Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

me."
God. He saw what would happen to their nation when
the hand of God began to work for them. He saw a
glorious future for his nation when they returned to
God. He saw their strength renewed.
He might have been thinking of history. Think
of the low condition of the Israelites as they were in
bondage down in the land of Egypt. Their task mas
ters were hard on them. The king was killing their
children. They cried to God for help. None seemed to
come but it was coming. Out in the wilderness on a
lonely mountain side was a flock of sheep. Their
shepherd had forgotten about them for the time. He
was watching the burning bush and listening to the
voice of God. He was arguing with God about his
weaknesses. God was showing to him His power and
giving Moses a vision concerning his people. When he
returned to his sheep, it was to take them home safe
ly to his father-in-law and start with his family
towards the land of Eigypt. You know the story of
how this man, 80 years old, began a task that seemd
impossible and emerges from the pages of history as
not only the greatest leader of Israel, but as well, one
of the meekest men that ever lived. How were these
two qualities put together They were united
through the vision Moses had of the power of God.
During this journey we find a man by the name
of Caleb who went with eleven others to spy out the
land. He came back with the others. Ten of them said
that they could not conquer the land. He and Joshua
said they could. At forty years of age he said, "We
us."
can possess the land because God will fight for
Forty years later this man led a small army into the
mountains and hills that they had searched out and
defeated the giants who had made the whole na
tion of Israel faint. Why was he able to do this He
had a vision of the power of God. He relied upon God
and not man. .
This same vision was stored in the life of a young
man who unexpectedly brought victory to his nation
while still too young for the army The story of David
children but adults
and Goliath has thrilled not only
as well. It has thrilled us because we see the power of
God working in this young man. Put yourself in his
position. The trained army was scared to death of
this giant. They fled from him. An untrained youth
with his youthful zeal and handy slingshot walks out
to meet the giant. Everyone holds his breath as he
nears the giant. They see the motion of his arm. The
giant falls. The young man springs forward. The
camp is silent. The glitter of the sword flashes in the
sunlight. The head of the giant is
early morning
raised in the hand of David. The earth is filled with
shouts of joy from the Israelites and with shouts of
fright from the Philistines. What was the difference
between this young man and the rest of the army
He had a vision of the power of God. He humbly re
lied upon the power of God and saved his nation.
The vision of the prophet was the same, as he
wrote these words of prophecy. He saw that a re
newed vision of the power of God would bring peace
and prosperity to their nation. He had received his
vision as he saw his unworthiness and sinfulness as
he stood in the presence of God. God had cleansed
him with the coal from off the altar and he had re
sponded to the call of God.
In the same way we claim that we have received
a new vision of the power of God. We claim that we
have seen our sinfulness and unworthiness. We claim
February 16, 1955
that we responded to the call of God to go forward
in His cause with renewed zeal. With such claims
we ought to have a new vision of the power of God.
Do we Do we feel the power of God surging through
our veins Are we like the powerful engine sitting on
the tracks and awaiting the touch of the engineer to
go forward to the task that He has given to us We
are relying upon the fuel that He has filled our tanks
with, to go forward in the work of Christ at least
we said we were. What vision do you have of the
work that can be accomplished We must rely on
God for our vision.
There is a determination that should fill our
thoughts. We are going to wait on the Lord for the
strength we need. We know that it is not a foolish
act because we have the promises of God. Still this
wait must not be such that will cause us to be inac
tive. It should be a determination that will cause us
to do the tasks that God brings to us to do day by
day trusting Him for the power to perform them. We
must not permit the world to bring doubt to our
minds but with the blind faith which is enlightened
by the vision of God's Word we can go forward.
In the picture of the verses, we have the deter
mination of a runner or traveler. He has a goal
toward which he is running or an aim toward which
he is traveling. His thoughts are on one thing
completing the task that lies before him. Added to
this picture is the trust which such runners or trav
elers have in the power of God to help them. Like
Paul who said, "I can do all things through Christ
which strengthened He relied upon the power
of God. He had determination because he had a vision
of what could be accomplished.
We must remember that determination and hu
mility go together. Determination is not pride but
rather the zeal which sends us forward to do a task
that needs to be done. It is like a swimmer who hears
the cry for help. He swims out to save the drowning
swimmer. He fights his way back to shore with the
added load of the one being saved. His arms and legs
become tired. It seems that shore is a long ways off.
Will he make it His arms and legs seem to be mov
ing mechanically. As he drops his burden on shore, he
drops exhausted. Determination had kept him going.
So it should send us forward in the work of Christ
with zeal for His cause not only because we have
covenanted together but rather 'because of the vision
which we have of the cause of Christ.
The act is past but the work is ahead. Tempta
tions will be found coming into our path. We must
not become weary of well doing. We must go forward
with renewed zeal. We must fight as courageous sol
diers of the cross of Christ. Christ's kingdom does
not depend upon anyone of us individually or collec
tively. We can fail and know that His kingdom will
go forward but in humble reliance upon God's grace
we will have the vision of the part He has given us
to play in the work of His kingdom. With this vision
we will have the determination to succeed no matter
how rough the path might be. We will walk or run.
We will speak or act. We do not know the future but
we are determined to go forward. We will carry
proudly the banner of our Lord and Saviour. We can
speak with assurance because we are willing to put
our hand in the hand of God and know that He will
not fail us. Don't jerk your hand out of His and you
need not worry about keeping your covenant with
God. You are humbly relying on Him !
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