While the book of Psalm is, no doubt, the expression of the state of the God-fearing remnant of Israel in the latter day, and of Messiah’s association with them, it also serves—as no other part of scripture does—as the expression of individual godliness and personal communion in all ages. When the difference between Jewish ground—righteousness—as seen in the Psalms, and Christian ground—grace—as seen in the Epistles, is well understood, what can be more refreshing, more nourishing, or more expressive of a deep-toned Christianity, than many of the divine breathings in the Psalms? Many of them, no doubt, are the breathings of the spirit of Christ in the suffering remnant, and of Christ Himself in sympathy with them. What a cordial to the heart, especially when under trial, persecution, or distress of any kind, are the inspired utterances of a deep, inward piety, a longing desire after God, nearness to Him, and confident dependence on Him! Eternal life, of course, is essentially the same in the Jew as in the Christian; though the relations of the latter are much higher and wider than those of the former.
And the Christian must also bear in mind, when reading the Psalms, that some of the expressions which were consistent with Jewish condition, would be positive unbelief for him to use—such as verse 7 of this psalm. “Will the Lord cast off forever? and will he be favorable no more?” The Jews are cast off as regards their national position and privileges; but not as regards the councils of God, as Paul plainly teaches in Rom. 11: “I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid.” But the Christian knows that God will never cast him off; and such a thought, even for a moment, should never cross his mind; though, alas! such thoughts will intrude, and may happen at an unguarded moment, with any one. But we can conceive of no deeper anguish for a soul to pass through in this life, than to be without the sense of the favor of God, when under His chastening hand. And this must always be the result when the shield is lowered, and the heart exposed to the fiery darts of the wicked. The Christian must never forget that he stands in present favor—the unchanging and unchangeable favor of God. This is his shield of faith. Whoever, whatever, else may change, the favor in which he stands knows no change. This must be held in the integrity of a faith which hangs on the word of God, though everything may appear to be going against him, and when there may be nothing else to rest upon.
Even the pious Jew, in this most touching psalm, thinks of former mercies; recollects how gracious God is, and turns to Him. “And I said. This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. Thy way, Ο God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?” This is Jewish, not christian experience, though the Christian, in measure, may sometimes pass through it. But this would be failure. There can be no interruption to the divine favor. But if the soul be communing with itself, indulging its own thoughts, and reasoning about its own troubles, in place of looking to God, and communing with Him in the sanctuary, it is sure to fall back into Jewish experience; and every Christian is exposed to this perplexity, in degree, who knows not God as He reveals Himself in the sanctuary.
There only God is known, as He has revealed Himself in the Person and work of the blessed Lord. There only we learn His thoughts and purposes towards us, even before the foundation of the world. It is God’s speaking-place; and, through the power of the Holy Ghost, above the distracting influences of this present scene, the soul is silent, and listens to His voice through the word. And now the will is bowed, His way is seen to be in accordance with His perfect love, though His hand may be heavy upon us, and the soul is ready to exclaim, “The will of the Lord be done;” let His name be glorified, whatever course things may take.
“He always wins who sides with God,
To him no chance is lost;
God’s will is sweetest to him, when
It triumphs at his cost.”
But inquirest thou, dear reader, who may thus commune with God in the sanctuary, the place of His holiness, as well as of His love? It is surely the privileged place of all who are in Christ as risen and glorified—the children’s place—the home of every believer. But art thou well assured of thy place and portion in Christ, through faith in Him? Then know thy Father’s love, who gave thee to Christ before the foundation of the world, that He might fit thee for the most holy place, even as He Himself is fit to be there. As the apostle plainly says, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” (Eph. 1:44According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4).) Christ, as the glorified Man, is the only standard of the sanctuary. To be at home there in happy liberty, we must be as He is. But the verse just quoted would be enough for faith, were our hearts in simple subjection to the word of God. Here we learn His purposes of love concerning us, long before the world was made, and before sin or redemption are referred to; so that we may fall back and rest, not only on the cross, but on the heart in which we had a place before time was.
When in the light and power of this truth, through the presence of the Holy Ghost, we are at home in the sanctuary. We may fail for the moment, under a sudden overwhelming sorrow, to realize that this is the way of love, but it cannot be anything else, however severe. He who spared nothing, not even His well-beloved Son, that we might be reconciled to Him, and morally fitted for the presence of His holiness, is only accomplishing the purposes of His love. When we have well examined and weighed verses 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Eph. 1, and received the precious truths they contain as the words of the living God, the heart will be at rest forever as to His thoughts, purposes, and faithful love. No calamity, however great; no affliction, however severe; no bereavement, however desolating, can alter these eternal realities. God’s love, perfect and absolute, having its spring in His own heart, remains unchanged; the efficacy of redemption is unchangeable as the love which is its source; the glory of the exalted Savior at God’s right hand is surely established forever, and we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Him; and is not the Holy Ghost in us the seal, of all these blessings?
And let us also bear in mind that these four verses are revealed as the thoughts of God about His children, before either sin, redemption, or the church is spoken of, so that their full accomplishment rests on no condition but the good pleasure of His own will, and the praise of the glory of His grace.
But ought we not, some may inquire, to judge ourselves when laid aside, or when the Lord is evidently chastening us, and inquire whether we may not have displeased Him with some of our past ways? Self-judgment is always right, and ought to be a daily thing with us, whether in health or in sickness; indeed, without this, we must be practically unacquainted with the ways of the sanctuary. “If I wash thee not,” said the Lord to Peter, “thou hast no part with me.” Communion would be interrupted. Daily defilements need the daily use of the water of purification. But such exercise of soul ought not to weaken the believer’s hold of the purposes of God. These were formed long before he failed, and can never be changed. Our sins and shortcomings were all judged in the crass of the blessed Lord, so that in place of these things, hateful as we may see ourselves because of them, filling us with doubts and fears as to our welcome in the sanctuary, they ought to deepen our faith, and increase our love to Him. These are the very things, faith says, even my unworthy thoughts and feelings, for which my Savior died. But mark the effect of so looking at our shortcomings: we love Him more; the heart cannot refrain from exclaiming, Oh, what love to me! that He should have borne the judgment of God for my sins, and my every failure, in His own body on the tree; oh, how can I praise Him more! His precious blood cleanseth me from all sin, so that I can walk in the light even as God is in the light.
But as to inquiring or asking the reason why we are thus afflicted, the soul, in such a case, would be off the ground of faith. God gives no account of His ways. He reveals Himself in the sanctuary, but His ways are in the sea, His path in the great waters, and His footsteps are not known. But we must never lose hold of this grand truth—if we would be perfectly happy under trial—that, though God’s ways are in the sea—meaning untraceable—they are never inconsistent with His perfect love as revealed in the sanctuary. The same love that gave me to Christ, faith would say, has plunged me in the deep waters, not that I may be overwhelmed, but that I may learn one of the highest expressions of His love, even that I may be a partaker of His holiness—not merely that I may be holier, but that I may be a partaker of His own holiness.
The widowed heart, alone and desolate, feeble in body and oppressed in mind, may hear a whisper—Is this love? But what is to be the reply? If in the sanctuary, there is but one—a firm and decided Yes! —Yes! the feeble one replies, this is love—God’s perfect love, that seeks, not the gratification, but the good, of its object. Thus the shield of faith is raised, and the fiery dart falls powerless to the ground. But supposing for a moment that the wicked suggestion were entertained, and the bereaved one were to begin and reason why God should thus afflict her; and begin to speculate as to what she had done, what she had neglected, and how she had not valued and improved her privileges; we venture not to say what the misery of that soul would be. The shield of faith is lowered, for the moment, and the whole soul is exposed to the fiery darts of the wicked.
But should we, some may still inquire, under every trial, even such as we may have brought on ourselves, take refuge in the perfect love of God? Most assuredly! Flee at once to the sanctuary! Say of yourself what you please, but say of God that He changeth not—His love is the same. I have brought this on myself, I richly deserve it, you may say; but never forget that His love rules; and dishonor Him not by unbelief. Wave after wave may come; and when you have felt your feet touching the shore, and thought you were near to land, another wave has come and rolled you back into deeper and rougher waters than you had ever known before; still you can say, though well-nigh overwhelmed, It is the way of His love, the moral fitting of the soul for the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,” of which it will be the happy sharer forever and forever. And when you know that God is dealing with you in perfect love, and for the perfecting of your instruction—whatever the trial may be—you will rest in Him, and be happy, though suffering.
“He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous” is surely a word of the deepest consolation to the bereaved or suffering one. Oh, child of affliction, think of that eye, benignant, sleepless, watching over thee! Restless, weary, suffering thou mayest be, but He cannot take His eye off thee. Thou art the object of His complacent delight, even as Christ is; and when thy day of suffering is past, thou wilt find more material for praise than days of health could have given. And even now we are brought into greater nearness to Him. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, and the written word, a medium of communion is opened between the soul and the sanctuary which seems to have annihilated distance. These are the realities of faith, through the presence of an ungrieved Holy Spirit.
The ear is now prepared to listen to Christ, not to the tempter, for it knows His voice. The Spirit only reveals Christ, as our Lord Himself says, “At that day [the Spirit’s day] ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” What nearness! —I in my Father, ye in me, I in you! And this we are given to know, not merely to believe, but to have a present conscious enjoyment of the blessed reality. Drawn aside, separated from the outer world, in a very real way, by suffering, what lessons to be learned of His nearness to us, and our nearness to Him; and what consolation and strength may be found in these sweet whisperings of His love! And He would have us, blessed be His name, to be ever feasting on His love. It is pressed upon us without measure. “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” What a portion for the soul in its solitude! As—so; as—so; and, “Continue ye in my love.” John 14:20; 15:920At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. (John 14:20)
9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. (John 15:9).
Let this be thy sanctuary, Ο tried and afflicted one! Thy Lord invites thee to dwell in His love, to make it thy hiding-place from the gathering storm, or the sweeping tempest; when all seems to be gone, His love remains unchanged amidst the ever-changing scenes of time. But, oh! on thy part, let patience have her perfect work. To have no will of our own is the perfect work of patience. Think not His answer to thy prayer is long in coming. He will not forget thee; it will come at the right moment and in the right way. We fail to realize His deep interest in us. How deeply moved His heart is when He sees thee suffering! but He would have us not to forget that He suffered in our stead. “Did not I give my life for thee?” we hear Him say; “and did not I suffer shame and agony on the cross for thee, that I might wash thee in my precious blood, and fit thee for the sanctuary above?” Thus the soul is brought into sweet communion with the Lord? and it will soon find many chambers in the sanctuary of His love. But venture not, I pray thee, to trace His footsteps in the sea, there thou couldst only be overwhelmed in deeper waters. Leave all in His hands, trust all to Him in uninquiring confidence; but ever abide in the sanctuary of His presence, where all His love and glory are revealed to thy faith, through the teaching and power of His Holy Spirit. At the same time, may we never forget that there is as much love in the sea as there is in the sanctuary.