Psalm 121
THE GOSPEL MESSENGER Crawfordsville, Indiana, January 1888 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. --Psalms cxxi. 1. There is no blessing of this tear-stained world comparable to the revelation of God's love to men, and the gift of faith to their poor hearts. Great is our poverty and desolate our state, if we can only number as our friends the frail creatures of mortality, whose breath is in their nostrils. No arm of flesh, Whether wielded by wisest kings or strongest giants, will avail in the extremities of man. No king is saved by the multitude of an host; no man delivered by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety, and chariots have lost their occupants in the mighty deep. No treasures of this earth will endure the fire of God's crucible. Ships go down and armies perish before the Almighty's breath, and before the requirements of his justice, & all nations become as the dust of the balance, and guilt-stricken souls tremble as the topmost bough before the storm. Then there is need of substantial help. Tempests must pour their fury upon the earth's wide surface, and earthquakes shake its hidden depths. Pestilence, and war, and famine hang over its course, and the great silent reaper will never cease to use his glittering blade. Cursed tins been this earthly planet, and full of sorrow, since man put forth his hand in disobedience, and thorn and thistles and the sweat of labor mark the footsteps of every generation. Disease and death, pain, misery and woe, blanched cheeks, trembling knees and failing hearts—is not the world full of them since God called sinners to account? but O, my friends, these afflictions, the heritage of woe common to all men, are but parts of his ways in rebuking sin. The deep thunder of his power who can know, when in the majesty of his throne he comes into the hearts of men, and by his mighty spirit convinces them of all their ungodly deeds, when indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish comes upon the convicted soul of Jew, Gentile and Barbarian ? When the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; the great and terrible day of the Lord, when he shall sit as a refiner’s fire and a purifier of silver; who may abide in such a day, when there stands before the condemned sinner the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of the Almighty God? Who shall be able to stand when God, as a consuming fire, shall declare that the day of vengeance is in his heart, and he shall bid the sword of divine justice awake and vindicate the honor of his throne? Surely when men shall come to know the exceeding sinfulness of sin--when they realize the majesty of God's insulted law, and find themselves transgressors in his sight--when the heart is smitten and the soul crushed under the burden of indignation—when the strength of man is brought down to the earth—when the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins of men, and they are compassed with gall and travail, surely there will be a wailing cry of distress, a lifting of the eyes for help, and blessed be the God of mercy, this cry will not be lost upon the winds. The longed-for help will come; it will come in time to save, and with power to answer the utmost need. That this is so, we have only to consider the expression drawn from the inspiring words of David, the man of God and representative of godly men: I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. What a sweet and grateful song was this from a Christian heart! What an abiding trust in the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings he was brought to trust. Could any language better demonstrate a living principle of faith? and wonderful to say, it reveals the strength and boldness of this implanted principle no less than its humility. There is here shown no weak and wavering trust in the arm of the Lord. Having found the true anchoring place of a helpless soul, the redeemed cannot turn again to the quicksands of human strength. That has ever proved a thorn-hedge to lean upon, and now the believer, through evil as well as good report, must trust in the hope of Israel. With this faith in his heart he can say, "though he slay me, I will trust in him; though the fig tree and the vine forget to blossom; though olives fail and fields are barren; though the flocks be cut off and the stalls are empty, yet will I rejoice in God; yea, though I walk through the very valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help." O, what confidence can faith impart! Blessings may linger, but no delay can dissipate this faith. Adversities may come, but cannot destroy it. Though this help may be tardy he will wait; though it be not in view, he will lift up his eyes to the hills from whence it cometh. His faith is able to remove mountains, and he knows that blessings will come. Though strong this faith, it is not arrogant; rather, it is lowly and unassuming. It is abiding but not clamorous. Though strong as the lasting hills, it is gentle as the dews of heaven. Though but a little smoking flax, it will not be quenched till it laughs in victory. A bruised reed, it will rise up from storms that overthrow the cedars of Lebanon. If the question is asked, "where is boasting?" in the sense of trusting in human strength, it cannot be found in the children's faith. It does not parade its prayers, and fastings, and tithes, as a plea before the Lord. It says not to companions, stand aside, for I am holier than thou. It boasts not of being free from sin these many years. It never claims to move the arm that moves the world. It does not say, I will command this help to appear; it does not say that I will lift up my right arm and bring this help. O, no; its words are, I will lift up mine eyes to the hills; just lift the eyes. A poor Christian must this be, in the world's esteem, who speaks of looking away to the hills for help; but O, what a strong believer, to declare that this help cometh. Say those who have their own bread to eat, their own apparel to .put on, who even have help to spare the Lord: What is this? what can there be in a look? Well, go and ask the penitent and weeping Peter, when Jesus looked such anguish into his soul; ask the poor, bitten, dying Hebrews who looked upon the typical serpent in the wilderness and found it to be life to their souls. Ask the ends of the earth, who, at the Lord's command, have looked to God's lifted Son and found the blessing of redemption.
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