Christian's Secret of a Happy Life - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"GOD WITH US"; OR, THE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINTH PSALM

Very few of us understand the full meaning of the words in Matt. 1:23, "Theyshall call His name Emmanuel; which being interpreted is, God with us." In thisshort sentence is revealed to us the grandest fact the world can ever know;that God, the Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, is not a far-offDeity, dwelling in a Heaven of unapproachable glory, but is living with usright here in this world, in the midst of our poor, ignorant, helpless lives,as close to us as we are to ourselves. This seems so incredible to the humanheart that we are very slow to believe it; but that the Bible teaches it as afact, from cover to cover, cannot be denied by any honest mind. In the verybeginning of Genesis we read of the "presence of the Lord God amongst the treesof the garden." And from that time on He is revealed to us always as in themost familiar and daily intercourse with His people everywhere.

     In Exodus we find Him asking them to make Hima "sanctuary, that He might dwell among them." He is recorded as having"walked" with them in the wilderness, and as "taking up His abode" with them inthe promised land. He taught them to rely on Him as an ever-present Friend andHelper, to consult Him about all their affairs, and to abandon the wholemanagement of their lives to Him. And finally He came in Christ in bodily formand dwelt in the world as a man among men, making Himself bone of our bone andflesh of our flesh, taking upon Him our nature, and revealing to us, in themost tangible and real way possible, the grand, and blessed, andincomprehensible fact that He intended to be with us always, even unto the endof the world.

     Whoever will believe this fact with all theirhearts will find in it the solution of every difficulty of their lives.

     I remember when I was a little girl and foundmyself in any trouble or perplexity, the coming in of my father or mother onthe scene would always bring me immediate relief. The moment I heard the voiceof one of them saying, "Daughter, I am here," that moment every burden droppedoff and every anxiety was stilled. It was their simple presence that did it.They did not need to promise to relieve me, they did not need to tell me theirplans of relief; the simple fact of their presence was all the assurance Irequired that everything now would be set straight and all would go well forme, and my only interest after their arrival was simply to see how they woulddo it all. Perhaps they were exceptional parents, to have created suchconfidence in their children's hearts. I think myself they were. But as our Godis certainly an exceptional God, the application has absolute force, and Hispresence is literally all we need. It would be enough for us, even if we hadnot a single promise nor a single revelation of His plans. How often in theBible He has stilled all questions and all fears by the simple announcement, "Iwill be with thee"; and who can doubt that in these words He meant to assure usthat all His wisdom, and love, and omnipotent power would therefore, of course,be engaged on our side? Over and over again in my childhood have the magicwords, "Oh, there is mother!" brought me immediate relief and comfort; and overand over again in my later years have almost the same words reverently spoken,"Oh, there is God!" brought me a far more blessed deliverance. With Himpresent, what could I have to fear? Since He has said, "I will never leave theenor forsake thee," surely I may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, and I willnot fear what man shall do unto me." I remember to this day the inspiring senseof utter security that used to come to me with my earthly father's presence. Inever feared anything when he was by. And surely with my Heavenly Father by,there can be no possible room for fear.

     It is because of its practical help and comfort,therefore, that I desire to make this wonderful fact of "Emmanuel, God withus," clear and definite, for I am very sure but few, even of God's ownchildren, really believe it. They may say they do, they may repeat a thousandtimes in the conventional, pious tone considered suitable to such a sentiment,"Oh, yes, we know that God is always present with us, but -- " And in this"but" the whole story is told. There are no "buts" in the vocabulary of thesoul that accepts His presence as a literal fact. Such a soul is joyouslytriumphant over every suggestion of fear or of doubt. It has God, and that isenough for it. His presence is its certain security and supply, always, and foreverything.

     Let me, then, beg my readers to turn with me fora while to the 139th Psalm, where we shall find a most blessed revelation ofthis truth.

     The central thought of the Psalm is to be foundin verses 7 to 12, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I fleefrom thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bedin hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwellin the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thyright hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; eventhe night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; butthe night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike tothee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother'swomb."

     I cannot conceive of a more definite or sweepingdeclaration of His continual presence with us, wherever we may be or whateverwe may do, than is contained in this passage. People talk about seeking to getinto the presence of the Lord, but here we see that they cannot get out of it;that there is no place in the whole universe where He is not present; neitherheaven, nor hell, nor the uttermost parts of the sea; and no darkness so greatas to hide for one moment from Him. And the reason of this is, that He "haspossessed our reins," which means that He is not only with us, but within us,and consequently must accompany us wherever we ourselves go.

     We must accept it as true, therefore, that thewords of our Lord, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,"were the expression, not of a beautiful sentiment merely, but of anincontrovertible fact. He is with us, and we cannot get away from Him.

     We may be in such thick darkness as to be utterlyunable to see Him, and may think, probably often have thought, that, therefore,He does not see us. But our Psalm assures us that the darkness hideth not fromHim, and that, in fact, darkness and light are both alike to Him. We are aspresent to His view and as plainly seen when our own souls are in the depths ofspiritual darkness, as when they are basking in the brightest light. Thedarkness may hide Him from us, but it does not hide us from Him. Neither doesany apparent spiritual distance or wandering take us out of His presence; noteven if we go into the depths of sin in our wandering. In the uttermost partsof the sea, or wherever we may be, He is ever present to hold and to lead us.There is not a moment nor a place where we can be left without His care.

     There are times in our lives when delirium makesus utterly unaware of the presence of our most careful and tender nurses. Achild in delirium will cry out in anguish for its mother, and will harrow herheart by its piteous lamentations and appeals, when all the while she isholding its fevered hand, and bathing its aching head, and caring for it withall the untold tenderness of a mother's love. The darkness of disease hashidden the mother from the child, but has not hidden the child from themother.

     And just so it is with our God and us. Thedarkness of our doubts or our fears, of our sorrows or our despair, or even ofour sins, cannot hide us from Him, although it may, and often does, hide Himfrom us. He has told us that the darkness and the light are both alike to Him;and if our faith will only lay hold of this as a fact, we will be enabled topass through the darkest seasons in quiet trust, sure that all the while,though we cannot see nor feel Him, our God is caring for us, and will neverleave nor forsake us.

     Whether, however, this abiding presence of ourGod will be a joy to us or a sorrow, will depend upon what we know about Him.If we think of Him as a stern tyrant, intent only on His own glory, we shall beafraid of His continual presence. If we think of Him as a tender, lovingFather, intent only on our blessing and happiness, we shall be glad andthankful to have Him thus ever with us. For the presence and the care of lovecan never mean anything but good to the one beloved.

     The Psalm we are considering shows us that thepresence of our God is the presence of love, and that it brings us aninfinitude of comfort and rest. He says in verses 1 to 5, "O Lord, thou hastsearched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; thouunderstandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down,and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, butlo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before,and laid thine hand upon me."

     Our God knows us and understands us, and isacquainted with all our ways. No one else in all the world understands us. Ouractions are misinterpreted, it may be, and our motives misjudged. Our naturalcharacteristics are not taken into account, nor our inherited tendenciesconsidered. No one makes allowances for our ill health; no one realizes howmuch we have to contend with. But our Father knows it all. He understands us,and His judgment of us takes into account every element, conscious orunconscious, that goes to make up our character and to control our actions.Only an all-comprehending love can be just, and our God is just. No wonderFaber can say: --

     Some of you have been afraid of His justice,perhaps, because you thought it would be against you. But do you not see nowthat it is all on your side, just as a mother's justice is, because "He knowethour frame and remembereth that we are dust"? No human judge can ever do this;and to me this comprehension of God is one of my most blessed comforts. Often Ido not understand myself; all within looks confused and hopelessly tangled. Butthen I remember that He has searched me, and that He knows me and understandsthe thoughts which so perplex me, and that, therefore, I may just leave thewhole miserable tangle to Him to unravel. And my soul sinks down at once, as ondowny pillows, into a place of the most blissful rest.

     Then further, because of this complete knowledgeand understanding of our needs, what comfort it is to be told that He knows ourdownsitting and our uprising; that He compasses our path, and takes note of ourlying down. Just what a mother does for her foolish, careless, ignorant, butdearly loved little ones, this very thing does our God for us. When a mother iswith her children she thinks of their comfort and well-being always before herown. They must have comfortable seats where no draught can reach them, nomatter what amount of discomfort she may herself be compelled to endure. Theirbeds must be soft and their blankets warm, let hers be what they may. Theirpaths must be smooth and safe, even though she is obliged herself to walk inrough and dangerous ways. Her own comfort, as compared with that of herchildren, is of no account in a loving mother's eyes. And surely our God hasnot made the mothers in this world more capable of a self-sacrificing love thanHe is Himself. He must be better and greater on the line of love andself-sacrifice than any mother He ever made.

     Then, since He has assured us that He knows ourdownsitting and our uprising, that He compasses our path and our lying down, wemay be perfectly and blessedly sure that in even these little details of ourlives we get the very best that His love, and wisdom, and power can compass. Imean this in a very literal sense. I mean that He cares for our literal seatsand our literal beds, and sees that we, each one, have just that sort of a seator that sort of a bed which is best for us and for our highest development. Andjust on this last point is where He is so much better than any mother can be.His love is a wise love, that sees the outcome of things, and cares more forour highest good than for that which is lower. So that, while a mother's weaklove cannot see beyond the child's present comfort, and cannot bear to inflictor allow any discomfort, the strong, wise love of our God can bear to permitthe present discomfort, for the sake of the future glory that is to resulttherefrom.

     At home and abroad, therefore, let us commit thechoosing of our seats, and of our beds, and of all the other little homelycircumstances of our daily lives and surroundings, to the God who has thusassured us that He knows all about every one of them.

     For we are told in our Psalm that He "besets" ourpath. We have some of us known what it was to be "beset" by unwelcome andunpleasant people or things. But we never have thought, perhaps, that we werebeset by God, that He loves us so that He cannot leave us alone, and that nocoldness nor rebuffs on our parts can drive Him away. Yet it is gloriouslytrue! And, moreover, He besets us "behind" as well as before. Just as a motherdoes. She goes after her children and picks up all they have dropped, andclears away all the rubbish they have left behind them. We mothers begin thisin the nursery with the blocks and playthings, and we go on with it all ourlives long; seeking continually to set straight that which our children haveleft crooked behind them; often at the cost of much toil and trouble, butalways with a love that makes the toil and trouble nothing in comparison tocaring for the children we love. What good mother ever turned away the poorlittle tearful darling who came with a tangled knot for her unraveling, orrefused to help the eager rosy boy to unwind his kite-strings? Suppose it hasbeen their own fault that the knots and tangles have come, still her love cansympathize with and pity the very faults themselves, and all the more does sheseek to atone for them.

     All this and more does our God do for us from ourearliest infancy, long even before we know enough to be conscious of it, untilthe very end of our earthly lives. We have seen Him before us perhaps, but wehave never thought of Him as behind us as well. Yet it is a blessed fact thatHe is behind us all the time, longing to make crooked things straight, tountangle our tangled skeins, and to atone continually for the wrong we havedone and the mistakes we have made. If any of us, therefore, have that in ourpast which has caused us anxiety or remorse, let us lift up our heads in ahappy confidence from henceforth, that the God who is behind us will set it allstraight somehow, if we will but commit it to Him, and can even make our verymistakes and misdoings work together for good. Ah! it is a grand thing to be"beset" by God.

     Then again what depths of comfort there are inverses 14 to 16: "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance wasnot hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in thelowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet beingunperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuancewere fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."

     One of the things which often troubles us morethan we care to confess, is our dislike of the way we have been put together.Our mental or moral "make-up" does not suit us. We think if we had only beencreated with less of this or more of that, if we were less impulsive or moreenthusiastic, if we had been made more like someone else whom we admire, thatthen our chances of success would have been far greater; that we could haveserved God far more acceptably; and could have been more satisfactory in everyway to ourselves and to Him. And we are tempted sometimes to think that withour miserable make-up, it is hopeless to expect to please Him.

     If we really realized that God Himself had madeus, we should see the folly of all this at once, but we secretly feel as ifsomehow He had not had much hand in the matter, but as if we had been puttogether in a haphazard sort of way, that had left our characters very much tochance. We believe in creation in the general, but not in the particular, whenit comes to ourselves. But in this Psalm we see that God has presided over thecreation of each one of us, superintending the smallest details; even, to speakfiguratively, writing down what each "member" was to be, when as yet there wasnone of them. Therefore we, just as we are naturally, with just thecharacteristics that inhere in us by birth, are precisely what God would haveus to be, and were planned out by His own hand to do the especial work that Hehas prepared for our doing. I mean, of course, our natural characteristics, notthe perversion of them by sin on our parts.

     There is something very glorifying to the Creatorin this way of looking at it. Genius always seeks expression, and seeks, too,to express itself in as great a variety of forms and ways as possible. No trueartist repeats himself, but each picture he paints, or statue he carves, is anew expression of his creative power. When we go to an exhibition of pictures,we should feel it a lowering of art if two were exactly alike; and just so isit with us who are "God's workmanship." His creative power is expresseddifferently in each one of us. And in the individual "make-up" which sometimesso troubles us, there is a manifestation of this power different from everyother, and without which the day of exhibition, when we are, each one, to be tothe praise of His glory, would be incomplete. All He asks of us is that, as Hehas had the making of us, so He may also have the managing, since He aloneunderstands us, and is, therefore, the only one who can do it.

     The man who makes an intricate machine is thebest one to manage it and repair it; any one else who meddles with it is apt tospoil it. And when we think of the intricacy of our inward machinery and thecontinual failure of our own management of it, we may well be thankful to handit all over to the One who created it, and to leave it in His hands. We may besure He will then make the best out of us that can be made, and that we, evenwe, with our "peculiar temperaments," and our apparently unfortunatecharacteristics, will be made vessels unto honor, sanctified and meet for theMaster's use, and fitted to every good work.

     I met once with a saying in an old Quaker writerwhich I have never forgotten: "Be content to be just what thy God has madethee." It has helped me to understand the point upon which I am dwelling; and Ifeel sure contentment with our own "make-up" is as essential a part of oursubmission to God as contentment with any other of the circumstances of ourdaily life. If we did not each one of us exist just as we are by nature, thenone expression of God's creative power would be missing, and one part of Hiswork would be left undone. And besides, to complain of ourselves is to complainof the One who has made us, and cannot but grieve Him. Let us be content, then,and only see to it that we let the Divine Potter make out of us the very bestHe can, and use us according to His own good pleasure.

     Verses 17 and 18 bring out another view of God'scontinual presence with us, and that is, that He is always thinking about us,and that His thoughts are kind and loving thoughts, for the Psalmist calls themprecious. "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is thesum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:when I awake, I am still with thee."

     So many people are tempted to think that God isnot paying any attention to them. They think that their interests and theiraffairs are altogether beneath His notice, and that they are too unworthy tohope for His attention. But they wrong Him grievously by such thoughts. Amother pays as much attention to her smallest infant as to her oldest children,and is as much interested in its little needs and pleasures as in theirs. I amnot sure but she is more. Her thoughts dwell around the one who needs themmost; and He who made the mother's heart will not Himself be less attentive tothe needs and pleasures of the meanest and most helpless of His creatures. Heeven hears the young lions when they cry, and not a sparrow can fall to theground without Him; therefore, we, who are of more value than many sparrows,need not be afraid of a moment's neglect.

     In fact, the responsibilities of creatinganything require an unintermitting care of it on the part of the Creator; andit is the glory of omnipotence that it can attend at once to the smallestdetails and to the grandest operations as well.

     I do not know why it is that we consider aman or woman weak who attends to large affairs to the neglect of littledetails, and then turn around and accuse our God of doing this very thing. Butif any of my readers have hitherto been guilty of this folly, let it end nowand here, and let each one from henceforth believe, without any questioning,that always and everywhere the "Lord thinketh upon me."

     The remainder of the Psalm develops the perfectaccord of thought between the soul and God, where this life of simple faith hasbeen entered upon. Having learned the transforming fact of God's continualpresence and unceasing care, the soul is brought into so profound a union withHim as to love what He loves, and hate what He hates; and eagerly appeals toHim to search it, and try it, that there may be no spot left anywhere in allits being which is out of harmony with Him.

     In the sunlight of His presence darkness mustflee, and the heart will soon feel that it cannot endure to have any cornershut away from His shining; for in His presence is "fulness of joy," and at Hisright hand "there are pleasures forevermore."

     An old woman, living in a rather desolate part ofEngland, made considerable money by selling ale and beer to chance travelerswho passed her lonely cottage. But her conscience troubled her about it. Shewanted to be a Christian and to go to Heaven when she died, but she had aninward feeling that if she did become a Christian she would have to give up herprofitable business, and this she thought would be more than she could do; sothat between the two things she was brought into great conflict.

     But one night, at the meeting she attended, apreacher from a distance told about the sweet and blessed fact of God'scontinual presence with us, and of the joy this was sure to bring when it wasknown. Her soul was enraptured at the thought of such a possibility for her,and forgetting all about the beer, she began at once with a very simple faithto claim it as a blessed reality. Over and over again she exclaimed in herheart, as the preacher went on with his sermon, "Why, Lord Jesus, I didn't knowas thee wast always with me! Why, Lord, how good it is to know that I have gotthee all the time to live with me and take care of me! Why, Lord, I sha'n'tnever be lonely no more!" And when the meeting closed and she took her way homeacross the moors, all the time the happy refrain went on, "Ah, Lord Jesus, theeart going home with me tonight. Never mind, Lord Jesus, old Betty won't neverlet thee go again now, I knows I have got thee!"

     As her faith thus laid hold of the fact of Hispresence she began to rejoice in it more and more, until finally, when she hadreached her cottage door, her soul was full of delight. As she opened the door,the first object her eyes rested upon was a great pot of ale on the table readyfor selling. At once it flashed into her mind, "The Lord will not like to havethat ale in the house where He lives," and her whole heart responded eagerly,"That ale shall go." She knew the pot was heavy, and she kneeled beside itsaying, "Lord, thee hast come home with me, and thee art going to live with mealways in this cottage, and I know thee don't like this ale. Please give mestrength to tip it over into the road." Strength was given, and the ale wassoon running down the lane. Then the old woman came back into her cottage, andkneeling down again thanked the Lord for the strength given, and added, "Now,Lord, if there is anything else in this cottage that thee does not like, showit to me, and it shall be tipped out too."

     Is not this a perfect illustration of the closeof our Psalm? "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grievedwith those that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred; Icount them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and knowmy thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the wayeverlasting."

     Just as light drives out darkness, so does therealized presence of God drive out sin, and the soul that by faith abides inHis presence knows a very real and wonderful deliverance.

     And now I trust that some will ask, "How can Ifind this presence to be real to myself?" I will close, therefore, with a fewpractical directions.

     First, convince yourself from the Scriptures thatit is a fact. Facts must always be the foundation of our experiences, or theexperiences are worthless. It is not the feeling that causes the fact, but thefact that produces the feeling. And what every soul needs in this case first ofall, is to be convinced beyond question, from God's own words about it, thatHis continual presence with us is an unalterable fact.

     Then, this point having been settled, the nextthing to do is to make it real to ourselves by "practising His presence," as anold writer expresses it, always and everywhere, and in everything. This meanssimply that you are to obey the Scripture command, and "in all your waysacknowledge Him," by saying over each hour and moment, "The Lord is here," andby doing everything you do, even if only eating and drinking, in His presenceand for Him. Literally, "whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever yedo, do all to the glory of God."

     By this continual "practice of His presence," thesoul at last acquires a habit of faith; and it becomes, finally, as difficultto doubt His presence as it was at first to believe it.

     No great effort is required for this, but simplyan unwavering faith. It is not studied reasonings or elaborate meditations thatwill help you here. The soul must recognize, by an act of simple faith, thatGod is present, and must then accustom itself to a continual conversation withHim about all its affairs, in freedom and simplicity. He does not require greatthings of us. A little remembrance of His presence, a few words of love andconfidence, a momentary lifting of the heart to Him from time to time as we goabout our daily affairs, a constant appeal to Him in everything as to a presentand loving friend and helper, an endeavor to live in a continual sense of Hispresence, and a letting of our hearts "dwell at ease" because of it, -- this isall He asks; the least little remembrance is welcome to Him, and helps to makeHis presence real to us.

     Whoever will be faithful in this exercise willsoon be led into a blessed realization of all I have been trying to tell inthis book, and of far more that I cannot tell; and will understand in a waybeyond telling, those wonderful words concerning our Lord, "They shall call Hisname Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."