Royal Emblems for Loyal Subjects
(No. 2947)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1905.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, IN THE YEAR 1863.
"And He shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, even
a morning without clouds; like the tender grass springing out of the
earth, by clear shining after rain." 2 Samuel 23:4.
EASTERN despots fleece their subjects to an enormous extent. Even at
the present day one would hardly wish to be subjected to the demands of
an Oriental governments. But in David's time, a bad king was a
continual pestilence, plague, and famine–a bane to the lives of his
subjects who were under his rule–and plunder of their fields, which he
perpetually swept clean to enrich himself with the produce thereof.
Hence, a good king was a rara avis in those days and could never be too
highly prized. As soon as he mounted the throne, his subjects began to
feel the beneficent influence of his sway. He was to them "as when the
sun rises." The confusion which had existed under weak governors gave
place to settled order, while the rapidity which had continually
emptied the coffers of the rich, and filched the earnings of the poor,
gave place to a regular system of assessment and men knew how to go
about their business with some degree of certainty. It was to them "a
morning without clouds." Forthwith, trade began to flourish, persons
who had emigrated to avoid the exactions of the tyrant came back,
fields which had fallen out of tillage because they would not pay the
farmer to cultivate them began to be sown and the new ruler was to the
land as "clear shining after rain," which makes the tender grass spring
up out of the earth!
I fear we do not value as we should, the constitutional government
which it is our privilege as Britons to enjoy. Let us look where we
may–we need not say to the East only, but to the West, also–we would
not wish to change the government under which we live so happily. Let
us gratefully acknowledge to God His tender mercy and His goodness in
sparing us alike from the refractory elements of a republic and then
prodigious exactions of a despotism–and for allowing us to dwell in a
quiet and peaceable kingdom, wherein we can sit, "every man under his
own vine and under his own fig-tree, none making him afraid." We may
say, I am sure, of Her Majesty [Queen Victoria] who is set over us in
the order of Providence, that she has been "as the sun when it rises,
as a morning without clouds." Under her generous sway our country has
been verdant. As "the earth by clear shining after rain" brings forth
the green herbs, so have our institutions fostered our trade and
commerce by the goodwill and gracious Providence of God!
But it is not my objective, at present, to enlarge upon the secular
benefits that have fallen to our lot, though I should not think it
unworthy of the Christian ministry to pursue a theme which calls for so
much gratitude to God and might foster so much good feeling among
ourselves. We might make one another feel that there are vast mercies
we enjoy which would be more esteemed if better known. Just as we speak
of Christ's unknown sufferings, so many of the bounties that we daily
enjoy have become so common that we are oblivious of them and,
therefore, I might call them our unknown mercies. It well becomes us to
lift up our voices and hearts to Heaven and thank God for the happy
land and for the happy age in which the lines have fallen to us!
Still, I take it that David was not so much speaking of mere political
rulers as of Christ Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, whose
sway is always gracious and full of goodwill! May His kingdom come!
"Surely, I come quickly," He cries from Heaven. "Even so, come, Lord
Jesus," respond those whose love inspires their worship! His Kingdom is
"as when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds" and when it
shall have been perfectly established upon the earth, all men shall
know that the Son of David, whom they once rejected, is He by whom God
would make all generations to be blessed forever and ever! May we who
have waited and watched for His glorious advent, live when He stands in
the latter
day upon the earth and may we constitute a part of that glorious
harvest, the fruit whereof shall shake like the cedars of Lebanon! Thus
we look for the day wherein the Lord shall come in the clouds of
Heaven.
I. David says of Christ, HE SHALL BE LIKE THE LIGHT OF THE MORNING,
WHEN THE SUN RISES. This He is as King, already, in His Church and as
the rightful Monarch in the individual heart of the Believer. Whenever
Christ comes into a soul, it is "like the light of the morning when the
sun rises."
The light of the morning is joyous. Then all the birds begin to sing
and the earth, which is silent at night, save when its stillness is
disturbed by stormy winds, or by wild beasts, or by riotous drunken
people, becomes vocal with songs from many mouths. So, when Christ
comes into the heart, the tuneful notes of the singing birds are heard
and the voice of the dove welcomes the gladsome season! Where darkness
had brooded before, the sunlight of Christ brings mirth and blessed
rejoicing. Oh, what streamers there are in the town of Mansoul when
Prince Emmanuel rides through! Happy day, happy day, when Jesus comes
into the heart! Save the day when we shall be with Him where He is, I
suppose there is no day that is comparable to the first one when we
behold Christ and see Him as our Savior and our King!
The rising of the sun is joyous and, besides that, it is comforting and
consoling t o those who have been suffering from ills which night
aggravates. "Would God 'twere morning!" has been the cry of many a
languishing one tossing on his couch. "Would God 'twere morning!" may
be the cry of many a heart that is exceedingly troubled with the guilt
of sin. Ah, let the morning come! Let the watchman say, "The morning
comes!" Let the day dawn and the day-star appear in our hearts and
there is "the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness." Christ brings joy to cheer and comfort the
disconsolate, for He is like the rising of the sun!
And how glorious is the sun when from its pavilion it looks forth at
morn! Job describes the sunrise as being the stamping of the earth with
a seal, as if, when in darkness, the earth were like a lump of clay
that is changeable. Then, as it is turned to the light, it begins to
receive the impression of Divine Wisdom! Mountain and vale all stream
with it till impressed on its surface we begin to perceive the glorious
works of God! So, when Christ rises upon the heart, what a glorious
transformation is worked! Where there has been no love, no faith, no
peace, no joy, none of the blessed fruits of the Spirit, no sooner does
Christ come than we perceive all the Graces in blossom! Yes, they soon
become fragrant and blooming, for we are made complete in Him. The
advent of Christ brings to the heart celestial beauty! Faith in Him
decks us with ornaments and clothes us as with royal apparel! Better
garments than Dives had, though he wore scarlet and fine linen, does
Christ give to His people when He comes to them! And better fare than
Dives had, though he fared sumptuously every day, does Jesus bestow
upon His saints when He shines into their hearts! Oh, the glory of the
sunrise of the Savior on the darkness of the human soul! If a man might
rise every morning of the year to look at the rising sun and yet never
be tired of it because of the sublimity of the spectacle, I think a man
might consider his own conversion every hour in the day and every day
of his life–and yet never be wearied with the thrice-Heavenly
spectacle of Christ arising over the mountains of his guilt to banish
the dense darkness of his despair!
As the sunrise is thus joyous, comforting and glorious, let us remember
how unparalleled it is–unparalleled because Divine. By no method of
illumination can we manufacture such a light as the sun exhibits by its
simple rising. O you priests, you come with your incantations and
mysteries to make light in men's hearts–and sometimes you strike a
spark that does but show the darkness–it dies too soon to be called
"the Light of God." And you pile your deeds to Heaven– your cords of
good works–you bring your van-load of superstitious observances and
vainly try to make an illumination! But before it begins to blaze, it
dies out and only a handful of ashes remains to disappoint the
expectant ones! But Christ arises and with what boundless majesty He
looks abroad! The joy, the peace, the comfort, the confidence, the full
assurance, the blissful hope which one ray of Christ's Light gives to
the heart of man cannot to be equaled! No, scarcely to be compared with
anything else! It is a joy that God only gives us and, thank God, a joy
which none can take away!
And, as this sunrise of Christ in our heart is Divine, so likewise it
is Irresistible. No curtains can conceal the sun from the world when it
wills to rise. No tyrant, by any law, can prevent the sun's beams from
gilding the cottage of the poor. Shine it must and will. Like a giant,
he comes out of his chamber and where is he that shall wrestle with
him? Where are you, O man, who can take the bridle of the sun and bid
his coursers stay their race? Until they have climbed to Heaven and
then gone down again to bathe their burning legs in the Western Sea,
they must, they willpursue their onward course, for none can stay them,
or say to their mighty driver, "What are you doing?" So, when Jesus
comes into the
heart–away, you fiend! Your time of flight is come! Away despair and
doubt and anything that can prevent the soul from having joy and peace!
Thus the eternal mandate runs, "Let that man go free!" Thus says
Jehovah to Pharaoh, "Let My people go" and go they must and shall, for
the time of their light and their liberty is come! Like the rising of
the sun, when it springs forth "as a strong giant, and as a happy
bridegroom," even so is Christ Jesus when He rises in the human heart!
The sunrise, moreover, is very much like the coming of Christ because
of that which it involves. Those rays of light which first forced the
darkness from the sky with golden prophecy of day, tell of flowers that
shall open their cups to drink in the sunlight. They tell of streams
that shall sparkle as they flow. They tell of the virgins that shall
make merry and the young men that shall rejoice because the sun shines
on them and the darkness of night is fled! And so, the coming of Christ
into the heart is a prophecy of years of sweet enjoyment–a prophecy of
God's goodness and long-suffering, let night reign elsewhere as it
may–yes, and it is a prophecy of the fullness of the river of God,
forever and ever, before the Throne of God in Heaven! Do you have
Christ, poor Soul? Christ is to you the promise of eternal happiness!
You cannot be dark again if Christ has once shone on you! No night
shall follow this blessed day! It is a day that lasts forever–
"Does Jesus once upon you shine? Then Jesus is forever thine."
Has Christ appeared to you? Do you trust Him now? Are you reposing only
upon His finished work? Then the sun has risen upon you and it shall go
down no more forever! The everlasting Joshua bids the sun stand still
and today, and tomorrow, though the whole world revolves, that Sun of
Righteousness abides to still shine on you with healing in His wings.
II. We must proceed to notice that the Psalmist uses another figure.
"EVEN A MORNING WITHOUT CLOUDS." Brothers and Sisters, there are no
clouds in Christ when He arises in a sinner's heart. The clouds that
mostly cover our sky come from Sinai, from the Law and from our own
legal propensities, for we are always wishing to do something by which
we may inherit eternal life–but there are none of these clouds in
Christ!
There is, in Christ, no cloud of angry rebuke for the past. When Jesus
receives the sinner, He chides not! "Neither do, I condemn you," is all
that He has to say. I thought, when I came tremblingly to Him, that He
would at least bring all my sins before me and chide before He sealed
my pardon with the kiss of mercy. But it was not so. The Father
received the prodigal without a single word of rebuke! He did but say,
"Take off his rags." He did but command them to kill the fatted calf
that they might make merry–not a word did He speak of his hungry look,
or his filth, or of the far country, or even of the harlots with whom
he had spent his substance. Christ receives the soul without rebuke,
for He is "like a morning without clouds."
And, as there is no cloud of anger, so there is no cloud of exacting
demand. He does not ask the sinner to be anything, or to do anything.
That were a cloud, indeed, if He did. A sinner by nature can do nothing
and can be nothing, except as Grace shall make him be and do. If Christ
did ask anything of you or me, if He did but ask repentance of us,
unless He gave us that repentance, His salvation would be of no use to
us! But He asks nothing. All He bids us do is to take Him as
everything–and be nothing ourselves. So, to the empty-handed sinner,
He is such a full Christ that we may well say, "He is like a morning
without clouds."
And, as He is without cloud of demand, so He is without cloud of
falsehood. I know that some say Christ may reject those who have put
their trust in Him–that after they are saved, they may yet fall from
Grace and perish. Surely that would not be like a morning without
clouds. I should see, in the distance, the tempest gathering that might
ultimately destroy my spirit. But, no, if you trust Christ, He will
surely save you, even to the end. If you put your soul into His hands,
there is no fear that He will be false to the sacred charge! He will
undertake to be Surety for your soul. He will bring you to His father's
face without hindrance when the fullness of time is come. Trouble not
yourselves, O you anxious ones, concerning the future! Does faith reach
only to the present? Do you trust Christ only to save you today? I pray
you take a larger sweep of confidence and trust Him to save you to the
end! If you do so, He will be better to you than your fears would
suggest, or than your faith can conceive! To the end He will love you
and in the end He will bring you to be like He and to be with Him where
He is! Happy is that man who sees Christ "like a morning without
clouds." They who see any clouds in Him make the clouds. The clouds are
only in their vision–they are not in His Person. The spots and defects
are in themselves–they are not in Him, nor in His work. If you will
only trust Him fully, simply, without any
admixture of your own merit or confidence, you shall find Him to be
equal to the brightest description–a morning without a single cloud!
III. But now, to the last figure. Upon this we intend to dwell at
somewhat greater length. David says of Christ the King, that His sway
is like CLEAR SHINING AFTER RAIN, whereby the tender grass is made to
spring out of the earth.
We all understand the metaphor. We have often seen how, after a very
heavy shower of rain, and sometimes after a continued rainy season,
when the sun shines, there is a delightful clearness and freshness in
the air that we seldom perceive at other times. Perhaps the brightest
weather is just when the wind has driven away the clouds and the rain
has ceased, and the sun peers forth from its chambers to look down upon
the glad earth. Well, now, Christ is to His people just like
that–exceedingly shining clear when the rain is over.
Sorrow and sadness do not last forever. After the rain there is to come
the clear shining. Tried Believer, after all your afflictions there
remains a rest for the people of God and if, just now, you are tried
and vexed by some extraordinary trial, there is a clear shining coming
to your soul when all this rain is over! Look to Christ and you shall
find where that clear shining is. The quiet contemplation you shall
have of Him when this time of rebuke is over shall then be to you as
the earth when the tempest has sobbed itself to sleep, when the clouds
have torn themselves to rags and the sun peers out, shooting forth
virtue with its lustrous rays.
And while sorrows, like the floating clouds, last not forever, they do
work together with the bliss, like the clear sunshine follows
afterwards to produce good. It is not in the sorrow alone, perhaps, to
bring forth good, any more than the rain might, by itself, bring forth
the spring blade. But when the sorrow and the joy, when the affliction
and the consolation come together, then the joy of the heart is indeed
benign. None bring forth much fruit for God but those who have been
deeply plowed with affliction and deluged with grief–but even they do
not bring forth much fruit till they have had the joy of Christ's
Presence after the affliction is over! Clear sinning after rain
produces an atmosphere good for the herbs, and the joy of the soul in
the Presence of the Lord, after a time of sorrow, makes it able to grow
in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Thus, after times of great troubles, Christ becomes to His people more
specially and delightfully sweet than He has ever been before. I notice
this in many instances. It is manifest in conversion. What happy, happy
days were our first, young days in the faith! I cannot forget mine–I
never shall. When talking with those who come to tell me what God has
done for their souls, I notice the freshness upon their memory of every
separate event on the day of their new birth. They can tell how Christ
appeared to them and how they looked to Him and were lightened. "I
shall never forget that, Sir, till I die," says one. "I have a very bad
memory and I forget almost everything that is good–but that I shall
never forget, for it was such a joyous season." I know that many of you
have had good days, but they have been like pieces of money that you
received when children– once very bright–but they have been passed
about and worn in circulation until they have lost the image and
superscription which were once so bright to your eyes. Not so the day
of your new birth! It has been like a coin, as fresh as when you laid
it aside–and when you take it out again, it is as fresh as the mint
delivered it and you can still read it and read the image of Christ
which it bears! I think there is scarcely such a day on earth to be had
in Christian experience as that first day when we came to Christ and
knew Him as our Savior!
The same is true also, in its measure, after great and heavy
affliction. You have been bereaved. A wife, a husband, a child has been
removed from you, or you have had a great loss in business–you were
crossed in some expectation and you were cast into the lowest depth of
trouble. Friends failed you, consolation fled from you but, after a
time, you felt a sweet resignation. You could say, "My soul is even as
a weaned child." Your troubles, somehow or other, grew sweet as honey,
though before they had been bitter as gall! You saw the finger of a
loving Lord in all those engraving lines of affliction which the chisel
had made upon your brow and you saw the Great Refiner sitting at the
mouth of the furnace, watching your gold that it might not be
destroyed–and rejoicing over your dross because it melted away in the
flame. Do you remember it? Why, I can look back to some of the happiest
seasons of my life and see them stand in juxtaposition with the
blackest times of trial! Oh, it has been, sometimes, a glorious thing
to be cast down by rebuke and slander, and then go into one's chamber
and lay Rabshakeh's letter before the Lord! And then to go down and
feel more glad than a king of a hundred kingdoms because we have been
counted worthy to suffer reproach for Christ! At such a season there is
a calm within us more deep and profound than we ever felt before.
And, mark you, if it has been so with us individually, it has been no
less so with the Church. Remember the clear shining after rain in the
Apostles' times. "Then had the churches rest and, walking in the fear
of God, were multiplied." Those little seasons of hush and calm between
the great persecutions have always been prolific of converts. I hope,
in the midst of successive controversies which darken the sky overhead,
that when the rain is over and the noise and trouble it costs some
tender spirits have ceased, and the powers of Darkness have been
hustled to sleep once more, we may have some clear shining after rain
and brotherly fellowship once again be renewed. The day comes when the
great battle of Armageddon shall be fought, when the powers of Darkness
shall be roused to frenzy's highest pitch, when Hell shall be loosed
and the great dragon shall be permitted to come upon the earth,
trailing its chain along in the supremacy of its hour–then, when
dreadful war shall come upon the earth, when nations shall reel and
stagger to and fro, the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a
shout, with the trumpet of the archangel and the voice of God, and
there shall be clear shining after the rain! And then, when the flames
shall have consumed this orb, when Judgment shall have been passed,
when Death and Hell shall have been cast into the Lake of Fire, when
all the powers of evil shall have been utterly destroyed before the
Majesty of His coming who shall overturn them that His Kingdom may be
established in Heaven, everlasting hallelujahs, "For the Lord God
Omnipotent reigns," shall bear witness that there is clear shining
after the rain–for so must it be in the little as the great, in the
experience of the individual as in that of the multitude–there must be
a rain and there must be the clear shining after it–and the two
together shall bring forth a matchless harvest to the praise and glory
of His Grace who works all things according to the counsel of His own
will!
Do you ask, now, why it is that God gives to His people sweet seasons
just after the bitter?
One reason is to take the taste of the bitter out of their mouths. Even
as to our little children, when they take their nauseous medicine, we
give some sweetmeat, so does the Lord often, when He comes to His
little ones, give them such sweet honey of His Grace that they might
forget their sufferings in the sweet nectar which He guarantees them.
Another reason, no doubt, is lest they should be utterly destroyed by
the terror of His Judgment. "He tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,"
but, better than that, He takes it to His bosom–and when it lies
there, little does it know that but for the rain and the tempest it had
not lain in His bosom and been fondled there so tenderly! He put it
there lest it should perish.
Then, again, He does it as a sweet reward of faith. He sees you in
trouble, bravely struggling with the tempest, and says, "I will reward
that man." He sees you following Him in the garden, still clinging to
Him amidst all the darkness and temptation and, therefore, He says, "I
will give to that soul such joy, by-and-by, that it shall be well
rewarded for its faithfulness to Me in the past."
Is it not also to prepare you for the future that, in looking back, you
may say, "The last time I had trouble, there was clear shining after
the rain and so I feel it will be next time"? Ah, you timid one, there
is a trial coming. It looms over your head. What? And did you behave
valiantly for your Master in former times and will you be a coward now?
Ah, my Brother, do you think there is a time of ruin threatening you
and do you say, "His mercy is clean gone forever! He will be faithful
to me no more"? Oh, why do you say that? Does my Lord deserve it? Has
He been with you in six troubles? Then, why should He forsake you in
the seventh? He that has helped you up to now will surely help you to
the end! Why has He delivered you in the tempest, if He means to let
you sink at the last? By the kindness of the past, the love experienced
in former days, let your faith put out its great sheet anchor and
outride the storm, for there shall again be "clear shining after rain!"
And surely, these changing seasons of ours, and that constant ordinance
of His ought to make us sick of self and fond of Him. He puts gall on
the world and He puts honey on His own lips so that we may hate the one
and love the other! We are so fond of this world that we must be drawn
away from it–and when we are drawn away from it and enticed to Him,
our foolish hearts come to know His value–and we yield ourselves, by
His Grace, up to Him!
I cannot tell to whom this sermon is addressed. I am sure it has a
mission to fulfill. O Brothers and Sisters, it may be that these words
may be worth a mine of gold to some of you, as clear shining after
rain! If they reach your case, thank my Master for it! He may yet have
a harvest from your soul. Be sure that you give Him the first fruits of
the harvest. When there is clear shining after the rain, honor Him
more, serve Him better, give more to His cause, pray more for His
people, live more in His fear, commune more with Him and walk more
closely to Him. Let it be true that in your case, as in that of this
round world, the rain and the clear shining after it have brought forth
their abundant fruit. When you and I shall get to Heaven, we will talk
on its green and flowery mountains of all the showers through which we
passed, and of the clear shining! And, in the sacred high eternal noon,
which shall be our portion forever, we shall, with transporting joys,
recount the labors of the past and sing of the clear shining after the
rain!
How sad the thought that there is no "clear shining after rain" for
some of you! There is a rain of troubles in reserve for you–that you
know. There will be more troubles yet in this life. There is heavy
shower coming yet in death–and then it shall rain forever and there
shall be a horrible tempest–that is your portion. If you believe not
that Jesus is the Christ and trust not your souls to Him, all the woe
you have ever known is as nothing! It is but the first spattering of
the drops on the pavement. It is nothing compared with the storm which
shall beat upon your unsheltered head forever and ever! But the Refuge
is before you, man! The sky is dark, the tempest lowers, but the Refuge
is before you. Run! In God's name, run! The storm comes hastening on,
as if God were gathering up all His black artillery that He might
discharge His dreadful thunders upon you. Run! "But can I enter?" Yes,
the door is open. Run! "But may I enter?" Yes, He invites you, "Come
unto Me, yes, come unto Me–come this night–trust Me," He says, "and I
will save your soul." "But I am unworthy." Well, see the tempest! Run!
Let your unworthiness put feathers to your feet and not stop you in
your haste. Jesus calls you from His Throne in Heaven! He invites
you–"Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest." "The Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let Him that
hears say, Come." Heaven and earth say, "Come."
Sinner, will you avoid the tempest? Will you flee and find shelter in
Christ? God help you to trust Christ, now, and unto Him shall be the
glory, forever and ever. Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM27.
Verse 1. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The
LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? A sort of
trembling seems to have been creeping over David, so he argues thus
with his own heart, "Why should I be dismayed? Am I afraid of coming
darkness? 'The Lord is my light.' Do dangers surround me? 'The Lord is
my salvation.' Do I expect stern labor or severe suffering? 'The Lord
is the strength of my life.' Are there many enemies watching for my
halting? Yet, 'of whom shall I be afraid' since He is on my side?'"
Then he falls back upon his past experience.
2. When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up
my flesh, they stumbled and fell ' 'They were very fierce. Like
cannibals, they meant to eat me right up. They would not have spared
me. They 'came upon me' in such a fashion that I was taken at a
disadvantage. I seemed to be altogether in their power, but 'they
stumbled and fell.' I had not to lift a hand against them, but the
mysterious power of God entirely overthrew them! They stumbled and
fell, then, so shall I be afraid of them now?"
3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear:
though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident' 'God
has not changed. My enemies are not more powerful than they were and if
they should become so, Omnipotence will still overmatch them. I will
therefore be confident and calm, come what may."
4. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I
may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life. "That,
wherever I am, I may be at home with God–that I may feel in every
place that I am still in His house–never away from home–whether in
the wilderness or in the city, still dwelling like a child at home with
its parents."
4, 5. To behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion.' 'Will not
a father take care of his own children? Does not even the feeble hen
cover her chickens with her wings and will not God cover me with His
feathers, and cause me to rest in safety under His wings? Yes, that He
will. 'In the time of trouble He shall hide me' away from it, so that
it shall not hurt me. I shall be hidden right away in His pavilion, in
His royal tent which is pitched in the very center of His army. Around
me shall lie all the forces of Divine Providence to protect me, since I
am the honored guest of the Commander-in-Chief, Himself. In the
pavilion of His Sovereignty shall He hide me."
5. In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me. That is, in the
Holy of Holies, into which no man might come. "There shall God hide
me–in the tabernacle of Sacrifice–behind the Atonement of Christ."
Thus David had the two blessed protections of Sovereignty and
Sacrifice.
5. He shall set me up upon a rock ' 'His lofty power shall lift me
above the turmoil and His immutable fidelity, like a rock that never
moves, shall make me to stand fast."
6. And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me.
"They may surround me and threaten me, but they cannot hurt me, for I
am living with my God, abiding like a child in my Father's house."
6, 7. Therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I
will sing, yes, I will sing praises unto the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I
cry with my voice. He has not done praising before He begins to pray!
We are scarcely out of one trouble before we enter into another. This
is what keeps Christian people alive because, escaping from one trial,
they begin to praise and, falling into another, they begin to pray. And
prayer and praise make up a Christian's breath! May we abound in both!
7, 8. Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, Seek you
My face; my heart said unto You, Your face, LORD, will I seek. "So I
answered You when You did speak. Now answer me, O Lord, when I speak to
You." It sometimes happens that God speaks to us and we make no reply
to Him. And for that reason He refuses to hear us when we speak to Him.
You must have an opened ear to God if you expect Him to have an opened
ear to you. Notice how David pleads–"Hear, O Lord when I cry. When You
said, Seek you My face; my heart said unto You, Your face, Lord, will I
seek."
9. Hide not Your face far from me; put not Your servant away in anger
David has a jealous fear lest he should have provoked the Lord to hide
Himself from him, so he prays as one who is dependent upon his Heavenly
Father's smile and cannot live without it. "Put not Your servant away
in anger."
9. You have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my
salvation. That is sweet pleading! Cannot you who are cast down, use it
as David did? "You have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me,
O God of my salvation." And then, as if to show that he does not pray
this out of unbelief, but out of earnest and true faith he says–
10. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me
up.' 'The Lord will never forsake me. Though I pray, 'Leave me not,' I
know that He will not. Father and mother retain love for their child
when that child has lost every earthly friend, but, Lord, if Nature
should change and mothers should turn to monsters, still, 'when my
father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.'"
11. Teach me Your way, OLORD. This is a sweetly practical prayer. Our
heart often says, "Lord, let me have my own way," but when Divine Grace
has done its work, it talks in another fashion, "'Teach me Your way, O
Lord.' Only let me know what You would have me be and do, and feel, and
I submit myself to You joyfully. But, Lord, I am so weak that, even if
I am taught Your way, I fear I shall not go in it unless You shall do
more than teach me."
11. And lead me.''Put Your finger out, as mothers do to tender infants.
'Lead me'"–
11. In a plain path, because of my enemies.' 'Do not let it be a
difficult way in which I shall hardly know which is the right road, but
let it be a very plain path. And, Lord, help me so to walk in my daily
life that there may be no mistake about my being upright and honest
before men–'Lead me in a plain path.'" Oh, there are some, even among
professing Christians, who have many tricks, shifts, schemes and
dodges, just like worldlings or foxes! But the sheep of Christ must
take care to follow the Shepherd's plain footprints. There was no craft
in Christ. In Him was no guile. And if we are Israelites, indeed, the
same thing will be said of us! Oh, that we would each one cultivate a
transparent character and not have to live so that our life is one
perpetual apology for an attempt to hide something! Wear your heart
upon your sleeve and let your soul show itself distinctly in your
actions, not being afraid if all the world should see you.
12. Deliver me not over unto the will of my enemies: for false
witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I t
is their delight to be cruel, to say unkind, unjust, untruthful things
which lacerate the heart. And the more some people can tear good men's
reputations to pieces, the more pleased they are. I must say that it is
hardly less than a miracle that any true servant of God should for any
length of time escape even from the vilest slander, so base are the
tongues of men.
13. I had fainted, unless I had believed. That is the smelling bottle
for a fainting soul–"I had fainted unless I had believed'" You must do
the one or the other! You must either believe or else faint, but if
your faith is strong you cannot
faint. O you who are of feeble faith, it is little marvel that you
faint! Would God that your faith were stronger! Notice what David says,
"Unless I had believed"–
13. To see. Some say, "Seeing is believing," but it is not–it is the
very opposite of believing. Some people must see in order to believe,
but the true followers of our Lord believe to see. If you will believe
it, you shall see it. But if you will not believe it till you have seen
it, then you shall never believe at all. "I had fainted, unless I had
believed to see"–
13, 14. The goodness ofthe LORD in the land ofthe living. Wait on the
LORD: be ofgood courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I
say, on the LORD. Why did David put that little sentence in and say,
"Wait, I say"? It is a repetition, but not a vain one, for it is his
own personal testimony, as much as if he had said, "I have waited on
the Lord, and I have found that He helps me, so, wait, I say, on the
Lord." Oh, my Brothers and Sisters, we wait so much upon men, we wait
so much upon ourselves! If we could get into that holy quietness in
which God's voice could be heard within our souls–if the voice of man
could be hushed and we were content that the Lord should speak to
us–how much more blessed would our lives become! Now have you any
burden at this moment? Have you any fears? Have you a knot which you
cannot untie? Have you come into a labyrinth of which you cannot find
the clue? "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall
strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord."