THE Psalmist begins this Psalm by expressing admiration for the Tabernacle of the Lord, where the people of Israel gathered to worship. He himself was a true worshipper of God, and was a regular attendant in God’s house, except when he was driven away from it by enemies. It would appear that on this occasion he was far away from the Lord’s house, through persecution. As he envies the sparrows that were at liberty to fly to it, he vehemently longs to be restored to the courts of the Lord, which he so much loved. Though absent in body, he was present there in spirit.
In speaking from our text, we shall notice :—
I.—The people spoken of, “They”;
There is no doubt but it is the Lord’s people that are spoken of, as the Psalmist calls them blessed. It is they only that are blessed; all others are under the curse. Their sins are forgiven, and David in another psalm says that, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm xxxii. 1). They are justified, and there is no condemnation to them. They are also spoken of as dwelling in the Lord’s house as His children. They are not only justified, but also adopted into His family. They were born again in the Lord’s house, and they dwell in it, not only as those who have a title to it but as worshippers, for it is said, “They will be still praising thee.” The service of praise is a part of God’s worship; they have many reasons to praise the Lord, and He gives them a heart to praise Him. They are spoken of as those who have their strength, not in themselves, but in the Lord; and they not only walk in His ways, but love them; they are in their heart. “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the ways of them” (verse 5). “The ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them” (Hosea xiv. 9).
II.—Although they dwell in the house of the Lord, yet they are travellers and sojourners in this world, travelling on the way to heaven.
What was their starting point? It was the cross of Christ. Although they were awakened by the Spirit to a sense of their sinful and lost condition, they did not begin their journey then. No; not till they believed in Christ. They then began to walk in the narrow way that leads to life. At the same time they began their wilderness journey in this world. It is this way that is spoken of in our text. When the people of Israel were brought out of their bondage in Egypt, they had to travel through a wilderness before they came to their destination, the land of promise. In like manner, believers have to walk through the wilderness of this world before they arrive at their destination in heaven. The world which they formerly considered a paradise, and in which they sought their happiness, now becomes a wilderness to them, in which they cannot find anything to sustain the spiritual life communicated to them. In this wilderness they meet with many trials and manifold temptations. In their journey they have to pass through the valley of Baca—a valley of tears. When the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea they began to sing, and they thought that they would continue in that frame of mind till they came to the end of their wilderness journey, but they soon found out that it was not to be so. If they were asked where they were going, they would tell that they were going to the good land that flowed with milk and honey. If asked, when did they expect to arrive there, they would perhaps say that they expected to be there in forty days; but near the end of forty years, if the man to whom they told that they expected to be in the land of Canaan at the end of forty days met them, and said, “You are still in the wilderness; when do you expect to reach the land of promise?” they would be apt to say that it did not seem that they would ever reach that land. In like manner the Lord’s people, who sang for joy when they were brought into Gospel liberty, thought that all their difficulties were past, that they would be always singing during their journey, and that they would be soon in heaven, but they found out that they were oftener mourning than rejoicing, and afraid that they would never reach heaven. The people of Israel were left so long in the wilderness that they might know what was in their heart. Believers knew little of the evil that was in their heart when they first believed in Christ. They were more troubled by their actual transgressions than by the corruption of their nature, the foul fountain from which all actual transgressions proceed. But, the longer they are in the wilderness, the more they discover the wickedness of their heart—that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. As there is no actual transgression forgiven before it is brought before the eye of the sinner, so no corruption of nature is removed and cleansed until it is first brought before the eye of the believer. In the wilderness they meet with many oppositions from within and without, and this is ordained to try and prove their graces—that the trial of their faith and other graces might be found more precious than gold tried in the fire. The longer they are in their wilderness the more the troubles of their heart are enlarged. Even Christ Himself, the glorious head of the Church, the longer He was in His state of humiliation the greater His sufferings became, so that He said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Mark xiv. 34).
III.—The manner in which they are enabled to go through the wilderness.—They go “from strength to strength.”
They are sometimes strong, and other times weak. They are strong in the Lord, but weak in themselves. When Samson’s hair was cut, he became as weak as other men. But the believer is sometimes brought so low, that he is weaker than other men; he is so by the power of unbelief, and other causes.
Although it is the Lord that strengthens them to go forward in the wilderness, they have to use means, as those in our text did. They digged wells in the dry wilderness, and God sent down rain to fill these wells. They dig wells by prayer, and God, in answer to prayer, sends down the rain of His Spirit to refresh and strengthen them to go forward on their journey heavenward. They dig wells in faith and expectation that the rain shall be sent down. The Lord’s people are a praying people, but they do not rest in prayer as a ground of salvation; they use it only as a means of salvation. Although you may dig a well, you cannot put water in it, for that is God’s work. All the means of grace are wells, and these are to be used, in order to be strengthened to persevere in their journey. Reading the Scriptures is a means of bringing down the heavenly rain to thirsty souls. In their state of nature they seldom read the Bible, but when they were awakened by the Spirit they began not only to read it but to search it. They saw in that sacred volume not only their sinful and fallen condition, but also the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, which brought hope and comfort to their weary souls. It is wonderful how soon they come to the knowledge of God’s Word. They read the Bible daily, not only at family worship, but privately, each for himself or herself. It was the practice of the Lord’s people in the past to read the Bible in course, at family worship, from beginning to end; to read the Old Testament in course in the morning, and the New Testament in the evening, so that the whole Bible was read from beginning to end, and that repeatedly. They search the Scriptures for a word to comfort, and cry to God in their distress, and He speaks to them a word in season, to encourage and strengthen them. The Lord speaks a word in season to them when they are helpless and hopeless in themselves, and not knowing what to say or do.
They dig wells by meditation on the Word of the Lord, like the blessed man that is spoken of in the first Psalm, who meditates on the law of God day and night. They are thus enabled to go from strength unto strength. Some render the phrase, “from strength unto strength,” “from company unto company.” As they proceed on the journey the company increases, and the more numerous they become, the more they renew their strength. They encourage one another, and thus go from strength unto strength. If two are better than one, how much more is a large company; they commune with one another, and go from strength to strength by the profitable communication. They go from one company to another in the following sense—from being new-born babes to the company of “little children,” and from that to the company of “young men,” and from that to the company of “fathers” in Israel. While they are strengthened and comforted by each other, they are enabled to persevere in their journey, going from strength to strength, especially by looking unto Jesus, “the author and finisher of their faith.” So long as they have their eye fixed upon Him they are strengthened to go forward, but when they lose sight of Him, from various causes, they become weak and helpless till He manifests Himself to them again. When Peter kept his eye on Christ he could walk upon the face of the waters, but when he took his eye off Him, to look upon his dangerous position, he began to sink. So it is with believers.
IV.—The place they are going to, Zion, that is, heaven.
We are all travelling on to eternity. Where are we going to in the world of eternity? Many are journeying on to hell, but the Lord’s people are going to heaven, and as they are journeying on to that place of perfect felicity, they ought to say to their fellow-sinners by word and practice, as Moses said to Hobab, “We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you. Come thou with us, and we will do thee good, for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel” (Numbers x. 29). They shall all reach heaven; not one of them shall fail to appear there. Our text makes this sure: “Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.” Many that came out of Egypt never reached the land of promise, but all who are brought out of a state of nature shall reach the Zion of glory. It was for this end they were brought out of a state of nature into a state of grace. Whatever may be their own doubts and fears in this matter, God’s purpose concerning them cannot fail of being accomplished.
In conclusion
(1) A word of comfort and encouragement to the Lord’s people. You have met, and you still meet, with many things in your wilderness journey to discourage you, but, as the Lord purposed to bring you to heaven, none of these things shall be able to frustrate His purpose. When you arrive there, you shall leave behind you all that obstructed your way thitherward. Sin within you shall never cause you trouble any more, for you shall be perfectly holy. Unbelief, which caused you much discouragement, shall trouble you no more. You shall be beyond the reach of Satan, who did his utmost to torment you while on earth, and the world that hated and persecuted you is powerless to cause you any more trouble. You shall then fully understand what the Apostle Paul said, “I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. viii. 18). You were weeping in the wilderness, but in heaven all your tears are wiped away from your eyes by the tender and merciful hand of your heavenly Father. While on earth you were drinking out of the streams which flowed from the river of life, but in heaven you shall be drinking out of the fountain-head which dwells in God, the fountain of living waters. In the state of imperfection you were praising God for His goodness to you, but your song of praise was often interrupted, so that, instead of praise, you were crying in prayer to Him in your distress for deliverance, but in heaven prayer shall be exchanged for praise, without interruption, unceasingly throughout eternity. You are still in the “wilderness,” but the Lord has given you repeated tokens for good, the remembrance of which should enable you to set up your Ebenezer, saying, “Hitherto the Lord hath helped us.” And He who helped you hitherto, is able to help you to the end, when you shall shout the song of victory, ascribing the glory to God, in the words of Scripture: “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. xv. 57).
(2) A word to the awakened sinner who asks the important question: “What must I do to be saved?” Take heed that you will not rest satisfied till you receive the only safe answer to that question—”Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”—for many came to your stage of anxiety that never went further, and were lost at last. This ought not to discourage you, although it is a solemn warning. Pray earnestly that the Lord would work faith in you by the effectual work of His Spirit, that you may receive Christ in the free offer of the Gospel. When you are enabled to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you have peace with God, and you may speak to your soul thus: “Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee” (Psalm cxvi. 7).
(3) A word to the careless sinner. What a dangerous state is that in which you are—under the curse of a broken law, and exposed every moment to the awful wrath of an angry God! What a wonder it is that you have not been removed by the messenger of death, from this world of Gospel privileges to the place of everlasting torment in the world of eternity! It is high time that you should awake out of sleep, “to seek the Lord while he may be found, and to call upon his name while he is near.” Although your case is dangerous it is not desperate, for you are invited to come to Christ, “who is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him.” We cannot save you, but “we pray you in Christ’s stead, Be reconciled to God.” “For he hath made him who knew no sin to be a sin offering for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. v. 20, 21). Notwithstanding all the sins of which you have been guilty, nothing shall cause your everlasting ruin but the rejecting of Christ, freely offered to you in the Gospel. We leave the matter with you, and if you die in your sins, we shall be free of your blood. “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy, under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, whereby he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. x. 28, 29).