IN the fourth verse of this chapter, the Messiah, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, is the speaker, and He says: “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.” In our text He goes in search of this man that is weary to speak comfort to Him: “Who is among you that is weary, and needs comfort?” There were many others, but Christ enquires for a certain person—a person that is in great need—that He should speak a word in season to him. Christ gives a description of the man enquired for, as to his character and present condition. In speaking from the text, we shall consider:—
I.—The character of this man;
II.—His condition; and
III.—The counsel that the Messiah gives him.
I.—His character.
- He feareth the Lord. The Lord’s people are characterised in Scripture as fearing the Lord. It was said of Job that he was a man that “feared God and eschewed evil.” There are two kinds of fearing God. There is, first, a slavish fear such as the devils and unconverted men have. This fear came into the soul of man by sin, and causes men to flee from God for fear of punishment. When Adam sinned, he tried to flee from God, and to hide himself among the trees of the garden, and this fear is natural to all his posterity. They fear the presence of God, and would desire that He did not exist. This fear is at the root of atheism—atheists deny the existence of God, for fear of punishment. This is not the fear that is spoken of in our text, but the fear that is implanted in the souls of those who are born again.
(1) It is a filial fear, the fear that children ought to have towards their parents. They fear their parents, not as enemies, but as those near and dear to them whom they love. This fear is not in any but in God’s children.
(2) It is a reverential fear. They fear the Lord with reverence. God is great and glorious, and is to be “greatly feared in the assembly of the saints” (Ps. lxxxix. 7). We are to serve Him with reverence and godly fear. This fear is among the saints in heaven; they reverence God and fear Him. This fear, instead of driving men away from God, draws them to Him, and causes them to seek His gracious presence, with desire to enjoy his fellowship, as in the case of Job, who said: “O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat” (Job xxiii. 3). We ought to examine ourselves as to whether we bear this mark which makes us to seek after the Lord, as Mary at the grave sought the Lord. She saw a glorious angel, but she still wept till she saw the Lord Himself.
(3) Third, it is an obediential fear and leads to new obedience, as dutiful children obey their parents, not from fear of punishment but from love. They fear to offend their parents, whom they love. This is true of God’s children, and is a mark of love, as Christ says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
(4) It is a holy fear, and causeth its subjects to forsake sin and to walk in the way of holiness.
- The man enquired for “obeyeth the voice of his servant.” The servant here is Christ. He not only hears the Voice, but obeys it. Christ speaks in His works of providence, and in His Word which we have in the Bible. Many hear His voice in the Bible who don’t obey it. There is a great deal of disobedience to Christ’s voice in this age, so that there is cause to ask, “Who hath believed our report?”
II.—His condition.
Christ describes the man in question as in darkness—not the darkness of the natural state, but another kind of darkness to which the Lord’s people are liable during their time in the world. To be in darkness is not pleasant. In a dark night one is afraid to go out of doors, lest he stumble and fall. It is pleasant to see the light. God’s people would like to have the light always, and although the natural light is useful in its own place, some would prefer daylight always.
This man may be in darkness as to his saving interest in Christ. This is a darkness that tries him severely, and causes much trouble and anxiety to him, although it is no trouble to the unconverted. If you are a true believer you may be often in this darkness, although the rest of the Lord’s people have no doubt about your interest in Christ. There was a godly man in Strathdearn who was often in darkness in this respect, though the Lord’s people who knew him had no doubt but he was a true Christian. There was a godly catechist in the parish, who repeatedly visited him, and found that he was in much doubt about his case. The name of the man was William Grant, who lived in a district called Slochd. On one occasion, when the catechist visited him, William said to the catechist: “There is a passage of Scripture often on my mind which I do not understand, that passage is where David says, ‘All men are liars.'” The catechist replied: “I understand that passage quite well. When I visit William Grant, he says to me that he is not a true Christian, but when I ask the Lord’s people, ‘Is William Grant a true Christian?’ they answer, ‘We wonder very much that you would ask us such a question. We never doubted the fact that he is a true Christian.’ And when I go to the surrounding parishes, and ask the same question of the Lord’s people in these places, they return the same answer, but when I come to William Grant himself, and tell him of this, he will say, ‘All these men are liars.’ Are you in this darkness, and saying: “O that I knew that Christ was mine, and that I were His”? We are exhorted to examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith, and as to whether Christ be in us. The Lord’s people examine themselves daily on this and other points pertaining to their everlasting peace. It is awful to go to eternity on a peradventure.
He may also be in darkness as to his duty. Some duties are clear, and there is no room for doubt. It is the duty of all to obey God, and to walk in the ways of His commandments. It is their duty to adhere faithfully to the doctrines of God’s Word. The duty is so plain that it need not be made a matter of prayer as to what one ought to do. There were times when many forsook the truth, and some of these made it a matter of prayer to know the path of duty, but the path of duty was so clear in the light of God’s Word, that it was not really necessary to pray for light as to what they ought to have done.
He may be in darkness as to God’s dealings with him in providence. Jacob said: “All these things are against me,” when, in reality, they were all for him. He may be in darkness as to whether he ought to profess the Lord publicly or not. On Communion occasions some are in this darkness. Have you ever been in darkness as to your duty to profess the Lord publicly? He is in darkness when the Lord hides His face from him, as David was, when he said: “Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled” (Ps. xxx. 7).
He may be in darkness also as to what will become of the Lord’s cause in his day, as to whether it shall become very low, or be revived and prosper. He is not in darkness as to the issue, for Christ’s kingdom must come, and Satan’s kingdom must be destroyed. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” When the Lord sent Moses to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt, He assured him that he would be successful in his undertaking, and that they would worship Him on this mount.
We need not be in doubt as to the issue of the Lord’s cause in the world. It shall prosper, so that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the face of the sea, when idolatry and every system of error shall be utterly destroyed. Dr. Wylie, writing on the seventh vial, says much on this subject, and holds that Romanism, Mahomedanism, and Hinduism, and other false systems are even now on the wane. These systems have led their dupes to atheism, as the French were led at the time of the Revolution in 1789. The destruction of these false systems shall be brought to pass when the last drop of the seventh vial is poured out. Then a happy time shall succeed. Although we do not expect to see it, we rejoice that there is such a time coming.
The man in question, though in darkness, does not sit at ease in it. He is walking in darkness; he is not sitting in it. He is labouring to get out of the darkness into the light. He sometimes walks a long distance in darkness before deliverance comes. He is in darkness, and has no light; he has no comfort, and is in misery. However long you may be in darkness, it is your duty to seek out of it, and to labour diligently for that end. Those that never saw the light feel satisfied with their condition in darkness, and delight in doing the works of darkness.
III.—The counsel that Christ gives him.
(1) The first thing in the counsel is, “Let him trust in the name of the Lord.” The name of the Lord means not only the Lord Himself personally, but His titles by which He reveals Himself in the Scriptures as the God of salvation, who loved His people from all eternity, and continues to do so for ever. His name is in the Word of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Church, commits believers to God, and to the Word of His grace. You may commit yourself to the same Word. There are many precious promises given in that Word, but you say, “I will wait till God’s Word comes to me with power and comfort in the hand of the Holy Spirit.” But, I say to you, when the Word of the Lord does not come to you, go you to the Word, and be not like the Quakers. It is your duty to read and search the Scriptures for all that you need. You will find your case in the Word of the Lord, and also the remedy. There is not a case in which you may be, but you will find in the book of Psalms. Trust in the name of the Lord, as revealed in His Word. Many found comfort from reading the Scriptures. Many go to other books for comfort and pleasure, but the Lord’s people will go to the Bible. You may be in darkness on Sabbath morning, and you come to church praying that Christ will speak a word in season to you.
(2) The second thing in the counsel is, “Let him stay himself upon his God.” When you are in darkness, without any light or comfort, with no good feeling within you, Christ advises you to cast yourself upon your God, as Job did, when he said, “Though He shall slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Say, as Peter and others said, “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” This is the word of comfort Christ speaks to him that is weary. The tongue of the learned has been given to Him as the Mediator, that He should know how to speak a word in season. It is a word in season, and “a word in season, how good it is”! We may try to speak a word of comfort to the Lord’s people in trouble, but we may err in not knowing how to do it; but Christ knows to speak the very word that is needed, and He knows also how to do it. Not knowing how to do it, we may aggravate the sorrow and misery of those whom we seek to comfort; but as Christ knows how to do it, the word He speaks brings light and comfort to His people.
While Christ speaks comfort to His own people, He omits not to speak a word to those who deceive themselves. In the following and last verse of this chapter He speaks to those who walk in the light of the sparks they kindle themselves. “Behold all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” The light they have is only sparks, which give light for a very short time, and then they are in darkness. Such was the light which those had to whom Christ said: “If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness?” And such is the light of many professing Christians at the present time, who substitute the word of man for the Word of God. Their light is short lived, and their end shall be quite different from that of the man to whom the Lord speaks a word in season. Instead of being brought out of darkness, they shall not only sit but lie down in sorrow, and they shall have of Christ’s hand as a punishment for the choice they have made of their own inventions, and for refusing to be led by Christ, who is the light of the world. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John viii. 12). Education is widespread in our day, yet there is great ignorance of spiritual things among the people, more so than in former times, when many could neither read nor write. Much of the education that is given in the public schools tends to leave the scholars in ignorance of God’s Word, and although they are told that they are going to heaven at death, they shall find at the end that they were sadly deceived; instead of going to heaven, they are going to hell.
Reading the words of the text, we may learn how Christ cares for His people, knows their sorrows, and comforts them in the time of need. He would have them to be of good cheer, as He said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation; but, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Before He left the world, we find Him comforting His disciples, saying, “Let not your heart be troubled.” And now that He is glorified in heaven with the Father, with the glory which He had with Him before the world was, He has the same care of His people on earth, and ministers comfort to them, through the word of the Gospel, according to their need. Therefore, in the midst of all their trials and sorrows, He says in His Word, “I will not leave you comfortless.” Let them then trust in the name of the Lord, and stay themselves upon their God. Amen.
Though God deliver not out of trouble, yet He delivers from the ill in trouble, from despair in trouble, by supporting the spirit. Nay, He delivers by trouble, for He sanctifies the trouble to cure the soul, and by less trouble He delivers from greater.