06.12. Assurance At Its Best

CHAPTER TWELVE
ASSURANCE AT ITS BEST

LAMED

“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.
The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.
I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad”

(Psalms 119:89-96)

“I am thine” (Psalms 119:94). A NIGHT OF DARK TRIAL has passed. It is a new morning now. Weariness of soul, heaviness of heart and tiredness of mind have given way to renewed strength. The sun has risen on a more placid scene. Holy quietness reigns. The psalmist finds no necessity this morning to say, “Be still, my soul.” There is a hallowed calmness and a sense of the Divine presence. In quietness and confidence, he possesses his soul. There is an inward surge of affection, a welling-up of humble devotion as he whispers, “I am thine.”

Here is attachment of the first order. Here is relationship supreme. It is a soothing consciousness of a definite oneness with the Almighty. It is an assurance which bulwarks and blesses as nothing else. He may fail utterly in his well-meaning attempt to explain to others the blessedness of this joyful fact, for it requires the keenest spiritual perception to properly appraise an inward work of the Spirit. It also necessitates the most careful employment of terminology to rightly express that appraisal. To him, however, it is no longer a matter of theory; it is experience. His statement is beautiful in its simplicity - “I am thine.”

“Save me,” he adds in the same fervency of spirit and earnestness of devotion.

But, you ask, why should he make an appeal to be saved? He has already indicated his devoted attachment to the Lord. Not only that, it has just been suggested that the scene is now so tranquil. Ah! but here is not the thought of deliverance. It is, rather, that of preservation. There is a very tender connotation surrounding the word “saved.” To be saved is to be drawn from the pursuer to the protector. Here the emphasis is not on “from” but rather on “to.”

I am thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, And it told Thy love for me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith, And be closer drawn to Thee. When Moses had no companion but immature Joshua, he sought earnestly for a closer fellowship with God. He requested a revelation of grace and a glimpse of glory. The answer from Heaven was immediate and gratifying: “And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me . . . come up in the morning.” This was in effect a manifestation of parental affection in response to a desiring child.
The late Dr. B. H. Shadduck, a recognized Christian apologist, quoted the inimitable words of the Lord Jesus, “How oft would I have gathered you together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.”

In commenting, he stated that the simplest and most expressive interpretation conveyed the thought of cuddling. At this juncture in his address, the electric power failed, plunging the auditorium into dense darkness. Taking advantage of the situation, he continued, “How passingly wonderful, whether in the darkness of disappointment, sorrow or death, to be cuddled to the bosom of the Almighty.”

“For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalms 119:89). Here is the voice of devotion once again.

These deep confessions and striking testimonies simply do not issue from an empty heart.

Sounding brass and thinking symbols never beam sweet melody heavenward. They must come out of holy engagements with the Book. Surely such praise for the Scriptures had never escaped his lips before. Never had he gone so deep with God.

Now he reaps the blessed untold benefits of yielding spirit, soul and body, of believing and trusting the Scriptures, of giving the Word of Truth a reasonable opportunity to operate in his life. He now strikes gold that glitters, and his vision brightens. He now sounds depths which stagger his soul. He now envisions glory which makes his heart to pound with wonder. Try to convince him that it is but a dream, and he will regard your comment as totally unworthy of notice. You simply cannot discount reality.

“Thy faithfulness is unto all generations” (Psalms 119:90), is but another transmission of deep-down confidence. And what if it were not so! Then, how could we trust God in this day? In any day? We would with no compunction whatsoever, and with the companionship of the overwhelming majority, exchange our souls for a beggarly “mess of pottage” which this dying world is offering to depraved souls.

- We would with little restraint of scruples, eat, drink and be merry.
- We would see no value at all in spending time in prayer with the humble few who believe that God is still in the business of hearing and answering.
- We would find little hesitation in going wherever we are invited or wherever our hearts dictate if, within the limits of our own moral code, we may find a passing thrill or a moment of pleasure.
- We would make every attempt to keep preoccupied so as to entertain as little thought as possible of death and what might conceivably be beyond.
But if God is just as real in our generation as He was in the generations of the noble, triumphant stalwarts whose never-fading records stand as monumental exhibitions of divine love and grace, then we too should want to acclaim His faithfulness.

- We should want to live in the power and reality of that faithfulness.
- We should want every wayward tendency to be restrained.
- We should want to act in the dark as we would behave in the light.
- We should want to be as true to God when we are among strangers or in foreign places as we attempt to be among friends and in familiar spheres.

In other words, as love begets love, even so faithfulness on His part should elicit faithfulness on ours. Surely, we must find it in our hearts to agree with this man’s testimony: “God is ever faithful.”

“Thou hast established the earth,” the psalmist affirms. Then with marked emphasis, he assures, “And it standeth” (Psalms 119:90).

It still stands. The axis has never been replaced by a more up-to-date invention. This globe has never required any added supports to sustain it in its orb. It has ever afforded man the most intriguing challenges. He has prospected and experimented laboriously. Still it relinquishes its abounding treasures of diamonds and precious metals, of ores, oils, gases and nuclear material.

Job, by superhuman revelation, spoke of how God made the earth from nothing and hanged it on nothing. Then, before a finger could be snapped, he added, “These are but the outskirts of His wonders.”

You see how this dedicated man bolsters his faith. He takes a look at the multiplied wonders of creation, and says, “They continue this day according to thine ordinances” (Psalms 119:91).

The inference? Simply this, if God can maintain the vast and intricate realms of His physical creation, He can sustain us on a higher plane. Do you not agree?

I should have not the least hesitation in committing my life to such an all-wise, all-wonderful, all-powerful Creator.

Day by day the psalmist is growing in wisdom and understanding. His deep insight into the power and authority of the Word and his increasing appreciation of the sovereignty of God are pleasingly manifested.

As the moon and sun and stars are ordained of the Lord, even so the earth and everything pertaining to it must conform to His ordinances. These created bodies, he observes, are “all thy servants” (Psalms 119:91). He likewise is a servant of the Most High God. He must respond to and fully obey His laws.

There is something of an analogy in Psalm 19. In it we gain the impression that the writer is first sweeping the heavens, then searching the heart.

First, it is the work of the Lord; then it is His Word.

It develops two considerations - the sun out of its position would wreck the universe; the servant out of his position will ruin the unity of the testimony. We need to learn the seriousness and the untold consequences of disobeying the commandments of the Lord.
The window of memory is flung open. There, inscribed delicately on the screen of the psalmist’s mind, is the nightmare of affliction through which he had gone. “Unless thy law had been my delights,” he honestly confesses, “I should then have perished in mine affliction” (Psalms 119:92).

It is not affliction itself which causes a demolition of testimony. He almost perished in, not because of, his affliction. We can never blame circumstances.

- What held him firm in the face of bitter attacks? “The law of the Lord.”
- What bulwarked him against vicious thrusts? “The law of the Lord.”
- What furnished him light in those dark hours? “The law of the Lord.”

And it is just the same today.

“I will never forget thy precepts” (Psalms 119:93) we hear him promising enthusiastically.
The supporting value of the Scriptures in trial can never be assayed.

- Every hospital patient needs a Bible.
- Every counselor needs the Sacred Volume.
- Every sojourner needs the Book.

Here is a person who has put it to work. He has felt its benefit. He has proved its miraculous power.

Of course he would never forget it! The sheer joy of such revealing experiences puts new vigor into his dedicated life and new forcefulness into his testimony. There are amazing possibilities in the application of the divine commands for all of us, even unforgettable experiences, to say nothing of the promised eternal reward.
The psalmist becomes specific. He cites a definite example. “The wicked have waited for me to destroy me” (Psalms 119:95), he states.
The enemy’s purpose, you see, was clearly known. He sought the psalmist’s undoing. It is not a figment of his imagination. Nor is it an exaggeration. To blast a testimony like this would most naturally be a chief target for Satan. But how did he conduct himself during such attacks? He occupied himself with the Word of God. When he took refuge in the Word, the Lord took care of the enemy.
A missionary couple in South America recently had a similar experience and a like result. A marauding throng of Gospel-haters had gathered outside their small upstairs apartment. There was a wild demonstration with vicious threats and a concerted demand for the lives of the missionaries. Police protection was unobtainable. Friends were far away. No human help was available.

The two young witnesses went to their knees and claimed repeatedly the promises of God. How long they had taken refuge in the faithfulness of God and His Word they did not know; but when they returned to the window, the mob had dispersed. How graciously is divine care draped about the shoulders of the needy who trust in Him!
When one is gaining altitude in his spiritual growth, the panorama of divine wonders becomes richer, wider and more entrancing. And this is precisely what the psalmist joyfully discovers. Now he may sing with truthfulness, “I’m pressing on the upward way;
New heights I’m gaining every day.”

Like the first man in a mountain-climbing team, having established himself firmly on a higher ledge, he, by his challenging testimony, extends an assisting hand to those who also would reach the loftier heights.

Hear his loud exclamation from the mountain peak, “I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad” (Psalms 119:96).

If we may interpret the thought of his heart as herein expressed, it is this:

“There may be a limit to the work of creation,
But there is no boundary to the Word of Revelation.”

What a mighty tribute this is!
In emphasizing some amazing aspects of astronomy, this most accurate of all sciences, David said, “The law of the Lord is perfect.” That is, the Scriptures are most dependable.

- There may be eruptions in the sun, but “the Scriptures cannot be broken.”
- Meteors may be hurled from planets, but “one jot or one tittle (the dotting of an “i” or the crossing of a “t”) shall in no wise pass from the law.”

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

There is no limit to the confidence which may be reposed in the Word of God. However fierce may prove the storms of life, however much our little crafts may be tossed about by the winds and waves of adversity, each believer may rest assured that the Bible can be trusted in every detail always.

~ end of chapter 12 ~