Recruits for the King
(No. 3533)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1916.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"David, therefore, departed from there, and escaped to the Cave
Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it,
they went down there to him. And everyone that was in distress, and
everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented, gathered
themselves unto him, and he became captain over them: and there were
with him about four hundred men." 1 Samuel 22:1-2.
DAVID in the caverns of Adullam is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ
despised and rejected among the sons of men. Christ is the Lord's
Anointed, but men perceive not the anointing. He is persecuted by His
great enemy, the world, as David was persecuted by Saul, and he now
rather dwells in the Cave of Adullam than sits upon his throne. Just as
when David was in his dishonor, it was the time for his true friends to
rally around him. And so at this hour, when the name of Christ is
associated with much of dishonor and rebuke, now is the time for the
true followers of the Savior to rally around His banner and to espouse
His cause. To come to David after he had been crowned king was poor
work–the sons of Belial could do that–but to ally themselves to David
when he was obliged to hide himself in mountain caves from his cruel
enemies, this proved men to be David's true friends and loyal subjects.
Blessed are they to whom it shall be given to enlist under the banner
of Christ at this present time, who shall not be ashamed to confess Him
before the sons of men, or to boldly take up His Cross and to suffer
such loss and persecution as it may please His Providence to ordain for
them to bear. As it is not concerning David, but concerning David's
greater Son, I propose to address you this evening, let me say a few
words at the outset to–
I. THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY ENLISTED IN HIS BLESSED BAND.
Foremost among those of David's troop were his brothers and all his
father's house. So, too, Beloved in Christ, we who have been called by
Divine Grace are regarded by Him as His brethren and all His Father's
house. Looking round upon His disciples when He was here below, our
blessed Master said, "Behold My mother and My brethren! For whoever
shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and
mother." Such His condescension that He is not ashamed to call us
brethren. As many of us as have given our hearts to Him, rely upon Him
and love Him, are really and truly His brethren and of His Father's
house. His Father is our Father, His joy is our joy, and His Heaven
shall be our Heaven before long! Now, what shall I say to you, my
Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ, but this–Let us take care that
we boldly avow our kinship with David, our Lord! Let us never blush to
defend the cause of Christ. There are different ways of playing the
coward–let us seek to avoid them all. The minister who is bold enough
when he preaches before the multitude may feel his lips quiver when he
has to speak face to face with one individual. O God, save Your
servants from this form of cowardice! Or some of you may be able to
speak to one or two persons, but if, perchance, you are thrown into a
little promiscuous company, where you ought to avow your allegiance to
your Lord, you hold your tongue and lose the opportunity for lack of
courage. God deliver His servants from this form of cowardice, also! In
all companies, on all occasions and under all circumstances, be
faithful to your Master–deny Him not, but openly avow Him before the
sons of men! How He deserves to be acknowledged by us since He has
taken knowledge of us and recognized us when we were infinitely beneath
His notice! Oh, ten thousand blushes should cover our faces, to think
that we could ever at any time think it hard to acknowledge that He is
our Lord and Master! Pray for courage, my Brothers and Sisters–I am
sure it is needed! It seems to come to Christians naturally in
persecuting times, but in these soft, silken days of piping peace you
mingle in society, so called, with such deference to fashion, and you
go in and out of your drawing rooms with such dainty conceits, you
converse so complacently with your friends, you are such well-bred
ladies and gentlemen in
your own estimation, that you often forget that you are Christians–in
honor bound to keep the faith and bear the testimony to Christ! It is,
perhaps, easier for the poor to be bold in confessing the Redeemer's
name than it is for those in more affluent circumstances. Alas, alas,
if good fortune imperils your faithfulness! This is wicked, indeed! It
is a sorry rebuke to utter from a Christian pulpit! It ought to be the
very reverse. Your pecuniary independence ought not to enslave you. God
deliver you who love Christ from anything like shamefacedness in
connection with the Kingdom of your exalted Head!
Let me urge you, also, as you boldly confess Him, to leave the world in
order to join Him. His brethren and His father's house, we are told,
concerning David, left Saul's territory and went away to Adullam to be
with the hunted ones. Let us do the same! Ah, there is too much worldly
conformity about everyone among us! I will not attempt to point any
finger at any of my Brothers and Sisters, or expose their faults, but a
man must be blind not to perceive that many Christians do their utmost
to be as worldly as they can be consistently with their idea of getting
to Heaven at last. Are there not many who in their dress, in the
fitting up of their houses, in the conduct of their business, conform
so closely to the times and the fashions, that if they were not known
to be Christians by some other evidences, they would not be classed by
any observers with those who are on the Lord's side? I do not think it
possible for us to be too thoroughly nonconformist in respect to the
maxims, the usages and vanities of this present evil world! What does
this text mean? "Come you out from among them." Is not that enough? No!
"Be you separate." Is not that enough? No! "Touch not the unclean
thing." So thorough is to be the separation that there must be a coming
out, a snapping of every link that maintains a connection with evil and
the renewal of that communion by even so much as a touch is to be
avoided by us! Take David's part, you that love David. Renounce
everything for David! Oh, you Christian men and women, if you love
Jesus, you must know He is worth ten thousand worlds! He is to be
esteemed before all the pomp and gaiety of this poor world, were its
charms and allurements multiplied a million times! He is infinitely to
be preferred rather than to court the smiles of the great, or to enjoy
the love of your friends, or to be flattered by the good opinions of
your relatives! Therefore, I pray you, leave all to follow Him and
forsake all other to cleave to Him, and Him alone!
But am I not speaking to many who have confessed Him, who are
confessing Him, and who do, more or less every day of their lives,
practice a self-denying nonconformity to the world? Oh, Brothers and
Sisters, I long that our sense of duty should kindle to an ardent
enthusiasm! Can we not do something heroic, or dare something perilous,
in token of our loyalty to Christ? Oftentimes my heart grows big with a
strong desire that I might see a Church in this place, pre-eminent for
consecration to the Captain of our Salvation! I prayed for this just
now–nor was it for the first time I offered that prayer. If we did but
give of our ample property, or of our scanty pittance, at the rate
which all of us should give–or if we did but work for Christ at the
rate which He deserves of us, or anything at all like it–if we did but
live for Jesus in any measure as gratitude might prompt, what a front
we would present–what a power we would exert!
As a great Church, how we might tell upon this great city! What a mark
we might leave upon our age! But why am I talking about the whole
community? I have not yet attained unto this pure devotion myself!
Still, God knows I am wishing to press onward. I aim to forget that
which is behind, while reaching forward and pressing onward. Beloved,
you remember the story of those three strong men who, when David sighed
for a drink from the well of Bethlehem, risked their lives to procure
it for him? Are there no strong men here–men of faith, men of
valor–who will dare exploits for my Master? He cries out for the
conversion of souls–will none of you consecrate yourselves to that
work? Will none of you break through the conventionalities of society
in quest of seekers? He says, "Give Me a drink," just as He said to the
woman at Samaria's well–and His thirst is satisfied when He sees His
Father's will accomplished! Are there not men here strong, brave, and
chivalrous, who can preach Christ where He has never been preached
before? There were others among David's followers who did exploits like
these–one of them slew a lion in a pit, in winter time, while of
another we are told that he slew the Philistines, and the Lord worked a
great victory! And can we not do something that shall exceed and excel
the ordinary service of modern Christianity? I blush for modern
Christianity! Its gold has become dim. Its most fine gold is changed.
Its glory has departed. The early Christians were full of an enthusiasm
which could not have tolerated the languid indifference of these times!
They were so devoted, so intense, so passionate, so full of Divine
furor for the extension of the Redeemer's Kingdom that they made their
influence felt wherever they dwelt, or even sojourned for a short
season! God send us some of this sacred zeal now! We need more of the
enthusiasm which burned in the hearts of Wesley and of Whitfield! Where
shall we look for the glowing ardor and the untiring labors of the
Apostle
Paul? Where are the disciples that emulate the zeal of the blessed
Master, whose meat and whose drink it was to do the will of Him who
sent him? May this be given to us all! God send it to us–send it to
us, now, send it to us here, send it to me, send it to you, my Brothers
and Sisters–and send it to you henceforth throughout your lives!
I do not think I need say more, unless it is to entreat you to keep up
your courage when you know that you are engaged in the cause of Christ.
There is a great struggle going on around us. This entire nation is
from time to time convulsed with serious questions in which the honor
of our Lord Jesus Christ is greatly concerned. Let all those who love
Him stand forth with unflinching integrity! Expediency is the mean word
that describes the lax morals of the age, but righteousness'is the
undeviating, the eternal principle by which the universe is governed!
The Kingdom of Christ is not of this world. Be it ours to help the
oppressed, to succor the weak and to give liberty of conscience to all
men. May God defend the right! Defend the right He will! If our names
are cast out as evil. If we are misunderstood and misinterpreted,
belied and slandered, let it be so–we are neither surprised nor
dismayed! The right has always to be maintained in the teeth of slander
and abuse. But, in God's name, let us not be cowards! Let us always do
our duty manfully and lawfully. Let us cheerfully hold fast our
profession. Let us adhere with confidence and steadfastness to the
Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Star of David is in the
ascendant–the house of Saul is growing weaker and weaker. Having thus
addressed the soldiers, I am now coming for a few minutes to–
II. ACT AS A RECRUITING SERGEANT.
Besides his own relatives, there were others who joined with David.
Now, why did they join him? For much the same reason, I may answer,
that has influenced many of us. It was because they had need of him.
They ought to have gone to David because his character was so good and
his conduct so upright. They ought to have helped him because his
disposition was so kind and sympathizing. They might well have rallied
to his standard because he was the Lord's Anointed. They might, as wise
men, have cast in their lot with him because there was prophecy and
promise of his triumph and his reign over the nation. But they were
really swayed by other motives. They went to him for three
reasons–because they were distressed, because they were in debt and
because they were discontented. Through dire dismay they sought shelter
and succor.
Now perhaps it were well should I tell you of the sweet Character of
the Lord Jesus, but if I did, you would not come to Him. It were well
did I tell you of the prowess of my Master, and how He conquered
Goliath and slew the foemen who tyrannized over us. It might be well
were I to tell you that He is God's appointed Savior, that He is
destined to reign as King, and that they who confess Him, now, shall be
exalted with Him when He comes in His Kingdom. Attractive as all this
might be to some minds, the master attraction always is that He becomes
suitable to you in your present necessities–in those dilemmas which
just now press heavily on your souls. So I propose to address the three
sorts of people who are most likely to come to Jesus, hoping that they
will seize this propitious hour and enlist under His banner at once,
without hesitation or delay!
The first sort who came to David were distressed. They were "hard up,"
as we say. They had spent their substance. They were bankrupts–their
means and their hopes alike exhausted–therefore they went to David.
They seemed to say, "Our case is so bad that it cannot be worse–it may
be better if we go to David." Their case was like yours, so well
described in our hymn–
"I can but perish if I go, I am resolved to try– For if I stay away, I
know I must forever die."
I know there are some distressed ones here! I have come to enlist them
in my Master's ragged regiment! 'Tis thus despair will vanish and thus
will hope revive, for being enlisted under Him, their courage may rally
while they fight His battles and receive His blessing!
You are distressed because you feel you have no merit of your own. That
feeling is very right, for you have none! You never had and you never
will have any! At one time you thought you were as good as other
people, or perhaps you even thought you were better. That vain thought
has now gone. Your good works, your merits, your best endeavors, your
choicest prayers all dissolve–nor dare you glory in any one of them!
Come, then, to Christ! He has merits for those who have none. His cause
is good, though yours is bad. You are the very sort of people whom He
came to rescue, for whom He died! He came, not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance! Inasmuch as you are evidently sinners, come!
Come to
the sinner's Savior! Put your trust in Him and live! Others are
distressed because they feel they have not any power. You cannot
believe, you say. You cannot repent. In fact, you cannot do anything as
you would! The more you try, the more powerless you find yourselves to
be. You would pray, but you cannot! You feel so dead, so cold. If you
attempt to move, it seems all to end in disappointment. Well, my dear
Hearers, Jesus Christ died for them who have no strength, for thus is
it written, "In due time, when we were yet without strength, Christ
died for the ungodly." Oh, you that have no power, take heart, because
Christ is the Power of God! There is ability enough in Him to make up
for all your impotency! Come and cast yourselves with all your weakness
upon His irresistible might, and you shall have a full supply of all
that your souls need!
But I know there are some here who are distressed, because, in addition
to their having no merit and no power, they have no sensibility. "I do
not feel my need as I ought," says one. "I have not such a sense of my
sin and danger as I would like," says another. Oh, Beloved, Jesus
Christ came to raise the dead! He came to give sensibility to those who
are callous and careless, to turn hearts of stone into flesh! I believe
those persons who think they do not feel their need are those who do
really feel their need the most. There is no sense of need so great as
when a man feels that he does not feel and thinks that he does not
apprehend the depth of his own need, for then he is evidently alive to
his true condition! You may possibly have more of the work of the Holy
Spirit in you than some others whose sense of need appears more lively,
though it proves less lasting. That deep, awful solicitude which makes
you fear because you do not feel, and makes you groan because you
cannot grieve, is not to be despised, for it is an experience often
associated with gracious operations of the Spirit of God! Whether it is
so or not in your case, give no place to despondency, but believe that
Christ can save you, for He is able and willing to do so! If you cannot
come with a broken heart, come fra broken heart. If you cannot come to
Him repenting, come to Him to get repentance, for He is exalted on high
to give repentance as well as remission of sins. He does not require
any preparation in you. All the preparation He requires, He prepares
Himself, and that is the work of His Spirit in your souls! Come, then,
you who are distressed and distrustful, you who have not any good thing
to recommend you as creatures, nor any good desire to extenuate you as
sinners–you who are so consciously bad that there could not be found a
good apology for you, even in your own estimation, if you were racked
over and over again! Come to Jesus, lost, ruined, undone,
poverty-stricken, as you are! Come and trust my Master, the Son of
David! The way to be enlisted, you know, into Her Majesty's service, is
to take the shilling. The way to enlist in Christ's service is simply
to trust Him! You need not bring anything nor take anything, but simply
trust in Him and you shall become a soldier of the Cross!
The next persons mentioned in the text in coming to David were those
who were in debt. I would gladly ask those in debt to come to Jesus.
The man thus in debt says, "I have got to pay my life. I have sinned
and God has said that the sinner shall die. Yet I cannot afford to
forfeit my life. How can I dare to die? I have no hope, no trust, no
confidence with which to pass the iron gates of death! And then, after
death, there is the terror ofjudgment for my soul since I have broken
God's Law–and the Law condemns me and demands my banishment from His
Presence, and my final destruction. What shall I do? I cannot pay the
debt, the thought of being put into prison forever is terrible to me.
How, how! Oh, tell me, how can I escape?" Ah, well, I should be glad,
indeed, if there were some here who should thus admit their debts and
their inability to pay them. Happy preacher to have to address such an
awakened audience! Happy hearers to be dismayed with such hopeful
anxieties! Blessed, indeed, were our work if we always had those before
us who knew the debt of sin, who felt its grievous demerit and feared
its glaring doom! Take counsel, then–whatever debt you owe, whether it
is great or small–come and trust in Jesus and you shall be relieved of
the responsibility! Come and rely on Him who suffered in the sinner's
place and was punished for the ungodly–bearing their iniquities in His
own body on the Cross! A look at Him, one look of faith, will disclose
to you the transfer of every debt and every sin from you to Him! You
shall see how He casts them into the Red Sea of His atoning blood,
where, though they may be sought for, they shall never more be found. I
would gladly enlist you, poor debtor, and take you out of the Debtor's
Prison, and introduce you to my Master's table! Bankrupt debtors make
good soldiers for the King! Come, then, without more ado, and be
enlisted in the King's army!
Another class that came to David was those who were discontented. Such
there are, nor have we far to go to seek them out. Yonder is one, to
whom I would now speak. But a little while ago you were a happy young
fellow. You could go into all kinds of revelry and little reckon the
sin, so fully did you enjoy them all! You cannot do so now. You do not
understand the reason why, but the keen edge of your appetite seems to
have been blunted–your taste for dissipation is gone. Those companions
who were once such rare jolly fellows have ceased to cheer you with
their talk. You do not enjoy their gabble now, it seems so flat, and
stale, and foolish! You cannot laugh at their lewd jests, or quaff
their sparkling cup as once you used to do. You have been behind the
scenes of this poor world and you have pitied the pale cheeks that are
painted with the hue of blooming youth–you have heard the heavy sighs
of those that raise the merry laugh–and you have witnessed so much
wanton disguise that it has filled you with woeful disgust! You have
seen enough to know how it will all end. No marvel that you are
discontented! You are the man for me! Yours is the ear I want to catch!
Yours the heart I love to reach! A blessed case it is when a man gets
discontented with this vain world, for then, perhaps, he may seek after
another world, a brighter, better sphere! When he is out at elbows with
himself and all his foolish companions, then, perhaps, he will make
acquaintance with the exiled, but anointed Man of Bethlehem, and find
in Him a Friend, a Counselor who will be his Helper, speaking kindly,
advising wisely and leading on triumphantly till He calls you to
participate in the Kingdom of His Glory! You are discontented with
yourselves. Your own reflections bitterly reprove you. When you sit
down and think a little–a habit into which, perhaps, you have but
lately fallen–you discover that things are out of the square. You
cannot feel satisfied. Strange strivings and manifold misgivings
perplex you and you get no peace. For my part, I am thankful, a
thousand times thankful, that you have come to be so ill at ease when
there was so much cause for disquiet! Now there is some hope that you
will trust your future and your fate to the Son of David! Close in with
the offers of His Grace and be saved by Him!
I recollect an old sailor who, after having been for nearly 60 years a
drunkard and a swearer, and everything that was bad, heard a Gospel
sermon that touched his heart. And when he came forward to make a
profession of his faith in Christ, he said, "I have been sailing 60
years under a very bad owner, and under a very bad flag, but now I have
taken on board a new cargo and am running for a very different port,
and under quite a different flag." So I trust it will be with some of
you, soon, that you will change your cargo, change your flag and change
everything! After preaching in the Wes-leyan chapel at Boulogne one day
some time ago, a person recognized me and was telling me how he had
found Christ through reading the sermons. About that time an old salt
came up to me and said, "Do you know me? My name was Satan once, I
remember you well. Now Satan came here one Sunday morning and he richly
deserved his name, for he was as much like Satan as a man could be! He
sat there, and after the sermon the Lord touched old Satan, and gave
him another name besides." The man came to Christ because he was
discontented with himself, and so he gave himself up to Jesus, and was
saved by Him. Is there any old salt here who will do that now? May
there not be some sailor, some soldier, some stranger somewhere here,
who shall say this night, "I will approach the King and ask Him to
accept me, even me"? If He does not accept you, please let us know, for
we have never yet met with a case in which Jesus refused a poor sinner
that came to Him! He has said, "He that comes unto Me I will in no wise
cast out." Should He cast you out, it will be a new thing under Heaven!
But He cannot do it! If you are black as sin can stain you, yet if you
come to Him, you shall be taken into the Savior's bosom, washed in the
fountain filled with His blood, started on a new career and helped to
serve Him all your days! But I must come to a finish. I have addressed
myself to the Lord's people. I have beaten up for recruits for King
Jesus, and now I want to–
III. TELL THE RECRUITS A LITTLE ABOUT THE SERVICE, and then I have
done. Remember the last words of the text, "And David became a captain
over them." Whoever, then, comes to Christ must submit to Christ's
rules. What are they? One of the first is that you should be nothing at
all and that King Jesus should be everything. Will you submit to
that–that you shall have no honor, that you shall take to yourselves
no credit, that you shall never lean on your own strength or
wisdom–but you shall take Him to be made of God unto you wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption? I hope you will not
kick at that.
Another of our Lord's rules in His kingdom is that, if you love Him,
you must keep His commandments. After trusting Him, you are to become
obedient unto Him. One commandment is that you are to be baptized. Do
not stumble at that! I think if there is anything plain in Scripture–I
will only speak for myself, I cannot speak for anybody else–it is that
every Believer is to be immersed in water as a confession of his faith.
I think I could as soon doubt that the Deity of Christ is declared as
doubt that the Baptism of Believers is enjoined, for the one thing
appears to me to be as plainly revealed in Scripture as the other! I
pray you, Brother, Sister, be not disobedient to the Lord's commands,
but remember the Gospel which we preach, "He that believes and is
baptized shall be saved." Keep to the two points and claim the
promise! Then there is the Lord's Table, of which, if you join
yourselves to Christ, you have a right to partake. Do not forget it. It
will sweetly remind you of all that your Savior has done and suffered
for you. It is nothing more than a remembrancer, but take care that you
do not neglect so blessed a memorial! All the precepts and statutes of
our Lord Jesus Christ are to be cordially obeyed. Albeit, Christ opens
a hospital for all sick folk–He does not mean you to be always
cripple, but His purpose is to heal you–and after that to teach you
how to walk. He builds up His kingdom as Romulus built up Rome. He
receives all the vagrants of the neighborhood, but then He makes new
men of them! Even so those that are gathered from the outcasts are to
be made faithful in Christ Jesus. Drunkard, you must have done with
your cups! Swearer, you must have your mouth washed out–no more of
those foul oaths must you utter! You who have given yourselves up to
carnal pleasures must be purged from all your defilements! You who have
been gay and frivolous must renounce those vanities and seek after
weighty, solemn, eternal interests. You who have had hard hearts,
before, you must ask the Master to make them soft–and whatever He says
to you, you must do.
Now, my young recruit, what do you say to this? You who would bear the
name of Christ and get to Heaven, are you willing to come to Him and
give yourselves up to Him, henceforth forsaking all your sins? He that
gives not up his sins makes a great mistake if he thinks to escape the
wrath of God, or hopes to find Grace in His eyes! Oh, will you not give
up your sins? They are vipers! They will only poison your souls! They
will destroy you! Oh, give them up! Give them up, for what shall it
profit you to keep them, and to lose your soul? Come to Jesus first.
Trust His merit. Rely upon His precious blood and then, by His help,
renounce every evil way and seek to obey Him who has redeemed you by
His blood! So shall the blessing of the Lord rest upon you forever!
Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM68.
"A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah."
Exiled, ill at ease, hunted, exposed to danger. Yet he could sing. And
some of the sweetest Psalms come out of the bitterest afflictions.
God's songsters are like nightingales that reserve their sweetest music
for the night. Whenever you and I come to be in the wilderness, may we
refresh ourselves with such a Psalm as this!
Verse 1. O God, You are my God. Everything else has gone, but You are
my God! There are gods of the heathen, but You, the true and real
Jehovah, are my God! Oh, what a blessed thing it is to take a firm grip
of God after this fashion, "O God, You are my God,"
2. Early will I seek You. "Oh," says one, "why did he seek God if God
was his?" Would you have him seek another man's God, then? No. It is
because He is ours that we seek Him and desire His company. If you know
God to be your God, you will not be satisfied unless you are living
near Him. "Early will I seek You." I will not wait. I cannot wait. I
cannot tarry. I must not tarry. Early will I seek You.
2. My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty
land, where there is no water. Thirst is one of the strongest longings
of our nature. Hunger you can appease for a while, but thirst is awful.
There is no staying that. When it is once upon a man, he must have
water, or die. "My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You in a
dry and thirsty land where there is no water." No means of Grace.
Nothing to help me. No Believers round about me–left alone, thirsting
for my God. And yet it is so precious a thing, so sure a mark of Grace
to thirst for God anywhere, that one may be thankful even to be in a
dry and thirsty land if one possesses a true thirst after God!
2. To see Your power and Your glory, so as Ihave seen You in the
sanctuary. He had seen God in His Holy Place, and he longs to see Him
again. They who never knew God do not want to know Him. But they who
have known Him desire to know Him more and more! If you do not long for
the Bread of Heaven, it is because you never tasted it. He who has once
tasted it will sigh and hunger till he is satisfied with it!
3. Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall
praise You. "Better than life," and surely life is better than anything
else! "Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has will he give for his
life." Life is better than food. Life is better than riches. And if the
loving kindness of God is better than life, then we have a very high
price set upon it, but not too high a price! Oh, that you and I may
know how sweet, how precious is the loving kindness of God! And then we
shall say that it is better than life! And because it is so, my lips
shall praise You. Not only my heart, but I will do it openly. I
used to speak vanity when I served vanity. Shall I not now speak out
for God when I have come to serve Him? My lips shall praise You.
4. Thus will I bless You while Ilive: I will lift up my hands in Your
name. I will confess You. I will rejoice in You. I will work for You. I
will encourage myself in You. I will lift up my hands in Your name. Are
any of you cast down? Do your hands hang down? Then lift them up in
God's name! Nothing else can make you strong. The name of the Lord
shall be your strength!
5, 6. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness: and my
mouth shall praise You with joyful lips, when I remember You upon my
bed, and meditate on You in the night watches. God's people know what
perfect satisfaction means. When God reveals His love to them and
Christ draws near in the fullness of His Grace, then they would not
change places with all the kings of the earth! Not all the richest
dainties that were ever served up at royal banquets are equal to the
love of God! My soul, not my body, but my inmost self, my very life,
shall be satisfied, even as with marrow and with fatness. The
Oriental's idea of luxury is to eat fat. How they will eat what we
cannot endure! But we, dear Friends, understand the metaphor and
appreciate what is meant by David. God will satisfy us with the best of
the best, with marrow and fatness. He will make that satisfaction
double as with marrow and fatness! And we shall be so satisfied that we
shall have nothing left to do but to praise. "My mouth shall praise."
Says our poet–
"All that remains for me Is but to love and sing, And wait until the
angels come To bear me to their King!"
He that wrote that verse knew what was meant by this, "My soul shall be
satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You
with joyful lips."
7. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings
will I rejoice. That is God's logic. One likes to see "therefores" in
Scripture. They are inferences drawn with great accuracy. You have been
my Helper. Well, then, You will be my Helper! And if I cannot see Your
face, I will rejoice in the shadow of Your wings. I know that You are
there, even if I cannot see You. And if I only know that You are there
by the shade that You cast over me–that calming, cooling shade which
dampens the ardor of my worldly spirit–if this is all that I get from
You, yet in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice!
8. My soul follows hard after You. I am after You, my God, hard after
You, following hard after You, longing for You like a dog at the heels
of his master's horse, going with all his might, following hard after
You! Oh, this is a healthy condition to be in! If you cannot yet reach
your God, yet if you follow hard after Him, it is well with you, for
notice the next sentence.
8. Your right hand upholds me.No man follows after God unless God helps
him to do so. It comes of the Grace of God. When you are seeking God,
it is because God is seeking you! And though you know it not, there is
a vast amount of Grace couched in a desire.
9, 10. But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the
lower parts of the earth They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a
portion for foxes. Or jackals, as his name did become.
11. But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone that swears by Him
shall glory; but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.
Very hard work to stop them, though, for they are always breaking out
in fresh places. They have always some new falsehood. A shovelful of
earth will do it, if nothing else will. Let everyone listen who is
accustomed to slander, or to speak evil of his neighbor–listen to this
prophetic voice–"The mouth of them that speak lies shall be
stopped."But the mouths that speak the praises of God shall go on
singing forever and ever! May such mouths be ours.