LivePrayerSermon 2673. Christ Crucified
(No. 2673)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 6, 1900.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK, ON A LORD'S-DAY EVENING, EARLY IN THE YEAR 1858.
"For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:2.
CORINTH was situated in the midst of a people who admired eloquence and wisdom. This Epistle was written in the age of oratorsand philosophers. The Apostle Paul was a man of profound learning-he had been educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all thewisdom of the East. We are quite sure he was a man of a very capacious mind, for, although his writings were inspired by theHoly Spirit, yet the Holy Spirit chose as His instrument a man evidently possessing the capacity for strong and vigorous thoughtand argument and, as for his oratorical powers, I believe that if he had chosen to cultivate them, they would have been ofthe very first order, for we have in some of his Epistles eloquence more sublime than ever fell from the lips of Cicero orDemosthenes.
The temptation would exist, in the mind of any ordinary man entering into such a city as Corinth, to say within himself, "Iwill endeavor to excel in all the graces of oratory. I have a blessed Gospel to preach that is worthy of the highest talentsthat ever can be consecrated to it. I am," Paul might have said to himself, "largely gifted in the matter of eloquence. Imust now endeavor to carefully polish my periods and so to fashion my address as to excel all the orators who now attractthe Corinthians to listen to them. This I may do very laudably, for I will still keep in view my intention of preaching JesusChrist-and I will preach Jesus Christ with such a flow of noble language that I shall be able to win my audience to considerthe subject."
But the Apostle resolved to do no such thing. "No," he said, "before I enter the gates of Corinth, this is my firm determination-ifany good is to be done there, if any are led to believe in Christ the Messiah, their belief shall be the result of hearingthe Gospel-not of my eloquence! It shall never be said, 'Oh, no wonder that Christianity spreads, see what an able advocateit has.' Rather, it shall be said, 'How mighty must be the Grace of God which has convinced these persons by such simple preaching,and brought them to know the Lord Jesus Christ by such humble instrumentality as that of the Apostle Paul!'" He resolved toput a curb upon his fiery tongue. He determined that he would be slow in speech in the midst of them and, instead of magnifyinghimself, he would magnify his office and magnify the Grace of God by denying himself the full use of those powers which, hadthey been dedicated to God-as indeed they were, but had they been fully employed, as some would have used them-might haveachieved for him the reputation of being the most eloquent preacher upon the face of the earth!
Again, he might have said, "These philosophers are very wise men. If I would be a match for them, I must be very wise, too.These Corinthians are a very noble race of people-they have, for a long time, been under the tutorage of these talented men.I must speak as they speak, in enigmas and with many sophisms. I must always be propounding some dark problem. I need notlive in the tub of Diogenes, but if I take his lantern, I may do something with it. I must try and borrow some of his wisdom.I have a profound philosophy to preach to these clever people and if I liked to preach that philosophy, I should dash in piecesall their theories concerning mental and moral science. I have found out a wondrous secret and I might stand in the midstof the market and cry, 'Eureka, Eureka, I have found it!' But I do not care to build my Gospel upon the foundation of humanwisdom. No, if any are brought to believe in Christ, it shall be from the simple
unadorned Gospel, plainly preached in unpolished language. The faith of my hearers, if they are converted to God, shall notstand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
Can you not see, dear Friends, that the Apostle had very good reasons for coming to this determination? When a man says thathe is determined to do a certain thing, it looks as if he knew that it was a difficult thing to do. So, I think it must havebeen a hard thing for the Apostle to determine to keep to this one subject-"Jesus Christ and Him crucified." I am sure thatnine-tenths of the ministers of this age could not have done it. Fancy Paul going through the streets of Corinth and hearinga philosopher explain the current theory of creation. He is telling the people something about the world springing out ofcertain things that previously existed and the Apostle Paul thinks, "I could easily correct that man's mistakes. I could tellhim that the Lord created all things in six days and rested on the seventh, and show him in the Book of Genesis the Inspiredaccount of the creation. But, no," he says to himself, "I have a more important message than that to deliver." Still, he musthave felt as if he would have liked to set him right, for, you know, when you hear a man uttering a gross lie, you feel asif you would like to go in and do battle with him. But instead of that, the Apostle just thinks, "It is not my business toset the people right about their theory of the creation of the world. All that I have to do is to know nothing but Jesus Christand Him crucified."
Besides, in Corinth, there was now and then sure to be a political struggle, and I have no doubt that the Apostle Paul feltfor his people, the Jews, and he would have liked to see all his Jewish kindred have the privilege of citizenship. Sometimesthe Corinthians would hold a public meeting in which they would support the opinion that the Jews ought not to have citizenshipin Corinth-might not the Apostle have made a speech at such a gathering? If he had been asked to do so, he would have said,"I know nothing about such matters! All I know is Jesus Christ and Him crucified." They had political lectures, no doubt,in Corinth, and one man delivered a lecture upon this subject, and another upon that. In fact, all kinds of wonderful themestaken from the ancient poets were descanted upon by different men. Did not the Apostle Paul take one of the lectures? Didhe not say, "I may throw a little Gospel into it and so do some good ?" No, he said, "I come here as Christ's minister andI will never be anything else but Christ's minister. I will never address the Corinthians in any other character than thatof Christ's ambassador. For one thing, only, have I determined to know, and that is Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Wouldto God that all the ministers of this age had determined to do the same!
Do you not sometimes find a minister who takes a prominent part in an election, who thinks it his business to stand forthon the political platform of the nation? And did it ever strike you that he was out of his place, that it was his businessto know nothing among men except Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Do we not see, at every corner of our streets, a lectureadvertised to be delivered on this and that and the other subject, by this minister and that, who leave their pulpits in orderthat they may be enabled to deliver lectures upon all kinds of subjects? "No," Paul would have said, "if I cannot spread theGospel of Christ legitimately, by preaching it openly, I will not do it by taking an absurd title for my sermon! The Gospelshall stand or fall on its own merits, and with no enticing words of man's wisdom will I preach it. Let anyone say to me,'Come and give able advocacy for this or that reform,' and my answer would be, 'I do not know anything about that subject,for I have determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.'"
As Albert Barnes very well says, "This should be the resolution of every minister of the Gospel. This is his business- notto be a politician; not to engage in the strifes and controversies of men; not to be merely a good farmer, or scholar; notto mingle with his people in festive circles and enjoyments; not to be a man of taste and philosophy or distinguished mainlyfor refinement of manners; not to be a profound philosopher or metaphysician, but to make Christ crucified the grand Objectof his attention and to seek always and everywhere to make Him known. He is not to be ashamed anywhere of the humbling doctrinethat Christ was crucified. In this, he is to glory! Though the world may ridicule, though philosophers may sneer, though therich and the gay may deride it, yet this is to be the grand object of interest to him and at no time, and in no society, isto be ashamed of it!
"It matters not what are the amusements of society around him-what fields of science, or gain, or ambition, are open beforehim-the minister of Christ is to know only Christ and Him crucified. If he cultivates science, it is to be that he may themore successfully explain and vindicate the Gospel. If he becomes in any manner familiar with the works of art and of taste,it is that he may more successfully show to those who cultivate them the superior beauty and excellence of the Cross. If hestudies the plans and the employments of men, it is that he may more successfully meet them in those plans and more successfullyspeak to them of the great plan of redemption! The preaching of the Cross is the only kind of
preaching that will be attended with success! That which has in it much respecting the Divine mission, the dignity, the works,the Doctrines, the Person and the Atonement of Christ will be successful.
"So it was in the time of the Apostles! So it was in the Reformation! So it was in the Moravian missions! So it has been inall revivals of religion! There is a power about that kind of preaching which philosophy and human reason have not. 'Christis God's great ordinance' for the salvation of the world and we meet the crimes and alleviate the woes of the world just inproportion as we hold the Cross up as appointed to overcome the one and to pour the balm of consolation into the other."
Would that all ministers would keep this mind, that they would do nothing outside the office of the ministry, that to oncebe a minister is to be a minister forever and never to be a politician, never to be a lecturer! That to once be a preacheris to be a preacher of Christ's holy Gospel until Christ takes us to Himself to begin to sing the new song before the Throneof God!
Now, Brothers and Sisters, I have discharged my duty in saying these things. If they apply to any ministers whom you admire,I cannot help it. There is the text and what do we learn from it but this, that the Apostle Paul determined to do everythingas a minister of Christ! And, my dear Brothers and Sisters, it is your duty to do this as hearers. As Christians, it is yourduty and privilege to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified!
I. And first, with regard to THE DOCTRINES WHICH YOU BELIEVE, I beseech you, do not know anything except Jesus Christ andHim crucified.
You are told by one person that such-and-such a system of theology is based upon the most sound principles of reason. Youare told by another that the old doctrines which you have believed are not consistent with these advanced times. You willnow and then be met by smart young gentlemen who will tell you that to be what is called a Calvinist is to be a long way behindthis progressive age, "for you know," they say, "that intellectual preachers are rising up and that it would be well if youwould become a little more intellectual in the matter of preaching and hearing." When such a remark as that is made to anyone of you, I beseech you to give this answer, "I know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If you can tell me moreabout Christ than I know, I will thank you. If you can instruct me as to how I may become more like Christ, how I may livenearer in fellowship with Him, how my faith in Him may become stronger and my belief in His holy Gospel may become more firm,then I will thank you. But if you have nothing to tell me except some intellectual lore which you have with great pains accumulated,I will tell you that although it may be a very good thing for you to preach, and for others who are intellectual to hear,I do not belong to your class, nor do I wish to belong to it-I belong to that sect spoken against everywhere, who after theway that men call heresy worship the Lord God of their fathers-believing all things that are written in the Law and in theProphets. I belong to a race of people who believe that it is not the pride of intellect, nor the pomp of knowledge that canever teach men spiritual things. I belong to those who think that out of the mouths of babes and sucklings God has ordainedstrength, and I do not believe that out of your mouth God has ordained any strength at all! I belong to the men who like tosit, with Mary, at the feet of Jesus, and to receive just what Christ said, as Christ said it, and because Christ said it.I want no truth but what He says is the Truth of God, and no other ground for believing it but that He says it, and no betterproof that it is true than that I feel and know it to be true as applied to my own heart."
Now, dear Friend, if you can do that, I will trust you anywhere-even among the wisest heretics of the age! You may go wherefalse doctrines are rife, but you will never catch the plague of heresy while you have this golden preservative of the Truthof God and can say, "I know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified." As for myself, I can truly say that Jesus Christand Him crucified is the sum of all knowledge to me. He is the highest intellectualism! He is the grandest philosophy to whichmy mind can attain! He is the pinnacle that rises loftier than my highest aspirations and deeper than this great Truth ofGod I wish never to fathom! Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the sum total of all I want to know and of all the Doctrineswhich I profess and preach!
II. Next, it must be just the same in YOUR EXPERIENCE. Brothers and Sisters, I beseech you, in your experience know nothingexcept Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
You may go out tomorrow not merely into the outside world, but into the church, the nominal church, and you will meet witha class of persons who take you by the ear and who invite you into their houses. And the moment you are there, they beginto talk to you about the Doctrines of the Gospel. They say nothing about Christ Jesus, but they begin at once
to talk of the eternal decrees of God, of election and of the high mysteries of the Covenant of Grace. While they are talkingto you, you say in your hearts, "What they are saying is true, but there is one lamentable defect in it all-their teachingis the truth apart from Christ." Conscience whispers, "The election that I believe is election in Christ. These men do nottalk anything about that, but only of election. The redemption that I believe always has a very special reference to the Crossof Christ. These men do not mention Christ-they talk of redemption as a commercial transaction and say nothing about Jesus.With regard to final perseverance, I believe all that these men say, but I have been taught that the saints only perseverein consequence of their relation to Christ-these men say nothing about that." This minister, they say, is not sound, and thatother minister is not sound, and let me tell you that if you get among this class of persons, you will learn to rue the daythat you ever looked them in the face!
If you must come into contact with them, I beseech you to say to them, "I love all truths that you hold, but my love of themcan never overpower and supersede my love to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I tell you plainly, while I could not sitto hear erroneous doctrine, I could just as soon do that as sit to hear the truthful doctrine apart from the Lord Jesus Christ!I could not go to a place where I saw a man dressed in gorgeous robes, who pretended to be Christ, and was not. And, on theother hand, I could not go to a place where I saw Christ's real robes, but the Master, Himself, was absent-what I need isnot His robe-I need the Master, Himself. And if you preach to me dry doctrine without Jesus Christ, I tell you it will notsuit my experience, for my experience is just this-that while I know my election, I can never know it unless I know my unionwith the Lamb. I tell you plainly that I know I am redeemed, but I cannot bear think of redemption without thinking of theSavior who redeemed me. It is my boast that I shall endure to the end, but I know-each hour makes me know-that my endurancedepends upon my standing in Christ. I must have that Truth preached in connection with the Cross of Christ."
Oh, have nothing to do with these people, unless it is to set them right, for you will find that they are full of the gallof bitterness and the poison of asps is under their tongue! Instead of giving you things whereon your soul can feed, theywill make you full of all manner of bitterness, malice and evil speaking against those who truly love the Lord Jesus, butwho differ from them in some slight matter.
You may meet with another class of persons who will take you by the other ear, and say to you, "We, too, love Christ's doctrines,but we believe that our friends on the other side of the road are wrong. They do not preach enough experience." And you say,"Well, I think I have got among the people who will suit me, now," and you hear the minister insisting that the most preciousexperience in the world is to know your own corruption, to feel the evil of the human heart, to have that filthy dunghillturned over and over in all its reeking noisomeness and exposed before the sun! And after hearing the sermon, which is fullof pretended humility, you rise from your seats more proud than you ever were in your lives, determined now that you willbegin to glory in that very thing which you once counted as dross! The things which you were ashamed, once, to speak of, younow think should be your boast! That deep experience which was your disgrace shall now become the crown of your rejoicing!You speak to the dear Brothers and Sisters who imbibe this view and they tell you to seek first, not the Kingdom of God andHis righteousness, but the hidden things of the prison, the discovery of the unrighteousness and unholiness of the soul.
my dear Friends, if you wish to have your lives made miserable! If you want to be led back to the bondage of Egypt. If youwant to have Pharaoh's rope put round your necks once again, take their motto for your motto. But if you wish to live as Ibelieve Christ would have you live, I would entreat you to say, "No, it does me good, sometimes, to hear of the evil heart,but I have made a determination to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and you do not tell me anything aboutHim." These men preach one Sunday upon the leper, but do they preach, the next Sunday, upon the leper healed! These men tellall about the filthy state of the human heart, but they say little or nothing about that river that is to cleanse and purifyit! They say much about the disease, but not so much about the Physician! And if you attend their ministry very long, youwill be obliged to say, "I shall get into such a doleful condition that I shall be tempted to imitate Judas and go out andhang myself! So, good morning to you, for I have determined to know nothing in my experience but Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
1 must be very earnest in trying to warn you about this matter, for there is a growing tendency, among a certain order ofprofessing Christians, to set up something in experience beside Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Tell me that your experienceis all concerned with the Lord Jesus Christ, and I will rejoice in it. The more of Christ there is in it, the more
precious it is. Tell me that your experience is full of the knowledge of your own corruptions, and I answer, "If there isnot in it a mixture of the knowledge of Christ, and unless the knowledge of Christ predominates to a large degree, your experienceis wood, hay and stubble and must be consumed-and you must suffer loss."
By the way, let me tell you a little story about Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. I am a great lover of John Bunyan, but I donot believe him Infallible. The other day I met with a story about him which I think a very good one. There was a young manin Edinburgh who wished to be a missionary. He was a wise young man. So he thought, "If I am to be a missionary, there isno need for me to transport myself far away from home. I may as well be a missionary in Edinburgh." There's a hint to someof you ladies who give away tracts in your district, but never give your servant Mary one. Well, this young man started andhe was determined to speak to the first person he met. He met one of those old fishwives- those of us who have seen them cannever forget them-they are extraordinary women, indeed! So, stepping up to her, he said, "Here you are, coming along withyour burden on your back. Let me ask you if you have got another burden, a spiritual burden." "What?" she asked. "Do you meanthat burden in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress? Because if you do, young man, I got rid of that many years ago, probablybefore you were born.
"But I went a better way to work than the pilgrim did. The evangelist that John Bunyan talks about was one of your parsonsthat do not preach the Gospel, for he said, 'Keep that light in your eye and run to the wicket-gate.' Why, man alive! Thatwas not the place for him to run to! He should have said, 'Do you see that Cross? Run there at once!' But, instead of that,he sent the poor pilgrim to the wicket-gate first-and much good he got by going there! He got tumbling into the slough andwas like to have been killed by it."
"But did not you," the young man asked, "go through any Slough of Despond?" "Yes, I did. But I found it a great deal easiergoing through with my burden off than with it on my back." The old woman was quite right! John Bunyan put the getting ridof the burden too far off from the commencement of the pilgrimage. If he meant to show what usually happens, he was right,but if he meant to show what ought to have happened, he was wrong. We must not say to the sinner, "Now, Sinner, if you willbe saved, go to the baptismal pool, go to the wicket-gate, go to the church-do this or that." No, the Cross should be rightin front of the wicket-gate and we should say to the sinner, "Throw yourself down there and you are safe. But you are notsafe till you can cast off your burden and lie at the foot of the Cross and find peace in Jesus."
III. Let me conclude by saying, Brothers and Sisters, determine, from this hour, that IN YOUR FAITH you will know nothingbut Jesus and Him crucified.
I am perfectly certain that I have not a grain of my own merit to trust in and not so much as an atom of creature strengthto rely upon, but I often find myself, during the seven days of the week, relying upon merit of my own that does not exist,and depending upon strength of my own which I, at the same time, confess has no existence at all. You and I often call the"Pope," the antichrist, but do we not, ourselves, often play the antichrist, too? The "Pope" sets himself as the head of theChurch, but do not we go further by setting ourselves up, sometimes, to be our own saviors? We do not say so, except in asort of still small voice, like the mutterings of the old wizards. It is not a loud, out-spoken lie, because we would know,then, how to answer it. "But now," whispers the devil, "how well you did that!" And then we begin to rely upon our works,and Satan says, "You prayed so well yesterday, you will never be cold in your prayers again. And you will be so strong inyour faith that you will never doubt your God again."
It is the old golden calf that is set up once more, for, although it was ground to powder, it seems to have the art of comingtogether again! After we have been told, ten times over, that we cannot have any merit of our own, we begin to act as if wehad! And the man who tells you, in his doctrine, that all his fresh springs are in Christ, yet thinks and acts just as ifhe had fresh springs of his own-he mourns as if all his dependence were upon himself and groans as if his salvation dependedupon his own merits! We often get to talking, in our own souls, as if we did not believe the Gospel at all, but were hopingto be saved by our own works and our own creature performances. Oh, for a stronger determination to know nothing but JesusChrist and Him crucified! I would to God that I could make that resolution, myself, and that you would all make it with me!
I heard once of a countryman who was preaching, one day, and he preached very nicely the first half of his sermon, but towardsthe end he entirely broke down and his brother said to him, "Tom, I can tell you why you did not preach well at the end ofyour sermon. It was because you got on so nicely at first that devil whispered, 'Well done, Tom, you are
getting on very well.' And as soon as the devil said that, you thought, 'Tom is a very fine fellow,' and then the Lord leftyou." Happy would it have been for Tom if he could have determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him cruci-fied-andnot to have known Tom at all!
That is what I desire to know myself, for if I know nothing but the power which comes from on high. I can never be less powerfulat one time than at another and I can glory in my infirmity because it makes room for Christ's power to rest upon me-
"I glory in infirmity,
That Christ's own power may rest on me: When I am weak, then am I strong, Grace is my shield, and Christ my song."
It would be a good resolution for you, Brothers, and for myself, to determine to know nothing about ourselves and nothingabout our own doings. Now friend John, begin to think nothing about yourself and to know nothing but Jesus Christ. Let Johngo where he likes and be you relying not upon John's strength, but upon Christ's. And you, Peter, know nothing about Peterat all, and do not boast, "Though all men should deny You, yet will I never deny You," but know that Peter's Lord Jesus isliving inside Peter-and then you may go on comfortably enough.
Determine, Christian, that, by the Grace of God, it shall be your endeavor to keep your eye single, to keep your faith fixedonly on the Lord Jesus, without any addition of your own works, or your own strength-and determining that- you may go on yourway rejoicing, singing of the Cross of Christ as your boast, your glory and your all! We are now coming to the Table of ourMaster, and I hope that this will be our determination there-to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And maythe Lord give us His blessing! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: Psalm 22.
This Psalm is headed, "To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar"-or, as the margin renders it, "the hind of the morning"-"APsalm of David." It begins in the very depths of the Master's sorrow, when this great and bitter cry escaped His lips-
Verse 1. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?Every word is emphatic. "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" "Allothers may forsake Me, and I need not be greatly troubled at their absence, but 'why have You forsaken Me?'" "Why have Youforsaken Me?' I understand why You smite Me, for I am the Shepherd predestined to be smitten for the flock, but 'why haveYou forsaken Me?'" "Why have you forsaken Me?-Your only-begotten, Your well-beloved Son-'why have You forsaken Me?'"
1. Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring?1 'Why have I no inflowing of Your love-no enjoymentof Your Presence-no whispers from Your heart? I am left alone-left utterly-left on the Cross-left in My direst need." God'sadapted children do not usually talk like this. Such a lament as this has not often come even from the martyrs for the faith,for, as a rule, they have had God with them in their hour of deepest agony. But here was One who was far greater than they,who had to yet endure suffering from which they were exempted-the only perfect One was forsaken by God! You know that if wasbecause He stood in our place that the Savior had this preeminence in suffering and sorrow.
2. O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You hear not; and in the night season, and am not silent Think of what a weight thatunanswered prayer was upon the soul of the Well-Beloved. Have you ever felt such a burden as that? Then, you are not alonein that experience, for He who is infinitely better than you had to think over His day prayers and His night prayers which,for a while, were not answered.
3. But You are holy, O You that inhabits thepraises ofIsrael. Follow the example of your Lord, poor troubled soul. Find nofault with your God, even though He should forsake you. Call Him holy even though He should leave you. And when He seems notto hear your prayers, yet do not forget His praises.
4-6. Our fathers trusted in You: they trusted, and You did deliver them. They cried unto You, and were delivered: they trustedin You, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. Think of ourDivine Lord thus taking the very lowest place and becoming, as it were, something less than man-
just that little crimson worm which has simply a life made up of blood. Christ likens Himself to it as He says, "I am a worm,and no man."
7, 8. All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORDthat He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him. Oh, these were cruel and cutting words! Like asharp razor, they cut to the very heart of our Divine Master as He heard His enemies exulting even over His faith, as thoughit had come to nothing, for now Jehovah, Himself, had forsaken Him and left Him to die alone upon the tree!
9, 10. But You are He that took Me out of the womb: You did make Me hope when I was upon My mother's breasts. I was cast uponYou from the womb: You are My God from My mother's belly. Sometimes, we also may derive great comfort from this Truth of Godto which our Savior here refers. When we could not help ourselves in the least degree, the Lord preserved us, so will He notagain help us when we are at our worst? You who have reached your second childhood may reflect with gratitude and hope uponthe way in which God took care of you in your first childhood. Then, you certainly were entirely dependent upon Him, yet youfared well and so you shall if each sense shall fail you-if the power of moving shall be taken away, and the power of sight,and the power of hearing-yet the Lord, who blessed you when you were just born, will still preserve you right to the end.You remember how the Lord puts this Truth in Isaiah 46:4- "Even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry,and will deliver you." Our Savior, having comforted Himself thus, falls to praying again.
11, 12. Be not far from Me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed Me: strong bulls ofBashan have beset Me round. These were the Pharisees, the chief priests and the strong Roman soldiers that compassed our Saviorwhen He was upon the Cross.
13, 14. They gaped upon Me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all My bonesare out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels. Can you not see your Savior hanging on theaccursed tree-every particle of Him, as it were, loosened from its fellow by the fever raging in His whole being and the anguishand deep depression of His spirit?
15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaves to My jaws. Such was the intensity of His anguish thatthe fever within Him turned His mouth into an oven and His tongue was so dried up that it could scarcely stir.
15. And You have brought Me into the dust of death. As if His whole body were prepared to go back into its primary elements.He feels in Himself the sentence pronounced upon the first Adam, "Dust you are, and unto dust shall you return,"
16. For dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed Me. These were the common people, the rabble, themultitude that thronged around, barking at Him like a pack of hungry hounds.
16. They pierced My hands and My feet This little sentence shows that this Psalm must relate to the Lord Jesus. Truly didDavid see Him in vision! It happened not to David to have his hands and feet pierced, but this was the portion of David'sMaster and Lord. He could, indeed, say, "They pierced My hands and My feet."
17. I may count all My bones: they look and stare upon Me. He is emaciated through His fasting and all the agony He has endured.And His bones seem to break through His skin by reason of the cruel scourging to which He had been subjected.
18. 19. They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture. But be not You far from Me, O LORD: O My Strength.That is, El-the name He gave to God in the first verse-"O My Strong One."
19-21. Hasten You to help Me. Deliver My soul from the sword; My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from thelion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen. You have heard Me. Did You notice that flash of light gleaming through thedarkness, "You have heard Me"? Perhaps it was at that moment that the sun again shone forth; at any rate, it is clear thatthe lost light had returned to our suffering Lord, for the rest of this Divine soliloquy is full of comfort and confidence.
22. I will declare Your name unto My brethren. His first thought, even in His agony on the Cross, was about them. And He seemedto say, "When I have risen from the dead, I will tell them all about this time of trial. And through the ages to come, I willtell My people how You did help Me-the greatest of all Sufferers-and that You will help them,
also. I was left for a time, and yet I was not finally left. I cried, 'Lama Sabachthani,' and yet I triumphed, even then,and so shall they. They shall do as I have done-confide and conquer."
22. In thee midst of thee congregation will I praise You. And you know that He did so. He stood in the midst of His peopleand told them what God had done! And, spiritually, He stands in our midst at this moment and He leads our songs of praiseunto Jehovah.
23, 24. You that fear the LORD, praise Him; all you the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him, all you the seed of IsraelFor He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither has He hidden His face from Him; but when Hecried unto Him, He heard. What a change of note! If men could hear us speak when we are in the depths of sorrow, they mightconclude that God had forsaken us. But when we get out, again, how quickly we eat our words and how soon we begin to tellthe goodness of the Lord! Then we lift up the joyous strain, "O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy enduresforever."
25. My praise shall be of You in the great congregation: I will pay My vows before them that fear Him. Christ still praisesGod in the great congregation. On my way to this evening's service, I called to see one of our dear brethren who is very ill,and I was much refreshed with a sweet thing that he said-"When we all get to Heaven, we shall feel quite at home there, foryou know, Sir, we have worshipped in a great congregation for these many years." And so we shall. There is something mostexhilarating and refreshing in going with a multitude to keep holy day-the more, the merrier! But what shall be the joy inHeaven, where the number of the redeemed cannot be counted, and all shall be continually praising God? This was one of thejoys that was set before Christ, for which "He endured the Cross, despising the shame."
26. The meek shall eat and be satisfied. Even in the time of His great agony, our Lord was thinking of you hidden ones, youlittle ones who think yourselves worth nothing. Christ says that He was finding bread for you, for He gives us His flesh toeat, that flesh which is meat, indeed.
26. They shall praise the LORD that seek Him: your heart shall live forever. Because He died, all who trust in Him shall liveforever. Oh, how sweetly does He die, with the thought of their eternal bliss upon His mind!
27. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship beforeYou. He sees the result of His death. He beholds the fruit of His soul-travail and His heart is glad within Him!
28-31. For the kingdom is the Lord's: and He is the Governor among the nations. All they that are fat upon earth shall eatand worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before Him: and none can keep alive his own soul A seed shall serveHim; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare His righteousness unto a peoplethat shall be born, that He has done this. The Psalm really ends with almost the last cry of our Lord upon the Cross-"It isfinished." So the whole Psalm is a window through which we can see into the inmost heart of Christ when it was being tornupon the Cross.