Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

come."ed"servant."Book of Proverbs. We shall considersome of the Proverbs in the light ofthe Christian's vocation in the world.Proverbs 6:6-11. The figure of the antas a worthy worker is familiar to all.Through common grace,even an unsavedperson may be a diligent worker andmay provide abundantly for his family.We should thank God for this, for if laziness and indolence dominated the life ofthe unsaved, a much greater burden ofwork would be laid on Christians. Christians would then have to do all of thework that is done in the world, and inadditionthey would have to provide forthe lazy unsaved.On the other hand, indolence may dominate the life of professing Christians.We should remember that daily laborconstitutes a duty for all men. Hard workis a mandate of God's Word. It is theChristian's duty to work, even if he fallsheir to a large fortune and does not needa job for earning his livelihood. It is theduty of every Christian, except thosedisabled by infirmity or old age, to beengaged in some useful occupation."Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished; but he that gathereth by laborshall have increase" (Proverbs 13:11).Proverbs 24:30-34. This passage presents a picture of the run-down farm of asluggard, overrun by weeds and grownup with thorns and bordered by brokendownstone fences. This picture illustratesthe realityof the curse placed upon theground because of man's sin. After theFall God told Adam that the soil wouldbe much less productive than formerlyand that he would have to work harderto produce his bread. "Thorns also andthistles shall it bring forth to thee" (Genesis 3:18).Originally, God had placed Adam inthe garden "to dress it and to keep it,"and every tree and field yielded abundant fruit in its season. Man was given atask, and in performing his task he wasto subdue nature and exercise dominionover it, for the glory of God. But afterman sinned, nature, instead of beingman's friend, became his enemy. Manwas ordained to have dominion over nature, but after sin entered,nature beganto have dominion over man. The groundonly reluctantly yielded man a living.His struggle with the soil dragged himdownward to the grave, and so in the endsubdued man; man died and his bodyreturned to the ground from which itwas taken.The poverty that comes to the sluggard(Proverbs 24:34) is not merelythe natural consequence of indolence, but is apart of the curse of God and a manifestation of His wrath against human sin.Work itself, however, is not a curse; itis a blessing and a gift of God's grace.For the Christian, saved from sin and236redeemed from the curse, labor is ameans to serve God in his work for theexecution of the Plan of Salvation onearth.PRAYER MEETING TOPICNovember 3, 1954Comments by W. O. Ferguson, D.D.COVENANTING: DAVID'S PRAYEROF THANKSGIVINGII Samuel 7:18-29.Psalms referred to later may be usedin the praise service.References: Acts 13:22-23; Acts 2:25-31; Matt. 22:42-45; II Sam. 23: 1-5;Further references are given in connection with the outline.David's prayer of thanksgiving is oneof the most beautiful and significantportions of the Holy Scripture. A parallel is given in I Chron. 17:16-27. It isbased upon the Covenant Promise madeto David recorded in II Sam. 7:1-17.The promise referred to has in it thatwhich is of unmeasured greatness. Infact it is not one particular blessingbut includes a long line of blessings beginning with promise made to AdamGen. 3:15-17 and extending on to theend of time. In this prayer we maydiscover the causes that moved Davidthe King, to express the gratitude ofhis heart, and also the manner employedin so doing. The importance of thisevent to David and to Israel is seen inthe many references to it, foundthroughout the Bible. It is generallythought that the following Psalms written by David are based on this event:Ps. 61; Ps. 101; 102; 103; 110; 138. Whilethe 89th Psalm may not have been written by David, it celebrates the sameevent and shows the importance of itto Israel and to all Christian people.Any of the above Psalms maywell beused in the praise service of thanksgiving. (Psalms 18 and 21 should havebeen included in the above list.)When David was in the act of expressing his gratitude, his thoughts (a)go back to the past. God has chosenhim and preserved him from all foesand dangers that beset his path. Memory calls up the past and in it he seesthe good hand of God, for which he nowgives thanks, (b). Then the presentcomes to mind. Here Psalm 103 wouldbe a fitting tribute of praise, (c). Thenthe future comes before him as expressed in these words "For Thou hastalso spoken of thya great while toservant's house forI Chron. 17:17.Thus in the past, present and future,David found abundant reason for gratitude. In the Scripture chosen for oursubject we have the record of his grateful and believing acceptance of thehispromise of God, which assured him thatseed and throne should endure forever.I.Note that this Prayer of Thanksgivingconsists of praise for:1. Personal Blessings, "Who am I, OLord God, and what is mine house, thatthou hast brought me hitherto?" IChron. 17:16-21. All through his life hehad been the object of Divine favors,of which he deems himself unworthy andfor which he gives thanks.2. National Blessings, "And what onenation in the earth is like thy peopleIsrael, whom God went to redeem tobe his own people, to make thee a nameof greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people,whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?For thy people Israel didst thou makethine own people forever; and thou,Lord, becamest their God." I Chron.17: 21-22. "Blessed is the Nation whoseGod is the Lord; and the people whomhe hath chosen for his own inheritance."3. God's Revealed Purpose. "Whereforethou art great, O Lord God: for thereis none like thee, neither is there anyGod beside thee, according to all that wehave heard with our II Sam. 7:22.ears.""For thou, O Lord of hosts, God ofIsrael, hast revealed to thy servant,saying, I will build thee an house:therefore hath thy servant found in hisheart to pray this prayer unto thee."II Sam. 7:27. "Therefore now, O Lord,thou art God, and hast promised thisgoodness unto thy17:26.I Chron.This divine purpose is to be wroughtout through David's descendants ofwhom the Christ should come. (Isaiah 9:7).II.Note the Spirit of Thanksgiving inthis prayer:1. A true view of self. In the 18thverse David expresses his sense of personal unworthiness and humility. Compare Job 22:5-6; Isaiah6:5.2. A true view of the Christ as the Onepromised. See II Sam. 7:19; II Sam. 23:3-4; Ps. 89:19.3. A true view of the end and purposeof life, as that in which God's name isto be glorified. II Sam. 7:26.III.Note that the Prayer of ThanksgivingGod."is addressed to And David theKing went in and sat before the Lord."His posture was one of reverence andhonor common in his day. The verbhere rendered "sat" may mean "remainor "continued." See Deut. 21:13;Judges 5:17; I Kings 11:16; where itis so translated. In David's prayer thereis the indication of:1. Complete confidence in God, resting(Continued on page 240)COVENANTER WITNESS