SOME time ago, dear friends, as I was coming out of one of the places of meeting in one of our larger cities, I heard a band of music playing some beautiful pieces a short distance up the street, and the thought came to my mind at the time as to what a beautiful comparison there was between that band of music and the Word of God, for while the musicians were giving us natural music, the Word is where we get the spiritual music; while they were producing earthly melody, the Bible is where we find Heavenly melody.

In that band there were probably fifteen or twenty different musicians and I noticed that it took everyone of them to make the melody. I felt that it would not be right to point to this man and say that he was the man who was making all the music, or to some other one and say that he was giving us all the music, for I noticed, as I said, that it took everyone of the fifteen or twenty to produce it.

As I thought of God’s Word, the thought came to me that there are sixty-six different books in the Bible and it takes every one of these to make the spiritual music. We could not point to Isaiah and say: “This, is the book that gives us all our spiritual music;” nor could we point to Romans or to Genesis and say this of them, for it takes every one of the sixty-six books to produce the spiritual music as truly as it took the entire fifteen or twenty musicians to produce the natural music.

I noticed also that some of these musicians had very large horns and some of them had very small ones; and it brought the thought that there are also some very large books in the Bible and some very small ones; and yet I noticed that some of the musicians with the smallest instruments had some of the most difficult parts. So it is with the Bible – some of the smallest books contain some very important lessons.

As I looked at that band of music, I saw that while there was a great difference in the instruments and the character of the music produced by each instrument individually, yet each occupied its peculiar place. I noticed too that there were some instruments that could not have possibly produced music by themselves. I thought, for instance, of the musician with the bass horn. Suppose there were no other instrument except that horn. It would make no music at all, only a most terrible din; and yet, accompanied by all the other instruments, it filled the place that needed to be filled and the music would not have been complete without it. Then I thought of the book of Leviticus and how little it would have been understood without the other books; but with the remainder of the Bible, Leviticus fills the place that needs to be filled, and we could not get along without it. The spiritual music would not have been so grand had it not been for this book. 

I thought also of the man with the cornet. Suppose all the other musicians would stop playing except him. We would still have fairly good music, but not nearly so good as when all the musicians were playing. I thought of the gospel of John and how glorious it would be by itself, but it is not nearly so grand as when accompanied by all the other precious books that God has given us in His Word. I thought also of how the band of music was complete in itself. Suppose some foolish man were to come along and say: “This music is not complete. Let us put a factory whistle with the other instruments.” He would ruin the whole thing. That is exactly what some of our mistaken friends are doing with the Word of God. Take, for instance, Mormonism and its teachings. It is not worthy in any way of being united with God’s Holy Word. Thus we recognize, as God has told us, that His Word was given to us for our instruction and admonition.

Must Have Regard For Time

Then I noticed how it was that they produced music. I observed that they did not start in and blow and blow indiscriminately. I thought what a horrible noise it would have made if they had been blowing without any regard to notes, time or anything else; but I noticed that each one had to come in on the right note and at the right time and that was how the music was produced. And I thought how this was like God’s Word. If we treat it without any regard to time or season, we will never get any music out of it at all. It is as the Apostle Paul says: we must “Study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” We must apply every verse to the right time and right class of people, and thus rightly applying it we are enabled to get grand music out of this glorious Old Book.

I saw at times there were only two or three musicians playing, and at other times there were four or five, and then again all were playing at the same time. I thought of how this resembled God’s Word. There are some features of his great plan spoken of in one or two books, and other features in four or five books, and some parts of His plan are seen in every book of the Bible. And how we should rejoice that we are to recognize more clearly and beautifully than ever before what a glorious plan our Heavenly Father has devised for the blessing of His creatures. As our Master said on another occasion: “Blessed are your eyes, for they SEE, and your ears, for they HEAR”; and again the Psalmist: “Blessed are the people who know the JOYFUL sound.”

Well now, dear friends, while it was a glorious thing to hear this whole band playing, I noticed that there were times when they gave solos and I thought of how we might have a little solemn solo here this afternoon while we especially consider some helpful thoughts expressed by the Psalmist, and endeavor to get therefrom the things which the Lord must have put there for our instruction and admonition. I am going to read the 91st Psalm, one probably more or less familiar to God’s people and one from which they have all perhaps gotten great strength and comfort: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,” etc.

There are many respects in which the Bible differs from every other book, but in no respect is its difference more noticeable than in the multiplicity and diversity of its promises. There never was another book written which contained such comforting, such edifying, such grand, such sure promises nor so many of them as does this book of God’s Word. There are promises for the saint and promises for the sinner; promises for the Church and promises for the world; promises for the consecrated believer and promises for the justified believer; promises for the Jewish Age, promises for the Gospel Age and promises for the Age of Ages to come.

We find in God’s Word that there are but few entirely unconditional promises – promises that have no conditions attaching to them; but on the other hand the larger part of the promises are conditional. In the very first verse of the Psalm, we are told who these promises are for: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High” etc., so the first thing then for us to consider this afternoon is to determine whether we are dwelling in the secret place of the most High. If we are, then these promises are for us.

Great Truths Lie Deep.

We find that God’s Word tells us a great deal about mysteries, secret things, hidden things. Indeed it is surprising to one who will take his Bible and look the matter up to find how much there is of mysteries and secrets. I believe that such words as secret, hidden, concealed, mystery, occur over 400 times in the Bible. We find also that the Bible is a secret book in large measure, but we also see that some things are not concealed Great Truths Lie Deep.

For instance, NO ONE could read the Word and fail to discover that Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind. The teaching of the apostles clearly was that our Lord Jesus died to pay the sinners’ penalty. That is one reason why today millions on millions clearly recognize the fact that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the human race. Beyond this, however, we find that the greater portion of the Word is secret, concealed and hidden. Some might be inclined to ask: “Why didn’t God give us a Word that was clear and plain and easily understood?” When you read an article in a newspaper and I read that same article in the same paper, you don’t get one meaning out of it while I get another. No, we both get the same idea. Yet some man wrote that article, and now, dear friends, if man is able to put his thoughts on paper in such a way that no one can mistake his mind, how much more able is God? God could have given us His Word so plain that no one could have misunderstood it if he had wanted to, but He didn’t. Well, why didn’t He? The reason evidently is that He did not want all to understand it – at least not now. And we find this to be the case exactly. Our Saviour said so: “Unto YOU it is given to know the MYSTERIES of the Kingdom of God, but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables, that seeing they may see and not perceive; and hearing they may hear and not understand.” So then you can see that the reason the Master used parables, the reasons there are so many peculiar things in God’s Word is because the Lord did not want everybody to understand His Word now.

The question would naturally arise then, who is this class that shall understand now? Somebody will answer: “It surely must be the wise men”; and we answer: “No; it is not them.” You remember the Master himself said: “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent.” And the Apostle Paul says in the first chapter of Corinthians: “Not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.” So we see that it is not the worldly wise who are to have these secret things revealed unto them. Then some will say, it is probably the most moral. No, not them. You remember in our Savior’s day the Pharisees were the class that, so far as morality was concerned, seemed to be living above reproach. We find though, that the result of this was to produce the spirit of pride in them. And the Scriptures tell us that “God resisteth the proud but showeth favor to the humble.” So we see that it does not matter how moral a man may be, if it produces in him the spirit of pride, the Master cannot use him and the light of the truth is not for such.

On the other hand, we read in the 1st verse of the 61st chapter of Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek,” etc. There, that is the class the Lord is looking for – the meek. And the man who, accepting Jesus Christ as his Saviour, accepts also the statements that are open and plain, he will feel that he will want to live for the Lord who lived for him and that he ought to die for the One who died for him, and sacrifice willingly every earthly thing for the One who sacrificed so much for him. And this is the class that, having obtained the knowledge that Jesus is their Saviour, that He gave up all for them, will gladly give up all for Him and follow in His steps. Unto such, God is willing to give more light, and the man or woman who is willing to please Him in all things will find that the Lord is ready to give them further light.

The Building of Character.

You remember how this matter is placed before us in 2 Peter 1:5: “And besides all this, giving all diligence, add to your faith.” Now notice that a moment – “ADD to your Faith.” Faith must be the first step in the Christian’s life and we read that “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” But then there is something beyond faith, for the apostle declares that though he had “Faith to remove mountains and had not Love, it would avail nothing.” So we see that we must go on building on faith’s foundation structure, higher, higher, until we reach the pinnacle of Love. “Add to your Faith virtue,” or fortitude. In other words, having faith, have the fortitude to live up to it. Then the statement goes further: “Add to your faith, fortitude; and to fortitude, knowledge.” Someone might be inclined to say: “Oh the apostle must have made a mistake. He surely must have meant that knowledge should come first. He must have meant having the knowledge, add to it faith and fortitude.” No, the apostle put it right, for it required only a little knowledge for us to recognize the fact that we were sinners, and then it did not take much more for us to decide that we were going to live up to our Faith. But having the faith and the fortitude, you now require the Light. What would be the use of God giving you the Light if you did not have the faith to believe it and if you had not the fortitude to act upon it? So we see that we must live up to the Light we have and God will give us more Light, even as the apostle says: “We must walk in the Light.

You remember how this matter is placed before us in 2 Peter 1:5: “And besides all this, giving all diligence, add to your faith.” Now notice that a moment – “ADD to your Faith.” Faith must be the first step in the Christian’s life and we read that “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” But then there is something beyond faith, for the apostle declares that though he had “Faith to remove mountains and had not Love, it would avail nothing.” So we see that we must go on building on faith’s foundation structure, higher, higher, until we reach the pinnacle of Love. “Add to your Faith virtue,” or fortitude. In other words, having faith, have the fortitude to live up to it. Then the statement goes further: “Add to your faith, fortitude; and to fortitude, knowledge.” Someone might be inclined to say: “Oh the apostle must have made a mistake. He surely must have meant that knowledge should come first. He must have meant having the knowledge, add to it faith and fortitude.” No, the apostle put it right, for it required only a little knowledge for us to recognize the fact that we were sinners, and then it did not take much more for us to decide that we were going to live up to our Faith. But having the faith and the fortitude, you now require the Light. What would be the use of God giving you the Light if you did not have the faith to believe it and if you had not the fortitude to act upon it? So we see that we must live up to the Light we have and God will give us more Light, even as the apostle says: “We must walk in the Light. requires the “milk” of the Word, the foundation principles; but he who grows up should be able to take the “meat” of the Word, hence the apostle says: “Therefore, leaving the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection,” etc. Now, a great many seem to think that the apostle meant exactly the opposite from what he said. They seem to think the necessary thing is to keep on talking about repentance from dead works and faith and the doctrine of baptism and laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. Nearly every sermon preached in Nominal Christendom today comes under one of these six heads. The apostle does not inform us that we are to deny these or that we are never to talk of them, but we are not to continually remain at this point but, having Faith toward God, we are to go on and investigate further the things which God has caused to be written for our instructions and edification. 

Turning to the 28th chapter of Isaiah and the 9th verse we read: “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the breast and drawn from the milk.” Those who are babes no longer. We realize that today, dear friends, there are thousands upon thousands who began their Christian experience 50 years ago and they are still feeding on the milk. But we realize that when one grows up to manhood’s estate, while he does not give up milk altogether, yet he does not take it in such large quantities as does an infant. So likewise as we become strong in the Lord we will still have use for the foundation principles, but at the same time, we will not want to listen always to sermons advising us to repent and have faith toward God, but we will rather want to go on into some of the deeper things of God’s Holy Word

The man or woman who is growing in the ways of the Lord, while he or she may not be so highly educated according to the course of this world, yet that one is gaining more and more wisdom of the heavenly kind, and while his position is misunderstood and he is looked upon as a foolish person from the world’s standpoint, yet the apostle tells us why this is true, saying: “While WE look not at the things which are seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are spiritual.” We see, therefore, that the apostle is speaking of the things which are not temporal, things not seen with the natural eye and by the world generally. These are the things that God through His Word reveals to those who are not only willing to accept the Light but to live up to the Light as it has been revealed and received into good and honest hearts. You remember how peculiar in the eyes of the world was the position of the Apostles Peter and James and those with them at the first advent.

The world looked down upon them and said: “How is it that these men who are ignorant and unlearned are able to understand these things?” It was a mystery to them. They could not understand it. But it was easily understood by the Apostles and all the other consecrated children of God. We might add also that the Christian’s life has been a mystery to the world all the way down through the age. It was a mystery, a secret to the world, why it was that the Apostle Paul was willing to take the peculiar stand he took. They could not understand why it was that he cared so little for the things which he formerly sought after and why it was that all he wanted to do was to preach Christ and Him crucified.

Bible Students a Mystery.

Our position is a mystery to them today. They cannot understand why it is that we can get a better religious experience than others who are in great denominational organizations. They cannot understand why we are willing to sacrifice so much and count it all so little. It is because they do not see what we see. They do not see the glorious reward that is offered to those who follow the Master’s footsteps to the end. They do not see the promises which stimulate us nor the good things which are ours even in this present life. Truly it is as the apostle says: “And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.” Surely there is no doubt but what there is controversy as to our peculiar position and there is also great controversy as to whether our views are right. As one said of Paul: “Thou art mad.” In the eyes of the world, our position is regarded as a foolish one; but nevertheless these are the ones who are dwelling in the secret place of the most High, these are living the secret, mysterious life, this life in which they have revealed to them the secrets which He is now dispensing to His people. These occupy a secret place now. They, are living a new life, a life the world cannot understand or appreciate.

We understand the expression “secret place” to convey the thought of a secret position. We understand it to be used in the same sense, for instance, in which we would say that Judge So-and-So occupies a conspicuous place today. We do not refer to the town in which he lives, for very few people know anything about that town. Nevertheless his position is a conspicuous one, he having been placed prominently before the public. We know that it is said that “So-and-So” occupies an enviable position. So when it says: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,” we understand that it is this secret position, this mysterious life that is lived by the people of God, this life in which they are running for the prize and seeking glory, honor, immortality and a crown.

We understand this to be very beautifully prefigured and illustrated in the Jewish tabernacle: You remember there were the two apartments. The Holy was typical of this secret position, the condition of those begotten of the spirit, those who have consecrated their wills to the Lord. To such, He is revealing things that He is not revealing to the world. So then it is to this consecrated class that this Scripture applies: “He that dwelleth,” etc. We notice this word “abide.” The original of the word means, “to pass the night.” And we understand, dear friends, that for 6,000 years and more the world has been passing thru a night time of sin and death. You remember how the Scriptures declare: The evening and the morning were the first day: the evening and the morning were the second day: the evening and the morning were the third day, and so on until now we are and have for some time been in the great seventh night, and it has been passing, and the morning of the seventh day is at hand and will soon break upon us – the great millennial morning which the Master Himself is to usher in. You know He said: “Weeping may endure for the night, but Joy cometh in the morning.”

Now when this glorious morning comes and the Church shall be raised from its state of persecution to the glorious condition which the Father has promised, she will no longer need the protection suggested here in this first verse; but today, in this life, while passing thru the valley of the shadow of death, while we are bearing the cross we need divine protection and strength. We realize that none of us are sufficient for these things. But the one who is willing to live a Christian Life, even though he be misunderstood and persecuted he is the one who will abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

“I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him do I trust” We understand that there is someone speaking here and the speaker is Jesus Christ. You remember that David very frequently in spirit represented our Lord. Here he represents Him again, saying: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge,” etc.

Not Sufficient of Ourselves.

Dear Friends, our Lord Jesus was a perfect man, while we are imperfect. We realize that He could do what we cannot do and yet even He required and looked for special help and divine protection. You remember when He was about to meet with many severe trials and temptations, He went into the mountains and the wilderness and sought strength and help. And if He needed that strength and protection, how much more do we need it? You notice how He says: “I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress.” A great many today, of the Lord’s people, while realizing their insufficiency and how far short they come, at the same time would like to give the impression to others that they are sufficient in themselves for every contingency that may arise. Well, do not let us make this mistake and try to run ahead of our Saviour. He was ready to say: “Jehovah is my fortress.” 

Notice these three things: “my refuge, my fortress, my God.” A refuge is a place to fly to. We need someone to fly to for our consolation, encouragement, advice and help. We find that some men when they get into difficulty will fly to the saloon, while others take refuge among their friends, seeking help and advice there. But our Saviour would have us understand that the refuge He sought was Jehovah. How well you and I might take a lesson from this. When we meet with any special trial, if we were always in that attitude where we could say: “Now, Lord I look to you for strength and help and guidance,” we would get a great many blessings that we miss and much strength that we probably do not receive.

“My fortress.” A fortress is a place that can really protect and deliver. For instance, if an Indian would attack a settler, he would take refuge in his home. The home was a refuge but not a fortress, for the Indian could burn down the house and kill the man. But when we go to our Heavenly Father, we find that He is not only a refuge but a fortress and He is always ready with the various assistances that we must have. Maybe there is weakness about a fortress. Inside the fortress, they generally keep sand bags and sawdust and things of that kind, so that when the enemy is attacking the fort in an especially severe manner, there is a possibility that the fort’s walls may be weak in places, and if this is the case, they will pile sand against the weak places and thus it offers the greater resistance. We realize that our fort is our Heavenly Father. We realize that His strength is not limited and that His Power will never be exhausted nor His will overthrown and we can therefore trust in Him implicitly, realizing that there is no trial but what His Grace will be sufficient. “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the dragon thou shalt trample under foot.” We realize then that we are safe as long as we place our confidence in Him and follow in the path marked out for us.

The Christian’s Greater Liberty.

“Surely, He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence” – as much as to say: “I tell you what my Heavenly Father has done for me and I want to tell you that He will do it for you.” SURELY, not possible, but surely, if we continue in the secret place of the Most High, continue to live this mysterious life. You will notice that in this picture. Satan is compared to a fowler setting snares and the Lord’s people are spoken of as the birds that he is trying to catch in his snares. This is a very wonderful illustration. The Lord’s people can be very properly spoken of as birds because they are living on a higher plane than the rest of the world. They are “sitting in heavenly places with Christ Jesus.” Birds also enjoy greater liberty than any of the other animals. The liberty of the cattle is limited by the fences, and that of the wild beasts by the jungles; but there are no fences up in the air to hold the birds in, but the bird has complete liberty. Thus you see it is a very beautiful illustration of the liberty of the Lord’s people, liberty from the anxiety, cares, fears, doubts and uncertainties that perplex the world of mankind. The bird enjoys more liberty, you know, the higher up it goes. It has not entire liberty if it comes down to the tree tops, and still less if it comes down to the housetops, and less yet if it comes down to the fence tops, and none at all if it comes down to the ground. Thus you see it is with God’s people. It depends upon the spiritual plane on which we live as to what liberty we have. Let us seek to live on the higher plane of the Christian experience. 

Then again, we notice as a result of this that the birds can see farther than other animals. You know that dogs and horses can only see a short distance, but the birds, the higher up they go the more they see. The Lord’s people are able to see into the future, as it were, fifteen or twenty years and even a thousand years and see what God has in store for His people. They behold, as it were, the land that is afar off. Well, now, we understand that this is one reason why people of the world cannot understand this class. They cannot understand why it is that we see so much that they cannot see. Let us suppose for the sake of illustration that the animals could talk. Suppose a bird in the air and a dog in the street. The bird says to the dog: “I see a great big river,” and the dog looks around and says: “No you don’t see any river.” The bird says: “Yes, I do.” “Well,” the dog says, “I don’t believe you, I don’t see any;” and the bird says: “Of course you can’t see it away down there in the street, but I see it.” The dog answers: “Well, I don’t see it and I don’t believe you do either, and if you don’t stop telling me tales like that, I’ll eat you up.” Now that is just the way with some people. They don’t see what God has in store for the world, and of course they don’t believe it and they don’t think that we see it either. They have not been caused to sit down in “heavenly places with Christ Jesus,” as the apostle explains it in writing to the Ephesians and they are not able to see. Satan is envious of our liberty and he would like to take it from us. He is the great fowler who is after us. You know, dear friends, that a fowler is one who traps birds. Today Satan is in a very small measure after the world. He is not bothering about them, for they are his; he is after the people of God and desires to deprive them of the liberty that they have, but we have the promise: “SURELY He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.” 

We find that there are two parts to the snare: there is the trap proper, and in the second place, there is the bait to attract the bird. We would say that the various false ideas and unscriptural doctrines are so many snares, set up to catch God’s people in the trap. We would say that the truth which is in these various doctrines is the bait. We find that Christian Science, for instance, will say: “Don’t you know that the mind has great power over the body?” Certainly we do – and that is their bait. Men setting up snares for birds make them out of horse hairs so that the bird cannot see the snare. So it is with Christian Science. They don’t come to us and say: “There is no God. All the God there is, is the good that is in everybody.” Oh no, they don’t do that, or they know people would reject that. That is the snare and they make it as invisible as they can. They keep that in the background. Satan is out to try and trap the people of God. How can we retain our liberty? By following in the Master’s footsteps. “The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me.” Mark you, these things are by the wayside, not in the path. In the way you will find rough places, obstacles, hard places, trials, but you will find few snares. It is the man who turns out of the narrow way, who will run into the snares. But if we faithfully do our part, then “surely He will deliver us from the snares of the fowler.”

Warning Against the Snares.

What would Satan do with us if he could catch us in one of his snares? Do with us just as the fowler does with the birds – put us in one of his cages. We can see that when anybody accepts Christian Science, he is in the snare; but when he joins that church, he is in the cage. We read a great deal in the 18th of Revelation about Babylon and how she has become the “habitation of devils and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” We say that the Roman Catholic Church is a cage. Is it? We11, what is a cage? It is a place of confinement, a place where liberty is very limited. The members of the Roman Catholic Church have not the liberty to eat meat on Friday and they can’t do a great many other things on account of restrictions being placed upon them and they are not allowed to do any thinking for themselves or anything except what their priests tell them they can do. Surely they are in a cage. “Let us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.” If we were deprived of our liberty, how could we follow our Master? How we ought to rejoice then that even if at one time we were in some of these cages, now we have liberty. “He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.” The pestilence here mentioned we understand to mean the doctrinal pestilence which is abroad today. But we rejoice that if we keep our hearts right, our Heavenly Father can keep us away from them. “His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. He shall cover thee with his feathers.” When we look at a bird, we don’t really see the bird but the feathers, because the feathers cover it just as clothes cover our body. We don’t see our Heavenly Father any more than we see the mother bird. We see the garment with which He clothes himself, for we read: “Thou coverest thyself with Light as with a garment. 

This glorious light that shines from the grand plan that He has devised for the blessing of His creatures has come our way and now He has clothed us with Light. The mother bird may be a great way from her young, but with the aid of her wings, she can very quickly reach them if she sees them in distress; and so it is with our Heavenly Father. He is an ever present help in time of need. Once upon a time we were separated from Him by sin and wicked works. What was it that sent Him to us? His love. He sent His Son to die for us. One of His wings is love. “He died for our offenses and was raised for our justification.” It was the love of God that sent His Son to die for us and His power that raised Him up from the dead. Now we see that these are the wings beneath which we trust—His Love and His Power. We can see that one who loves us as He does will not permit anything to happen except that which will be for our best good. We realize that as He loves us He also has the power to help us onward until we are enabled to make our calling and our election sure.

“His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” We understand that the shield evidently refers to the Old Testament and the buckler to the New Testament. As the shield goes before, so the Old Testament was given us some time before the New Testament. The buckler is fastened around the body and was given to us right at the time the Body of Christ began. Satan would like to get us to throw away the shield and buckler if he could, but let us rather, dear friends hold on to them, realizing that God is able to deliver us from the wiles of the adversary.

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.” We understand this to refer to four kinds of trials. Referring briefly to the first one, there is a great and terrible night just ahead of us. We can see that and we also see that men’s hearts are failing them and terror enters their minds as though they realize that perilous times were upon them, but “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night,” realizing as we do that our Heavenly Father will cause all things to work together for good. “Thou shalt not be afraid of the arrow that flieth by day.” An arrow does not kill a whole army but at the very most causes the suffering and death of one person. So we understand this to refer to individual trials and we realize, dear friends, that when bitter words are spoken against us and even when we have experiences that no earthly soul can enter into, we can take them to our Heavenly Father for He knows all about them and is able to succor us. “Thou shalt not be afraid for the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.” We realize that if we are faithfully seeking to live the life He would have us live, it does not matter what our experience may be, He will keep us from the pestilence here referred to; and even while we realize that now knowledge is at its height, we see destruction going on, destruction not of men’s bodies, but destruction of the respect men had once for the Bible and for God. These are going on, but the promise is that we need fear none of these things. “A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold the reward of the wicked.” I do not understand this to mean the ultimate reward of the wicked. We shall see that they shall be rewarded shortly by having their faith taken away from them. 

Lord’s People Set On High.

“There shall no evil befall thee.” We cannot tell what are evils. We may think poverty is an evil thing, but the Lord may see that it is the very best thing for us. “Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” You remember how on one occasion Satan quoted this Scripture to our Saviour, taking him up in spirit to the pinnacle of the Temple. But I want you to notice that Satan misquoted it. He left out the middle of it, “to keep thee in all thy ways.” Why did he leave that out? He doubtless saw there was a qualification there and thought if he quoted that portion, Jesus would see it and it would, help him to stand firm and so thought he would leave that part out. Now we say that it is a dangerous thing to allow Satan to quote Scripture for us.

“Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” Sometimes it seems as though Satan himself goes about like a roaring lion, is standing in our path seeking to devour us; but let us not draw back, dear friends, but remember that he who is for us is more than all that can be against us.

“Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high because he hath known my name.” Notice here what the Lord says He is going to do for us. First, He says He will deliver us now from the snares of the adversary and then He says that by and by He will deliver us from sorrow and suffering and persecution of all kinds and set us on high, how high we cannot yet grasp for, “It doth not yet appear what we shall be,” but when God says it is high, it surely must be. What must we do to attain that position? Listen: “Because he has set his love upon me, because he has known My name.” In other words, we realize that it is not an impossible thing that God is requiring of His people. You remember in the selection of the bride of Isaac. You know that the servant selected Rebecca. In this picture, Abraham represents God; Isaac, Christ, and Rebecca the Church, and Eliezer the Holy Spirit. You remember how it was that Rebecca came to be chosen. You know that the servant asked the Lord that the one who should come to the well and give him to drink and also his camels, she was the chosen one. This showed her unselfishness, and made her a fitting type for the Bride of Christ, for the Church will not consist of those who will merely want to do enough to get to Heaven by the skin of their teeth, but who would do a million times more if they only could.

“He shall call upon me and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Not merely show him some salvation, but we realize that there was a special salvation provided for our Savior and that special salvation is the one to be revealed to the Church and bestowed upon those who are faithful to Him. You remember how we read about the disciples fishing all night, having caught nothing, and when the morning came and the Master appeared, he told them to cast the net on the other side of the boat and the net became so full they could hardly pull it to shore. All the good that night’s fishing did was to cultivate patience, long suffering and the right kind of a spirit. The Christian Church for over 1800 years has been fishing, as it were, and the principle thing resulting has been the cultivation of patience and the other fruits of the spirit, the building of character. But the morning cometh, the glorious millennial morning which He will shortly usher in, and then it will mean blessing not only for us, but the whole world of mankind.