Wakeful and Watchful Eyes
(No. 2654)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 24, 1899.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 13, 1882.
"Behold, He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." Psalm
121:4.
"Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hands of their masters,
and as the eyes ofa maiden unto the hands of her mistress; so our eyes
wait upon the LORRD our God, until He has mercy on us."
Psalm 123:2.
NOTICE, dear Friends, that both these texts begin with the word,
"Behold." That word is meant to attract the readers' attention. In some
books, which are intended to be sensational, you are asked to
behold–and when you look, there is nothing to see! But when God's Word
bids you behold what it has to say, you may be sure that the
exclamation is not superfluous or misleading! It would be a marring of
the Word of God to leave out even one of its smallest expressions and,
therefore, when we see this word, "Behold," placed at the beginning of
each of these texts, we may rest assured that there is, in both of
them, something worth noting, worth examining and considering–and
worth remembering and carrying away!
A very useful series of discourses might be preached upon the "Beholds"
of the Old and New Testaments which culminate in John the Baptist's,
"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world," and
Pilate's, "Behold the Man." And still more in our Lord's own message to
John, "Behold, I come quickly." But two Old Testament, "Beholds," are
to furnish us with a theme of meditation at this time. It is somewhat
singular that they both relate to eyes. The first tells us about God's
eyes–"Behold, He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."
His eyes are never closed. No feeling of weariness or need of slumber
ever causes them to be heavy and to shut. And the second text tells us
about our eyes–"Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of
their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her
mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until He has mercy on
us."
See, Brothers and Sisters, both our texts speak about eyes, and they
ask for the use of our eyes by saying, "Behold," which is as though God
said to us, "I am going to tell you about My eyes which never slumber.
Therefore, look and see, for you shall find them always open and always
watching over you." Then the next text tells us about our eyes and
reminds us how God gives to His people clear and quick eyesight, so
that they observe all the motions of their Master's hands and are glad
to note them–and prompt to do as He directs. I have put these two
texts together because I hoped that when you saw with joy how the eyes
of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ears open to their cries,
you would then feel that it was a fit return that your eyes should be
unto the Lord your God, and that your ears should be open to receive
His teaching and to learn His commands. God grant that this may be the
result of the sermon upon these two texts!
I. First, then, I am to speak to you concerning THE WAKEFUL EYES OF THE
LORD OUR GOD. We are told, in our first text, that the Lord, who keeps
Israel, shall neither slumber nor sleep.
We learn from these words, first, that the Lord keeps Israel. Read the
121st Psalm through and you will find the word, "preserve," or, "keep,"
or, "keeper," repeated many times. God has Himself undertaken the work
of keeping His people–it is His high office to preserve those who are
His chosen ones!
"He that keeps Israel." By this expression we understand that the Lord
keeps His people as a shepherd keeps his flock. There is a great depth
of meaning in that word, "keep," as it is thus used, for a shepherd
keeps the sheep by feeding them, by supplying all their needs and also
by guarding them from all their adversaries. He keeps the flock with
vigilance so that it is not diminished either by the ravaging wolf or
by the straying of the sheep. Even an ordinary shepherd takes great
pains and the utmost care to preserve his sheep both by night and by
day–while, "our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep," who was
brought again from the dead, uses His Omnipotence, His Omniscience and
all His Divine Attributes in the keeping of His sheep! O Beloved, if
you are, indeed, His people and the sheep of His pasture, rest assured
that He will preserve you! You are in good keeping, for He is the Good
Shepherd, and the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd and He will
perform all the duties of His office well and faithfully, that He may
securely keep all whom His Father has committed unto Him!
Another figure may equally well illustrate the meaning of this
expression. The Lord keeps His people, not only as a shepherd keeps his
sheep, but as a king keeps his jewels. These are rare and precious
things which are his peculiar treasure and he will not lose them if he
can help it. He will go to war sooner than be deprived of them. He will
put them in the most secure case that he has in his strong room–and
set his most faithful servants to guard the place wherein they are
stored. He will charge those who have the custody of his crown jewels
to take a full and accurate account of them–and to be careful to
examine them, from time to time, to see that they are all there, for he
greatly prizes them and is not willing for one of them to be lost. They
probably cost him a great price, or, if not, they are part of his royal
heritage and of the glory and honor of his kingdom, so he desires to
keep them all. Even so does the Lord Jesus keep His people, for they
are His jewels. He delights in them–they are His honor and His glory!
They cost Him a greater price than they can ever realize. He hides them
away in the case of His power and protects them with all His wisdom and
strength. Concerning those who feared the Lord and thought upon His
name, it is written, "They shall be Mine, says the Lord of Hosts, in
that day when I make up My jewels." It is God's work to keep His own
jewels. He does not commit them even to the custody of the tall
archangel who stands nearest to His Throne, but the Lord, Himself,
keeps them–and no one shall be able to pluck them out of His hands!
This is not all, for we might multiply figures to almost any extent and
still not exhaust the meaning of the text. The Lord keeps His people as
a governor keeps the city committed to his charge. He places his guards
around the walls, he has his cannon on the battlements to defend the
place against those who besiege it. And he is constantly on the watch.
Early in the morning and late at night he is on the walls–and through
the night, the watchmen keep their continual rounds, for the city must
be preserved from scaling ladders and from assaults of every sort. The
Lord will not let even the suburbs of the New Jerusalem be conquered by
the foe! He will preserve the holy city, His own Church, until the day
when His Son shall come to reign in her forever.
I find that in all probability, the figure here used is an allusion to
the common custom of having guards to watch the tents of travelers
passing through the desert. At this very time, if you were journeying
through the Holy Land, you would find that when you came to your
camping ground, and nightfall drew on, there would be certain persons
employed to watch over the different tents, for, otherwise, the
wandering robbers of the desert would soon enter and take away your
valuables, or even your life. I have noticed in the books of two or
three travelers, this observation, "We found it exceedingly difficult
to obtain a tent-keeper who could stay awake all night." One gentleman
speaks of discovering a thief in his tent and when he went outside to
call the watchman, he found that the man had gone so soundly to sleep
that he could only be awakened by one or two gentle kicks! When a man
has been traveling with you all day, it is unreasonable to expect him
to stay awake through the night to take care of you. Therefore, see the
beauty of the expression used by the Psalmist, "Behold, He that keeps
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." There shall be no deep sleep
falling upon Him! No, there shall not even be a brief period of
slumber, not even a wink of sleep shall ever overcome Him! A man may
say, "I am so tired that I cannot keep my eyes open," but God never
says that.
Now turn to the second part of our first text–"Behold, He that keeps
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep," and think, first, of God's
eyes as never wearying of His people. I suppose that the fondest mother
is sometimes glad when she can put her children to bed and have a
little quiet time by herself. She at last grows weary even of their
pretty ways and she is willing to let them go out of her sight for a
while. But the Lord never grows weary of His people. If some of you had
such children as God has, you would never be able to endure their
trying ways. None but the God of Infinite patience could bear with such
a family as He has. Any one of us might exhaust the patience of a
hundred Jobs rolled into one– yet, shout it out and let even the
angels hear it–we have not exhausted the patience of God! He has never
been so wearied and worried by us as to say, "I must go to sleep, My
children, and leave you to take care of yourselves." Our Savior's eyes
are never weary of looking on us–those eyes that closed upon the Cross
and then that opened, again, on the Resurrection morning, like bright
stars. Those eyes that, from the heights of Heaven, have looked down
upon the redeemed with ineffable delight of love–those eyes never grow
weary of the chosen ones! Our Lord Jesus has such joy in His people as
keeps Him from ever being weary of them. That is one meaning of His
never slumbering or sleeping.
The next is, that God is never forgetful of His people for a single
moment You and I forget things which we most need to remember. Have you
not, my Sister, often shifted your ring from one finger to another and
then had to say to yourself, "How did it come to be here?" And then you
remembered the reason why you removed it? Yes, I know you have done so
and we have had a hundred ingenious inventions to keep us in mind of
something that we wished not to forget– yet we have forgotten it,
after all. The fondest human heart at times forgets, but that Divine
heart, alone, never does. And those eyes which look down on us with
Infinite love flashing forth from them are never sealed in the slumber
of for-getfulness. We forget all things in our sleep and lie completely
indifferent to all that is happening around us, but God never does
so–He never forgets us and He is never indifferent to us. Oh, what a
blessed Truth of God this is!
Sleep also throws us into a condition in which we are incapable of
helping ourselves. But God is never in such a state as that. He is
always awake to show Himself strong on the behalf of those who trust
Him. You will never have to call to Him in vain, or get from Him the
answer, "I cannot help you right now." Elijah, in his irony, said that
perhaps Baal was sleeping, or on a journey, and the idol god was quite
unable to deliver those that called upon him. But our God, who made the
heavens, is quick to hear the faintest cry of any of His people! He is
perpetually girt with all might and energy–if you do but appeal to
Him, He will speedily fly to your relief! Yes, He will fly upon the
wings of the wind, for He is prompt to deliver all those who put their
case into His hands. God is never asleep in the sense that He is unable
to help us.
And, moreover, God is never asleep in the sense that He ceases to
consider us. I do not know whether you can catch the thought so as to
lay hold of it by faith, but we have an instance of it in the 40th
Psalm where David says, "I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon
me." When? Now? Yes. Tomorrow? Yes. And yesterday? Yes. He was
alwaysthink-ing of us and He is always thinking of us! The Infinite
mind of God can think of all things at once. You and I, in thinking of
one thing, often forget another–but it is not so with God. He is so
great that His center is everywhere and His circumference is nowhere!
And you, dear Brother or Sister, may be the very center of God's
thoughts and so may I–and all His redeemed may at the same moment have
His thoughts fixed upon each one of them! Can you realize the wondrous
Truth of God that there is never a moment, night or day, in which the
great mind of the Eternal ceases to think of you? Then, how safe you
are with God always looking upon you! How happy you ought to be with
God always thinking of you! Yes, how joyful you ought to be because,
even if others forget you, He never does!
You remember how Cowper represents Alexander Selkirk, when far away an
that island of Juan Fernandez, saying–
"My friends, do they now and then send A wish or a thought after me?"
He could not bear, in his loneliness, to be altogether forgotten by
everybody. And none of us would like to be in that condition, but even
if we were in such a plight, we could still find comfort in that
ancient promise, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should
not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget." It
is rarely enough that mothers are so unnatural–still, "they may
forget. Yet," says the LORD, "will I not forget you." Oh, drink that
down! Is it not a sweet draught? Of all the luscious drinks that men
ever delighted in, there can be none with such flavor as this choice
wine of Covenant faithfulness!
So much, then, for our first text, "Behold, He that keeps Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep." I have only given you a few brief hints.
Lay them up in your memories and come with me to consider our second
text, "Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their
masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so
our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until He has mercy on us."
II. The lesson of these words is that THE WATCHFUL EYES OF THE SAINTS
ARE FIXED UPON THEIR GOD.
Which is the more wonderful text of the two? Certainly, it is a great
marvel that God should always fix His eyes upon us, but I think it is a
greater marvel that you and I should ever be brought to fix our eyes on
God! For God to look at His people is according to His own Nature, but
for usto look upon God, is something superior to human nature–it is
the giftof God and the work of Sovereign Grace! I think that both looks
are to be regarded as miracles of mercy. For a child of God to be so
sanctified that He always fixes His eyes upon God, as a servant does
upon his master's hands–this is a very eminent degree of
sanctification and is a thing worthy to be looked at, and worthy to
have the word, "Behold," put before it! I wonder whether you and I have
yet reached such a height of consecration to God as to be able to truly
use the language of this text?
Alas, in many cases we cannot get men's eyes fixed upon God at all.
There is this natural world, with all its wondrous beauty. God has
painted every flower and tinged the clouds with the glory of the
setting sun. He is everywhere and yet men walk through His great house
of nature and–fools that they are–they say, "There is no God." It is
hard to get men to see God. We put the Bible into their hands. They
read it and are interested in its stories, but they see not God in it.
Providence comes to their very doors with marvels, yet they say that
they do not see God's hand in anything that happens to them! And even
when we preach–and this is the woe of woes–we cannot get men to look
to the Lord! God knows that I have never tried to speak that you would
think of mefor a single moment. I have sought to tell my tale as
plainly as I could and to force it home on man's hearts and consciences
as God might help me. And yet, at the end of the sermon, often the
hearer's only remark is, "How did you like him?" It does not matter at
all how you like me! Is that what we came here for–to fiddle to you,
as men do in your orchestras, or speak before you as if we were mere
actors playing for your amusement? It is of no concern to us what you
think of our style or manner–it is the Truth of God itself which we
would drive home to you! It is that Truth of God which, if we could, we
would make you feel as the ox feels the sharp goad! It is the blessed
Doctrine of Christ Crucified which we would have you feed upon, as the
hungry man devours the bread that is given to him and does not care
whether he ever knows the baker's name, or not! Still, I must say again
that it is a hard thing to get men to see God. They look around, above,
beneath, everywhere–but to get them to fix their eyes upon God, "This
is the work. This is the difficulty."
The man of God who wrote this 123rd Psalm had been taught to look to
God in a very remarkable manner. And I call your attention to it in the
hope that many of you will do likewise. First, his eyes were
reverentially fixed upon the Lord. He looked to God's hands, wherever
they were, with deep reverence–"as the eyes of servants look unto the
hands of their masters." He was, of course, talking about Oriental
servants–the Hebrew word bears the meaning of slaves–and travelers
tell us that when they go into the house of a wealthy person in the
East, the master will give certain signs to his slaves and refreshments
are brought in. But, except when they are called, the servants stand at
a distance, watching for the slightest motion of their master's
hands–they do not have the liberties that we happily accord to our
servants–they are nothing and nobody, mere tools for their master to
use as he pleases. And, as to the maidens, I have heard that the women
in the East have a harder time of it with their mistresses than the men
do with their masters and that the lady of the house is a more severe
taskmaster than her husband is. So the maidens watch their mistress'
hands very carefully, for they are sorely afraid of them–and they look
with great care and fear to see what "Madam" would have them do. Now,
casting aside everything of human fear out of the figure, this is the
way in which we ought to look to God–He is in Heaven–we are upon
earth. He is great–we are nothing. He is good–we are lumps of sin. It
is for us, therefore, with the utmost reverence, to seek to learn God's
will in every point–in His Word and in His works–and at once, without
question, reverently to do what He commands us.
The next point is that the truly sanctified man looks to God's hands
with obedience as well as with reverence. Orientals, as a general rule,
speak far less than we do, except when they sit around the fire at
eventide and tell their tales. But an Eastern master seldom speaks. A
gentleman went, some time ago, into an Eastern house and as soon as he
entered, the master waved his hand and the servants brought in sherbet.
He waved his hand again, and they brought dried fruits. Then he moved
his hands in a different way and they began to spread the table and,
all the time, not a word was spoken, but they perfectly understood the
motion of his hands! They had to look sharply to see how the master
moved his hands so that they might do what that motion meant. We have
not very much of that dumb action among us, but, on board a steamboat
you may see the captain moving his hands this way or that, and the
call-boy is ready at once to pass the word down to those who are in
charge of the engine.
That is just how the child of God should watch the hands of God in the
Bible and in Providence, so as to do at once whatever we plainly
perceive to be our Lord's will. Ah, me, I know some professing
Christians who will not do God's will till they have had a good
whipping, or not until they have been chastened again and again!
Remember that ancient injunction, "Be you not as the horse, or as the
mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit
and bridle, lest they come near unto you"? You know how the drivers
have to pull at their reins. They say, "This creature is so hard in the
mouth that we do not know how to manage him at all." And some of God's
people are terribly hard in the mouth–they need very rough handling to
make them move. Yet we ought to be different from horses and mules. We
ought to be ready at once, at a beck, or a wink, or a nod, to know what
God would have us do–and do it reverently and obediently.
Then, also, our eyes should be absolutely fixed upon our Lord. The eyes
of servants ought to be so directed to their masters that they not only
see the sign, but obey it, whatever it means. It may be a very little
thing, but yet the little thing should not be neglected. I would again
say what I sometimes feel ashamed of having to say. I sometimes meet
with a person who says, with regard to the matter of Believers'
Baptism, "Now, you know that Baptism will not save me." You evil,
miserable soul! Will you do nothing but what is necessary for your
salvation? Is that the spirit that drives you? Will you do only what is
necessary to save your poor soul, which is hardly worth saving if you
talk like that? It is too small a thing to be worth anything, but
unless Baptism will save your soul, you will not attend to it? "Well,"
says another, "I have reversed the Scriptural order–I have put my
baptism before my believing." Who gave you leave to alter the Lord's
order? If servants were to act like that, what mischief we would have!
Suppose they were to bring us in our dessert before they brought in our
dinner–that would be a very small affair, yet it is important to
observe the right order even in such matters! Or suppose we were to
tell them to sweep the room and dust it–and they should dust the room
and then sweep it? It is only altering the order, but you know what
would happen! So is it with those who put Baptism first and believing
afterwards–it spoils the whole transaction–and it violates the
intention of God in the ordinance. You have no right to act like that!
I may remind you of a story which I think I told you some time ago. A
poor youth earnestly wished to join the Church, but his friends thought
he was somewhat deficient in brain power and that he had better not be
baptized. He lay sick and was evidently dying. And he said to his
mother, "Mother, I wish I had been baptized and joined the Church." She
replied, "My dear boy, you know that being baptized would not have
saved you. You will go to Heaven because you have trusted in the Lord
Jesus Christ." "Oh, yes," he said, "I know that! You do not think I am
so stupid as to fancy that Baptism would save me, do you, Mother? I
know that has nothing to do with going to Heaven! But when I get there,
I shall see my Savior and, perhaps He will say to me, 'Isaac, why did
you not join the Church?' If I should say, 'Lord, that was a very
little thing,' He would say, 'Yes, then you might have done it to
please Me.'" That story is just to the point– the smaller the matter
is, the more careful we should be to attend to it, if it would please
the Lord Jesus Christ! Do not be so clever, you servants who fancy that
you know better than your Master, for perhaps He may find somebody else
to be His servant if you behave like that!
Suppose that I was starting on a journey, early in the morning, and I
said to my servant, "I would like a cup of coffee before I start"? And
suppose that when I came down, she brought me a glass of cold water? I
would ask her, "Why did you do that?" If she should reply, "Oh, Sir, I
thought that the water would be better for you than coffee!" I would
say, "Well, I am very much obliged to you for thinking of me in that
considerate way, but I shall have to engage another servant who does
what she is told." So I advise you not to alter or judge God's Word,
but to obey it! Do not begin to calculate as to whether what you read
in His Word is right in your sight, or in the eyes of other people–the
one question for you is–Has my Lord bid me do this? If so, then, as
the eyes of the maiden are to her mistress, so let your eyes be unto
the Lord your God!
Once more, our eyes are to be turned ONLY to the Lord. The Eastern
servant is not allowed to think. It is no business of his to have his
eyes upon his master's guests. They are to be fixed upon his master.
And the maiden does not think it to be her business to watch the
movements of the hands of the lady who calls to see her mistress–her
eyes are to be on the hands of her mistress. She does not dare to take
them off, for, perhaps, just when she is looking out of the window, or
gazing in curiosity at some object, her mistress may be waving her hand
and she may not see it. And then there will be a serious scolding and
possibly something worse when the mistress gets her alone. So you and I
must not take our eyes off our God at any time–His way and His will
must be our only law–and for this we must live, that we may please Him
whose servants we are, for has He not bought us with His precious
blood? So we are not our own, we are "bought with a price."
"Ah," says one, "we have not come to that yet." No, I fear you have
not, but you ought to. There is no peace for us till we do. He who,
either by omission or commission, neglects to do or goes beyond His
Lord's command will find sorrow in his soul. Depend upon it, the roots
of our most bitter griefs strike into our sins and, if our sins were
overcome, the major part of our sorrows would be removed! Oh that God
would give us Grace to be very tender in conscience, to tremble before
Him, as well as to rejoice before Him, for in very deed the man who
does not tremble at His Word has not yet learned to truly love Him!
Now I must speak to some here who, perhaps, know nothing about what I
have been saying, for they have lived without God. I will finish my
sermon by just reminding you that this may do very well for this
world–though it is a poor business at the best–but when you come to
die, you will need God! Now, when I die and go to be with God, I know
that Christ will not say to me, "I never knew you." I am sure He cannot
because He has long known me. I was about to say that He has known me
to His cost, for I have long been a beggar at His door every day and I
cannot live without Him. I am naked, poor and miserable apart from Him.
I have always some errand or other to make me go to Him–some sin to
confess, or some need to be supplied. So He knows me well enough. You
are sure to know a beggar who is always at your door. Perhaps he says
that he has not been there before, but you reply, "Why you have been
here every morning for the last six weeks! I have always seen you
begging here the first thing in the morning." You cannot say that you
do not know him, yet that is what will happen to those of you who have
never sought the Lord Jesus Christ and never prayed to Him. Christ will
say to you, "I never knew you."
I feel that the spot I occupy just now is a very solemn one, for, like
the captain of a ship, I can see all over this place. Often, when I
come here on a Sunday, somebody says, "So-and-So has gone." There is
one gone out of that seat which you occupy, my Friend. He was there
last Sabbath, but he has gone. And I can point to many of you and say,
"You are sitting in the seat where one used to sit whose face was vary
familiar to me, but he has gone Home." And some go to my great
surprise. I have thought to see them again many times, and when I have
missed them, I have said, "Oh, she has gone to the seaside for a little
holiday." But someone has said to me, "No, she is dead. She was
suddenly taken away." Or, "He was called away only this last week." Ah,
me! Ah, me! And what faces I may be looking into now that I shall never
see again! Give me your hand, my Friend, for this is the last time I
may ever speak to you. I beg you to get ready to go on that last long
journey. Oh, do not die unsaved! I beseech you, do not attempt to enter
the eternal world, with all its dread, without a Savior!
This is the way of salvation. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! Trust
yourself with Him! Put your soul, as a sacred deposit, into the hands
of that dear Banker whose bank has never failed–no, more–who has
never lost a penny that was entrusted to Him! And before you sleep,
just rest in Jesus. God help you to do so, for Christ's sake! Amen.
HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–194, 119 (SONG VI), 123, 538.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JEREMIAH30:1-22.
Verses 1, 2. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus
speaks the LORD God ofIsrael, saying, Write you all the words that I
have spoken unto you in a book We believe in Verbal Inspiration and,
though some people treat with contempt the very ides of words being
Inspired, be you sure of this, if you have not Inspired Words, you are
not likely to get Inspired men! Besides, words are to the thought what
the shell is to the egg and if you break the shell, you have destroyed
the egg. Somehow or other, the thought will ooze out unless it is
conveyed in God's own Words. Observe that the Lord does not say to
Jeremiah, "Write you all the thoughtthat I have given you," but, "Write
you all the wordsthat I have spoken unto you in a book."
3. For, lo, the days come, says the LORD, that I will bring again the
captivity of My people Israel and Judah, says the LORD: and I will
cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they
shall possess it And so they did, and so they shall in a yet fuller
sense, for this is a promise that has fulfillments and fulfillments.
Man's promises, once kept, are ended, but God's promises are
perpetual–they are springing wells which never run dry! That which He
fulfilled once, He often takes the opportunity to fulfill again on a
yet larger scale, as He will doubtless do to His ancient people in the
latter days. You who are in spiritual captivity tonight may derive
comfort from these words, "I will bring again the captivity of My
people." It is the way of God to deliver the captives. What He does
once is only an index of what He is in the habit of doing. It is God's
delight to devise means by which He will bring back His banished ones.
So, in due time, He will end your captivity and you shall enjoy the
blessed liberty which is the portion of His people.
4, 5. And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and
concerning Judah. For thus says the LORD, We have heard a voice of
trembling, of fear, and not of peace. God hears His people's voices
when they cry. He knows the tone and accent which they use and,
sometimes, when He is listening to them, He hears "a voice of
trembling, of fear, and not of peace." Possibly that may be the
condition of some who are here tonight. If so, may the Lord, who hears
their cry, bring them out of their trembling and fear–and fill their
mouth with laughter and their tongue with singing!
6, 7. Ask you now, and see whether a man does travail with child?
Therefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in
travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is
great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble;
but he shall be saved out of it This passage evidently alludes to a
time of very great distress, when men's hearts were swollen within them
as if they would burst for very grief. Not simply here and there one,
but the great mass of the people seemed to be in sore trouble. Even the
stout-hearted ones began to feel inward pangs of affliction, yet it was
then that the Lord said, "It is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but
he shall be saved out of it."
8. For it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD ofHosts, that I
will break his yoke from offyour neck, and will burst your bonds, and
strangers shall no more serve themselves of him. Here is a word for you
tried ones! God, who sometimes permits His child to wear the yoke of
the oppressor, will take that yoke away! He will snap the bands that
are around your neck and enable you to rise into the glorious liberty
wherewith Christ makes His people free! O enslaved ones, be of good
comfort and look for speedy deliverance through the power of the great
Emancipator!
9, 10. But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king,
whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear you not, O My servant
Jacob, says the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will
save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and
Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall
make him afraid. There are great things in reserve for God's ancient
people Israel, but there are not less laid up for God's spiritual
Israel, for by them shall the greatest fulfillment of the promise be
realized! They shall indeed be quiet and none shall make them afraid.
Note that these are the very men who had their hands upon their loins
and whose faces were pale with fright! These are they who were ready to
die of heartbreak! Yet even they shall, by the rich Grace of God, be in
rest and quiet–and no one shall make them afraid. I wish that we could
all realize the fulfillment of that promise even now and that our
gracious God would dwell with us as He is known to abide with those who
bear His name and thus give us that blessed quiet and rest which we so
much need.
11. For I am with you, says the LORD, to save you: though I make a full
end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet will I not make a
full end of you: but I will correct you in measure, and will not leave
you altogether unpunished. Look abroad and see what God has done to
Israel. This is peculiarly the time of Israel's trouble and the Jewish
people were, perhaps, never worse persecuted than they now are in
certain parts of the world. Yet the Lord will not allow any nation to
crush them and He will, Himself, avenge all wrongs that they suffer. He
still says to them, "He that touches you touches the apple of My eye."
And it is very noteworthy that whenever God has used any nation as a
rod to chasten the Jews–and He has used many in that way–He has
always broken that kingdom up when He is done with it. Think of
Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. Look at Spain and see how mean and
despicable that nation has become because of its cruelty to the people
of God. Now, if this is true of Israel after the flesh, depend upon it
that it is also true concerning God's spiritual people! Though He will
correct us when we deserve chastening, it will always be in measure and
He will not make a full end of us. God has measureless wrath against
the ungodly for their measureless sin, but as for His own people, He
has cast their sin behind His back and only as a wise and faithful
Father does He chasten them for that sin.
12-14. For thus says the LORD, Your bruise is incurable, and your wound
is grievous. There is none to pleadyour cause, that you may be bound
up. You have no healing medicines. All your lovers have forgotten you;
they seek you not;
for Ihave wounded you with thee wound ofan enemy, with the chastisement
of a cruel one, for the multitude ofyour iniquity; because your sins
were increased. God never gave His people leave to sin–and sin in them
is worse than sin in any other people, for they sin against more light,
more love and, therefore, it grieves the Lord more–and He smites all
the more heavily and, mark you, when God smites, there is nobody who
can comfort us! A quaint old writer, whose book I was reading the other
day, commenting on that part of the parable where the friend, disturbed
at midnight, said, "My children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and
give to you," wrote something like this, "When God is in bed, there are
none of His children up to help us. If He does not open the door, there
are none of His saints to give us a crust–all must come from Him."
Therefore we must cry unto Him and say, "Awake for my help, O God; for
all my lovers have forgotten me; they seek me not in the time of my
distress." When God wounds us, men often desert us–and those that
seemed to be most fond of us forsake us when God smites us.
15, 16. Why do you cry for your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable
for the multitude ofyour iniquity: because your sins were increased, I
have done these things to you. Therefore all they that devour you shall
be devoured. How striking is this sentence! And what a surprise it
gives us as we read it! We might have thought, after the Lord had
spoken as He did, that He would have given His people up to their
enemies, but, instead of doing so, He says, "Therefore all they that
devour you shall be devoured;"
16, 17. And all your adversaries, everyone of them, shall go into
captivity; and they that spoil you shall be a spoil, and all thatprey
upon you will 1give for a prey. For I willrestore health unto you, andl
willhealyou ofyour wounds, says the LORD; because they called you an
outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeks after. Did you notice
that word, "therefore," in the 16th verse? Can you see any,
"therefore," in it–any logical conclusion that could be drawn from the
Prophet's premises? The argument seems to be, "Because your disease is
incurable, therefore will I restore health unto you. Because no one
else can heal your wounds, therefore I will heal them." It is a blessed
thing to feel that you are incurable, for then it is that God will cure
you! When there is an end of you, then you shall begin with God! But as
long as you are full of self or sin, that passage shall be fulfilled to
you, "He has filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He has
sent away empty."
18, 19. Thus says the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of
Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city
shall be built upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the
manner thereof And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the
choice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they
shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small
Well might the Lord introduce such a promise as this with the word,
"Behold"!
Again I remind you that these are the people who had their hands on
their loins! These are they who were in sore trouble of soul! Yet now
they are merry and full of gladness! And we, also, have learned to
sing–
My mourning He to dancing turns, For sackcloth, joy He gives, A moment,
Lord, Your anger burns, But long your favor lives.
20, 21. Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation
shall be established before Me, and I will punish all that oppress
them. And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall
proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and
he shall approach unto Me: for who is this that engaged his heart to
approach unto Me?says the LORD. There is One, whom we call Master and
Lord, who approaches the Throne of God on our behalf–One who fulfils
that ancient Word of God, "I have exalted One chosen out of the
people." Our glorious Savior, through His humanity, is one of us and He
appears before God on our behalf, blessed be His holy name!
22. And you shall be My people, and I will be your God. Happy are we if
we can rejoice in this precious Truth of
God!