoh's evil conduct came home to him.
I do not like speaking upon these horrible themes and I would not
mention them if they were not true–and if men could be led to escape
from sin by more tender topics–but their ears are dull of hearing, so
they need the trumpet to sound an alarm! And the watchman is bound to
give warning in the time of danger, for it is written, "If the watchman
sees the sword come, and blows not the trumpet, and the people are not
warned; if the sword comes, and takes any person from among them, he is
taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the
watchman's hands."
Remember also, dear Friends, that there was no escape from that
judgment of God upon Egypt The Israelites were sheltered under the
sprinkled blood of the paschal lamb and not one of them was harmed. But
Egypt's lintels and doorposts had no sprinkling of the blood on the
bunch of hyssop and, therefore, not one first-born son in their houses
escaped.
Nor was there any possibility of recovery from that blow. They could
not restore to life one of those who fell by the mysterious stroke of
the avenging angel who flew so swiftly through the land. And when God
deals with men in judgment, none of them shall be able to escape. If
they could go to the top of Carmel, He would find them there. If they
should plunge into the depths of the sea, even there would He give
commandment to the crooked serpent–and they would be punished for
their sin. If they should borrow the wings of the morning and fly unto
the uttermost parts of the earth, His warrant officers would be there
first, waiting to arrest the fugitives. There is no escape from God's
judgment and no recovery from His blows. Let God kill the first-born in
Egypt and they are killed! Let God condemn the ungodly and they are
condemned! Let God curse them, and they are, indeed, cursed! What the
curse of God must mean, may you and I, my dear Hearers, never know!
I want to turn away from this sad part of my subject, but before I do,
I must ask each one of you this question–Are you an enemy of the God
of Israel? If so, you can see, in the punishment of Egypt, how He will
deal with you. You cannot be victorious in this fight, so yield at
once! Possibly you say, "No, I am not an enemy of God, yet I never
think of Him." But He made you! He breathed into you the breath of life
and yet you say that you never think of Him? What a shameful slight you
thus put upon Him, His Majesty! He is here close to you at this moment.
He surrounds your every step with mercy and yet you never think of Him?
Shall I give you one of His own messages to remember? It is a very
dreadful one– "Consider this, you that forget God, lest I tear you in
pieces, and there be none to deliver." May none of you ever come to
know what that terrible verse means!
I am glad that it is not the duty of the preacher to look into the
future and to see even one of you perishing in sin. I could not bear to
turn my eyes that way, nor even to think of it as possible. Escape, I
pray you, while you can escape! Flee from the wrath to come! Lay hold
on eternal life! The door of God's mercy is open at present and whoever
believes in Jesus Christ passes in through that door. In fact, He is
the Door, as He said, "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, He
shall be saved." Oh, that you may come unto God by Him, and that there
may be peace between you and God henceforth and forever!
II. Now I will leave that sorrowful part of my theme, for I want to
speak about God's own people while we think of THE SALVATION OF ISRAEL.
The second verse of our text runs thus–"He made His own people to go
forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock."
I might say a great deal about how they came to be His people–by His
eternal choice and Sovereign Grace–but I am not going into the
doctrinal side of the subject so much as the practical. Let me say,
then, that God has His people to this day–He has a people in this
world right now who are as distinctly His as the Jews were–and who are
even more separated from the rest of mankind than the children of
Israel were from the heathen nations by whom they were surrounded. The
all-important question for each one of you is–Do you belong to the
Lord's people? I will tell you what is their distinguishing mark–they
are those who have faith. Abraham is the father of the faithful. He
believed God and all those who rely upon God as Abraham did, are
Abraham's spiritual seed–and the Lord is their God. He chose them, but
they have also chosen Him. They can truly say, "This God is our God
forever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death."
Now, can we who are here say that we believe in the invisible God and
that we are trying to worship Him in that simple way which He prefers?
We do not invent gaudy ceremonies, nor anything that springs of
will-worship–we remember that our Lord Jesus said to the woman at the
well, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth." This is the special and distinctive mark of the
child of God, that whereas another man takes into his calculation only
as much as he can see, or hear, or touch–this man bases his chief
calculation upon God whom he cannot see and whose voice he never heard
with his ears–and he lives as seeing Him who is invisible, trusting in
Him whom, not having seen, He loves. I ask you, dear Friends, is that
your character? Have you been brought to trust in Jesus Christ's blood
for the pardon and cleansing of all your sins? And is your life now a
life of faith upon the Son of God?
"The just shall live by faith" and that faith is the mark of God's
people in the world–they have faith in Him while others have not.
Many men believe in themselves. They boast of being self-made men. It
is as well that they did make themselves in that sense, for they are no
credit to anybody else! Some people have placed their reliance upon
others. In their exercise of faith they go no further than friends whom
they can see. Their friends, inasmuch as they rely upon them, and not
upon God, practically become their gods. Whatever a man depends upon,
whatever rules his mind, whatever governs his affections, whatever is
the chief object of his delight–is his god. So we can all judge
whether Jehovah is our God or not. Do we realize His Presence and
power? Do we know that there is such a God? Do we love Him? Do we
delight ourselves in Him? Can we truly say that the greatest joy we
ever have is that there is such a God and that He is ours, and we are
His? The ungodly man who thereby proves that he is a fool, says in his
heart, "There is no God." He wishes there were none, but to the child
of God, it would be the greatest loss that he could sustain if he were
to lose his God. He delights himself in God. God is his exceeding joy.
He is, indeed, his all. This is the mark of the people of God and God
has such a people scattered up and down in all churches and throughout
the entire world–and those are the people with whom He will deal as He
dealt with Israel of old–"He made His own people to go forth like
sheep."
That leads us to our second point, which is that God brings these
people out from among all others. He brought Israel up out of Egypt and
if you are one of His people, He will fetch you out of the world. You
may live for years in the world, as the Israelites lived in Goshen, and
you may say to yourself, "I do not want a better heritage than this."
But if you are one of the Lord's own, He will turn that Goshen of yours
into a place of bondage until you sigh, and cry, and long to be
delivered from it! God did not drive His people out of Egypt, but He
led them–they came willingly and gladly, for Egypt had become a place
of misery to them. So does the world become, with all its sinful
pleasures. Its fine glories turn to emptiness and vanity to the true
child of God and God fetches him out of it all.
I have been astonished, sometimes, at the way in which God fetches out
His people. Some of them get as far into the enemy's country as ever
they can, but He brings them out. Some have gone into drunkenness,
others into blasphemy, some even into what they call Free
Thought–which is a state of sad bondage to the soul–and they have
thought that there they would never be reached by God's mercy, yet He
has tracked them out, brought them back to Himself with weeping and
supplication, and made them loathe the place and the company that they
once loved! When that prodigal son went away from home, with his purse
full of gold and silver, it did not look as though he would ever go
back to his father. Look at him there in the far country, wasting his
substance with riotous living! What vile company he frequented! There
was nothing filthy but he delighted in it–and so it came to pass that
in process of time, a citizen of that country sent him into his fields
to feed swine.
The prodigal had neither swine nor fields of his own. He had been
living at such a rate that he had spent all that he had. Yet he did
come back to his home, for he was his father's own child–he was
obliged to go back or to starve. It is a good thing for prodigals to be
brought to extremities. Some time ago I met with a young man, the son
of a very godly father, and I was grieved to hear him ridicule religion
and ridicule it very bitterly, too. In the course of our conversation,
he said that he was keeping racehorses, and I said to him, "Keep as
many as you can, for there is no hope of your ever coming back to God
till you have spent all that you have, so spend it as fast as you can.
Get down to the swine trough, and when you are ready to fill your belly
with the husks, I daresay you will want to come back." He said that I
was very sarcastic, but I told him that I was in solemn earnest and
that I thought that was the usual way in which profligates went. When
they have spent all, there arises a mighty famine in the land–and when
they begin to be in need, they come back. But why should any of you
need God to use such rough methods of fetching you back to Him? Go home
at once, poor wandering child, to the great God who waits to welcome
you! Oh, that His Spirit may constrain you even now!
So we see that God still has a people in the world and that He will
fetch out those people of His from the rest of mankind. With a high
hand and an outstretched arm He will bring them out, even as He brought
Israel out of Egypt!
Notice, next, that the Lord not only brings His people away from
others, but He brings them to Himself–He made His own people to go
forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock." He
Himself going before them through the desert way like a shepherd. Oh,
that God would, this very hour, bring out of the world and unto Himself
some of those whom He has chosen, for that is the soul's true
place–following God as the sheep follow the shepherd! Where can any
soul be so much at home as with the God who made it? Where is a son
ever so completely in his right place
as when he is at his father's table? Where can my poor heart ever hope
to find rest but on the bosom of my God? Oh, that the Lord would, in
His infinite mercy, bring any wanderers who are here to Himself! The
way to God must always be through Jesus Christ–He Himself said, "No
man comes unto the Father, but by Me." O poor wandering Souls, come to
God through Jesus Christ His Son! Follow where He leads and always walk
in His way!
Further, in bringing sinners to Himself, God will also bring them to
one another ' 'He made His own people to go forth like sheep, and
guided them in the wilderness like a flock." He does not say that they
should be like a solitary dog that comes at his master's whistle, but
like a flock of sheep that move together in one direction. One mark of
the children of God is that they love one another and that they
associate with each other. Why have we been guided to form churches,
and other Christian communities? It is because we are gregarious
creatures and need mutual sympathy and companionship. Christ's sheep
are not like ravening wolves that hunt in pairs, or singly, but they
delight in company. There are some professing Christians who seem as if
they could get on best by themselves, but I think that the most of us
are never so happy as when we are enjoying fellowship with those who
love the same Savior whom we love! We say, concerning the place where
we meet with the saints–
"There my best friends, my kindred dwell, There God my Savior reigns."
There is no society for you young people who have been lately converted
like the Church of Jesus Christ. So seek admission into it–join with
the rest of your Brothers and Sisters in Christ and make your home with
them. I think that you hardly give evidence of being God's child if you
go in and out of His house and never speak to anybody there, and never
acknowledge anyone as a Brother or Sister in the Lord. Where the Father
is love, the Spirit is love and the elder Brother is love, love should
rule in all the household! "We know that we have passed from death unto
life because we love the brethren." It is one of the marks of God's
people that they love each other! He leads them forth like a flock of
sheep. He brings them into union with one another. He gives them happy
fellowship in His Church and so guides them to Heaven.
That is our last point–the Lord brings His people out from the world,
and brings them to Himself, and to fellowship with one another–and
then He guides them to a place of rest, even as He led Israel into
Canaan. The Lord is gently leading all Believers onward towards their
blessed resting place above. You are not going down into Egypt,
Brother, like poor old Jacob went with the wagons in the olden
times–you are going up to Canaan! You shall be fed all through the
desert–the manna shall fall all round your tent every morning, the
water from the smitten Rock shall flow close to you through all your
wanderings–and your Lord Himself has said, "I will never leave you,
nor forsake you." Your hair is whitening, you lean heavily upon your
staff, you have not many more years of pilgrimage left, but to the end
of your wilderness journey, your feet shall not swell, neither shall
your garments wax old upon you–still shall your shoes be iron and
brass, and as your days, so shall your strength be! Jehovah never yet
forsook any soul that trusted Him!
Some of us can bear witness to His faithfulness–not for so many years
as others of you have seen–but some of us can talk of 30 years'
experience of a faithful God. And though we have forgotten Him and
grieved Him, He has never once broken any promise that He has made! Oh,
the deliverances we have had, the merciful interpositions of His
gracious hand on our behalf! He is a good God, a blessed God! His
praises we can never fully sing. The service of God is happiness below
as it is eternal bliss above. If I knew that I would die like a dog. If
it could be proven to me that my faith would all turn out to be a
delusion, I would like, somehow, never to be free from the delusion! It
is so blessed a thing to serve God, even in this life! He gives us such
joy and peace that though many are the afflictions of the righteous,
yet His service is perfect freedom–and to honor Him is our supreme
delight. Blessed be His holy name!
Then comes the end, the passage of the river Jordan and the entrance
into the promised inheritance. Perhaps you are asking, "How shall I
ever cross that river to enter into the portion that God has marked out
for me by line and lot?" Do not be afraid! Many timorous saints go over
that long-dreaded stream dry-shod–they never know that they are dying.
How many fall asleep on earth and open their eyes in Heaven! I can
fancy them almost thinking, "Am I really in eternity?" Yet the soul
will never need to ask that question when once it has entered the
pearly gates–
"O blissful hour! O blest abode! I shall be near and like my God." An
ethereal joy, such as I never knew to the full, before, shall fill my
spirit when once I am absent from the body, present with the Lord! Do
not be afraid to die, Beloved, but rather look at death as an
experience to be desired. I have not the
slightest wish to escape it. Those who live till Christ comes and do
not die will have no preference over them that fall asleep in Him.
Indeed, they will lose the fellowship with Him, in His death and
burial, that others will have. I like that verse which I have often
quoted–
"Since Jesus is mine, I'll not fear undressing, But gladly put off
these garments of clay; To die in the Lord, is a Covenant blessing,
Since Jesus to glory thro' death led the way."
Yes, Brothers and Sisters, our great Joshua will assuredly bring us
into the Promised Land, Jordan or no Jordan! We shall have our lot and
our inheritance beyond the river, that is, if we truly trust in Him.
How about that matter? Are you resting in Jesus Christ the one Mediator
between God and men? Have you faith in the living God? A living people
must have a living God. Oh, if your money is your god, if your belly is
your god, if this world is your god, if Satan is your god you will have
Egypt's doom! But if, through Christ Jesus the Lord, God is your one
hope, and joy, and confidence, then be not afraid, for He will lead you
through the wilderness and He will bring you into your eternal rest!
God grant it, for Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM37'
It may be, beloved Friends, that there is a word of comfort for some of
you in this "Psalm of David." If any of you have been perplexed and
worried, and there has been a stern conflict within your spirit, here
are some cheering words which will bring a message from God to you.
It may be worth your while to remember that the 37th Psalm and the 73rd
are upon the same subject. They are the same figures, reversed, but
they both deal with the great mystery which has vexed the hearts of
godly men in all generations.
Verses 1, 2. Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be you
envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut
down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. What a contrast
there is between the grass before the mower comes with his scythe, and
that same grass when it is cut down! And there is the same kind of
difference between the glory of ungodly men at one moment and their
destruction the next. How beautiful the fertile meadow appears before
you mow its many-colored flowers, yet in how short a time all its
beauties are cut down and withered in the sun!
3, 4. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land,
and verily you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the LORD; and He
shall give you the desires of your heart The Psalmist begins with,
"Fret not yourself . . . neither be envious," but he advances to
something higher. He seeks to lead his hearer or reader up to "trust in
the Lord," and then still further up to, "delight in the Lord." A
Christian should constantly be on the rising scale–though he is always
in the way of change, it should be a change for the better. Take care,
dear Friends, that you are people of simple trust–"Trust in the
Lord"–and then you shall advance to delight in Him! "Delight yourself
also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart."
5, 6. Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall
bring it to pass. AndHe shall bring forth your righteousness as the
light, and your judgment as the noonday. I t may be very dark with you
just now, but God will turn your midnight into noonday. It is only He
who can do it, therefore be sure to commit your way unto Him–"trust
also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass."
7. Rest in the LORD. Not only rest on Him, but rest in Him–get into
such close fellowship with Him that you really "rest in the Lord."
7, 8. And wait patiently for Him: fret not yourself because of him who
prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to
pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not yourself in any
wise to do evil It is fretting that leads to anger and all manner of
evil, but when the heart truly rests in God, it forsakes wrath. When we
get away from resting in the Lord, we soon drift out upon a very stormy
sea where our poor little boats are not able to hold their own.
Therefore is it most necessary for us to obey the injunction, "Cease
from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not yourself in any wise to do
evil."
9, 10. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the
LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the
wicked shall not be: yes, you shall diligently consider his place, and
it shall not be. The very house he inhabited, the grand estate which he
called his own, shall be called by the name of another owner and he
shall be blotted out of remembrance.
11-15. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight
themselves in the abundance of peace. The wickedplots against the just,
and gnashes upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for
He sees that his day is coming. The wickedhave drawn out the sword,
andhave bent their bow, to cast down thepoor andneedy, and to slaysuch
as are of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own
heart, and their bows shall be broken. They were so eager "to cast down
the poor and needy" that they used both sword and bow against them, yet
they could not succeed in their evil designs, for God took care of His
own people and, therefore, the Psalmist was able to say concerning
their enemies, "Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their
bows shall be broken."
16. A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many
wicked.''Many wicked." That is a strong expression! The Psalmist does
not merely mention the riches of one wicked man, but he says, "A little
that a righteous man has is better than the riches of manywicked."
17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholds
the righteous. He keeps on upholding them. He holds them up and, in
another sense, He lifts them up on high and holds them up near to
Himself in the glorious sunshine of fellowship with Him.
18. The LORD knows the days of the upright He is well acquainted with
their bright days and their dark days. He keeps a diary of all their
ever-changing experiences. "The Lord knows the days of the upright."
18. And their inheritance shall be forever. There is an accompaniment
upon Covenant blessings which ensures their enjoyment by all the chosen
seed–and they shall never be taken from them. "Their inheritance shall
be forever."
19. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of
famine they shall be satisfied. They shall not only get, as we say, "a
sup and a bite," but, "they shall be satisfied." And that even "in the
days of famine," when other people starve! They are well fed whom God
feeds! There is no table like the one furnished and supplied by
Omnipotence. He who is infinite in resources can readily supply all our
necessities.
20. 21. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall
be as the fat oflambs: they shall vanish. Into smoke shall they vanish
away. The wicked borrows, and pays not again: but the righteous shows
mercy and gives. He prefers to do that rather than to lend; it
generally comes to the same thing in the long run and he may as well
know from the first what he is really doing. "The righteous shows mercy
and gives."
22, 23. For such as are blessed of Him shall inherit the earth; and
they that are cursed of Him shall be cut off The steps of a good man
are ordered by the LORD: and He delights in his way. What a beautiful
expression that is, "the steps of a good man"–the very steps, the
little things, the daily actions, the ordinary progress of a good
man–"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delights
in his way." Our way is sometimes rough, but if God takes a delight in
it, it must be right. It is a joy to us to know that the lives of godly
men are delightful to the Most High.
24. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD
upholds him with His hand. There may be a stumble, or even a fall, and
he will grieve over it. He may suffer great losses and he may think
that there is an end to his mercies, but it shall not be so. God's
servants are like the sheep–they may fall many times, but they are
soon up again. Hypocrites are like the swine–when they fall, they
wallow in the mire, which is their congenial element.
25. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the
righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. David had not seen the
seed of the righteous begging bread, but we have often seen it, for,
when the seed of the righteous do not behave themselves, they have to
suffer poverty as well as other people. But, under the Old Covenant,
David could truly say that he had not seen this grievous sight. Yet
many of us could go as far as David did in the first part of the
verse–"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the
righteous forsaken." No, that shall never be the case and it is a very
amazing circumstance which they who have to distribute charity have
often noticed–how seldom, comparatively, do they find godly people
very greatly reduced. Somehow or other, God provides for them.
The trouble we have with our Orphanages is to find the orphans of godly
men and women, for they are very few compared with those of other
people, You may look over any list you like, and you shall find that
very seldom are the saints reduced to absolute poverty. Yet, when
poverty does come, and it does come to some of the very best of men and
women,
then God blesses it to them and bears them up beneath it, so that they
do not really lack any good thing. As for the gracious man–
26-37. He is ever merciful, andlends; andhis seedis blessed. Depart
from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore. For the LORD loves
judgment, and forsakes not His saints; they are preserved forever: but
the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit
the land, and dwell therein forever. The mouth of the righteous speaks
wisdom, and his tongue talks of judgment The Law of his God is in his
heart; none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watches the righteous,
andseeks to slay him. The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor
condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and
He shall exalt you to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off you
shall see it I have seen the wickedin greatpower, andspreading himself
like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yes, I
sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold
the upright: for the end of that man is peace. When you come to sum up
the whole of his life, the total of it amounts to this–"peace." After
all his varied experiences, God did give him rest and with all the
turmoil and tossing which came occasionally upon him, still he was a
man to be envied. It is the end to which we must always look, after
all–and concerning the perfect and upright man the Psalmist says, "the
end of that man is peace."
38. 39. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of
the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of
the LORD. I t is not the result of their own goodness or merit–it is
wholly "of the Lord." Righteous men are saved men because the Lord
saves them by His Grace and that is where they put their confidence.
39. He is their strength in the time of trouble. Dwell on that sweet
short sentence. Not only does the Lord give them strength, but He,
Himself, "is their strength in the time of trouble." He is so near to
His people that all the Omnipotence of His Godhead is theirs. Are you
in trouble just now, dear child of God? Well, you have strength enough
to carry you through it all if this is true, as it is–"He is their
strength in the time of trouble." If God Himself is your strength, do
not talk about being weak! Of course you are weakness, itself, apart
from Him–do not expect to be anything other than that–but then
remember the Psalmist's declaration, "He is their strength in the time
of trouble."
40. And the LORD shall help them. Do you need anything more than this
great promise? You have a heavy load to carry, but it is nothing to Him
who is Omnipotent. "The Lord shall help them."
40. And deliver them. He shall help them while they are in the trouble
and bring them out of it in due time.
40. He shall deliver them from the wicked, andsave them, because they
trust in Him. O dear Friends, lean hard upon God! Lay down all your
burdens at your Savior's feet and rest there in holy and happy
confidence in Him! May the Lord give to all of us the Grace to enjoy
this sweet rest, for His dear Son's sake. Amen.