Newspaper Page Text
8 (902)
The Sunday School
A PSALM OF DELIVERANCE.
Psalm 85. Oct. 29, 1911.
Golden Text: The Txml hath done
great things for us; whereof we are
glad. P8. 126:3.
Topical Analysis: 1. God's Mercy in
the Past, vs. 1-3. 2. A Prayer for the
Present, vs. 4-7. 3. Hope for the
Eternal Future, vs. 8-13.
Just when this Psalm was written and
by whom is unknown. It seems to have
been composed by some Israelite loyal
and true just after the return of the
Jews from the Babylonish captivity.
John Edgar McFaden gives us, in his
"Messages of the Psalmists," an excellent
paraphrase of this Psalm, the reading
of which will help us to learn its
great lessons. It Is this:
"Once. O our God, Thou didst show
favor to our land, by stilling Thine
anger against us, graciously forgiving
our sins, and bringing thy people back
from exile. Once again give over Thine
anger, and restore us; or, wilt Thou
cheriRh thino nncor ncoinui no fnronnfl
Oh! wilt Thou not bring Thy people
back again from the gates of death, and
make them glad in Thee. Show us Thy
mercy, O our God, and save us!
"I tremble with expectancy to hear
what answer the mighty Jehovah will
make to my prayer. (Pause.) Now I
know that it will be an answer of peace
?peace to His loyal people that turn
their hearts to Him. Yes, assuredly. He
will soon save those who fear Him, and
honor the land by His glorious presence.
In the golden days so soon to dawn men
will be kind and loyal to each other,
while from Heaven salvation will look
down upon them. Yes, faithfulness will
spring up among men like golden harvest,
and salvation will look down upon
the happy earth from the windows of
Heaven. Jehovah will send His bless
mg, ana nis iana snail yield ner harvest.
He will pass through the land,
attended by peace and salvation?salva.
tlon going as harvest before him, and
peace following in the track of His
steps."
The Psalmist is recalling with thank,
fulness God's deliverance of the Children
of Israel from captivity. This deliverance
came because Israel repented
of Its sins and sought God's forgiveness
"They cried unto the Ixird in their
troiible and he delivered them out of
their distresses." Ps. 10': 6.
Thosj who wander away in sin will
God bring back from the captivity of
Satan when they repent and cry to God
for deliverance
V. 2. "There is forgiveness with
Thee." "None can forgiv? sins, save
God only." Of repentant sinners it is
said Uod hath "covered all their sins."
A great miracle is this. It would be as
easy for man to cover up the sun, as to
cover up sin. God covers it not as with
a covering that only hides from view,
but as with a plaster that has such heal,
ing powers that the sore upon which it
is placed is not only hidden, but is also
entirely healed, so that not even a scar
remains.
V. 3. The T-ord Is gracious and of ten
der mercy to all them that fear him.
V. 4. Repentance, like faith, is a gift
of God. He it is that turns us from sin
unto salvation.
V. 5. The questions of this verse are
not answered. And an unanswered question
Is the strongest kind of an affirmation.
God's anger will not abide forever
THE PRESBVTERI
He is evei" ready to forgive and to show
mercy.
V. 6. "Wilt tliou not revive us again?"
What God's people need above all things
is a revival in their own hearts of true
and undefiled religion. There must be
an awakening of a deeper sense of sin
and unworthiness, a fuller realization of
man's inability to save himself, an increase
of faith in God a deepening of
juve ro ^oa ana man, a more complete
devotion of service to God. but this re.
vival must come from God and will come
in response to strong desire and earnest
prayer. The result will be that there
will be joy in the hearts of God's people,
and this will bring joy to the world.
Revived hearts and lives will mean a revived
church, and this in turn will mean
a saved world. Then there will be joy
not only on earth, but among the angels
in heaven and in the great heart of our
Saviour.
V. 7. Having offered his prayer the
Psalmite waits in faith for the answer,
assured that God will not only hear,
but will answer as well. God's people
should always listen for God's words.
Then they will "not turn again to folly."
V. 9. "Faith knows that a saving God
is always near at hand, but only to
those who fear the Tx>rd, and worship
him with holy awe. . . . Israel was
glorious whenever she was faithful?her
dishonor always followed her disloyalty;
believers also live glorious lives when
they walk obediently, and they only lose
the tru? glory of their religion when
they fall from their steadfastness."?
Spurgeon.
V. 10. "Mercy and truth?two radiant
angels, like Virgins in solemn choric
dance, linked hand in hand, issue from
the sanctuary and move amongst the
dim haunts of men making a sunshine
in a shady place, and to them there come
forth, linked in a sweet embrace, another
pair, Righteousness and Peace,
whose lives depend on the lives of their
elder and heavenly sisters. And so
these four, the pair of heavenly origin,
and the answering pair that have sprung
into being at their coming upon earth;
?these four, banded in perfect accord.
move together, blessing and light-giving
among the sons of men. Mercy and
Truth are the divine?Righteousness and
Peace the earthly."?Alexander McLaren.
Mercy is God's love manifested to the
unworthy. Truth is God's fidelity to every
obligation. Righteousness is the
life lived by those who have been justi.
fled by God and sanctified by his Holy
Spirit. Where such lives are lived there
will be peace betwen God and man, and
between man and man.
V. 11. The seed of God's truth coming
down from heaven shall spring up
and bring forth a harvest of truth on
earth, and the righteous God will look
down from heaven upon it with com.
placency and satisfaction.
V. 12. God is always giving "that
which is good." He gives fertility to
the soil, the rain and the sunshine, the
gentle breeze and the ptrong wind,
strength and skill to man. And "our
land" does "yield her increase." So
he gives "that which is good" for the
soul. Are our souls yielding their "increase?*'
V. 13. God's righteousness, as a herald
goes before him,, and prepares the
way by which he walks through the
earth; and as he goes he takes us by the
hand and leads us in his own footsteps.
And he who fdllows in the way in which
God leads cannot go astray.
"We cannot understand one thing. Why
is a man who believes little or nothing,
ana mat very feebly, a 'broad' man,
while one is 'narrow' who believes a
great deal with all his heart?"
AN OF THE SOUTH
Young People's Societies
MISSIONS IN EUROPE.
Topic for Sunday, October 20: A Missionary
Journey Around the WoHd.
X. Missions in Euroiie. Acts
16:6.15. (
DAILY READINGS. <
Monday: Thessalonica. Acts 17:1.10. 1
Tuesday: Noble hearers. Acts 17:10- ,
12. ,
Wednesday: Among philosophers.
Acts 17: 22-34.
Thursday: Impure Corinth. Acts 18:1- '
11.
Friday: The Call of Rome. Romans
1:9.16. j
Saturday: The message. 1 Corlnthi- .
ans 2:1-6 t
One would hardly think that Europe is ,
a field for missionary work. Its long
occupancy by the Christian church and
its development and civilization would '
seem to declare It already sufficiently (
evangelized.
But Europe still contains some of the
darkest spots on the earth. It is then not '
so much because there are no nominal 1
Christians in almost every part of it as 1
because they are only nominal Christians 1
in many parts. '
The Mohammedan faith has its head
quarters on European soil, though it
faces Asia and Africa chiefly in its administrative
and aggressive work. And
that faith is the difficulty that the adherents
of the Cross have to encounter.
Its intolerance, bigotry and truculency
are unparallelled.
The Greek Church is next in bigotry
and intolerance in Europe. Its adu
herents are many millions. Where it has
the power, as in Russia, it forbids and
persecutes all other religions and imprisons
or sends to Siberia all who dare
to try to propagate a purer faith. Happily
there are signs just now of better
conditions.
Spain. Portugal, Italy, and parts of
Ireland are priest-ridden. There illiteracy
is more general than elsewhere
in Europe. The nearer one gets to
Rome the deeper is the darkness that
envelopes the masses. They need the
light. Whenever it is taken to them it is
accepted by hosts of people.
The recent internal fight in Spain was
over the question of exhibiting insignia
of religious worship other than that of
the Roman Church. The entrance of the
purer faith out of an open Bible, with
liberty of private judgment, was bitterly t
opposed. The revolt of thinking people c
against such conditions developed or f
fostered anti-clericalism. The country r
is now open to the propagators of truth. *
The drift of millions, especially in T
France, away from all religion, to be '
accounted for by the methods and 1
nrinciples of the church which dominat- c
ed that people, calls for special attention 1
on the part of all who have a mis- c
slonary spirit. The revolt against Ro- 8
manism should not be allowed to shape t
itself in irreligion, but in an evangelical
intelligent faith. 0
Our own church maintained mis- e
sionary work on European soil for some '
years. That of Miss Ronzone at Miion ?
in Italy, produced excellent results. It *
was merged Into the Waldensian Church, 8
which was occupying the territory. At 11
Athens, in Greece, and at Salonlca, In 1
Thessaly, our church wrought for a P
number of years under I^eyburn, Kalopo.
thakes, and Sampson. The work was *
merged into that of the Evangelical ^
Church of Greece. F
Believing is more than simply know- p
Ing the facts and principles of the gos- t
pel; it Involves a sense of guilt, the b
need of pardon and cleansing from sin. b
H
[ October 18, 1911.
The Prayer Meeting
WHAT TO PRAY FOR.
Week of Oct. 22. Phil. 4:6.
The model prayer which our Saviour
raught his disciples begins with an adIress
to God as our Father. The title,
which stands for the relationship, Is itself
an appeal and a stimulus to our
faith. If prayer is the approach or appeal
of trustful children to a loving, gracious,
bountiful Father it must receive
love's welcome and love's response.
Fatherhood invites to confiding outpour.
Ing of the desires of the soul. Not only
ire we permitted to come as to a sovereign,
but we are invited to come as
friends and guests and we are drawn to
bim by the cords of paternal love.
mus coming we are free to ask for
inv good gift. But as thoughtful and
ibedient children we should realize that
Lhere are many things that we may ask
which are not best for us at the time,
ir even at any time. Who can say that
i particular temporal possession or
ileasure will make his soul strong or
lis life happy. The things that are best
'or us are the things that our Father is
waiting to bestow. Many of us have
seen the gratification of merely natural
lesires for things innocent in them.
lelves, weaken the characters and per.
laps wreck the lives of their possessors.
3ne prayer we should always have in
nir hearts is that God would enable us
o covet earnestly the best gifts. The
ipirit of prayer is that which is most
mportant and most pleasing to God. To
iwell in the secret place of the most
ligh, to be alone with him, to breathe
he atmosphere of his presence, to resort
o where he may be found and to linger
n blessed fellowship with him; this is
he spirit and the substance of prayer.
.Vhat victories have been won, what beitowments
of power received, what
'more than earthly light," what mystic
itimulus. what rpntnrod r?r>n ro cm
onsciousness of hallowed asociatlon,
vhat triumphs over enemies and self,
vhen lingering consciously and exdusively
1n His presence.
Prayer is to be offered for others as
veil as for ourselves. The words "Our
father" and "give us" imply the sacred
jrivilege of intercession. When we
ealize God's favor toward ourselves we
nstinctively turn our thought and in.
erest toward others; first to those of
>ur own household, then to comrades,
riends and neighbors, after these to
lumerous classes in society, including
he entire world. "Pray ye therefore the
x>rd of the harvest that he will send
orth laborers into his harvest." The
nost impressive, beautiful and marvel
ius prayer on record is our lord's inercession
prayer in behalf of his dis lples
and not for them only, but for
ill who should believe on him through
heir word.
One department of prayer upon which
iur Txird placed emphasis is prayer for
nemies, "Pray for them that despite.
ully use you and persecute you." He
;ave an example which will be known
hrough all time when on the cross he
aid, "Father forgive them for they know
iot what they do." Nothing more cleary
indicates Christian character than
irayer devoutly offered for those who
ave proven themselves to be enemies,
t involves the grace of forgiveness and
emonstrates the good will of the sup>11
ant.
Our Lord instructed his followers to
ray for whatever they desired. "What
hings so-ever ye desire, when ye pray,
elleve that ye receive them and ye Bhall
iave them." . . r? -mm