The Mission of Affliction

The Mission of Affliction

(No. 3164)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1909.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 8,
1873.

"Let him alone, and let him curse, for so the Lord has ordered him. It
may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that the Lord
willrepay me with good for his cursing this day." 2 Samuel 16:11,12.

THE bright side of David's character was generally seen either when he
was actively engaged or when he was greatly suffering. He was the man
of action. When he ran to meet Goliath and returned with the giant's
head in his hand, or when it was necessary that he should lead forth
the hosts of God to war against Philistia, then David was in his
element. He was one who never feared the face of man! He was
courageous, dauntless and full of confidence in God.

Equally well does he stand out in the time of his trouble. He will not
lift up his hand against Saul even when the king is in his power. If he
cuts off the skirt of Saul's robe, even then his heart smites him. When
his adversaries are before him and with a blow he can put them to
death, with unusual magnanimity he restrains his hand and will not
touch them. Revenge was not in his spirit. He was full of gentleness
and tenderness. It is well for men of this kind when they have
something to do or something to suffer. And perhaps this may account
for it, that men have to be very busy or very faithful if they are to
avoid being sinful. There are spirits so ardent, so fervent, that
unless they have either to do or to bear God's will with a high degree
of intensity, they are lacking in brightness and cheerfulness. David
was seldom at leisure without falling into mischief. His great sin, his
grievous sin was on this wise. It was the time when kings went forth to
battle, but David sent Joab to fight against Ammon and he stayed at
home. We read that at eventide, "David arose from off his bed and
walked upon the roof of his house." He had become luxurious and then it
was that temptation came and he fell. His second great offense was very
much after the same order. He had subdued all his enemies. The
rebellion of Absalom was put down with a strong hand. All was quiet
within and without–and then Satan moved him to number the people. He
thought, "I am the king of a great country and I should like to know
how many subjects I have. I should like to know how many troops I have.
Joab, go and take a census and bring it to me, that I may understand
how great I am."

And then it was that God sent His servant to warn him that He would
chasten him for his pride of heart. And He gave him the choice of three
chastisements–one of which must fall upon the people. David was like a
sword, which if hung up on a wall, would soon gather rust, but when he
was moved to fight the Master's battle, he was of wondrous keen temper
and could cut to the dividing asunder of the joints and the marrow! Let
us dread, then, ease and repose–

"For, more the treacherous calm I dread Than tempests hanging over
head."

Let us be afraid of having nothing to do and be thankful for something
to sufferif we have not something to do actively, for let us alone and
the best of us will corrode! And if I am addressing any man who has
lately given up business and is enjoying repose, I would urge upon him
the wisdom of seeking some service for Christ which would engage his
faculties, for it is true of Christians as well as other people, that–

"Satan always mischief finds, For idle hands to do."

Our text tonight exhibits David in the time of his trouble. He is here
so admirable and his conduct is here so commendable, that I hold him up
as an example to all. There are four things in this transaction which
we all ought to copy. The first was the absence of resentment from the
heart of David. The second was his entire resignation to the Divine
Will. The third was his expectancy from God, alone. And the fourth was
his looking to the bright side and still having hope.

I. First, then, ADMIRE DAVID AND THEN TRY TO COPY HIM IN THIS RESPECT.
We read you the story just now. [The exposition was always read first,
but printed at the end of the sermon.] Now the attack of Shimei upon
David was very cowardly. David had been king for many years but you
never hear a word from Shimei while the king was on his throne and in
power. This man was skulking in the farthest corners of the land, no
doubt often biting his tongue, but having too much sense to use it
against the powerful king. But now that David is fleeing from the
palace and his son is pursuing him, eager for his blood, out comes this
coward from his skulking place and begins to accuse the king. Those who
would not have dared to speak against David before, now abuse him to
his face with opprobrious epithets! It is very hard to bear a cowardly
attack. One is very apt to reply and use hard words to one who takes
advantage of your position and deals you the coward's blow. Only the
coward strikes a man when he is down. It is just possible that somebody
here may be suffering from an injury which he knows the person
responsible for it would not have dared to inflict in years gone by.
That helps to make the blow more cutting–when it comes from a coward's
hands.

Besides being so cowardly, it was so brutal. We pity a man that is in
distress. When a king has lost his throne. When a father has his own
child in rebellion against him, one says, "Whatever may have been his
fault, this is not the time to mention them." When the poor heart is
bleeding and the man is already suffering the very extremity of misery,
who would wish to add a single ounce to the crushing weight that he has
to carry? Sympathy and common humanity seem to say, "Be quiet! Hush!
Another time, when he mounts again to prosperity, then, if it is
necessary, let us faithfully rebuke him for his faults, but not now. It
is not seemly." If this dog of a Shimei must fly at David when he is
suffering, most surely Satan, himself, must have set him on to
aggravate to the last degree the miseries of David! And yet David has
not one hard word to say against him. No, he becomes his advocate,
bears with the brutal attack–cowardly as it was–betrays no temper,
but peacefully, calmly, gratefully spares the life which was in his
hands!

Moreover, remember that the attack was especially a false one. He
called David a bloody man and accused him of having destroyed the house
of Saul. Nothing could have been more false, for when Saul was in
David's power on two occasions, once in the cave and once when he lay
asleep on the slope of the mountain, David did not put out his hand to
touch the Lord's anointed! When Saul and Jonathan were slain on Gilboa,
David sincerely mourned and wrote that pathetic elegy–the song which
he bade them learn to sing in mourning for Saul who fell on the high
places. And afterwards, when the Amalekite came with the crown of Saul,
hoping to be rewarded, David had him put to death on the spot! When
wicked men came with the head of Ishbosheth, hoping to gratify David,
he slew them both for the murder. Moreover, he sought out Mephibosheth
and though he was lame in both his feet and could not stand, he bade
him sit at his table and did him honor. So far from being a bloody man,
he had, on the contrary, even though hunted by Saul and his blood had
been sought by the leader of that house, yet had he never returned evil
for evil.

It is very hard to be reproached for what you do not do. I do not know
how, but somehow the falseness of an accusation does put a degree of
sting into it. I have heard of a woman who was charged with a certain
degree of dishonesty. Her minister said to her, "You need not be so
grieved about it if it is not true." "No, Sir," she said, "I should not
be grieved about it, if it were not true, but there's the point about
it, it is true." And just so, if we were sensible, we should only feel
those charges that are true–and the edge would be taken off others
when we knew our conscience did not justify them. But it does not
happen to be so. We do not hold the scales well. We feel that it is a
very cruel thing to have things laid to our charge that we knew nothing
of–and when our whole life has been in one direction–to have it laid
to our door that we act quite contrary to that is a very stinging
thing. Shimei, I suppose, could not have uttered anything that could
sting David more to the quick than when he said to him, "You are a
bloody man and have destroyed the house of Saul." Yet David did not put
out his hand to him. He said, "Let him alone! Let him curse."
Magnanimously he allowed him to escape unscathed, though Shimei cast
stones and dirt upon him.

Sometimes the way in which a thing is put is more cutting than the
thing itself. For Shimei did not merely speak his charge against David,
but he put it in the bitterest way, "Come out, come out!" as though he
scorned him! And then he threw stones and dirt at him, as though he did
not mind him now, as though he thought David the very dust beneath his
feet and called him the offscouring of all things. Few among us can
bear scorn. I suppose that a bitter sarcasm often stings where a
downright charge, however false, might not have done so. A little bit
of ridicule, with malice in it, will often wound, and little do we know
how many may have gone with broken hearts all their days through unkind
words that have been spoken, perhaps half in jest, but which, being
taken in earnest, have made terrible wounds in the soul. Yet

David would not be provoked by this man's lies nor by the tones in
which he spoke them–but like a true king, all royal as he was, he
said–"Let him alone. Let him curse. It is hard to bear, but I will
bear it."

Now remember that David could very easily have put an end to all this.
It was in his power to put an end to Shimei at once. "Off with his
head," said Abishai–and there would have been the end of the argument.
Sometimes we are very patient with things we cannot cure. It is good
sound doctrine, "What can't be cured, must be endured." And, "Stooping
down as needs he must, who cannot sit upright." If you cannot prevent,
you may as well forgive–every fool will adopt that unless he is a
strange fool, indeed! But David could take this fellow's head off and
that in a moment, and yet he said, "Let him alone. Let him curse." And
this makes a splendid example. If you can revenge yourself, DON'T. If
you could do it as easily as open your hand, keep it shut! If one
bitter word could end the argument, ask for Divine Grace to spare that
bitter word.

Reflect, too, that David was urged by others to put an end to this man.
Sometimes we readily follow advice, especially when there is something
that we like in the advice. And who among us would not like the advice?
I confess on reading the Chapter, that if I had been in Abishai's case,
I am afraid I should have taken his head off first, and asked
permission afterwards. I am afraid it would have been very bad and
wicked, but in such a case as that, when my dear king for whom I had
lived and would have died–such a blessed king as David–was scoffed at
by such a dog as that–who would not have said, "Off with his head!"
and have thought he did him too much honor in those rough days? Yet
David said, "No, we must not follow bad advice, we must not let the
zeal of earnest friends lead us too fast." If they are too fast, we
must be too slow. In all matters of vengeance, if others would go
forward, we must draw back and say, "Christ has bidden us forgive even
to seventy times seven," and so will we do. Remember this is under the
old dispensation, when the Law of God said, "An eye for an eye, a tooth
for a tooth," and so on–and, therefore, David might have been more
excused if he had avenged himself! But he seems to have caught, like a
Prophet, the light of the coming time, and spared the man as Christ
would have spared him, if He had been there. In this he is to be copied
by us all!

To gather all up in one, Beloved, if the trouble that comes to you,
comes to you as a second cause, don't look at the second cause so as to
quarrel with it and don't say, "I would not mind if it had not been
So-and-So." That is why God selected So-and-So to chasten you, for when
a father wants to make a child smart, he gets his heaviest rod! And so
does God. He has taken up that instrument which will make you smart and
cry out most! It is always foolish for us to fret about the second
cause. If you threaten a dog with a stick, he bites the stick–but if
he were a sensible dog–he would bite you, only he does not know any
better and so he bites the stick! And if we rebel against the second
cause we are in error. If there is anyone we should complain against,
it would be God who uses the instrument! But as we cannot and would not
if we could complain against Him, it is best for us to say as David
did, "Let him alone! Let him curse! The Lord has ordered him. The Lord
has ordered him."

Now don't we tonight say, "I could have borne that other trial if God
had sent that"? Well, accept your present trial and oh, if you are
vexed with So-and-So, forgive him! There is a higher hand than his in
this matter. It is a rough knife that you have been pruned with, but it
is the gardener that used the knife–and your God is using this
affliction for your good. Don't look at the affliction as much as at
the end and at the design of God.

It was very beautiful for David to make excuses for Shimei. Notice how
he puts it. "Well, there is Absalom, my son–he is seeking my life. No
wonder that this man should! He is no relation of mine! I could not
expect love from him. And then, moreover," he said, "he is a Benjamite.
Now God has been pleased to put me, David, into the place of Saul that
was a Benjamite, and of course this man sympathizes with the tribe that
has lost the royal crown." David put his finger on the secret. "The man
has been a sufferer through me, therefore he is angry, he is estranged
from me. I could not expect gentle treatment from him and I have
unconsciously, without intending to injure him, taken away some
authority from the family to which he belongs and, therefore, I can
somewhat shut my eyes to his hard treatment of me and, at any rate, I
will show that God is using him as an instrument and will freely
forgive him." Now I am talking very simply and upon simple conduct, but
I am sorrowfully conscious that a great many Christian people need to
be preached to about giving lessons to others. As soon as ever a child
learns to say, "Our Father, which are in Heaven," which is a little
infant's prayer–he is taught to say, "forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those that trespass against us"–and yet I find that some who
have been Christians for years–at least they say they have–if they
get a little put out about some insignificant trifle, take a long time
to get their feathers smooth again! Perhaps it is something they need
hardly have noticed, Volume 55 www.spurgeongems.org 3

and yet they will go fretting about it day after day! Oh, let us be men
and women, and let us be Christian men and women, and let us be able to
forbear! "In many things we offend all." "It is necessary that offenses
come, but woe unto that man by whom the offense came." I think it is
equal woe unto that man who will not let the offense go away. Someone
says, "I suppose somebody must have been offended here." I am sure I
don't know of anybody, but if the cap fits, let them wear it. May we
always learn to forgive as we hope to be forgiven!

II. Now the second thing is this–DAVID'S COMPLETE RESIGNATION TO THE
DIVINE WILL. "It is enough for me that the Lord has bidden him," or, as
in the 10th verse, "Let him curse, because the Lord has said unto him,
'Curse David.'" David felt very keenly the wicked act of his enemy, but
he felt that it was sent for his further chastisement and, therefore,
he accepted it willingly. I daresay he said to himself, "I don't
deserve this charge. It is a very base one, but if Shimei had known all
about me, he might have charged me with something quite as bad as that
and he would have been quite correct." When we are railed at by
graceless men and they slander us, we may say to ourselves, "Well,
well, if they did but know us better and could see our hearts, they
could perhaps have said something worse against us–so we will be well
content to bear this." For David, though Shimei did not know about it,
had grievously sinned. It does not make Shimei's conduct any better,
but David felt, "I have deserved this at the hands of the Lord, or
something else if not on this particular occasion." Then feeling it was
the Lord, he said to himself, "I do not see the meaning of this, but I
am sure there is love in it. Did God ever do anything to His children
except in love? I do not see the necessity of it, but I am certain
there is wisdom in it. Did the Lord ever do anything to his children
that was not right? I do not see the benefit that may come out of it to
me, but did God ever exercise His children with fruitless trials?" Is
there not a Divine necessity for all chastisements It is the Lord–that
is enough for David.

Brothers and Sisters, is that enough for you? The Lord has done it,
shall I open my mouth again when I know my Father did it? Did He take
my child? Well, blessed be His name that He loved my little one so
well! Did He take my gold? Well, He only lent it to me and a thing
borrowed ought to go laughing back to its owner! Let Him take back what
He lent. He gives and, blessed be His name, He takes but what He gave!
Therefore let Him still be praised! David seems to me, as it were, to
have lain down before God under a sense of having done wrong in days
gone past and said to Him, "My Father, chasten me just as You will. My
rebellious spirit is humbled before You. If it is necessary for my good
that I suffer from Your hand, this affliction and a thousand others, go
on, go on! Your child may weep, but he will not complain. Your child
may suffer, but he will bring no charge against You. What You please to
do, it shall be my pleasure to bear. Your pleasure and my pleasure
shall be one pleasure henceforth and forevermore. If the Lord has done
it, so let it be."

I invite every troubled Brother and Sister here to cry for Grace from
God to be able to see God's hand in every trial and then for Grace to,
seeing God's hand, submit at once to it!No, not only to submit, but to
acquiesce and to rejoice in it! "It is the Lord, let Him do what seems
good to Him." I think there is generally an end to troubles when we get
to that, for when the Lord sees we are willing that He should do what
He wills, then He takes back His hand and says, "I need not chasten My
child–He now submits himself to Me. What would have been effected by
My chastisement is already effected and, therefore, I will not chasten
him." You know David was not long in the dark after he was condemned to
be there. "Well," says the Lord, "if My child does not cry because he
is left without a candle, he shall have his candle. Now I have tried
him and proved him, he shall come before Me in the light."

What is the use of our kicking and struggling against the Lord What
benefit ever comes of our rebellion against Him? The ox and the mule
which have no understanding have to be held in with bit and bridle.
What comfort ever came to you from your rebellions and reluctances? And
so with self-will and desiring to have your own way–what do you get
from these but the scourge? Oh, it is the happiest and most blessed
condition to lie passive in God's hands and know no will but His–to
feel a self-annihilation in which self is not destroyed but is absorbed
into God so that we delight in the inner man in the will of God and
always say, "Father, Your will be done." This is a hard lesson–far
easier to preach about than to practice–and a great deal easier to
think of when you have learned it than to carry it out.

I am often reminded of an old friend, Will Richardson, I used to talk
with. He, said, "When it is winter time, I think I could mow and reap
and fancy if you were only to give Will the sickle and scythe, what a
splendid day's work he would do! That is in the winter, but in the
summer I have not been half a day at work before I begin to feel that
my poor old bones won't stand much more work and to think that I am
hardly the man for a farm laborer." Now so it is with our own

strength. If we fell back upon the strength of God, we would be strong
when we are weak, but when we fancy we are getting stronger, we are
very much weaker and might very often measure ourselves in the inverse
ratio of what we think!

III. DAVID IS TO BE IMITATED IN ANOTHER RESPECT, NAMELY, THAT HIS
EXPECTATION WAS ONLY FROM GOD. Notice the text–"It may be that the
Lord will look upon my affliction." There was Abishai ready to take off
this man's head, but David said, "It may be that the Lord will look
upon my affliction." He thought that when he was in such great trouble,
God would surely have pity upon him! Oh, you tried ones, look away,
once and for all, from man to your God! "My Soul, wait you only upon
God, for my expectation is from Him." There are two ways of going to a
place. One is to go round and the other is to go straight. Now the
straight road is the shortest way. And there are two ways of getting
help. The one is to go round to all your friends and get
disappointed–and then at last go to God! The other is to go to God
first. That is the shortest way. God can make your friends help you
afterwards. Seek first God and His righteousness, and the help of
friends will be added afterwards. Straight forward makes the best
running. Out of all troubles, the surest deliverance is from God's
right hand. Therefore from all troubles, the readiest way to escape is
to draw near to God in prayer. Go, not to this friend or that, but pour
out your story before God. Remember how the poet puts it–

"Were half the breath thus vainly spent, To Heaven in supplication
sent, Our cheerful song would oftener be, Hear what the Lord has done
for me!"

Human friends fail us! The strongest sinew in an arm of flesh will
crack and the most faithful heart will sometimes waver–and when there
is most need of our friends, we find that they fail us. But our God is
eternal and Omnipotent– who has ever trusted in Him in vain? Where is
the man that can say, I looked upon Him and hoped in Him–and I am
ashamed of my hope?

The beauty of David's looking alone to God came out in this quite
calmly and quietly. He said to himself, "God will get me out of this,"
therefore he was not angry with Shimei. He did not want his head to be
cut off or anything of the sort. "God will do it." Oh, that is the man
for life, that is the man for death, that is the man for smooth waters
and that is the man for storms who lives upon his God! If a man stays
in that frame of mind, what can disturb him? Though the mountains were
cast into the midst of the sea and the earth were moved, yet still
would he in patience possess his soul and still be calm, for of such a
man I may say, "His soul shall dwell at ease, his seed shall inherit
the earth." At destruction and famine, he will laugh. God has given His
angels charge concerning such a man to keep him in all his ways, for
this is the man that dwells in the secret places of the most High and
he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty! The Lord says of him,
"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him. I
will set him on high because he has known My name. He has proved it by
trusting in Me and Me, alone. Therefore will I never fail him, neither
shall he suffer long." "Trust you in the Lord, alone, for in the Lord
Jehovah there is everlasting strength." Gather up your confidences,
make them into one confidence and fix them all on Him! Lean not here
and there–you will grow crooked in yourself and the staff you lean on
shall turn to a spear and pierce you. Lean wholly upon God and, as He
is everywhere, you shall stand upright in leaning upon Him. This shall
be the uprightness of your ways that you stay yourself on the Rock of
Ages. May we learn this lesson! It is a high one. May the Spirit of God
teach it to us!

IV. Now the last of the four lessons is this–DAVID LEARNED TO LOOK AT
THE BRIGHT SIDE. What is the bright side of trouble? What is the bright
side of your trouble, dear Friend? Well, I don't know what you would
call the bright side, but David considered the bright side of his
trouble to be the black side–and I think every man who walks by faith
knows that to be so. If you read the text you see it at once, "It may
be that the Lord will look on my affliction and will repay me with good
for his cursing this day." Much as if he said, "though my affliction is
so very bitter, God will pity me." So the black side is the bright one!
"This man has cursed me. That will move God to come to my side and
defend me." So the black side is the bright one again.

There is a sailor and the tide has ebbed out altogether. "Now," he
says, "is the turning." Those that watch at night are glad when it
comes to the darkest, because they know it certainly cannot be
darker–and they know that daylight is coming soon. The darkest part of
the night is that which precedes the day. We have an old saying about
the weather, "As the day lengthens, the cold strengthens." And so it
does, but soon it will come to an end. The cold will soon yield. Be

thankful when you have got into midwinter because you cannot go any
deeper. Let us be glad of that. Now if in our blackest parts of sorrow
there is brightness, there must be brightness elsewhere and, indeed, if
we were half as inquisitive to find out that which will cheer us, as to
discover that of which we may complain, we should soon have reasons of
gratitude in the lowest and worst condition! We rummage our affairs to
find out something to distress ourselves about, ambitious to multiply
our sorrows, diligent to increase our distresses as though our woes
were wealth and our sorrows were worth hoarding up! But if we turned
that curiosity and inquisitiveness of ours into another channel, we
would begin to find that there are diamonds in dark mines, pearls in
rough oyster shells, rainbows that deck the brow of the storm and
blessings that come to us in the garb of curses! We should soon have
cause for joy. I suggest to our friends, therefore, the blessed habit
of trying to find the silver lining of the dark cloud–to look away
from the black surface into the bright gleam so that they may have
reason to rejoice in the Most High!

To conclude–David was a glorious man. If instead of having expectation
from God he had only had confidence in his fellow men and had gone
about always repining and mourning and finding out the dark side of
everything–well, he would have been a very small Psalmist! In fact, I
don't think he could have written a Psalm at all, except a poor one. He
would have been a poor king–a mere pigmy–and would never have shone
out as a saint. Now if you, dear Brother and Sister, want to shine
before God and be among the illustrious elect who the Lord makes as
stars in the Church's history, pray for patience towards men and
patience towards God. Pray for bright eyes to find out the light even
in the darkness. Pray to always lean wholly upon God and keep yourself
upon Him. You will glorify God in that way and you will be the means of
bringing others to God. Distrustful preachers do not win souls. Moaning
and repining Sunday school teachers will not bring children to Christ.
"The joy of the Lord is our strength." The patience which makes us
possess our souls gives us the fullness of the blessing of the Lord!
May the Lord teach us in that school–we are very foolish. The Lord
strengthen us in His Grace–we are very weak. And may all of us on
earth live quietly and happily the risen life which our Savior did!

Now if I am speaking to any here tonight who are rebellious and do not
love the Lord, I would remind them that there is a cure for these
maladies–faith in Jesus Christ!He that believes in Him shall find the
water that flowed from His pierced side to be the double cure of sin.
May you have that cure–everyone of you–for Jesus' sake. Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH43:1-7.

In this Chapter the Lord comforts His people. By His Divine foresight
He perceives that there are great and varied trials a little way ahead
and, therefore, He prepares them for the ordeal. They are to go through
rushing waters and flaming fires and He kindly bids them not to be
afraid. How often in God's Word do we read those tender, gracious
words, "Fear not"!Should not the trembling ones listen to the voice of
their God and obey it when He says to them "Fear not" It is not right
for you who fear God to fear anything else. Once brought to know the
Lord, who can harm you? Abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, what
danger need you dread? No, rather, be of good comfort and press forward
with peaceful confidence, though floods and flames await you!

To encourage His people to rise superior to their fears, the gracious
God goes on to issue matchless promises– " When you pass through the
waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow you." Present good–"I will be with you. "Absent danger–"they
shall not overflow you." God stays His people's hearts by His own
promises. In proportion to their faith, those promises will lift them
up. If you do not believe the promise, you shall not be established by
it. But if, with childlike confidence, you accept every Word of God as
true, then His Word shall be to you the joy of your heart and the
delight of your spirit, and you shall be a stranger to fear. The Lord
proceeds, after giving those promises, to set before them what He
Himself is and what He has done for them, and what they are to Him. He
is speaking, of course, to Israel. And He says of Israel, His chosen
nation, "I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you." What
cause for fear now remains? All Believers are of the true Israel.
Abraham was the father of the faithful. The faithful, or the believing,
are, therefore, Abraham's seed according to the promise! The seed was
not after the flesh, else would the children of Ishmael have been the
heirs of the Covenant, but the true seed was born according to promise
and in the power of God, for Isaac was born when his parents were old,
by faith in the power of God! Isaac was

not the child of flesh, but he was born according to promise, so that
we who are not born of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God,
by His Spirit and according to the Divine promise, are the true
children of Abraham! We are the spiritual Israel. Though after the
flesh Abraham is ignorant of us, and Sarah acknowledge us not, yet are
we the true seed of him who was the father of Believers. The literal
Israel was the type of those chosen and favored ones who by faith are
born-again according to promise. To these heirs, according to promise,
the Lord said, "I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for
you." Let us now meditate on this passage verse by verse.

Verse 1. But now thus says the LORD that created you, O Jacob, and He
that formed you, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have
called you by your name; you are Mine. "Fear not" is a command of God,
and is a command which brings its own power of performance with it.
God, who created and formed us, says to us, "Fear not," and a secret
whisper is heard in the heart by which that heart is so comforted that
fear is driven away. Observe the tender ties that bind our God to His
people–Creation, the formation of them for His praise–Redemption, the
purchase of them for Himself and the calling of them by their name. The
Lord remembers the bonds which unite us to Himself even when we forget
them. He recollects His eternal love and all the deeds of mercy that
have flowed from it. Though our memory is treacherous, and our faith is
feeble, "yet He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself." Blessed be
His holy name!

2. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the
rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire,
you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you. "
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you." The godly have
the best company in the worst places in which their lot is cast! God's
Presence is all that we need even in the deepest floods of tribulation.
This He has promised to us. He does not say what He will do for us, but
He does tell us that He will be with us–and that is more than enough
to meet all our necessities. "When you walk through the fire, you shall
not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you." That is a
wonderful picture of a man walking through the fire and yet not being
burned–but there was a greater wonder that was seen by Moses which may
well comfort us. He saw a bush that burned with fire and yet was not
consumed! Now a bush in the desert is usually so dry that at the first
application of fire, it flames, glows and is speedily gone! Yet you and
I who are, spiritually, just as dry and combustible as that bush was
naturally, may burn, and burn, and burn and yet we shall not be
consumed, because the God who was in the bush is also with us, and in
us! "Neither shall the flame kindle upon you." You shall come out of
the furnace as the three holy children did, with not so much as the
smell of fire upon you, for where God is, all is safe.

3. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior: I
gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you. "For I am the
Lord your God." This is the grandest possible reason for not fearing!
Fall back upon this when you have nothing else upon which to rely. If
you have no goods, you have a God. If your gourd is withered, your God
is still the same as He ever was! "For I am Jehovah, your God." "I gave
Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you." And He has given
infinitely more than that for us who are now His people, for He gave
His only-begotten Son that He might redeem us with His precious blood!
Now that we have cost Him so much, is it likely that He will ever
forsake us? It is not possible!

4. Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honorable, and I
have loved you: therefore will I give men for you, and people for your
lif. How sweetly this verse comes home to those whose characters have
been disreputable! As soon as they are truly converted to Christ, they
become "honorable." "Since you were precious in My sight, you have been
honorable." God does not call His people by their old names of
dishonor, but He gives them the title of, "Right Honorable," and makes
them the nobility of His Court. "Unto you that believe He is an honor,"
and you have honor in Him and from Him.

5-7. Fear not: for Iam with you: I will bring your seed from the east,
andgather you from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to
the south, Keep not back: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from
the ends of the earth; even everyone that is called by My name: for I
have created him for My glory, I have formed Him; yes, I have made Him.
"Fear not: for I am with you." This is the second time that the blessed
words, "Fear not," ring out like the notes of the silver trumpet
proclaiming the Jubilee to poor trembling hearts! "Fear not, for Iam
with you." The Lord seems to say to each troubled Believer, "My honor
is pledged to secure your safety. All My attributes are engaged on your
behalf right to the end. Yes, I am, Myself, with you, therefore, fear
not." "I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not
back: bring My sons from far, My daughter from the ends of the earth;
everyone that is called by My name." Whatever happens, God will be with
His Church. His own chosen people shall all be gathered in. There shall
be no frustration of the Divine Purpose. From east or west, north or
south, all His sons and daughters shall come unto Him, everyone that is
called by His name. "For I have created him for My glory, I have formed
him; yes, I have made him." And God will be glorified in His people!
The object of their creation is the glory of their God, and that end
shall, somehow or other, be answered in the Lord's good time. The Lord
seems to dwell upon that note of the creation of His children for His
own glory. This accounts for many of our troubles and for all our
deliverances–it is that God may be glorified by bringing His children
through the fires and through the floods. A life that was never tested
by trial and trouble would not be a life out of which God would get
much glory, but they that do business in the great waters see the works
of God and His wonders in the deep, and they give Him praise and,
besides, when they come to their desired haven, then they praise the
Lord for His goodness and God is thereby glorified!