Preached by Rev. ALEXANDER MACASKILL, Lochinver, on 17th May, 1949, in St. Jude’s Hall, Glasgow. (Continued from p. 87)
Now in the 3rd place, we would say a word or two regarding the courage of the Psalmist. We find the Psalmist here saying, ‘Before the gods I will sing praise unto Thee,’ and that required courage. Whatever we are to understand by ‘the gods,’ it is something that appears somewhat great, and would be inclined to turn one away, perhaps, from the path of duty. We are weak creatures. Now you find how the Psalmist speaks in the 119th Psalm, when he pleads with the Lord regarding this, that he would not take His Word utterly out of his mouth, and he is assured that if the Lord would keep the Word of Truth in his mouth he would speak regarding Him to kings, and would not be ashamed.
David was not at all insensible of his own weakness. He knew that he was a frail creature in himself; and the strongest of those who have grace, unless they are upheld by the Lord Himself, how ready they are to be ashamed of that of which they ought not to be ashamed. Have you not felt that, my friend, yourself? How weak you are when confronted with those who have no regard to the Truth of God. It is all very well when you find yourself in nice company, with those who love the Truth, that you would be there feeling somewhat strong and able to speak, but it is when you are brought face to face with those who are opposed to the Word of God and to stand out against such in witnessing on the side of the Lord—that is not an easy matter. That requires grace. It was not an easy matter for Daniel in the land of captivity to continue witnessing on the side of his God. He was brought there face to face with those who were opposed to his God, and to his practice in regard to the worshipping of his God. So it was true of those who had to face the fiery furnace, and many more. It was true in our own land that there were those strengthened and made courageous on the side of the Lord, that even when they were brought face to face with their life being imperilled, they would not deny their God. That is the witness that the Lord will have. There is enough in His own faithfulness to strengthen. He promised grace according to the day, and a back according to the burden. He has promised to those that put their trust in Him that He will be with them alway, even unto the end of the world. There is, I may say, no excuse, there is no reason why we should be cowards. There is everything to be ashamed of for being a coward in witnessing on the side of God. Yet how near that spirit is to us, in showing ourselves in that way. There is nothing in ourselves that will ever act otherwise than being cowards, unless we are kept up by the grace of God.
But what can the grace of God do? It is the grace of God that enables the weak sinner, the blind sinner, the dead sinner to praise God; so it is the grace of God that will enable such to show forth His praise, even before the gods. However great they may appear in our eyes. David was not at this time afraid; he was not ashamed to own his Master and to stand up for his Master in the very face of all the opposition that was to come from them; he was not ashamed to do this. And were it not that the Lord gives strength in that way, just the strength of His grace, we would not as a church be in existence. We have no doubt whatsoever that it was the strength of grace given, just given at the moment, to witness on the Lord’s own side, that was given to the fathers who stood faithfully on the side of Truth in 1893. There is no doubt about that. It was not the strength of man at all, but it was His own strength made perfect in weakness, just grace given of the Lord Himself to continue a witness for Himself, and He gave that grace to those that He saw meet to give it to that no flesh may glory in His presence. Man could not glory regarding this but in God alone. That is the nature of grace, that it causes the poor sinner to know in himself in regard to every step, ‘I have nothing to glory in but to glory in the Lord.’ That is the work of God and wondrous in our eyes. The late Mr. Macfarlane himself would be the first to acknowledge that it was a wonder to himself that he got the strength to do what he did. To stand on the side of Truth as he stood, and no doubt the consciousness of that kept him humble in the dust during the remainder of his days in the world, that he could not but acknowledge the goodness of the Lord to himself, and the goodness of the Lord to others as well.
Now in the 4th place, we see what the Psalmist says there:—‘I will worship toward Thy holy temple;’ that he would worship toward His holy temple, and praise His Name for His loving kindness and for His Truth, and we have mentioned this as wisdom. God has given us a rule, and when the sinner does not keep to the rule that God gave him, however diligent he might be and however much he may do, everything goes for nothing. But, you see, the Psalmist was saying that God had given a rule, and that was his rule; that God had given His own Word as a rule to direct how He was to be glorified, and how sinners were to enjoy Him, and that was his rule. He was seeing here the loving kindness of the Lord revealed to him; God showing Himself in His love and in His kindness; and where that is seen, you may say that just in the very centre of this revelation thus given of God there is the Mercy-seat. It was towards the Mercy-seat that the eye of the Psalmist was when he says, ‘I will worship toward Thy holy temple.’ When the eye is directed away from the Mercy-seat, where are we going to look, or what are we going to look to? Do we not, my friends, stand in need of mercy and that at all times? And where is mercy revealed to us? Do you think that those who were taught of the Lord under the ceremonial law and going to the temple, that they had nothing more than that which they might see there with their bodily eyes? Was there nothing more than the High Priest when he went into the Holy of Holies with the blood to sprinkle the blood on the Mercy-seat? Was there nothing more than that which he was seeing with his bodily eye? That would not carry him very far. But he was beholding here that glorious revelation that God had given of Himself in His beloved Son; and this is the temple that our eye must be drawn to, that we also have to look to—the Lord Jesus Christ; and unless we get to look to Him we cannot be but losers. We are losing even in the midst of all that we have. We have the greatest privileges that any people ever had outwardly in the world. We have the Gospel of the grace of God declared to us from our infancy. We have those of whom this is true, that the Lord taught them, that the Lord sent them out to declare the Word of salvation. But unless we are brought to see that there is One above them all, and unless our heart is lifted up to the Lord Jesus Christ as our only hope, our only glory, as our only salvation, as all our salvation and all our desire, what have we?
‘I will worship toward Thy holy temple.’ There is the wisdom of God showing itself in you if this is true concerning you, that the Lord has lifted you in your understanding above all creatures, that you need the help that cometh from the right hand of the Lord, even from the Mercy-seat. You need that help that cometh from the Lord Himself, Who is sitting on the Mercy-seat and Who is sending forth overtures of mercy; Who is inviting you that you would come to Him, and Who is drawing His own in a way that they are enabled to go. ‘I will look toward Thy holy temple.’ And he would praise the name of the Lord for his loving kindness and for His Truth. What love and what kindness there is here; and this is true, for he says, ‘Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name.’ The revelation that God has given of Himself in His own Word is the only revelation that will save the soul. God has revealed Himself in other ways. His Name is made known in the work of creation, and His Name is made known in the work of providence. He reveals Himself both in creation and in providence, but He has magnified His Word above all His Name. He has given us a revelation of Himself in the Truth as the God of Salvation, and that revelation is not given in creation and in providence; and until we come to know the Lord as revealed to us in His Word we will not come to a right frame of mind regarding the Lord in the work of creation and in the work of providence. This is what He has magnified above every other revelation that He has given of Himself, His own Word; and that, my friend, will be true regarding those in whom this work is done, that they will come to acknowledge this, the Word of God, and the place that belongs to the Word of God. When we lose the Word of God we have nothing left that will profit us. But the soul that is brought to an understanding of the Word of God, oh, that soul is brought to see that were it not for the Word of God no sinner would be saved.
I cannot have hope apart from the Word of God. If I have any hope—and that is the confession, we believe, that is made here before the Lord—whatever I have, I have it in connection with Thy Word. And were it not that God gave His Word, then sinners could not be saved. But the Holy Spirit, in applying this Word to the heart, causes them to know the place that He gives to this above all other revelations that we have of the Lord. May the Lord grant to us that we would come to realise the importance of His Word, and that we would value it, and that we would be seeking to find the Lord; that we would be reading it, and that we would be praying that the Lord would give us to see the glory that is revealed here—the glory of the Saviour that He has sent; and that He would bring us to know our need of that Saviour, and set our feet on that Rock, establish our goings, put a new song in our mouth, cause us to know His loving kindness and His Truth, and to praise Him for it, for He has magnified His Word above all His name.
May He bless anything said consistent with His Word.