Chapter I: WHAT HE WANTED; or, in other words, what he prayed for when he prayed

that he might be saved. There appears to be no reference in the psalm to temporal deliverance, so we need not consider the prayer as referring to it. It was for spiritual gifts that he prayed, and from spiritual difficulties that he desired to be saved. And when we consider these spiritual gifts it is very clear that it was not acceptance, or reconciliation, for which he prayed, for his mind must have been quite at rest upon that point when he said, ‘Lord, I am Thine.’ What he was longing for was personal holiness,—that is, a complete conformity to the perfect will of that holy God to whom he belonged and whom he loved. You see this throughout the psalm. He does not pray, ‘Pardon me,’ ‘Receive me,’ or ‘Blot out my transgressions,’ as he does in some other psalms; but he does pray again and again that God’s statutes might be written on his heart: ‘Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes:’ ‘Teach me Thy statutes;’ ‘Deal bountifully with Thy servant, that I may live and keep Thy word;’ ‘Quicken me after Thy loving-kindness; so shall I keep the testimony of Thy mouth.’ The whole psalm is full of such prayers, and they show us perfectly clearly that the salvation for which he prayed was the power for holiness from God. So the psalm also teaches us what was the difficulty in the attainment of his wish. There are some allusions to enemies, from which we may infer that there were persons about him who hindered his progress. But the psalm shows clearly that the real difficulty lay in himself, and in the deadness of his own heart. No less than nine times does he pray, ‘Quicken me.’ And what did that prayer imply? Was it not that he was conscious of a dead, cold state of heart, and was longing for life and warmth? Had there been no element of deadness in his soul, he would not have required to be quickened; but there was that element of deadness, and he himself urged it as a reason for his prayer, when he said (verse 25), ‘My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken Thou me according to Thy word.’ It was the deep corruption of his human nature which continued to cling to him, even when he was the Lord’s, against which he prayed when he said, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me.’

And now arises the most deeply important practical question: Are we, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, at the very time that we can truly say ‘Lord, I am Thine,’ to be prepared to meet the same difficulty? In answer to that question, I have not one moment’s hesitation in replying that we are. I have read and heard that original sin in certain persons is ‘destroyed,’ is ‘dead, though capable of revival;’ is ‘rendered inert,’ and is ‘in suspense;’ but I do not believe one word of it. It is far too large a subject for me to attempt to discuss fully in one short sermon: I have not time to give you more than two passages, but I hope they will be sufficient. In Romans viii.,—that grand chapter, so full of the grand tidings of safety, beginning with no condemnation and ending with no separation,—the chapter which some claim as descriptive of what they term ‘the higher life,’—in the middle of that chapter we find a description of the sons of God who are led by the Spirit. Now observe carefully the effect of that leading of God’s children by the Holy Ghost. We find it in verse 13: ‘If ye do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live: for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.’ The word rendered ‘do mortify’ means ‘are habitually putting to death’ (θανατοῦτε). But if original sin were dead already, or inert, why should the children of God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, be habitually putting to death its deeds? The fact that its deeds are to be habitually put to death is a perfectly clear proof that the root of the evil is not dead already.

One passage more, and I have chosen it because I think it of peculiar importance in its bearing on what is called the ‘higher life.’ You remember that wonderful insight into heaven which St. Paul describes in 2 Cor. xii., and you remember how it was followed up by the thorn in the flesh,—‘the messenger of Satan,’ given ‘to buffet him.’ Now why was it thus followed? Why was this messenger of Satan let loose upon God’s chosen servant immediately after this wonderful blessing? He himself tells us the reason: ‘Lest I should be exalted beyond measure.’ In other words, he was in danger of pride of heart. He was caught up into the third heaven, but he carried with him even there so much of the old evil of his fallen nature that when he came down he was in such danger of being puffed up with pride that it was an act of mercy in God even to permit him to be buffeted by Satan’s messenger, in order to keep him in a humble spirit, depending upon grace. Surely we learn the lesson that, whatever be our spiritual attainments, and whatever God has taught us of His mercy, we have still to strive as David did against the active working of indwelling sin, and to pray as he did, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me.’

II. We see then what the Psalmist WANTED; let us consider next WHAT HE DID.

(1.) When he was conscious that his soul was cleaving to the dust, he was not content to leave it there. He did not say that it could not be helped, and so make it an excuse for sin. He did not do as some people do with reference to their temper,—say they have the misfortune of a bad temper, and therefore consider themselves not to be blamed when they break out in a passion, or settle down in a sulky fit. He resolutely, determinately, and prayerfully grappled with the difficulty. He was conscious of sin, but he could not endure the thought of it. He could say from the bottom of his heart, ‘I hate and abhor lying; but Thy law do I love and it was because he loved the law, and hated the sin, that he came before God with the cry, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me!’ So we may be perfectly sure that if a person be really born of God, the knowledge of indwelling sin will never lead him to settle down in the apathy of hopelessness; but will arouse him, by the sense of danger, to watch, to pray, to trust, to strive, to conquer, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the power of the Holy Ghost.

(2.) But while David was thus energetic in his struggle, and allowed no compromise with sin, he was evidently brought to the acknowledgment of his own helplessness. With reference to the past he could say, ‘I have sought Thy precepts;’ and with reference to the present, ‘I love Thy commandments above gold: yea, than much fine gold.’ But notwithstanding all his painstaking, he found he could not raise his own heart above the dust, and was still obliged to acknowledge the truth of the words, ‘No man hath quickened his own soul.’ Thus the words, ‘Lord, save me!’ implied that he had given up all hope of saving himself; and when we offer the same prayer, there is the same act of self-renunciation as well as faith. I do not say that we shall give up the most diligent and devout endeavours after holiness, for we shall ‘press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus;’ but that in the midst of it all we shall both know and acknowledge our own utter helplessness; and thank God for that passage in Rom. v. 6, in which we are taught that ‘when we were _yet_ without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.’ I commend that ‘yet’ to the careful consideration of all those who are painfully conscious of their own inability to rise.

(3.) But while this prayer implied self-renunciation as well as trust, it implied on the other hand trust as well as self-renunciation. When we pray, ‘Lord, save me,’ we clearly recognise His saving power. We know (as we are taught in Heb. vii. 25) that ‘He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him and therefore we come to God by Him that we may be saved. The saving in that sense is exactly the same as the saving in the text. It is not the first acceptance of the repentant sinner seeking salvation, but it is the habitual saving throughout the life; for the point of the text is that it is continued to the uttermost, or to the end. It is a saving carried on after the first great saving act is complete. I am anxious to press this on your attention, because I am inclined to think that it is the secret of the fresh help which many persons appear to have lately received. I cannot say I am sure of it; for the statements on the subject are so confused, that it is almost impossible to disentangle them. It is possible therefore that I may be entirely mistaken. But, whether it is or not, you will see in a moment the vast difference between knowing that there is a Saviour able to save, and resting in a Saviour who is actually and continually engaged in saving you; between being anxious to obtain the help of a certain physician, and being under that physician’s care; between hanging on a wreck and seeing a life-boat near you, and being in the life-boat, and, though still beaten by the storm, safe in the strong arm of the Deliverer. Now this is our position in Christ Jesus. We are not seeking to reach the life-boat, for we are in it, as David was when he said, ‘Lord, I am Thine.’ The storm is not over, the harbour is not yet reached; but the harbour is in sight, and our Father is at the helm. David clearly prayed to Him as to one who had already begun His saving work, as you will clearly see if you compare the 88th and 93rd verses. In the 88th he prays, ‘Quicken me after Thy loving-kindness;’ and in the 93rd he shows that the quickening was already begun, for he says, ‘I will never forget Thy precepts, for with them Thou hast quickened me.’ You will see in a moment what an enormous difference this distinction must make in daily life. If you are looking up to Him as one from whom you are only seeking help, you may be perfectly sure of His sufficiency, but it will not satisfy the anxieties of your soul: but if you are actually enjoying His help, so that you can say, as the Psalmist did, ‘My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped,’ then you may add, as he did, ‘Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise Him.’ Look on Him then as one who is engaged in bearing you home; acknowledge what He has done in the past, trust Him for what He will do in the future, and meanwhile rest in what He is doing now,—just as St. Paul did when, speaking of temporal deliverance, he said (2 Cor. i. 10), ‘Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that He will yet deliver.’ That one verse brings before us the past, present, and future,—the ‘yesterday, to-day, and for ever,’—the Lord Jesus a very present help, and a help to the end. He has redeemed you by His own most precious blood, and saved you from all condemnation of the law: that is done and perfected for ever. He has sanctified, or separated, you in Christ Jesus, to be a purchased possession unto God: that is done likewise, and done for ever. He has begun a good work in you, and made you new creatures in Christ Jesus: that, too, is done, thanks to His mercy! He is now holding you in His hand, guiding you by His counsel, helping you by His power, and giving you the victory even over the indwelling sin which still lives, though He will not let it reign, within your heart. This is going on now: so that now, even now, He is quickening you, and when you are deeply and profoundly humbled for all that you have done and left undone, and when, under the painful conviction of indwelling sin, you are compelled to acknowledge that your ‘soul cleaveth unto the dust,’ you may still in happy, peaceful, loving trust, look up to Him who is even now bearing you in His arm, and say, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me.’

THE HOLY NAME SANCTIFIED.

‘And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.’—LUKE, xi. 2.

WE are all in the habit of using this prayer every day,—for I hope that there is not one amongst us who presumes to think that he has reached a spiritual life beyond it. We use it with the utmost thankfulness,—for it expresses the deep and unceasing wants of the human heart; and, as far as I myself am concerned, I do not think that it occurs too often in our liturgy. This clause may be called ‘The child’s first prayer.’ It is the first desire of the child of God, poured forth morning by morning into his Father’s ear. But have you ever considered how it bears on the subject of Sanctification, which we have been recently considering? Are you aware that the two words, to ‘hallow’ and to ‘sanctify,’ mean the same thing, and may be interchanged one with another, so that exactly the same idea would have been expressed had the clause been rendered, ‘Sanctified be Thy name?’ But so it is: and therefore in this prayer we pray every day of our lives that God’s own name may be ‘sanctified.’

Now it will be clear in a moment to every one of you, that when the expression is thus applied to God Himself, and to His name, it must mean something very different to what it does when it is applied to ourselves. It cannot mean separation unto God, for it is applied to Him who from all eternity has been essentially separate. Nor can it be used in the sense of ‘making holy,’ for perfect and unblemished holiness is the very essence of His Godhead. What then does it mean? It means that the holiness of His name should be known and honoured; and that whenever His name is named, there should be the recognition and exhibition of His holiness. It is a prayer, in fact, that His holiness may be glorified, and that throughout the world He may be obeyed and revered as a holy God.

This sanctifying, or hallowing, of the name of God Himself shall be our subject for this morning. And may He Himself grant that His name may be sanctified in this very sermon! Let our prayer be, ‘Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.’

The first point to which I would draw your attention is that He is sanctified in His people. His power is manifest in the world: His holiness in His Church. It is by the Church that is to be known, even to principalities and powers in heavenly places, the manifold wisdom of God. The Church of God is gathered from a rebel world in order that God in it may display His holiness, and so make proof of His character. He manifests himself amongst His people, and this manifestation is witnessed by the world. You see this very clearly in such a passage as Ezek. xxxvi. 23: ‘The heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.’ God would be so sanctified in His people that the heathen should be persuaded of His Godhead. So you read in Levit. x. 3: ‘I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ Now mark what a lesson there is in this for ourselves. In one sense we are all come nigh to God, for we have all been baptized into His name. We all meet in His house as His worshippers; and many of us delight in the sacred privilege of drawing near to Him in His sacramental feast. I hope it may be said of many in the reality of their souls’ salvation, as it may certainly be said of all in the externals of their Christianity,—that they are ‘a people nigh unto Him.’ But if so, He is to be sanctified in us. We who draw nigh unto Him, are to be like the glass reflecting His image: it is in us that His character is to be exhibited, and His holiness made manifest before the world. We are to be changed into His image, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, so that in us ought to be seen that image, and in us the holiness of His name should be exalted amongst men.

But now follows the question,—In what way and by whom, must His name be hallowed, or sanctified, in His people? In answer to this we shall find, if we study Scripture, that it will be sanctified by His people, and also by Himself. It will be however sufficient for our present purpose if we confine our attention to its sanctification by His people, as described in these words of the prophet Isaiah: ‘They shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob.’

The great question, therefore, for us to consider is, In what way may we glorify God? And the answer is given in the words of our Lord Himself, as written in John, xv. 8: ‘Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.’ You will observe that it is not merely by feeling, or even by communion with God, but by fruit. I know that joy and peace are amongst the first-fruits of the Spirit, and God forbid that I should say one word that could possibly be understood as spoken lightly of such a gift as communion with God! It is the most sacred privilege that it is possible for a ransomed spirit to enjoy, and nothing but the finished ransom could ever admit us to it. But we must not confound it with the fruit that springs from it, or suppose that to enjoy communion is the same as to be holy. The sap is essential to the life of the tree, but the sap is not the fruit, and there is a great deal of sap in many trees where there is no fruit at all. The fruit is something practical, something contributed, and if it glorifies God, it will be visible to our fellow-men. So our Lord said (Matt. v. 16), ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’

Nor must we confine it to a victory over sin. I sometimes meet with books in which this victory appears to be described as the sum and substance of holiness. Now I do not doubt for one moment that it is a part of it; but it is only a part: the negative side, and not the positive. It would not satisfy your mind to be assured there were no thorns on your roses, or no poisonous berries on your vines; you want flowers on the rose, and grapes on the vine. I do not know that there was any harm in the fig-tree that stood by the way-side from Bethany: I never read that it yielded poison; but it bore no fruit, and the Lord withered it. So it is that we stop utterly short of the true character of Christian holiness if we describe it simply as a victory over sin. Suppose that we really had overcome, and that there had been such a conquest in deed, in word, and in thought, that we should have no occasion for the confession, ‘We have done those things which we ought not to have done;’ we might still be as fruitless as the barren fig-tree, and have reason to throw ourselves, in the deepest and most profound repentance, before His feet, and cry, ‘We have left undone those things which we ought to have done.’ True fruit is positive service: something that pervades our life. Thus of the fruits of the Spirit, as described in Gal. v. 22,—‘Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,’—by far the greater number relate to our practical conduct amongst our fellow-men. In the account of heavenly wisdom given by St. James they are all of the same character: ‘The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.’ And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.’

True fruit again is something yielded up to God. When a missionary gives up home, and life itself for the Gospel, that is fruit. When the Sunday-school teacher devotes the day of rest to labour for God, that is fruit. When people bring freely of their substance, and throw large gifts into the treasury of God, that is fruit. When people in family life, heads of families, servants, young people, lay themselves out to make all happy around them, and by their loving, gentle conduct, commend the Gospel to all with whom they are brought in contact, that is fruit. It may not be the fruit of the hot-house, enjoyed only by the rich; or like some of those fruits which look so beautiful aloft on our orchard trees, that all admire: for we must remember that some of our best fruits grow in the cottage gardens, close to the ground. So God is often best glorified by the holy, humble, and self-denying zeal of the humble believer, keeping alow by the ground, and there, in humble life, ‘adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.’

But you will observe in our Lord’s words, that it is not merely by fruit, but by much fruit, that God is glorified. All trees of the same kind are not equally fruitful, nor are all believers; thus it by no means follows that all believers glorify God, or that those who do so, do so equally. Our Lord Himself describes four degrees in His parable of the sower. First, there are those who are choked by the cares, and pleasures, and riches, of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. The plant is not altogether dead, and there may be a little fruit formed; but there is none ripened, nothing worth having, nothing that glorifies God. I fear there is a terrible number of those choked-up Christians in the Church of God. Then where there is real fruitfulness, there are different degrees. Some yield their thirty, some their sixty, and some their hundred-fold. How earnest ought we to be that every one may be what I may term, hundred-fold Christians,—people abounding in the fruits of the Spirit, spending and being spent for God!

And why not? The sacred privilege of glorifying God does not belong to some peculiar class of Christians,—to persons who have been suddenly lifted into what they term ‘the higher life,’—but to all those who are abiding in Christ Jesus, and have Him abiding in them; for He says, ‘He that abideth in Me, and I in him; the same bringeth forth much fruit.’ You may have reason therefore to be most deeply humbled under the conviction of indwelling sin, and to be most heartily grieved for the mixed thoughts and motives that have intruded themselves into the holiest acts of your whole lives; you may be utterly displeased with yourselves for the utter poverty of your best services; you may be so convinced of what you consider the peculiar difficulties of your own character, that you may think it quite impossible that you yourselves should ever rise to a high standard of Christian holiness: but there is a power in the Lord Jesus so to raise you above your difficulties that you may not only be saved, but actually raised to such a standard that, though you may not know it, you may bring glory to His name. Nothing could be more hopelessly dead than Aaron’s rod, but in one night it ‘budded and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded fruit.’ Nothing could be more hopeless than the case of David when he was in the horrible pit and the miry clay; but the Lord ‘set his feet on a rock and established his goings, and put a new song into his mouth, even praise unto his God,’ and the result was that God was glorified in his deliverance; for he adds, ‘Many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.’ So you may say that you are dead, that you cannot rise, that there is no hope,—and there is no hope in your own efforts at self-quickening,—but He who raised the dead to life can so triumph even over your deadness as to bring out of your dead heart such an abundance of beautiful fruit, through the power of His own grace, that He Himself may be pleased with your loving and faithful service. Nay, more! Though you may never be able to see it, and though you may to the last be humbled to the dust for your shortcomings, He may still fulfil in you, and towards you, the prayer which St. Paul prayed for the Thessalonians: ‘That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Aim then at the highest possible standard. Never settle down contented with anything that falls short of it. Never consider that your case is too difficult for the Lord, the Deliverer, but trust Him so to abide in you with power, that His own words may be fulfilled: ‘Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.’

EXPOSITORY NOTES.

NOTE A.—ROMANS, VII.