Grace and gratitude.
"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." So said the prophet (Isaiah 51:1), and it is good for us betimes to follow this counsel. It will not only teach us humility, but bind us more firmly in love and gratitude to God. It is the depth that proves the height. It is the misery that measures the mercy. It is by the utterness of the ruin that we realize the completeness of the restoration. It is by contemplating the gloom and horrors of the abyss into which we had sunk through sin, that we can best comprehend the wonders of the redemption wrought for us through Jesus Christ. The psalmist dwells upon two things.
I. WHAT GOD HAD DONE FOR HIS SERVANT. "Pit;" "clay." These images mark:
1. The greatness of the danger. The pit was "horrible," gloomy and terrible, the place of certain destruction if no help came (Genesis 37:24-27). The clay is called "retry," to indicate that there was no solidity—nothing but a foul, seething mass, where no rest could be found (Jeremiah 38:6).
2. The greatness of the deliverance. It was free—in God's time (Psalms 40:1); complete (Psalms 40:2); joy-inspiring (Psalms 40:3); morally influential (Psalms 40:4); prophetical, typifying and giving promise of many other "wonderful works" of God (Psalms 40:5; cf. Paul, 1 Timothy 1:16). It should also be noticed that the deliverance was wrought out
II. WHAT HIS SERVANT WOULD DO FOR GOD. "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?" is the question of the prophet; and he gives the answer, "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what cloth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:6-8). The same great truth had been taught long before by Samuel, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22).
1. The sacrifice of the will. Without this all else is vain. There is death, not life; the letter, but not the spirit; the form of godliness, but not the power.
2. The obedience of the life. Whatever way we interpret the obscure phrase, "Mine ears hast thou opened," the meaning seems to be the free and complete surrender of the soul to God. The right disposition leads to the life-devotion (Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:15).
3. The thanksgiving of the heart. Both privately and publicly, in our daffy life before God and before men, we are to serve in the spirit of love and joy. Amidst all the changes and chances of our mortal state, we should continue faithful to him who hath called us that we might show forth his praise. Thus we shall have part with these saints of God—
"Who carry music in their heart,
Through dusky lane and wrangling mart,
Plying their daily task with busier feet,
Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat?
W.F.
The heart of Messiah.
"Lo, I come!" Many questions might be asked as to this announcement. Who is this? Whence, and whither, and for what purpose, does he come? It is enough that we can identify the Speaker (Luke 24:44; Hebrews 10:5-7). Let us therefore ponder his words.
I. THE WILL OF GOD WAS THE CHIEF THOUGHT OF HIS HEART. We see this in his earthly life. See him at his first Passover. When Joseph and Mary found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, his answer was, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" He was but twelve, and yet, at that tender age, how intense his consciousness of the trust committed to him! So it was on his baptism at the Jordan (Matthew 3:15); in the temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4); at the well of Jacob (John 4:34); and onward to the end. Daily, hourly, constantly, to the last moment, it was his chief thought to do the will of him that sent him, and to finish his work (John 3:34; John 5:19; John 6:37). Evermore, as the will of the Father was revealed to him, it was accepted and obeyed in the spirit of love. The will of the Father was equally and truly the will of the Son. This is true freedom.
II. THE WILL OF GOD WAS THE SECRET STRENGTH OF HIS HEART. It was said of Moses, "He endured as seeing him who is invisible." So it has been with God's servants in every age. The sense of the invisible, commerce and familiarity with the great unseen world, alliance with God, make men strong for duty. So it was in the highest sense with Christ. The will of God was the strength of his heart, because:
1. It harmonized with eternal righteousness. Our Lord knew he had the most absolute conviction, that in doing the will of God he was walking in the path of truth and righteousness. Hence he was' strong and brave (Isaiah 42:1-4).
2. It harmonized with the highest good of man. When men's hearts are not in their work, they soon weary. But when labour is congenial, it is no longer a task and a burden, but a delight. So it was with Newton in his love of truth; with Howard and Wilberforce and Livingstone, in their generous enthusiasm for humanity. And so it was in the most perfect way with our Lord. He came to save, and not to destroy.
"Good will to men and zeal for God
His every thought engross."
III. THE WILL OF GOD WAS THE SUPREME JOY AND SATISFACTION OF HIS HEART. Thus:
1. He enjoyed unbroken fellowship with God (John 15:10).
2. He perfectly filled up the plan of God for the development of his human nature. His life was the only life that answered perfectly to the will of God—with no defect to be supplied, no error to be corrected, no blemish to be remedied.
3. He accomplished the redemption of his people.
4. He glorified the Father.—W.F.