God's knowledge of men's hearts.
"Shall not God search," etc.? A world of perfect, mutual knowledge, in which the secrets of every heart lay open to every eye, must needs be either heaven or hell. Every one must be perfectly good or else perfectly miserable. In this world of mixed good and evil, God has mercifully built a wall of secrecy, or at least thrown a veil of privacy, around the consciousness of each one of us. Every heart has its own secrets. But the text reminds us that there is neither wall nor veil to God's eye, nor thinnest film of obscurity (Hebrews 4:13).
I. GOD KNOWS THE SECRETS OF THE HEART.
1. Our thoughts. How impenetrably these are veiled from our fellows! Our feelings often betray themselves. They escape our control. A look, a change of colour, a start, an exclamation, a tremor, may discover them against our will. But our thoughts lie deeper. Words may be used not to express, but to conceal them. A man's outward conduct and apparent character may be such that if the habitual current of his inmost thoughts could be laid open, his nearest friends would stand aghast. But God knows. Thought may flash so swiftly through the mind, that we ourselves are scarcely aware of it; but God sees. It may fade in a moment from the mirror of memory; but God remembers.
2. Our feelings lie as open to God as our thoughts. They are often a mystery to ourselves, not to him. They surprise us by their sudden and unexpected character and power. They do not surprise him. They perplex us by their mixture of good and evil. All is plain to him. Our inmost springs of character lie under his hand as well as eye. He knows how to work in us both to will and to do (Philippians 2:13).
3. Our hidden future; unconscious capabilities, good or evil; undeveloped possibilities. Examples: Jeremiah 1:5-9; 2 Kings 8:13; Luke 5:2-10. Our sins (known or unknown to ourselves), and all our spiritual needs. Perhaps you have not felt your sins. But God takes account (Psalms 90:8); knows your need of pardon (Isaiah 1:18); knows your weakness, and need of grace (John 13:37, John 13:38); knows your need of trial and discipline (Hebrews 13:6).
II. WE SEARCH IN ORDER TO KNOW; GOD SEARCHES BECAUSE HE KNOWS.
1. By his providence, proving men and revealing their character. As Abraham (Genesis 22:12), Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:31).
2. By. his Spirit (John 16:8).
3. By his Word (Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 4:13).
CONCLUSION. The Lord Jesus claims this Divine prerogative (Revelation 2:23; 1 Corinthians 4:4, 1 Corinthians 4:5). But he loves to discover even the little that is good in us, and to reward it (Revelation 3:8). He that probes can heal. He that knows can save (Revelation 3:9). Let us open our hearts to him (Psalms 139:23, Psalms 139:24).
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE
Psalms 44:22 and Roman 8:36
Martyr Churches, Hebrew and Christian: a contrast.
There is something marvellously touching about this psalm. It is the voice of a martyr Church, which has to witness for God amid persecution, flame, and sword. It divides itself into four parts. In the first there is a glowing retrospect (Psalms 44:1-8); £ in the second, a mournful plaint (Psalms 44:9-17 and Psalms 44:22); in the third, a solemn appeal to the Church's King and Lord (Psalms 44:18-21); in the fourth, an earnest prayer (Psalms 44:23-26). As an historical document, which (as it has come down to us) is without date, we cannot but ask—To what period of Hebrew history can it apply? Another question suggests itself, viz.—Is the whole of the psalm justifiable? We will deal with these two questions as briefly as possible consistently with clearness, that we may "open up" the theme which the answers thereto will set before us. In order to ascertain the period of Israel's history to which the psalm refers, we must note the data presented to us therein. According to the psalmist's statements;
(3) They were a reproach and a byword among the nations (Psalms 44:13, Psalms 44:14).
1. The time of David. (So Hengstenberg, Delitzsch, Moll, Fausset, et al.) But in David's time we cannot verify either the first, second, third, or seventh of the above data. As Calvin remarks, the Church and nation, as a whole, were prosperous and victorious in David's time. £
2. Other periods assigned have been—the time of the Exile (Geikie); the times of Jchoiachin and Zedekiah (Baur, De Wette, and Tholuck); the times of Josiah and Jehoiakim (Barnes); the last days of the Persian dynasty (Ewald); but of one and all of these it may be said that they fail to meet the conditions of data 6 and 7. For the Chronicler expressly declares that the troubles of those periods came upon Israel in consequence of the peoples' unfaithfulness to their covenant and their God. £ Consequently, until further light is thrown on the subject, we adhere to the Maccabean period as that which most nearly fulfils the conditions to which reference is made. Another question is this—Is the Church's strong assertion of national integrity to God justifiable? Some say, Yes (so Moll, Delitzsch). Some, No (so Perowne). But it is only fair to the writer to suppose him to refer simply to the occasion that drew forth the complaint; he cannot mean that all the nation had been always and uniformly faithful. His intention evidently is this—that there was at that time no defection from God on the part of the people to account for the specific persecution over which he mourns. And since this is the case, he feels he may appeal to God to fulfil his own promise, and to save them for his mercies' sake. £ We are not prepared to question the propriety of this. All depends on the spirit in which it was said. We well remember that, in the late American War, a noted and eloquent abolitionist went so far as to maintain that the North must win, because God was God! At the same time, there is no doubt that the complaint, the appeal, and the whole tone of the psalm bear traces of a partial revelation, and consequently of an imperfectly developed faith. We have but to pass over the line that divides the two dispensations, to plant ourselves in the middle of the first Christian century, and there we find that Christians were having, and were likely to have, a struggle as hard and fierce as that of the Hebrews of old. So much so that one of their number adopts as his own the most touching words in the whole psalm, "For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." And yet there is neither moan nor sigh, no, not a tear; rather, a song of gladness, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us!" (Romans 8:36, Romans 8:37). Whence the contrast between the Hebrews' sigh and the Christians' song whilst in the midst of persecution and death!
I. IN THE HEBREW DISPENSATION GOD SPAKE THROUGH PROPHETS; IN THE CHRISTIAN GOD HAS SPOKEN IN HIS SON. (Hebrews 1:1.) The great Transfiguration scene sets this forth in marvellous clearness. Moses and Elias vanish from sight, and the favoured three are left with Jesus only; in him believers saw the incarnate Son of God, the Father's express Image, who brought with him, in peerless union, the tenderness and sympathy of the brother-man, with the majesty and might of the infinite and eternal God. Hence the figure in the background of Hebrew thought was vastly different from that in the background of Christian thought; the former commanded reverential heed, as a Messenger from heaven; the latter, unbounded love and entire consecration, as Saviour and Lord of all!
II. THE STORY OF THE REDEMPTION WITH WHICH ISRAEL'S NATIONAL LIFE OPENED IS FAR OUTDONE BY THE HISTORY OF THE REDEMPTION BROUGHT IN BY JESUS CHRIST. It was with a glow of pride and thankfulness that the Hebrew singer recounted the deliverance from Egypt, and the entrance to Canaan's land (see also Psalms 78:1-72; Psalms 105:1-45; Psalms 106:1-48; Psalms 107:1-43.). But how vastly is all this surpassed both in tenderness and in grandeur, by such words as these!—"He loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20); "Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." £ The words fell with force and beauty on the ears of Old Testament saints, "I gave Egypt for thy ransom; Ethiopia and Seba for thee;" but how much greater the charm on Christian ears of the words, "He gave himself" (Isaiah 43:3, Isaiah 43:4; Galatians 2:20)!
God, in the Person of his Son,
Has all his mightiest works outdone."
III. THE HEBREW CHURCH, TERRITORIAL AND NATIONAL, HAS GIVEN PLACE TO THE CHURCH OF GOD, made up of men gathered from every nation, and kindred, and people, and tongue. The Church's "land" now can never be invaded. We can never sigh, "The heathen are come into thine inheritance." That is impossible. The entrance into Christ's Church is not decided by rites nor by birth, save by the new birth of the Holy Ghost. Neither features nor racial marks form any sign of this new brotherhood. "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Galatians 6:15).
IV. THE HATRED OF THE JEW BY THE GENTILE IS SUCCEEDED BY THE WORLD'S HATRED OF THE CHURCH. Where religion is or has been regarded as a piece of statecraft, whether among pagans, Papists, or Protestants, divergence from the rites appointed by state or Church has been punished with fire and sword. And the Antiochian persecution in the time of the Maccabees had its parallel in the Diocletian persecution in the Christian era. And although in our own land such treatment is not permitted, yet there is, though largely unseen to the public eye, a fierce hatred by the ungodly of pure and undefiled religion; and many and many a faithful soldier of the cross has to endure petty insult, abuse, and scorn, to an extent known only to himself and his Lord.
V. THE HATRED OF THE WORLD, WHICH WAS THE HEBREWS' DREAD, IS NOW THE CHRISTIAN'S BADGE OF HONOUR. It was SO with the apostles (Acts 5:41; Galatians 6:17). It was so with private Christians in apostolic times (1 Peter 4:13-16). In enduring persecution in the early Christian centuries, believers so regarded it. And even now we have to remember the Master's words in John 15:18-21. The ancient Hebrews could not bear the scorn of their foes; Christians regard it as "the fellowship of Christ's sufferings," and delighted in the words, 2 Corinthians 4:10, 2 Corinthians 4:11.
VI. IN THE MIDST OF FIERCEST PERSECUTION, CHRISTIANS HAVE REALIZED THE CHANGELESSNESS OF DIVINE LOVE; even when they were "counted as sheep for the slaughter." £ Where we have from the Hebrews a groan, we have from the Christians a song (Romans 8:35, Romans 8:36; Stephen, Acts 6:15 and Acts 7:55-60; Matthew 5:12; Romans 5:3; 2 Corinthians 12:10; Philippians 1:29; Hebrews 10:3, Hebrews 10:4; James 1:2; 1 Peter 4:13, 1 Peter 4:16). Believers knew that nothing could ever separate them from Divine love; and that the stroke that closed the life below set them free for the higher life "with Christ, which was very far better." £
VII. HENCE CHRISTIANS SAW, WITH A CLEARNESS TO WHICH HEBREW SAINTS COULD NOT ATTAIN, THAT THE CHURCH EXISTS IN TWO WORLDS. So our Lord has taught in Matthew 16:18 (Revised Version); £, Revelation 1:18. And the disclosure of this became even clearer through the visions granted to the seer in Patmos, when (Revelation 7:1-17.) he saw one part of the Church, below, sealed in the great tribulation, and another part of the Church, above, caught up out of it. Knowing this, as the early Christians did, they knew also that the rage and hate of the enemy could in no wise really harm the Church, since their Lord was building it up in the realm above by the incoming of saints passing up from below. Hence even the slaughter of the people of God was but as a chariot of fire conducting them to the region where "they cannot die any more."
VIII. THU, INSTEAD OF AN AGONIZING CRY TO GOD TO INTERPOSE, THERE IS A PEAL OF TRIUMPH THAT NO INTERPOSITION IS NEEDED. "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." More than conquerors! What a grand and noble defiance of the enemy is there here! And how richly glorious is this proof of the development of the Divine intent to reveal his love more fully as the ages rolled on! Note: If an expositor unfolds Psalms 44:1-26. historically only, he must transfer himself to the ancient times; but if he will deal with that psalm from a Christian standpoint, he will have a glorious field for expansion in contrasting the piteous wail of Psalms 44:22 with the gladsomeness with which the very same words are quoted and applied in the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. Blessed be God that we live in the days of Christ's fulness of light and life! Amen.—C.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH