Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

supplication"me."ourselves"me."thoughts. "I cried unto the Lord withmy voice; with my voice unto the Lorddid I make my(verse 1).David's prayer does not give God anynew information, since God alreadyknows of his circumstances and hisdanger (Read verses 2 and 3). Maclarensays that telling God his troubles is"for the complainer's relief, not forGod's information."In verse 4 David complains that hehad no friends to comfort or sympathizewith himwould know"There was no man thatDelitzsch translatesthis: "No friend appeareth foris not literally true that David had nofriends during his wanderings, for inthe historical background (1 Samuel22:1) we are told that when his brethren and his father's house heard of hiswhereabouts, theyItall went to dwellnear him. There were about fourhundred men with him during his sojourn in the cave of Adullam. David wasnot friendless when he wrote this Psalm.David had friends, but he complainsthat they gave him no help. It was not,however, that his friends would not helphim, but they could not help him.Human help and human sympathy goonly so far. Only God is a sure refuge.So David flees to God, and in Him putshis trust, verses 5 and 6. And in theend, although his friends could not helphim, they rejoice with him in his victory."We have companions in joy; sorrow wehave to face by(Maclaren).Do we sometimes feel that we haveno friend to sympathize with us or cheerus? Do we have foes that trample onour hurt feelings, and other cares thatburden us with worry and anxiety? Godis a sure refuge in the desert places oflife, and on the steepmountains ofearthly difficulties. If we climb upwardby faith, we will find our refuge onhigh.II. The Beleagured Nation Finds itsRefuge in God (Psalm 46).The godly believer's Refuge is also thegodly nation's Refuge. Delitzsch entitlesthe 46th Psalm: "A Mighty Fortress isOur God," borrowing the title from thewell-known hymn byMartin Luther.The historical setting for the Psalmis an interesting one, recorded in 2Chronicles 20. It takes place in the reignof Jehoshaphat King of Judah. TheMoabites, Ammonites and Edomites hadformed an alliance against Judah, andhad threatened to invade the capital,Jerusalem. Jehoshaphat called the nation together for a day of prayer. Thepeople assembled in the Temple to offer prayer to Jehovah for the nation'sdefense and security. During the day,the Spirit of the Lord came upon theprophet Jehaziel, who predicted that be-300References: Ezek. 33:31; Matt. 15:8; Ifore the break of day, help would come111:1-3, 6, 7, page 276 periority over all that went before.from Jehovah.Cor. 10:31; John 15:14; Romans 12:1;Next day, before the battle was Deut. 1:30, 31; 3:21; Phil. 4:18; Col. 1:pitched, instead of sending an army out 10; 3:20; Prov. 16:17; I Thess. 4:1;to meet the enemy, singers (the sonsof Korah; see the superscription of thePsalm) went to the front line and sanga song of victory, telling the heathenarmies that God was Israel's strongPs. 51:19.This is the last of the Prayer Meetingtopics on Covenanting to be used duringthe year 1954. We have considered "TheGOD of the Covenant" in topics oneRefuge. The Lord had providentially through four; then "CHRIST in His Rearranged for maurading desert bands, lation to the Covenant" in topics fivewaiting in ambush, to attack the through eight; then "The Holy Spirit inheathen enemies of Judah. The heathen the Application and Working Out of thenations were thrown into confusion, Covenant Idea, especially in Individualturned against themselves and killed one in topics nine through eleven. WeLife"another. So great was the devastationthat it took three days for the warriorsof Judah to strip the jewels and othervaluables from the dead.shall close this series of topics by considering "The Realization of the Covenant Promise" as it relates to our ownpersonal lives.Psalm 46 reflects the song which wassung out on the battle line on thatI.memorable day. The Levites no doubt In the Scripture chosen for this topic,sang the same theme: "God is ourwe have GOD set forth as the "God ofRefuge and Strength."Peace": (a) God is the God of Peace inMany times during the history of Israel His own person, and the One throughwhom alland Judah, God miraculously deliveredindividual and social peace isHis people from the power of godless,heathen enemies. This was part of God'sto be secured. Since peace is so important and so vital to the welfare of manwork of redemption. God's work of kind, this truth is worthy of much conprovidence is closely related to His worksideration, (b) Then God's concern in beof redemption; both serve toward the half of mankind is set forth in the folfulfilment of God's purposes for the lowing words, "Now the God of Peaceworld. God's people still have enemies,there is still evil in the world, and therethat brought again from the dead ourLord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd ofis still confusion and turmoil and war.thesheep."In many Scripture passagesBut God is still our Refuge and Strengthin the midst of the present evil world.God is still able to preserve and dewe are directed to consider the activitiesof God in our behalf, such as, "Ye haveseen what I did unto the Egyptians, andfend His people against the attacks ofhow I bare you oneagles'wings, andall godless enemies: the materialist,brought you unto myself. Now therefore,the secularist, theif ye willadvocate of modernobey my voice indeed, andheathenism (Mohammedanism, Bud keep my covenant, then ye shall be adhism, Liberal "Christianity," etc.) andpeculiar treasure unto me above all peothe communist. These enemies may at ple: for all the earth is mine: And yeshalltack the Church or the godly nation, butbe unto me a kingdom of priests,and anthey will stand as bulwarks of truth holy nation. These are the wordswhich thou shalt speak unto the childrenand righteousness. The movements ofnations are still under God's governingof Israel" (Ex. 19:4-6).hand. God's works of providence are In the New Testament the Resurreccoordinated with His work of worldredemption. God's people will triumphin the end, because the Lord of hosts ison our side. The Kingdom of God willcome not because we fight and work andtion of Christ is set before us as one ofmighty acts of God, which demonstrates the greatness of divine power. It isnot that the other acts of God as recorded in the Old Testament are to be leftbuild, but because GOD IS OUR out of view, but that in the ResurrectionREFUGE AND STRENGTH.power there is the supreme manifestationof God's work in man's redemption.PRAYER MEETING TOPICFor December 1, 1954II.The Ground of Confidence "throughCovenanting: The Covenant PromiseRealized: Hebrews 13:20, 21the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant."In the Resurrection of Christ we see notComments by W. O. Ferguson, D.D. only the working and display of power,Psalms25:7-12, page 59but also the ground of confidence. One ofthe main purposes of the Book of He106:22, 23, 30-33, page 263105:1-7, page 25769:25-27, 30, page 16889:14-17, page 217brews is to inspire confidence in Christand in Christianity. The author of Hebrews compares Christ with the formerservants of God only to present His suCOVENANTER WITNESS