The Commissariat of the Universe
(No. 3149)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1909.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"What You give them they gather." Psalm 104:28.
THIS sentence describes the commissariat of creation. The problem is
the feeding of the "creeping things innumerable, both small and great
beasts," which swarm the sea, the armies of birds which fill the air
and the vast hordes of animals which people the dry land! But in this
sentence we have the problem solved, "What You give them they gather."
The work is stupendous, but it is done with ease because the Worker is
Infinite–if He were not at the head of it, the task would never be
accomplished! Blessed be God for the great You of the text! It is every
way our sweetest consolation that the personal God is still at work in
the world–leviathan in the ocean and the sparrow on the bough may be,
alike, glad of this, and we, the children of the great Father, much
more!
The notion of modern philosophers appears to be that the world is like
a clock which an omnipotent phantom has set going and left to run on,
each wheel acting upon its fellow by rigid law or, as a Brother
remarked to me, they think the Lord has wound up the universe like a
watch and put it under His pillow and gone to sleep! What do you think,
Brothers and Sisters–do you find pleasure in a world bereaved of its
God? To me, such philosophy is dreary, for my soul pines for an
Infinite Love which will give itself to me and receive my love in
return. I am orphaned, indeed, if my Maker will not pity me as His
child and hear my prayers, compassionate my tears and succor and
comfort me! Babes need a mother's heart as much as her hands. Would you
wish to be a child brought up by machinery, washed by a millwheel,
rocked by a pendulum, fed from a pipe, dressed by a steel hand and, in
fine, committed to the care of a wonderful engine which could do
everything except love you? You would miss the eyes which weep with you
and smile upon you, the lips which kiss you and speak lovingly to you
and the dear countenance which laughs as you are fondled and pressed to
a warm bosom. No, I can neither accept a steam engine instead of my
mother, nor a set of laws in exchange for my God! There is a God who
cares for all His creatures and makes the grass to grow for the cattle
and herbs for the service of man. There is a Father to whom we speak
and who hears us! One who waters the hills from His chambers and
satisfies the earth with the fruit of His works–to whom we may come
boldly in every time of need! Because Jehovah lives, the creatures are
fed! He gives them their daily food, they gather it and so the work is
done.
The general principle of the text is God gives to His creatures, and
His creatures gather. That general principle we shall apply to our own
case as men and women, for it is as true of us as it is of the fish of
the sea and the cattle on the hills. "What You give them they gather."
I. Our first point is this, WE HAVE ONLY TO GATHER, FOR GOD GIVES.
In temporal things, God gives us day by day our daily bread, and our
business is simply to gather it. In the wilderness, the manna fell
outside the camp of Israel–they had not to make the manna, but to go
out in the morning and gather it before the sun was hot. Providence has
guaranteed to the child of God his necessary food. "Bread shall be
given him; his waters shall be sure." Our part in the business is to go
forth unto our labor and gather it. True, in some cases, necessary food
is not gathered without excessive labor but this is occasioned by the
injustice of man–not by the arrangements of God. And when true
religion shall have fully operated upon all classes of mankind, none
shall need to toil like slaves. They shall only need to perform such an
amount of labor as shall be healthful and endurable. When no man
oppresses his fellow, the work of gathering what God gives will be no
hardship, but a wholesome exercise! The sweat of labor will then be a
blessed medicine.
In this light let us view our worldly business. We are to go forth unto
our work and our labor until the evening and to expect that bounteous
Providence will thus enable us to gather what the Lord, Himself,
bestows. And if by this means He gives us food and raiment, we are to
be therewith content. If our faith can see the hand of God in it all,
it will be sweet to pick up the manna from the ground and eat it with
gratitude because it tastes of the place from where it came.
As to spirituals, the principle is most emphatically true. We have, in
the matter of Grace, only to gather what God gives. The natural man
thinks that he has to earn Divine favor, that he has to purchase the
blessings of Heaven, but he is in grave error–the soul has only to
receive that which Jesus freely gives! Mercy is a gift, salvation is a
gift, all Covenant blessings are gifts! We need not bring a price in
our hands, but come empty-handed and gather what is laid before us,
even as the birds gather their food and the cattle on the hills feed on
the grass which freely grows for them. This is one of the first
principles of the Gospel. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above and comes down from the Father of Lights." And it is for us
by faith to take our omer and fill it with the angels' food which has
fallen all around us, take it into our tent and there feast, even to
the fullest! 'Tis God's part to give, 'tis ours to gather. Faith's
sphere is that of the fleece which absorbs the dew, or the pool which
is filled with the rain. Believer, this is the rule in all spiritual
things! You are to be a diligent gatherer and to strive after high
spiritual attainments, but still remember that your heavenly Father
knows what you have need of before you ask Him. These superior
blessings are His gifts–and the surest way of obtaining them is to
come to Him for them and receive them by faith. You have not to pluck
Covenant blessings out of a closed hand–you have only to take from the
Lord's open palm what He delights to bestow. For you to be straitened
and poor gives no pleasure to Him. Rather will it delight Him to fill
you with His favor and to enrich you with all the blessings of His
Grace.
If the calm quiet spirit of this thought could enter our minds, how
happy we would be! We would then sit down at Jesus' feet with Mary and
leave Martha to fret alone. Tomorrow morning, before many of our eyes
are open, the sun will be rising and, as soon as his first beams salute
the earth, the birds of every wing will awaken and, seeing the light,
they will begin to sing! But where is your breakfast, little bird?
Where is the food for today for the nest full of little ones? The birds
do not know, neither are they anxious, but they gather the first seed,
or crumb, or worm which they find and, continuing to do so all day
long, they are satisfied. Yes, and when summer is gone and the long
warm days are over, and cold winter sets in, the birds sit and sing on
the bare boughs, though frost is on the ground, for they expect that
God will give–and all they have to do is to gather! We may learn much
from little birds–yes, even from little birds in cages, for if those
who keep them should forget to give them seed and water, they must die,
must they not? And yet they sing! They have no great store–perhaps not
enough to last them another day–but it does not fret them, neither do
they cease their music! I believe Luther well translated their song
when he said that it meant this–
"Mortal, cease from care and sorrow! God provides for the morrow."
II. Secondly, it is certain that WE CAN ONLY GATHER WHAT GOD GIVES.
However eager we may be, there is
the end of the matter. The most diligent bird shall not be able to
gather more than the Lord has given it–neither shall the most
avaricious and covetous man! "It is vain for you to rise up early, to
sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so He gives His Beloved
sleep." "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build
it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain."
What God gives you, you will be able to gather. But if you set about to
heap up what your avarice lusts after, no blessing will attend it. What
a difference is often seen in two men placed in the same position in
life, with the same work to do and very much the same possessions! You
see one of them working cheerfully, happy as a king, sweetening his
bread with content and joy in the Lord–while the other murmurs and
repines, envying those who are richer and filled with harsh thoughts of
God. What makes the one happy and the other wretched? Truly, only that
the one has the Grace of God to give him contentment and so is
full–and the other has a brutish hunger and greed and so, is left to
be his own tormentor. As it is with the poor, so is it with the
rich–the heart has more to do with making us happy than our
possessions have. He whose soul is full of God, faith and contentment,
is a truly rich man! The reflection that we can, after all, gather no
more than God gives, should make us restful and contented. It teaches
us our dependence upon God and tends to lessen our self-confidence, to
moderate our desires and to abate our cares.
Recollect, dear Christian Friends, that the same remark holds good with
regard to spirituals as well as temporals. You can only gather what the
Lord grants you. Before preaching, I was trying to find food for you
all and I began to
pray for it because I remembered that I could only gather for you what
the Lord my God gave me. If I bring more than that, it will only be
chaff of my own and not good winnowed corn from His garner. I often
need to think of this, for I have to feed a great multitude with
spiritual meat almost every day in the week. Where is the poor minister
to get the supply from if the Lord does not bring it to him? He waits,
therefore, upon his God with humble faith and prayer, expecting that
fit matter will be suggested. You also, dear Friends, can only obtain,
when hearing the Word, what the Holy Spirit gives you. You may hear a
thousand sermons, but you will gather nothing that will really quicken
or feed your souls unless the Lord gives it to you. Unless the Spirit
of the Lord puts fullness into the Word, all the hearing in the world
will be worth nothing. The Holy Spirit must take of the things of
Christ and reveal them to the inner man, or you will be surfeited with
mere words, or puffed up with human opinions and nothing more! "What
You give them they gather," and no more.
So is it when you set out to work for the Lord Jesus Christ among the
ungodly. You will win as many souls as God gives you, but no one will
be converted by your own power. When we have reason to believe that the
Lord has much people in a city, it gives us much comfort in going
there. I always do my best for my congregations because I feel that
they are always picked persons sent to me by my Master–if there are
few, they are more than I can edify if He does not help me. And if
there are many, so much the more help will my Lord afford me. I can
only gather what the Lord gives. We may plant and we may water, too,
but God must give the increase. We shall not be a sweet savor unto God,
nor a savor of life unto life to any unless the almighty Spirit of the
blessed God shall come forth and work with us.
Should not this lead us to much prayer? No dependence should be placed
upon man, or upon the outward form of worship, for the most successful
preacher cannot, by his own power, quicken the dead sinner, or
regenerate a depraved soul! The Holy Spirit must be with us, or we
prophesy in vain. The most laborious reaper in the Lord's harvest
cannot gather more sheaves than his Master gives him. Pray for him,
then, that he may not miss his reward. Pray for him that he may be
strong for labor, that his sickle may be sharp, his arm vigorous and
his harvest plenteous–that he may bring in a glorious load of sheaves
to the garner! As for yourselves, when engaged in any service for God,
take heed that you rest not in yourselves, for you can receive nothing
unless it is given you from above. Your words will be no better than
silence, your thoughts no more than daydreams and your efforts wasted
strength unless the Lord shall go before you. "Without Me you can do
nothing" is a Truth of God you must never forget!
III. Observe, thirdly, that WE MUST GATHER WHAT GOD GIVES or else we
shall get no good by His bountiful
giving.
God feeds the innumerable creeping things, but each creature collects
the provender for itself. The huge leviathan receives his vast
provision, but he must go plowing through the boundless meadows and
gather up the myriads of minute objects which supply his need. The fish
must leap up to catch the fly, the swallow must hawk for its food, the
young lions must hunt their prey. "What You give them they gather." God
has not prepared, in His whole universe, a single corner for an idle
being. In no society does the sluggard succeed and it is not desirable
that he should. If a man will not work, he ought to die, for he is of
no use alive–he is in everybody's way and, like a fruitless tree he
cumbers the ground. God gives, but if a man will not gather, he
deserves to starve.
It is so in business. Everybody knows that we must be diligent there,
for "the hand of the diligent makes rich." The Book of Proverbs deals
very hard blows against sluggards–and Christian ministers do well to
frequently denounce the great sin of idleness which is the mother of a
huge family of sins. Idleness is a most contemptible vice–it covers a
man with rags, fills him with disease and makes him a ready servant of
the devil. It is a shameful thing that God, "who works up to now," and
made us on purpose that we should work, should see us wasting time and
strength and leaving good work unaccomplished. God will not feed you,
idle man! His own verdict is, "if he will not work, neither let him
eat." If you loaf about and say, "The Lord will provide," he will
probably "provide" you a place in the workhouse, if not in the county
jail! If the manna falls near him and the lazy man will not take the
trouble to gather it, his omer will not be filled by miracle, neither
will an angel be sent to carry bread and meat to his table. Up, you
sluggard, and gather what the Lord has strewn!
The law of Nature and Providence holds good in spiritual things. "What
You give them they gather." There is a spirit abroad in the world–not
so powerful now, thank God, as it used to be–which talks a great deal
about Grace and Predestination, and therein I rejoice to hear what it
has to say. But its inference from those Truths of God is that
men are to sit still, to be passive in salvation and to look upon
themselves as so many logs–as if they had no will in the matter, and
were never to be called to an account concerning the Gospel which they
hear! Now, this kind of doctrine virtually teaches that what God gives
drops into our mouths and we need not gather it at all–the very
reverse of the Savior's exhortation to labor for that meat which
endures unto everlasting life! Sovereign Grace will not take us to
Heaven by the hair of our heads, or save us in our sleep, whether we
will or not! Such teaching would have been repudiated by the Apostles,
for it acts like chloroform upon the conscience and plunges the soul
into a deadly lethargy. The fact is, Brothers and Sisters, there is a
Predestination and the Doctrines of Election and Effectual Grace are
true–nor may we deny them! But yet the Lord deals with men as
responsible beings and bids them "strive to enter in at the strait
gate," and to "lay hold on eternal life." Such exhortations are
evidently intended for free agents and indicate that our salvation
requires energetic action! It would not appear from Scripture that we
are to lie dormant and be merely acted upon, for "the Kingdom of Heaven
suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." Of men as well as
of birds it is true, "what You give them they gather." God gives you
faith, but you must believe! God gives you repentance, but you must
repent! These Divine Graces are the work of God, but they are also the
acts of man. How often shall we need to remind you, Brothers and
Sisters, that the Holy Spirit does not believe for us? How can He? Is
faith to be exercised by proxy? That cannot be! Neither does the Holy
Spirit repent for us–it is absurd to entertain such a notion! We must,
ourselves, personally believe and repent! If any man does not repent as
his own act and deed, his repentance and faith are not such as are
spoken of in Scripture, or required by the Gospel! Brothers and
Sisters, we should pray, repent and believe as much as if all these
were wholly our own, but we are bound to give God all the glory of
them, because it is only by His Grace that we either can or will
perform them! Men must hear the Word, for "faith comes by hearing." We
must believe the Word, for "without faith it is impossible to please
God." And we must repent of sin, for if sin is not forsaken, pardon is
not given. We must fly to the City of Refuge, or the avenger of blood
will destroy us! We must escape for our lives to the mountain, or the
fire from God will overwhelm us in the City of Destruction. "What You
give them they gather." We must gather, or we shall not have!
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we must not expect spiritual gifts
without gathering them. For instance, our souls need food, but we may
not expect the Lord to feed us unless we use the means, hear or read
His Word, attend to private devotion and the like. These are channels
of Grace to us and woe be to us if we neglect them! If you saw your
friend so emaciated that you could count his bones–and so weak that he
could scarcely stand–you would enquire what had reduced him so much,
for he used to be a strong hearty man. You say to him, "My dear Friend,
what can be the matter with you?" You expect him to tell you of some
mysterious disease. But no, his tale is far more simple–he confesses
that he does not eat, that he has given up having regular meals and
very seldom takes an ounce of nourishment. You quite understand his
feebleness and decline–he is injuring his constitution by denying it
nutriment! Now, when a Christian complains that he is full of doubts
and fears and has no joy in the Lord as he used to have, and no
enjoyment in prayer or labor for Jesus–if you find out that he
neglects all week-night services, never goes to the Prayer Meeting,
reads anything rather than his Bible and has no time for
meditation–you need not enquire further into his spiritual malady! The
man does not gather what God provides! He lets the manna lie outside
the camp and allows the water from the Rock to flow untasted! And he
must not be astonished that his soul is not in a right condition.
Christians will find that if they neglect the assembling of themselves
together, as the manner of some is, and if they forget to wait upon the
Lord and so renew their strength, they will fall into a miserable,
weak, low condition–and their souls will be full of doubts, cares, and
anxieties such as they never would have known if they had walked nearer
to God and maintained intimate communion with the Savior!
As it is with ourselves, so is it with us in reference to others. God
will give us souls if we pray for them, but we must seek after them.
When the Lord calls a man to speak in His name, He intends to give him
some success, but he must be on the watch to gather it. Some ministers
have preached the Gospel long, but have never seen much fruit because
they never tried to gather it–they have had no meetings for enquirers,
nor encouraged the young converts to come to them for help. What God
has given them, they have not gathered. Many professors are always
wishing that the Church would in-crease–they would like to see an
aggressive work carried on against the world–why do they not set about
it? Why stand they gazing up into Heaven? Do they expect to see souls
converted without means? Dear Brothers and Sisters, it will not do for
us to get silly notions into our heads! Up to this day God has been
pleased to use instrumentality and until
the Second Advent He will continue to do so! When the Lord descends
from Heaven, it will be time enough for us to talk of what He will then
do–but till He comes, let us continue to gather the souls He gives us.
We are not in such great need of conferences about how to win souls as
of men who will do it. I vote for less talk and more work! We cannot
have too much prayer, but we certainly need more effort. The Lord said
to Moses, "Why do you cry unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel
that they go forward!" We cry, "Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord!" and
the Lord replies, "Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion!" God is
awake enough–the awaking is needed by us! We have been praying for His
Spirit, and rightly enough, but the Spirit of God is never backward–we
are straitened in ourselves! He would use us if we were vessels fit for
His use. Oh, that we would yield ourselves fully to the Spirit of God,
to be borne whichever way He wills, even as the clouds are driven by
the wind! Then He would draw and we would run–He would give and we
would gather!
IV. The fourth turn of the text gives us the sweet thought THAT WE MAY
GATHER WHAT HE GIVES. We have Divine permission to enjoy freely what
the Lord bestows!
Poor Sinner, whatever the Lord has given in His Gospel to sinners, you
may freely gather. When the manna fell in the wilderness, no guards
were appointed to keep the people away. No enquiry was made as to the
character or experience of those who came to gather it. There it was
and no one was denied. Over the heads of the people might have sounded
the words, "Whoever will, let him come and take of the manna freely."
Tests and qualifications there were none and yet the special design was
the feeding of Israel. No discriminating Rabbi cried out, "You must not
come unless you feel a law-work within and are sensible sinners." Not a
word of the sort was whispered! And the Lord has appointed no one to
keep sinners away from the Water of Life, but He has chosen many to bid
poor souls draw near and drink! And the Holy Spirit, Himself, puts
forth His power to draw men to it. Jesus says, "He that comes to Me I
will in no wise cast out." And I, for one, have no commission to
discourage any, nor will I. What He gives you, you may gather! The
little birds ask no questions as to whether they may enjoy the seeds or
the worms–they see the food and take it boldly–so, Sinners, it is not
for you to raise difficulties about the mercy of God! Whoever believes
on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved and that whoever is a wide
word. You need not say, "I do not know whether I am elected." Neither
can I tell you, nor can any other man. "The Lord knows them that are
His," and none of us know anything about it except as far as His Spirit
teaches us that we ourselves are His. Your thoughts should run in
another direction–Christ Jesus came to save sinners–are you a sinner?
"Whoever will, let him come." Are you willing? Then come along with you
and quibble no longer!
God does not guard His great garden of Grace as men protect their
little patches of ground, wherein they hang up old garments or dead
crows to keep the birds away. The Lord gives freely and upbraids not.
Certain preachers hang up the dead black crow of their own morbid
experience to scare away poor sinners from coming to simple faith in
Jesus, but the Lord has no scarecrows in His garden! Do but come, you
blackest of sinners, and He will receive you. The strangest bird, with
speckled wings, may freely gather what mercy gives. Whatever is
preached in the Gospel as the object of faith, everyone that believes
may have. Whatever is promised to repentance, everyone that repents may
have. And whatever is promised to coming to Christ, everyone that comes
to Christ shall have. "What You give them they gather," for God gives
it to be gathered! He gave the manna on purpose for it to be eaten! He
would not have sent bread from Heaven if men had not needed it and if
He had not meant to feed them. Grace must have been meant for
sinners–it will suit no other persons. If I have a hard heart, the
Spirit of God can soften it–why should He not do so? Here is a foul
sinner and yonder is a fountain filled with blood which completely
cleanses–why should he not wash? What was Christ meant for but to be a
Savior? And if He is a Savior, why should He not save me? Surely, when
I am thirsty and I see the water springing up before me, I may as well
drink. Sinner, there is a spring open here by the Grace of our Lord
Jesus! You have come this way and, therefore, I suggest to you and I
pray the Spirit of God also to suggest it to you, that between the
fountain and the thirsty soul there ought to be a connection begun at
once! God invites you, your need calls you, may His Spirit draw
you–for even now what He has given you may gather!
V. The last thought is, GOD WILL ALWAYS GIVE US SOMETHING TO GATHER.
It is written, "The Lord will provide." The other day, as I walked on a
common, I picked up a dead sparrow. Going a little further, I found
another. And my friend said to me, "I have found another." And he
remarked, "It must have been a bad season; these birds must have been
starved." "No, no," I said, "you are not going to pick up dead sparrows
killed
by the weather. That cottager over the hedge has some rows of young
peas, and he keeps a gun." Men kill the birds– God does not starve
them.
Brother, if you are under the guardian care of God you shall not want.
If you are your own shepherd, you will probably stray into very lean
pastures one of these days, but if the Lord is your Shepherd, you shall
not want. He will make you to lie down in green pastures. "The young
lions do lack and suffer hunger," for they try to take care of
themselves. "But they that seek the Lord," although they are often very
simple-minded people and easily imposed upon, "shall not want any good
thing," for God will take care of them. I have often noticed how
wonderfully poor widows manage to live and struggle through with large
families. When they were dependent upon their husbands, they were often
badly off. And when their husbands died, it seemed as if they must
starve! But if they are Christian women, they look to God and God
becomes their Husband–and He is a far better Husband than the man they
have lost! When God takes the children in hand and becomes their
Father, they cannot lack. Help is raised up in unexpected quarters and
they are provided for– they can scarcely tell how. If, in Providence,
we have learned to live by faith in God, we may be sure that He will
not fail us. "The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to
famish."
Thus is it also in spiritual things. If you are willing to gather, God
will always give. Go to the Bible and say, "Lord, give me a promise,"
and you will find one suitable to your case. Go and hear His servants
whom He has sent. Go with hearts ready to receive the Word and you will
not return empty. The Lord will make us speak to your case as much as
if we knew all about you! Bring your largest vessel with you and the
Lord will fill it to the brim. Never does a Believer open his mouth
wide but the Lord fills it! Be you ready to gather and you may be right
well assured that the Divine fullness will never cease to supply your
need!
Thus, from a very simple text, we have had our lesson. Go home and feed
upon what you have gathered–and take care to bless the name of the
Lord!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM34.
The title of this Psalm is, "A Psalm of David, when he changed his
behavior before Abimelech (or, Achish); who drove him away, and he
departed." It relates to a sad scene in David's life when he had to
feign madness in order to escape from his enemies. But I notice that
although the fact is recorded, yet David does not dwell upon it in the
Psalm. He had acted as a fool or a madman, but he was not fool enough,
or mad enough, to glory in his shame! I have heard some men, whose past
lives have been very disgraceful, who, after their professed
conversion, have seemed to make a boast of their sin. David does not do
that, nor will any other right-minded person. Let us always be ashamed
of our sin, even while we magnify the Grace of God which has saved us
from it. Though we may feel that it is necessary to mention it in order
to encourage others to hope in the mercy of God, yet we must take care
that we never even seem to dwell upon it with any kind of gusto. Thus
the Psalm begins–
Verse 1. I will bless the LORD at all times."Whether the times are dark
or light, whether I feel well or ill, whether the Lord deals with me
graciously or severely, I will bless Him at all times."
1. His praise shall continually be in my moutt. What a blessed
mouthful! If we could but carry out this resolve of David, we would not
find so much fault with others as we often do. We shall have little or
no opportunity for grumbling and murmuring if praise to Jehovah shall
continually be in our mouth!
2. My soul shall make her boast in the LOR . All men are more or less
given to boasting but it seems to be especially characteristic of
Englishmen and Americans. Well, there is a right way of boasting. If
you can truly say, "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord," you may
boast away as much as you like!
2. The humble shall hear thereof, and be glat. Any other kind of
boasting makes humble people sad, but when we boast in the Lord, the
more we boast the more the humble rejoice!
3. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name togethei. Let
each one of us throw his stone upon the mound to make the heap as high
as possible, for everyone has some peculiar cause for gratitude and
thanksgiving.
4. I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my
fears. It was a very poor way of seeking the Lord when he had got into
the hand of the Philistines and was planning in his own mind a
disgraceful way of escaping
from them. It was not that calm quiet calling upon God that one would
have liked to see in David. Still, God heard him and that makes the
deliverance all the more wonderful.
5. They looked unto Him. [See Sermon #195, Volume 4–LOOKING UNTO
JESUS.] "All these people that have come at my call to join me in
praising the Lord–"They looked unto Him."
5. And were lightened: and their faces were not ashamet. No, not one of
them! If they looked to God, light shone from God upon their faces and
their faces glowed with the holy radiance, so they had no reason to be
ashamed.
6, 7. This poor man cried, [See Sermon #2193, Volume 37–A POOR MAN'S
CRY–AND WHAT CAME OF IT.] and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of
all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps round about them that
fear Him, and delivers them. David's deliverance had been so special
that he could not help feeling that some special deliverer had been
employed on his behalf–"the angel of the Lord" had been sent to his
help. Then David, why did you act like a madman? Ah, that was through
his lack of faith, yet even lack of faith must not make us rob God of
His Glory. What though we were unbelieving, He was faithful! Therefore
let us give Him His due recompense of praise. Let us try to blot out
the remembrance of our own weakness with our tears, but let us not
erase the memory of God's loving kindness to us.
8. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that
trusts in Hi . You may not only believe that God is good, but it may
become a matter of experience with you–"O taste and see that the Lord
is good." You cannot see the goodness of God to perfection without
tasting it, so use the sense of taste as well as that of sight! Some
people want first to see, and then to taste, but David says, "Taste and
see."
9. 10. O fear the LORD, you His saints: for there is no want to them
that fearHim. The young lions do lack They are strong, cunning,
ravenous, yet they "do lack."
10. And suffer hungerThey try to take care of themselves and,
therefore, they get badly taken care of.
10. But they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. [See
Sermon #65, Volume 2–lions lacking–but the children
SATISFIED.] When God takes care of us, we are well taken care of,
though we are not lions, but sheep–for we have a Shepherd, and the
lions have not–so we "shall not want any good
thing."
11. Come, you children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the
LORD. I should not wonder but that when David played the madman and
scribbled on the doors of the gate, the children in the streets
gathered around him and mocked him. Wherever we have done harm to any,
let us try to do them good. So did David–he sought to gather the
children about his knees and to talk to them–"Come, you children." He
does not begin by saying, "Stand off, you children." There would be no
teaching them in that way! You must seek to draw them to yourselves if
you would draw them to your Lord. "Come, you children, listen to me: I
will teach you the fear of the Lord." Though David had been anointed
king, he remained a teacher of children! And the highest honor we can
have is, for Christ's sake, to teach the little ones. Children love
bright, happy teaching–they naturally desire life and happiness–so
David begins.
12. 13. What man is he that desires life, and loves many days, that he
may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking
guile. Children's tongues are very active and they need to be reminded
that their tongues must be sanctified or they will say what is evil.
David had both spoken and acted with guile at the court of Achish, so
he particularly dwelt upon that matter. "Depart from evil"–run away
from it–not merely do not do it, but get away from it! "Depart from
evil, and do good."
14. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous. He does not merely
give a glance at them now and then, but His eyes rest on them. He is
always watching them.
15. And His ears are open unto their cry. The translators put in the
words, "are open," but they were not needed.
16. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil. You know what we
mean when we say, "I set my face against it." So God sets His face
against the wicked. Note how near both the righteous and the wicked are
to an observing God. In the first case, His eyes are upon the
righteous. In the second, His face "is against them that do evil."
16. To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. He will stamp
them out as men do with fire. He will not even let them be
remembered–He will use means to ensure that their unholy example shall
die with them.
17. Thee righteous cry and thee LORD hears, and delivers them out of
all their troubles. That is something to teach the children–teach them
from your own experience that God does hear and answer prayer. Teach
them to always pray to God and to believe that prayer has real and
beneficial results! "The Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their
troubles."
18. The LORD is near unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves
such as are of a contrite spirit We often hear of people who die of a
broken heart, but here we read about people who live with a broken
heart. And it is the best way of living, too–with a heart that is
broken for sin and broken from sin–a heart that in every portion of it
feels the power of God!
19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Do not tell the children
that the good are always happy and that the good escape trial, because
you will deceive them if you do. "Many are the afflictions of the
righteous"–the happiness, the glory, the Heaven of the righteous is
not here, but hereafter! "Many are the afflictions of the righteous."
19. But. Blessed, "but."
19. The LORD delivers him out of them all. Not only out of some of
them, but "out of them all." The righteous do not get out of them by
their own power, but the Lord delivers them–they have a Divine Helper!
20. He keeps all his bones. Not one of them is broken. The righteous
may have skin wounds and flesh wounds, but they shall not suffer any
real hurt. God will not let His people be so injured as to be incapable
of holiness. There shall be no bone-breaking in Christ's mystical body,
even as not one of the bones of Christ was broken!
21. Evil shall slay the wicked. Sin itself shall slaughter them.
21, 22. And they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The LORD
redeems the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in Him
shall be desolate.