by Rev. Alex. McPherson
(continued from page 118)
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND TWO
Verse 23. “He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.”
Having pinned his hopes for the future well being and continuity of the Church upon the eternity and faithfulness of its God, the stricken psalmist returns to his own sorrowful case. His journey through life had been checked by weakness, and it appeared now that his life was to be shortened. Many a one has been faced with this situation, and it has often been a stringent test of faith and piety. It has revealed the measure of submission to God’s will. It has stirred up to new fervency the spirit of prayer which had waned into formality and weakness. It has brought low those who had fallen into the habit of thinking that their presence and activities were indispensable. It has brought home to many a true believer how worldly he had been, and how unready to leave all things here and go to the better country.
Verse 24. “I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.”
His case was very bad, yet not so bad that he could not pray about it. So to prayer he goes and pleads that he may not be taken away so soon. We know so little of this man, of what may have depended, humanly speaking, on his life being prolonged. Although great in faith and spiritually ready to go to glory, he may, like Paul, have perceived reasons why it might be better for him to abide in the flesh. So, from the midst of his few, weak days on earth, he looks pleadingly to the eternal fulness of the Most High, the fountain of life.
Verse 25. “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the works of thy hands.”
Whatever the answer to his prayer was to be, the psalmist left the petition at the throne of grace, and let his thoughts return finally to the subject which was dearer to him than life itself, the building of the Church of God. His thoughts of God as the eternal fountain of life and all energy lead him here to remember his great work of creation as that had a bearing on his care for the Church. Could not He who so easily made heaven and earth, build anew the fallen walls of Zion?
Verses 26, 27. “They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.”
No created thing is inherently durable. Divine power maintains it in being until the time comes for it to be dispensed with. That time will come. “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” The eternal God shall discard these things like some time-worn garment, whereas He, Himself shall never change. In like manner his power laid Jerusalem low, but the immutability of his gracious purposes would ensure that not only would Zion be rebuilt, but when its usefulness had ended, the true Zion would continue to be built up forever, belonging as it does to that higher order of things described as the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Verse 28. “The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.”
And so with the assurance afforded by faith the good man foresees a bright future for the Church of God. Those who serve Him will have children who will do the same. God will always have a serving seed who in their own day will put their hands obediently, believably and cheerfully to the work of furthering the prosperity of Zion. God who alone builds up Jerusalem uses such as his agents and instruments and their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. Let us be pleading with Him to use our own children in that way, to teach them his law and declare it to their children that they all might inherit Zion and dwell there as those who love God’s name.
(R’a Leantuin)