09 THE TESTIMONY

THE TESTIMONY

"I was young and now I am old—yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or their children begging bread!" Psalms 37:25 The aged are often tempted to believe that God will forsake them. Their sins of omission stare them in the face; their lack of conformity to God’s preceptive will rises up before them; and their many sins of commission appear set in array against them. In consequence of this, they have feared that God would withdraw, and leave them entirely to themselves! And at times they have been ready to conclude that he has, so that they have cried, "Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?" Psalms 77:7-9 Did you ever, my aged friend, feel inclined to make use of such language as this? Did your unbelief ever lead you to fear? If you are a Christian, I know it has. But you have lived long enough to see the fallacy of all this. You have never yet been forsaken! No, nor will you ever be! You have known many believers, you have seen them in deep trials, in strange conflicts, in peculiar difficulties; but did you ever see them forsaken? You have perhaps thought at times, on account of the inconsistencies you have witnessed in them, that you would not wonder if they were. But what Jeremiah testified of Israel has been true of them; it is a most blessed, a most encouraging passage. "For the LORD Almighty has not forsaken Israel and Judah. He is still their God—even though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel." Jeremiah 51:5 As you have never been forsaken yourself, and as you have never seen any of the Lord’s true people forsaken, however tried and tempted—it is for you to bear your testimony, in order that God may be glorified, and poor tried believers comforted.

"For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own!" 1 Samuel 12:22