Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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As I'd just like to look, brethren, that little portion was suggested to my heart, I trust by the Lord, from the hymn that we sang in the beginning. Lord, thou hast drawn us after Thee.
Return to the 63rd Psalm.
Psalm 63.
O God, thou art my God. Early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
Because thy loving kindness is better than life, My lips shall praise thee.
Thus will I bless thee while I live.
I will lift up my hands in thy name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night, watches.
Because thou hast been my help.
Therefore, in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
My soul followeth hard after thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword, They shall be a portion for foxes. But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone that sweareth by him shall glory, but the mouth of them that speaketh lies shall be stopped.
And just another portion, perhaps the one the hymn writer had in mind in the Song of Solomon.
The Song of Solomon.
Chapter 1.
And verse 4.
Draw me, we will run after thee.
The king hath brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in thee. We will remember thy love more than wine. The upright love thee. I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon, look not upon me because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me.
My mother's children were angry with me.
They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Tell me, O thou, who my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon, For why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
If thou knowest not all thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherd's tents.
Well, in this 63rd Psalm which we read, I was thinking particularly of how.
The soul is brought before us here in the first verse. My soul thirsteth for thee.
And then in the fifth verse my soul shall be satisfied.
And then in the eighth verse, my soul followeth after thee.
And then a little warning in the ninth verse. But those that seek my soul to destroy it.
But how important it is, brethren, that our souls should be taken up with the Lord Jesus?
In the scripture we know that man is a triune being, spirit, soul and body. The spirit brings before us that part of the being that is God conscious. The soul is the seat of the appetites and desires. And so when we think of the soul we think of appetites and desires and how wonderful, since we have been saved, that we now have appetites and desires after God.
And in the 62nd Psalm, which is in the what is called the second book of the Psalms.
Prophetic of the time when Israel will be driven out, the godly remnant unable to go into the temple, and enjoy the precious privilege of being where the Lord had put His name. Why then, we find here that the soul, instead of thinking particularly of that building, thinks of the Lord Himself, and we may be deprived of the privilege at times of getting to the meetings. We may be deprived of the.
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Of fellowship one with another, but all we can never be deprived of the enjoyment of himself.
God's purpose is that no matter where we are, in what circumstances we may be, there is that One, the one who has spoken about in the young people's meeting, the one whom we've had before us in all his glory, who inhabits eternity. And he is the one who is able to fill and satisfy every longing of the heart.
So he says, O God, art my God, early will I seek thee, My soul thirsteth for thee. Well, we could ask our own hearts, how much is it our desire to be occupied with Him. We may be, as I say, deprived of certain things. Perhaps some here come from small meetings where there's little fellowship. Perhaps some live a distance where they're unable to get as.
Often as they'd like to where they can be over the precious word of God.
But there can always be, and there should always be in our souls, a fresh longing for the enjoyment of His presence, of His company. Is your soul and mine thirsting after Him? Well, if it's so, why He delights to fill and satisfy the longing of the soul. He is the one who is going to satisfy us for all eternity. It tells us they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house.
And thou shalt make them to drink of the river of thy pleasure.
Well, as the more we are thirsting after him, the more we'll find that this world, after all, is a dry and thirsty land. We may have certain expectations of things that we're going to get in a material way. I suppose many of us have certain things before us materialistically. We have desires naturally connected with this earth.
But these things may disappoint us. They often do.
And we find out by the disappointments of life, by the trials of life, that after all, this world is a dry and thirsty land. There may be some young people here going home from the conference, perhaps disappointed, perhaps frustrated. Well, how lovely this is. There is one who can fill the soul even in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, where there's nothing that seems to.
By the natural longings, but all those new longings that God has placed by His Spirit within us, they can be satisfied, fully satisfied in the Lord Jesus.
And what does he say? To see thy power and Thy glory. So as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary, our brother was Speaking of power. Well, where will we see that? To see thy power and thy glory? So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Think of how that power was displayed.
We were sunk in sin, and the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
To everyone that believe us, and perhaps we have wandered from him, all there's power to bring us back.
How lovely it is to hear, in talking to individuals at the meetings like this, of a soul perhaps here and there who was saved, to hear of another who has got away from the Lord and the Lord has restored him. Oh, to us this means more than the power that shot that rocket to the moon, the power that saves, the power that restores.
For you and I occupied with this, O brethren, is this the burden of our hearts? It's easy to get occupied with a display of.
Power man is seeking after it today, that power that shot the rocket to the moon, new cars that are more powerful than ever before, all kinds of Ways and Means that man is discovering of the vast powers that are here in the universe. But you and I can be occupied with a greater power to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
In His presence we get a proper sense.
Of values we don't have the false weight and the false balance. We get the true sense of values. And so this is what was the desire of the heart in the of the psalmist here. He said to see thy power and thy glory. So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. And in this he had found something better than life, he said, because thy loving kindness is better than life.
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My lips shall praise thee.
Think of the natural things we would desire in life. I suppose every young person, and perhaps even as we get older, we have certain things that we would wish for in life. It's natural for us to plan in this way.
We'd like to have this and that in life. We hope for friendship, we hope for a partner, we hope for a home, we hope for the time when we can sort of enjoy a little bit of the natural things of life. Well, they may disappoint us, but we've got something better than life, something that Paul can enjoy in prison. He could lift up his hands before Agrippa with the chains dangling down and say, I think.
Self happy King Agrippa. And when King Agrippa said almost Thou persuadest me to be a Christian, he said, I wish you had what I have. He said I would to God, that not only thou that all that hear me this day were most almost and altogether such as I am. Except these bonds. Did he have the things that naturally make life and make happiness in a material sense? Oh no.
But what did he have? All he had the enjoyment of the loving kindness of Christ in his heart. Because thy loving kindness is better than life. Oh, brethren, I challenge my own heart, and I trust you. Challenge yours. And each dear young person here today. There's something better than those goals that you have set in life to desire.
This very moment that you would have and always have.
The enjoyment of the loving kindness of the Lord in your heart.
In my heart, that's better than life. That's better than all the things that we could naturally seek after.
Thus will I bless Thee while I live. Oh, this is what produces praise. Why is there not more praise in our hearts? Perhaps we might say, Oh, if I had a good job and if I had these things, I could surely thank the Lord. All the sweetest praise always flows from the heart that has learned to find its full and sure resource in the Lord. I'm sure that those songs of praise from the prison in Philippi were probably the sweetest.
Praises In that whole city there was there were two men with their backs bleeding, but there was praise. Why? They'd found something better than life. They'd found something that was better than all the other things they could seek after. And I believe, brethren, we were more in the enjoyment of this to be more praise in our hearts, more praise in our meetings, more overflows Thanksgiving to the Lord when we gathered.
Found himself to remember him when we gathered in the meetings to read his word. Our hearts would be overflowing. The world is frustrated. People are saying, well, what is it all about? What is life for? They haven't found this secret. But you and I, I trust and say we have found it, but we lose sight of the goals. We lose sight of the goals.
Thy loving kindness is better than life. Thus will I bless thee.
While I live, I will lift up my hands in thy name.
Then in the fifth verse my soul shall be satisfied. Satisfied. Ever find anyone satisfied with material things? Never.
The only happiness and material things is in acquiring them. It's in getting them. When we possess them by the pleasure of it is gone, but it's in acquiring them. And so there that's a soul is not satisfied. People who have money are not satisfied, people who have fame are not satisfied, but the heart that is enjoying the Lord, the heart that is enjoying his loving kindness.
Has found something better than life?
If Anne can say, my soul shall be satisfied as with Merrill and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. It's not just that we feel. Shall I say that we ought to give out little hymn? We ought to stand up and thank the Lord.
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That soul overflows and blesses him with joyful lips, praises him because.
The soul is enjoying that which we have found in Him. What is going to satisfy us in glory? Will it be the street of gold? Will it be the gates of Pearl? Will it be those grand foundations of that glorious city? No, brethren himself.
The full, unhindered enjoyment of himself and of His presence. We can have this while we live. Thus will I bless thee while I live.
My soul shall be satisfied.
Then the sixth verse, when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night, watches because thou has been my help. Therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
Yes, when on the bed, how often? As we go to bed at night, thoughts come before us. It seems that very often the burden of life presses upon us.
When we go to bed, the events of the day, the disappointments, the frustrations.
The things that we know that we should pray about and want to pray about, they all.
Seemed to come upon us. And isn't this lovely? When I remember thee upon the bed and meditate upon thee? Oh, just think that there upon the bed at night we can look back and think how good he has been, how gracious he's been, how constant his care. What a faithful God we have.
Because thou hast been my help and we need His help. We don't have any strength of our own.
We can't take one step along but all what help in him.
And now comes this eighth verse. My soul followeth hard after thee.
That expression, hard after thee just means close. My soul follows closely after thee. Isn't this lovely?
Here then, when we have found that here's the one who satisfies, then what is the next thing? Well, we just want to stay close to him. My soul followeth hard after thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. Oh, we need purpose of heart, brethren.
This is a day when we specially need it and what should be our purpose to be a great person in the meeting.
To accomplish something among our brethren? Oh no, just to keep close to the Lord.
Brothers said one time there was a problem arising in the assembly where he was there was most distressing and sad. The brothers meetings were unhappy and someone said well what are you going to do when this matter comes to an issue?
Well, he said, I'm just going to seek to keep us close to the Lord as I can. He'll show me what to do. Why wasn't that a good thing to do? It's the only thing. My soul followeth hard after thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. There is no, shall I say, set pattern that you can say, well, this is what you have to do in such and such a circumstance. Every circumstance presents itself in a different way.
Christian life, but the Lord gives us grace when we're near Him.
To rise above the situation, to be able to have from him the wisdom to meet the fresh difficulties, the new problems that constantly arise. I was very much struck in reading one time. And dear Mr. Darby, someone asked him his advice about a certain matter.
And he had been given some wrong information in this matter and so he gave his advice in the matter.
And afterwards he found out that he was misinformed.
And he was sorry that he had given the advice he did based on this wrong information and this is what he said in replying, he said.
I gave wrong advice in this matter because he said I was misinformed, but he said that does not excuse me because he said the Lord was not misinformed. And if I've been near him, I wouldn't have made that mistake. All brethren, how important that we keep near Him. There's a lot of misinformation. There's a lot of things where we form opinions based on wrong information, but the Lord is never misinformed.
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He knows everything.
He knows everything and all. How good to be close to him. My soul followeth hard after thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. And then he speaks of those who seek our soul to destroy it.
We're conscious of this. There are enemies about us. Our brothers just warned us of so many things that could come in to rob the soul.
Little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. The Lord will take care of those, He said. The Lord will take care of all those things, those enemies. He said he'll, he'll look after them. But what do you and I to do? Notice the last verse.
But the Lord shall read, but the King shall rejoice.
In God, yes, we can rejoice. In Him there may be.
These things that happen, these attacks that are made, these things that almost seem more than we can meet. But all how good to know that in Him there's security, there's blessing, there's all that we need.
Well, that little passage and justice turn to it again in Song of Solomon. I just like to make a couple of comments about this.
Perhaps you noticed as I read it, something that to me was very striking.
In the fourth verse.
Draw me. That's the singular, and then immediately he changes to the plural.
We will run after thee.
And then he returns to the singular. The King hath brought me into his chambers. Then he returns to the plural. We will be glad and rejoice in thee.
Why is this change from the singular to the plural? Well, brethren, we've been talking about the application of these truths to ourselves individually. But what is the result when we apply the truth to ourselves individually? It has a collective result.
There isn't one of us.
Who, if we were drawn after the Lord individually, would not have an effect upon others?
And perhaps others would be attracted to follow Christ too.
Yes, if I'm drawn after Christ, perhaps others will be encouraged. We find this with David Daniel. Rather, he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.
But when he made this stand, three others stood with him and he could say we, how lovely and all. May each of us apply the truth to ourselves individually. Say, draw me.
And then there will be others who will be blessed by such a decision, and we can say we will run after thee. Then again, the King has brought me into his chambers. And then what?
We will be glad and rejoice in Thee when one souls is touched, when one soul is drawn after Christ. There is always blessing to others. The scripture says none of us liveth to himself, No man dieth to himself. Your life and mine has an effect upon others. Am I enjoying the Lord so that my life has an effect upon others? So they too.
What desire to be drawn after the Lord?
To follow him when I desire to be in his chambers. Then it says we will be glad and rejoice in thee. And then she says, she says.
I am black but comely. O ye daughters of Jerusalem, I just like to make a little comment on this. There's always a danger of us to look at outward appearances. The Lord looks on the heart, brethren, The Lord looks on the heart.
Is your heart and mind desiring to follow Him all? Let us each one be more concerned about where the heart is in seeking the blessing of our brethren. Seek their hearts. The Lord Jesus said, my Son, give me thine heart.
My son, give me thine heart. I was just thinking the other day how God said to the people they were not to make a graven image or any likeness of anything that was in heaven above. But then I turned over to the New Testament in Colossians and he said that the new man is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. And I thought of how you could fashion something from the outside.
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And make it just the way you want it. But what does God want?
He wants it to begin from the inside.
And so the new man is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. And when you and I are motivated by the Spirit of God through the new man, the image of God is produced in us in manifestation of the life of Christ. Oh, how beautiful. And yet how it touches our hearts. So she could say I'm black. The outward appearance might be perhaps disappointing, but comely?
In whose sight?
On his site, that is, the bride was conscious of the fact that in the sight of her bridegroom she was beautiful. He loved her, He saw her as dear to him. And oh, how precious that he looks upon us, and he sees us as dear to him. One is enjoyed in the Song of Solomon, but never once does the bridegroom reproach the bride.
He he lets her know at times that he is grieved, but he always.
Speaks of what she means to him, and seeks to win her heart. All brethren, the Lord wants our hearts. And when she asked the questions, she said, Tell me where thou makest thy flock to feed at noon. She said, why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of thy companions? It was a little disappointed. And he said, if thou knowest not.
O thou fairest among women, feed thee, follow the footsteps of the flock.
And feed thy kids beside the shepherd's tents. What was he really saying to her? Oh, he said, didn't you know that I wanted to be in the midst of my own?
You ask me where I make my flock. Why, if you want to know, follow the footsteps of the flock. I'm always in the midst of my own. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Oh, may we value His company, brethren. May we know more of His precious love, so that our souls will be drawn after Him. And I'm sure that if as individuals, we can say draw me.
There will also be the collective result. We will run after the perhaps we say, well, there doesn't seem to be the freshness among the Saints. There used to be, doesn't seem to be the happiness in the meetings that there used to be. We'll look up to the Lord and say, draw me. And perhaps if I'm drawn more after the Lord, there'll be a result and others too will be refreshed and blessed and encouraged to follow this blessed Savior.
Until we see him face to face.