February 1928
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weary; His eyes are never closed to the need of His own children. Good things will bear repetition. The truth of the Lord’s keeping power and watchfulness is so rich, so con soling, that the writer feels it should be repeated. And so he says, “H e that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” In this repetition a new thought is introduced. The God “ that keepeth thee” is the same God that “ keep eth Israel.” Let the reader go back in thought to the Father of this race, the man who first bore the name of “ Israel.” It will be found that when Jacob had, by fraud, obtained from Isaac the blessing that was intended for Esau, he was compelled to flee for his life. A t nightfall he took a stone and, placing it for a pillow, he lay down to sleep. As he slept he dreamed, and saw a ladder which reached from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending. Above the ladder stood Jehovah and said, “ Behold, I am with thee and will KEEP thee whitherso ever thou goest.” Jehovah made good that promise. He kept Israel the man, and He also kept Israel the nation. In Egypt, through the Red Sea, in the wilderness, in spite o f their sins, He preserved them as a nation. Today they are scattered over the whole earth, but Jehovah is still keeping His promise and will some day bring them back unto their own land. The preservation of Israel as a nation is the standing miracle o f the ages. How blessed, then, it is to know that the very God who was able, to keep the nation of Israel down through the centuries, is the same God who “ keepeth thee.”
T he N earness of J ehovah
III. V erses 5-6 speak of the nearness of our keeper . “ Jehovah is thy keeper : Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.” Here, the Psalmist names the One who keeps us. Verses 3-4 speak o f Him with the pronoun “ He.” But in verse 5 we read His name. “ Jehovah is thy keeper.” And who is Jehovah? Let us go to the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel according to John. A Man is praying here as no other man ever prayed. He is talking to the Father about a little group o f disciples whom, He says, “ Thou hast given me.” He is saying, “ While I was with them I K E P T th em ____ and I GUARDED them.” “ I kept them,” says Jesus Christ. “Jehovah is thy keeper,” says, the Psalmist. Then Jesus is Jehovah. O f course it must be true. Does any one suppose that a merely hurnan Jesus could ever KEEP a sinner? Only God is able to do that. If Jesus is able to keep me (and I know He can) - then He must be God. It cannot be otherwise. The Jews o f His day fully understood this. Our Lord came to them and said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow m e; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out o f my hand.” When He had finished speaking the Jews took up stones to stone Him for blasphemy. Among other things they knew that the one hundred twenty-first Psalm of their Scriptures declared that “ Jehovah is thy keeper.”
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And my faith came back to its Refuge, Like the glad returning dove. For I thought when the Master Builder Gomes down His temple to view, . To see what rents must be mended And what must be builded anew ;;-',.. Perhaps, as He looks o’er the building “ He will bring my work to the light; And seeing the marring and bungling And how far it all is from right, He will feel as I felt for my darling, And will say as I said for her, “Dear child, she wanted to help me, And love for me was the spur. “And for the real love that was in it, Thè work shall seem perfect as mine, And because it was willing service, I will crown it with plaudit divine.” . And there, in the deepening twilight, I seemed to clasp a Hand, And to feel a great love constrain me Stronger than any command. Then I knew by the thrill o f sweetness ’Twas the hand of the Blessed One, Which, would tenderly guide and hold me, Till all the labor is done. So my thoughts are never more gloomy, My faith no longer is dim ; But my heart is strong and restful, And mine eyes are unto H im ,
The Voice in
the Twilight _ )
T WAS sitting alone in the twilight, With spirit troubled and vexed, With thoughts that were morbid and gloomy, And faith that was sadly perplexed. Some homely work I was doing For the child of my love and care, Some stitches half wearily setting In the endless need of repair.. But my. thoughts were about “the building,”:?,'/ The work some day to be tried; : And that only the gold and the silver And the precious stones should abide. And remembering my own poor, efforts, The wretched work I had done, And, even when trying most truly, The meager success I had won; “ It is nothing but wood, hay and stubble,” I said: “ It will all be burned— This useless fruit o f the talents One day to be returned. “And I have so longed to serve Him, And sometimes I know I have tried; But I’m sure when He sees such a building He will never let it abide.”
lust then, as I turned the garment, That no rent should be left behind, My eye caught an odd little bungle 0 f mending and patchwork combined. My heart grew suddenly tender, And something blinded my eyes With one of those sweet intuitions. That sometimes make us so wise. Dear child, she wanted to help me; 1 know ’twas the best she could d o ; But ph, what a botch she had made it— The gray mis-matching the blue! And yet—can you understand it?^ ^ | With a tender smile and a tear, And a half-compassionate yearning, I felt her grown more dear. Then a sweet voice broke the silence, And the dear Lord said to me, “Art thou tenderer for the little child Than I am tender for thee?” Then straightway I knew His meaning, So full of compassion and love,
—By Mrs. Herrick Johnson.
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