(Continued from page 394.)
(II.)
BRUCEFIELD, 21st February, 1906. DEAR MR.—,—You expressed a willingness to receive another letter of the same sort as my last one, and as I can do nothing else I will try to give you some thoughts on the 95th Psalm.
I think the first words of it may be taken either as an invitation or a command—”O come, let us sing to the Lord.” In passing we might notice how often in the Psalm we are called on to sing to the Lord. In the worship of God our songs of praise should be addressed to the Lord as directly as our prayers. But who is it that is here invited to sing? Not a few well-trained voices, or a paid choir, but everyone. Then notice the name by which the Lord is called—”the Rock of our Salvation.” He is often called by that name in Scripture, and it is a very significant name: What are the qualities of the rock? It is strong, it is unmoveable, and it is unchangeable. So Christ is the unchangeable one, “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” He has promised to be with His people when they are gathered together, even if there be but two or three. They are then in His presence and they should come with joy, singing praise with thankful voice. It is quite true that even the most advanced Christians have much in themselves to lament and mourn over; yet they have always good reason to rejoice in Him, for he is the Rock of their salvation, “neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” But what are we to sing? We are told that in the next words, “Let us sing Psalms to him with grace and make a joyful noise.”
Then there is a reason why we should sing and rejoice in Him, “Because God is a great God and great King above all gods.” That does not merely mean the dumb idols of the heathen, but such as are called gods and lords among men. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the Creator, maintainer, and preserver of all men and things. But when we consider how this great God, this great King had to humble Himself before He could be the Rock of our salvation, need we wonder that the Church exclaims:—
“O come and let us worship Him,
Let us bow down withal,
And on our knees before the Lord,
Our Maker, let us fall.”
It is our duty to do Him homage as He is our maker, but this is not all, “for He is our God, the people we of His own pasture are, and of His hand the sheep.” Christ is our God by the gift of the Father, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” and Christ also gave Himself for us, and He gives Himself to us. Christ is ours but we are also Christ’s. We are His both by right of creation and of redemption, so there is a mutual ownership between Christ and His people. He is ours and we are Christ’s. This is beautifully expressed in the Song of Solomon—”My beloved is mine, and I am His.” But the mention of the sheep and the pasture in this Psalm reminds us of the shepherd, the good Shepherd. The shepherd has to protect his sheep from all danger and to provide for all their wants, and Jesus Christ does all this for His people. For He makes all things to “work together for good” to them that love Him.
But there is a word of warning added, “To-day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Unbelief kept a whole generation of Israelites out of Canaan; and disbelief will keep many out of the heavenly Canaan. But although this great King requires His people to sing praise to Him, yet He knew that they had nothing of their own that would be acceptable to Him. So in His wondrous love and condescension He has given us the very words that we shall use in praising Him. In the Psalms we have the words of the Holy Spirit given to us by the tongue of David, yet they are given to us in such form that we may use them as if they were our very own. The language of them is such, that by them we may express to God our joys and sorrows, our wants and desires, our complaints and our thanksgivings. How foolish then to lay the Psalms aside for any other production whatever!
We are in our usual health at present, and will be glad to hear from you when convenient.—With kind and loving regards, I remain, yours affectionately,
GEORGE FORREST.
“HE who was in the beginning and became man eighteen centuries ago, to save man, fixed His penetrating eye upon the ages to come. He saw that future generations would also cry out for eternal life. He wished to leave on earth the means by which they might be saved. He opened His mouth and gave them a commandment. O ye nations, listen to the commandment of Jesus Christ! ‘Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.’ Children of our age, imitate the Christians of Berea: do not believe your preachers unless what they teach you is in the Book; wherefore read it.”—D’Aubigne. Johns. 31 as compared with John 5. 13
“IF I had not sailed this sea-way to heaven, but had taken the land-way, as many do, I should not have known Christ’s sweetness in such a measure.”—Rutherford.