S
THE K I N G ' S B U S I NE S S
January, 1938
• 2 - l M Y SOUL, wait thou only upon G od; for my expectation is from him” (Psa. 62:5). “My expectation” I How the words ring down the centuries, out of the Psalmist’s troubled life. For here was a man who might easily have become a cynic or a pessimist, at least with regard to men, after his treatment by King Saul. But happily he had learned the useful habit of getting his eyes off men and circumstances, and on to God. Like Elijah, who followed him in the pathway of trust, he had “ looked into the face of God.” The result was that he could remain not only unmoved by present distresses, but positively ex pectant of relief and deliverance and final blessing. In this confident Psalm, David, as was his custom, placed his soul oppo site him, to address and exhort it. And just here he is led to ring the changes on the word “ only,” from the “ only” expectation of his enemies to cast this is an attitude of soul toward God which is nei ther easy nor natural, but which needs to be deliberately cultivated, for it is both God honoring and God-compelling. Such expectation is more than pas sive trust, is deeper than honest de sire, and higher than hope in the ab stract. It outruns all of these, for it is positive, aggressive, and divinely ambitious. And I am sure it is a qual ity of mind, an attitude toward God, which must be deliberately cultivated and steadfastly maintained by ail of us. W e are too liable to transfer to the spiritual realm those disappointments which often come to us in human af fairs, and to become almost pessimists toward God. And this same attitude of “ expecta tion” toward God is carried over into the New Testament. And at once there comes to mind the Saviour, who, at the right hand of God, is depicted “ expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.” But here the word is dif ferent from that used about men; it is “ ekdekomai,” which has the sense of waiting rather than expecting. For expectation implies uncertainty as to the future, and, blessed be God, there is no uncertainty as to His future or the finality of His dominion. But in Luke 3:15 we do have a very beautiful state of mind described, for all the people were “ in expectation” [ The author served many years as ex ecutive of the South Sea Evangelical Mission, Solomon Islands .— E ditor .] him down, to the only source of his safety, his rock of salva tion, to hold him up. Yet far more than mere security, his ardent soul goes out in sane and eager “ expectation” in God for blessing and pros perity. Expectation Centered in God For such expectation as
(prosdokau). A t that time the expecta tion was as to the first advent of the Son of God. Today, thank God, in many quarters there is a similar expec tation as to His second advent. Yet, may I say, even more vital to the soul than that second advent is the present advent of the Saviour into the heart in fullness. Perhaps our present and rightful ex pectation in God might well be summed up in the declaration of J. Hudson Taylor, at the last annual meeting of the China Inland Mission he attended before his death. His em phatic words were these: “ There is a living God. He has spoken to us in His Word. He means what He says, and will do all He has promised." T o many that may seem a slender basis for a man or a mission to rest upon, as Mr. Taylor was warned by a well-mean ing Christian friend: “ You are mak ing a great mistake in going out to China without any organization behind you. W e live in a busy world, and you will all be for gotten. The Mission won’t live seven years.” Well, it has lived over seventy years, and in that time has received more than five million sterling. O f late years, perhaps, this Mis sion has been as great a blessing and tonic to faith in the land in which it was born, as in the land to which it has gone. No, it is no vain thing to trust in Him, who is the Changeless One, on whom all our pres ent and future prospects de pend. The Lord Jesus Christ: "Our Hope" Now it is an interesting fact that the triple Christian graces of faith, hope, and love, everywhere pervade the Old Testament, and the center grace of hope of expectation (tiqvah) is set forth as the only solution of human problems and pain. Again in the Epistles, “ now abideth faith, hope, love,” which run like a refrain all through these mes sages of God to lighten human hearts and change human lives. Yet when we consider the Gospels, though faith and love are again most prominent— faith being the entrance door to salva tion, and love the enjoyment of it— yet, strange to say, hope is never once mentioned except when Herod “ hoped” to see some miracle done. In the Gos pels, hope is never advocated as a needful virtue. And the reason for the remarkable omission of this cardi nal virtue from the Gospels is as simple as it is blessed. For the Lord Jesus Christ is Himself the Hope, the only hope of His people. Before He came and after He went, there was constant need for the exercise of hope for Him and in Him. But “can the children . . . mourn, as long as the [ Continued on page 9]
WHAT WAIT I FOR? By HELEN FR a ZEF. BOWER
About me reels a world of storm and chaos And over me the troubled waters pour; Unmoved, my spirit casts a quiet anchor. - What wait i for?
Expectation!
By N O R T H C O T E D ECK F.R.G.S.
What wait 1 for, when hosts of darkness gather, jSBgjM When shadows hide the day's familiar rim When all the heart grows hushed with espcc tatlon^ ■ I wait for HIM wait for Jesus Christ, the only Saviour, The spotless Son o f God, the living Word; me cannot stay His steps, death cannot hold Him— | My risen Lord My l ord has ever brought the grace sufficient For every earthly need He has sufficed Now. on the margin of each new encounter, I wait for Christ»- I ' ■ JBMK I wait for Christ— the hope in flesh exhausted. I wait as one who has already di~a God let a doubting world see ir my waiting Christ magnified. . Mv
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