The Observer and the Observed

With New Testament Eyes: 67 - The Observer and the Observed
By Henry Mahan


Psalm 139
There is nothing more dishonoring to God nor a greater denial of the very character of God than for us, in his name, to pretend to be what we are not, to use words that are not sincere and which do not come from the heart, and to do works of religion for the admiration and applause of men (1 Sam. 16:7; Luke 16:15). The Lord Jehovah knows us, understands us, and is intimately acquainted with our persons, nature, and character. It is so important that we know the God who knows us! (John 17:3; 1 John 5:20; 2 Tim. 1:12.) There is nothing in us that God does not know.

v. 1. I am a very small part of this universe; yet the Lord knows me as thoroughly as if he had examined me minutely, as if he had searched me individually with his sovereign eye. This infallible knowledge has always existed, for he has searched me. It is 'Jehovah and me.' With him I have to do (Heb. 4:13).

vv. 2-4.

1. He knows all my movements--'downsitting and uprising,' whether I sit down to read, watch television, write, or rise up to walk, work, or play.

2. He knows all my thoughts--what they have been, what they are now, and what they will be.

3. He knows my actions--he encircles me whether awake or asleep and is acquainted with my ways, my motives, my purposes.

4. He knows my words--Yea, there has never been a word of my tongue that is not registered in the mind of God. He knows these words 'altogether'--the source of them, the reason for them, and the results of them.

v. 5. God not only beholds us but he besets us. He surrounds us and hems us in. There is no escape, for he is before and behind us; and lest one thinks that his surrounding presence is distant, he adds, 'And laid thy hand upon me' (John 17:2) to deal with in mercy or judgment. (e.g. Pharaoh, Rom. 9:17; Paul, Acts 9:15.)

v. 6. The omnipotence, the omniscience, and the omnipresence of God are too wonderful for me to understand. The wisdom, the glory, the holiness of God are far too high for me. At my most enlightened height his every attribute is higher than the heavens above me (Rom. 11:33-36).

Puritan Thomas Manton - When God's Word is Hidden in Your Heart (Christian devotional)

"YES, LORD!"

"YES, LORD!"
Arthur E. Gove

"She said to him: Yes, Lord; I believe ..." John 11:27

THE raising of Lazarus, Christ's greatest miracle, was the seventh of the sign-wonders described in his Gospel by John. The pattern of this Gospel is based on the number seven, so we are not surprised to find that in His dealing with the two sisters He is seven times addressed as "Lord". We realise, of course, that the title was often employed in gospel times as a quite ordinary, polite, form of address which could easily be rendered, 'Sir' in our language. It marked respect, but not necessarily more. We can be sure that in the case of Martha and Mary it meant much more.

In the New Testament this same word is rightly ascribed to Christ in its fullest and most spiritual meaning, namely that of Sovereign Lord. We are told, for instance, that the time will come when every creature in God's universe will attribute this excellence to Jesus: "Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:11). It will be the ultimate confession of humanity, to God's glory, that Jesus Christ is the unique Sovereign Lord. Paul tells us that even now, "No-one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3), and he claims that the essence of his own preaching was just this "For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord" (2 Corinthians 4:5). We know that it was in this fullest sense that Martha exclaimed to Jesus: "Yes, Lord ...".

Martha may have her critics, but in her simple words to Jesus, she crystallised for all time what should be the heart response to the Lord Jesus of all who truly love Him. Others could call Him Lord, and yet not follow through with the implications of His lordship. Peter -- during a brief moment of inner conflict -- could even coin that incredible phrase: "No, Lord!" (Acts 10:14). The only valid response, however, to the challenges and claims of Jesus is this which was voiced so long ago at Bethany where, out of much sorrow and perplexity, Martha was given the grace to say: "Yes, Lord". Her example leads us to four areas of life in which this language was so sincerely used.

1. Yes, Lord, I believe Your claims (John 11:27)

Martha had been favoured by a Self-revelation of Christ: she was able to declare that she fully accepted that He was all that He claimed to be. His words to her were: "I am the resurrection and the life", He claimed to be the "I AM" and at the same time He said that He would share His life with those who trusted in Him: "Because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19).

These were the clearest claims to Deity that could possibly be. In Him there is the answer to life after death but, more than that, there is an answer to every experience of death here and now. Jesus says to us: "If you are dead, you can live through faith in Me". Our reply must be a positive, "Yes, Lord" as we appropriate His risen life. He affirms: "I am the resurrection and the life", and He waits to hear our reply: "Yes, Lord. I believe Your claims". He says to us: "If you believe in Me and live through Me, you will never be overcome by death but will live in the good of eternal life". It is for us in faith to respond, "Yes, Lord". [56/57]

John wrote that "every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God" (1 John 4:2). This must surely mean much more than simply saying that the story of Jesus Christ is a historical fact. That does not need the Holy Spirit. Secular historians accept the evidence of His life here on earth as being authentic. What it does imply is a vital relationship between Jesus -- the human name, and Christ -- the name of Deity. We are told that those who have this kind of living faith in the Lord Jesus are born of God (1 John 5:1). New birth first comes when the individual first commits himself to Christ and when, for the first time, he uses Martha's words and declares: "Yes, Lord. I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God". This is the beginning, and it is intended to introduce a life-style in the believer which means that he is constantly responding to the Scriptural presentations of the claims of Christ with a heartfelt, "Yes, Lord!"

Step-By-Step Grace

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman


"When thou passest through the waters...they shall not overflow thee" (Isa. 43:2).

God does not open paths for us in advance of our coming. He does not promise help before help is needed. He does not remove obstacles out of our way before we reach them. Yet when we are on the edge of our need, God's hand is stretched out.

Many people forget this, and are forever worrying about difficulties which they foresee in the future. They expect that God is going to make the way plain and open before them, miles and miles ahead; whereas He has promised to do it only step by step as they may need. You must get to the waters and into their floods before you can claim the promise. Many people dread death, and lament that they have not "dying grace." Of course, they will not have dying grace when they are in good health, in the midst of life's duties, with death far in advance. Why should they have it then? Grace for duty is what they need then, living grace; then dying grace when they come to die. --J. R. M.

"When thou passest through the waters"
Deep the waves may be and cold,
But Jehovah is our refuge,
And His promise is our hold;
For the Lord Himself hath said it,
He, the faithful God and true:
"When thou comest to the waters

Thou shalt not go down, BUT THROUGH."

Seas of sorrow, seas of trial,
Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain,
Rolling surges of temptation
Sweeping over heart and brain
They shall never overflow us
For we know His word is true;
All His waves and all His billows
He will lead us safely through.

Threatening breakers of destruction,
Doubt's insidious undertow,
Shall not sink us, shall not drag us
Out to ocean depths of woe;
For His promise shall sustain us,
Praise the Lord, whose Word is true!
We shall not go down, or under,
For He saith, "Thou passest THROUGH."
--Annie Johnson Flint

"(Now I was cupbearer to the king)" Nehemiah 1:11 R.V.

OLD TESTAMENT PARENTHESES (18)
"(Now I was cupbearer to the king)" Nehemiah 1:11 R.V.

THIS sentence is placed between brackets in my Bible, though not in some other versions. Nevertheless it seems worthy of a place among our collection. It follows an eloquent and moving prayer. It also precedes a bold action. Prayers should be the basis of our actions but never an excuse for inaction.

WHEN Nehemiah had finished praying he seems suddenly to have recalled his personal condition: "Now I was cupbearer ...". It may be that he was appalled at his own helplessness. What hope had a man in his position of ever being able to go off to join the returned exiles in Jerusalem? Moreover, what could his type of man contribute to the work of recovery? What could a soft palace official do in the great task of conflict and re-building?

ALL of us know the feeling of hopelessness which can come over us when, after rising to great heights in our prayers, we come down to earth and realise what poor material we are for the great work about which we have been praying. Whether this is what happened or not, it is certainly true to experience.

THERE is, however, another explanation of Nehemiah's parenthetical note. It may be that he realised that the unattractive job which had been forced upon him could be the very key to Jerusalem's problem. In his position of trust in the palace, he could perhaps gain the King's ear and speak up for the interests of his God.

HE had been praying for some months when he came to the day of resolution. "... prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day ...". The king, after all, was only a man, whereas his Lord was "the God of heaven" (2:4).

SURE enough, that very day the occasion arose for him to lodge his appeal. He apparently showed signs of his inner tension, for prayer does not always free us from natural emotions, but the Lord used this to arouse the suspicions of the king and provoke the question which led to his release for the task. So, in answer to prayer -- both the laboured intercessions of the months and the ejaculatory petition of the moment -- the king's butler became the Lord's master-builder.

LATER, when Nehemiah wrote this story, he must have looked back in wonder. He had not had to break away from his palace job -- indeed he could not do so -- but prayer had released him and set him on his way of service for God. He thought of what he was -- cupbearer to a heathen king; and then what God had made of him -- an honoured instrument for the recovery of the Lord's testimony in the earth.

THERE seems to be no limit to God's power. It does not matter what we are in ourselves; what is all important is what God can make of us if we only persevere in the place of prayer.

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"(which is the first commandment with promise)"

INSPIRED PARENTHESES (25)
"(which is the first commandment with promise)"
Ephesians 6:2

SINCE Luke was Paul's closest companion at the time when this letter was written, the two must surely have discussed together the story of the Boy Jesus which Luke incorporated in his Gospel, and they must have marvelled at His simple submission to Joseph and Mary. Let nobody think that this was easy for the twelve-year-old Jesus. It must have been a matter of real cost to our Saviour to abandon the exciting atmosphere of the Rabbinical schools where He could so excel, and accept instead the discipline and drudgery of the carpenter's shop in Nazareth. Nevertheless He accepted the orders of Mary and Joseph without demur. He honoured those who acted as His human parents, and in so doing He brought greater honour to His heavenly Father.

NONE of us know whether Mary's insistence that Jesus should return to Nazareth with her and Joseph was the right decision. We do know this, though, that the Lord Himself never questioned the rightness of His obedience to it. So we see that the matter of obedience to parents belongs to both the Old Testament and the New. As always, the Law and the Lord Jesus are in perfect harmony. What is more, both offer a blessing to the obedient.

DIFFICULT as it may sometimes be for an adolescent to submit to imperfect parents, he or she will be showing a Christlike Spirit by so doing. And it follows that they will get a blessing. The actual nature of the promise is not stated here in the New Testament; Paul simply draws our attention to the fact that there must be something special about this commandment, for it is the first (and the only) one to specify a reward for those who keep it.

POSSIBLY this commandment is singled out from among the rest because it involves that filial attitude of heart which is so preciously found in full expression in the relationship between the Lord Jesus and His heavenly Father. God merits our respect, for His fatherly love is full of understanding and kindness. That this is not always so in the case of earthly parents only makes submission an even greater virtue and the more pleasing to God. Not that this excuses parents if they fail to do their part. They must seek to earn their children's respect rather than to demand it, as the subsequent verses show.

SCRIPTURE balances Scripture. This commandment must not be allowed to set aside the divine decree that marriage changes things for a man, for with it he must make a break with the old order. "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife" (Matthew 19:5). That a man should forsake his parents to enter into a close union with his wife is a basic principle of human life, dating from the beginning and confirmed by the Lord Jesus Himself. It can only be ignored with unhappy consequences.

SENTIMENTALISTS wax eloquent about the beauty of patriarchal establishments and they flourished all over the world throughout the ages. They do not represent God's ideal for man. He wants new families to begin rather than that old existing ones should extend to swallow up and stultify further generations. The new husband and wife have mutual obligations which modify this commandment, though they do not nullify it. For some this makes it difficult to know just how to maintain a right relationship with parents. The Spirit-taught adult will be guided as to how to honour parents without being wrongly subservient towards them. They can always enjoy the special promise spoken of in this parenthesis if they balance Scripture with Scripture.

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Spring up, O well! Num 21:17

  

Our Daily Homily




Spring up, O well! Num 21:17

This was a sweet song. It must have been a stirring scene, when Israel, in its thousands, sang forth this command to the waters that were under the earth, to show themselves, with the musical accompaniment of the gushing rill.

Spring up, O well, in our hearts. - Too long has the soil been arid and bare. A great drought has smitten it, and devoured every green thing. The flowers wither, the fruit falls. But Jesus promised to open in believing hearts a well, the waters of which should spring up unto eternal life. Not a stagnant pool, but a spring. Not a failing Cherith, but a perennial Siloam. Let that promise be realized in us here, and now; and if we have permitted rubbish to accumulate, or the weeds to grow rank, may we have grace to put them away, that there may be a clear course for the living water to flow through us and refresh the lives of all with whom we come in contact.

Spring up, O well, in the Church of God.-This is a petition with which we may enter the place of worship where we meet God's people. Spring up, O well, to-day! With this petition, we may plead for distant mission stations, and for the entire Church. Jesus dug the well with the staff of His cross; but we wish that the Spirit, who is as a fountain of living water, fed from eternity and returning to its source, may spring up within it with greater volume and force.

Spring up, O well, in the world. - It is weary with sorrow and sin. Too far and long have the desert sands swept their devastations. Hasten the millennial day, when springs shall break out in the desert, and wildernesses shall blossom as the rose!