1. Preserve me.
“Keep,” or “save,” or, as Horsley thinks, “guard me,” as bodyguards
surround their monarch, or as shepherds protect their flocks. Tempted in all
points as we are, the humanity of Jesus needed to be preserved from the power
of evil; and though in itself pure, the Lord Jesus did not confide in that
purity of nature, but as an example to his followers, looked to the Lord, his
God, for preservation. One of the great names of God is “the Preserver of
men” (Job 7:20), and this gracious office the Father exercised towards our
Mediator and Representative. It had been promised to the Lord Jesus in express
words that he would be preserved (Isaiah 49:7–8). This was fulfilled to the
letter, both by providential deliverance and sustaining power, in the case of
our Lord. Being preserved himself, he is able to restore the preserved of
Israel, for we are “preserved in Christ Jesus and called.” As one with him,
the elect were preserved in his preservation, and we may view this mediatorial
prayer as the petition of the Great High Priest for all those who are in him.
The intercession recorded in John 17 is but an amplification of this cry.
When he says, Preserve me, he means his members, his
mystical body, himself and all in him. But while we rejoice in the fact that
the Lord Jesus used this prayer for his members, we must not forget that he
employed it most surely for himself; he had so emptied himself, and so truly
taken upon him the form of a servant, that as man he needed divine keeping just
as we do, and often cried to the strong for strength. If Jesus looked out of
himself for protection, how much more must we, his erring followers, do so! O
God. The Hebrew word for God used here is El, by which name the Lord Jesus, when under a sense of great
weakness, as for instance when upon the cross, would address the Mighty God,
the Omnipotent Helper of his people. We, too, may turn to El, the Omnipotent One, in all hours of peril, with the
confidence that he who heard the strong cryings and tears of our faithful High
Priest is both able and willing to bless us in him. For in thee do I put my
trust. Or, “I have taken shelter in thee.” As chickens run beneath the
hen, so do I come to thee. This is a potent argument in pleading, and our Lord
knew not only how to use it with God, but how to yield to its power when
wielded by others upon himself. “According to thy faith be it done unto thee”
is a great rule of heaven in dispensing favor, and when we can sincerely
declare that we exercise faith in the Mighty God with regard to the mercy which
we seek, we may rest assured that our plea will prevail.
2. In his
inmost heart the Lord Jesus bowed himself to do service to his Heavenly Father,
and before the throne of Jehovah his soul vowed allegiance to the Lord for our
sakes. We are like him when our soul, truly and constantly in the presence of
the heart-searching God, declares her full consent to the rule and government
of the infinite Jehovah. To avow this with the lip is little, but for the soul
to say it, especially in time of trial, is a gracious evidence of spiritual
health; to profess it before men is a small matter, but to declare it before
Jehovah himself is of far more consequence. This sentence may also be viewed as
the utterance of appropriating faith, laying hold upon the Lord by personal
covenant and enjoyment; in this sense may it be our daily song in the house of
our pilgrimage. My goodness extendeth not to thee. Although the
life-work and death-agony of the Son did reflect unparalleled luster upon every
attribute of God, yet the Most Blessed God stood in no need of the obedience
and death of his Son; it was for our sakes that the work of redemption was
undertaken, and not because of any lack on the part of the Most High. How
modestly does the Saviour here estimate his own goodness! What overwhelming
reasons have we for imitating his humility! (Compare Job 35:7.)
3. But to the saints that are in the earth. Although still on earth, these sanctified ones partake of
the results of Jesus’ mediatorial work, and by his goodness are made what they
are. The peculiar people, zealous for good works and hallowed for sacred
service, are arrayed in the Saviour’s righteousness and washed in his blood,
and so receive of the goodness treasured up in him; these are the people who are
profited by the work of the man Christ Jesus; but that work added nothing to
the nature, virtue, or happiness of God, who is blessed forevermore.
Saints departed we cannot bless; even prayer for them is of
no service; but while they are here we should practically prove our love to
them, even as our Master did, for they are the excellent of the earth.
Despite their infirmities, the Lord thinks highly of them, and reckons them to
be as nobles among men. He who knows them best says of them, in whom is all
my delight. They count themselves to be less than nothing, and yet he makes
much of them, and sets his heart towards them.
4. The same
loving heart which opens towards the chosen people is fast closed against those
who continue in their rebellion against God. Jesus hates all wickedness, and
especially idolatry. The text while it shows our Lord’s abhorrence of sin,
shows also the sinner’s greediness after it. Professed believers are often slow
towards the true Lord, but sinners hasten after another god. Theirs is a
case in which the more they haste the worse they speed, for Their sorrows
are multiplied by their diligence in multiplying their sins. Moses broke
the golden calf and ground it to powder, and cast it into the water of which he
made Israel to drink, and so shall our cherished idols become bitter portions
for us, unless we at once forsake them. Our Lord had no selfishness; he served
but one Lord, and served him only. As for those who turn aside from Jehovah, he
was separate from them. Sin and the Saviour had no communion.
5. The Lord is
the portion of mine Inheritance and of my cup. With what confidence and bounding joy does Jesus turn to
Jehovah, whom his soul possessed and delighted in! Content beyond measure with
his portion in the Lord his God, he had not a single desire with which to hunt
after other gods; his cup was full, and his heart was full too; even in his
sorest sorrows he still laid hold with both his hands upon his Father, crying,
“My God, my God”; he had not so much as a thought of falling down to worship
the prince of this world, although tempted with an “all these will I give
thee.” We, too, can make our boast in the Lord; he is the meat and the drink
of our souls. He is our portion, supplying all our necessities, and our cup
yielding royal luxuries; our cup in this life, and our inheritance in the life
to come. As children of the Father who is in heaven, we inherit, by virtue of
our joint heirship with Jesus, all the riches of the covenant of grace; and the
portion which falls to us sets upon our table the bread of heaven and the new
wine of the kingdom. Who would not be satisfied with such dainty diet? Our
shallow cup of sorrow we may well drain with resignation, since the deep cup of
love stands side by side with it, and will never be empty. Thou maintainest
my lot. Some tenants have a covenant in their leases that they themselves
shall maintain and uphold, but in our case Jehovah himself maintains our lot.
Our Lord Jesus delighted in this truth, that the Father was on his side, and would
maintain his right against all the wrongs of men. He knew that his elect would
be reserved for him, and that almighty power would preserve them as his lot and
reward forever. Let us also be glad because the Judge of all the earth will
vindicate our righteous cause.
6. Jesus
found the way of obedience to lead into pleasant places. Notwithstanding
all the sorrows which marred his countenance, he exclaimed, “Lo, I come; in
the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God:
yea, thy law is within my heart.” It may seem strange, but while no other man
was ever so thoroughly acquainted with grief, it is our belief that no other
man ever experienced so much joy and delight in service, for no other served so
faithfully with such great results in view as his recompense of reward. All the
saints can use the language of this verse, and the more thoroughly they can
enter into its contented, grateful, joyful spirit the better for themselves,
and the more glorious to their God. Our Lord was poorer than we are, for he had
not where to lay his head, and yet when he mentioned his poverty he never used
a word of murmuring.
7. I will bless the Lord,
who hath given me counsel. Praise as
well as prayer was presented to the Father by our Lord Jesus, and we are not
truly his followers unless our resolve be, “I will bless the Lord.” Jesus is
called Wonderful, Counsellor, but as man he did not speak of himself but only
as his Father had taught him (John 7:16; 8:28; 12:49–50; Isaiah 11:2–3). It
was our Redeemer’s custom to repair to his Father for direction, and having
received it, he blessed him for giving him counsel. It would be well for us if
we would follow his example of lowliness, cease from trusting our own
understanding, and seek to be guided by the Spirit of God. My reins also
instruct me in the night seasons. By the reins we understand the
inner man, the affections and feelings. The communion of the soul with God
brings to it an inner spiritual wisdom which in still seasons is revealed to
itself. Our Redeemer spent many nights alone upon the mountain, and we may
readily conceive that together with his fellowship with heaven, he carried on a
profitable commerce with himself; reviewing his experience, forecasting his
work, and considering his position. He who learns from God and so gets the
seed, will soon find wisdom within himself growing in the garden of his soul
(compare Isaiah 30:21).
8–11. The fear
of death at one time cast its dark shadow over the soul of the Redeemer, and we
read that “he was heard in that he feared.” There appeared unto him an angel,
strengthening him; perhaps the heavenly messenger reassured him of his glorious
resurrection as his people’s surety, and of the eternal joy into which he
should admit the flock redeemed by blood. The hope shone full upon our Lord’s
soul, and as recorded in these verses he surveyed the future with holy
confidence because he had a continued eye to Jehovah, and enjoyed his perpetual
presence. He felt that thus sustained, he could never be driven from his life’s
grand design; nor was he, for he stayed not his hand till he could say, “It is
finished.” What an infinite mercy was this for us!
In this immovableness, caused by simple faith in the divine
help,Jesus is to be viewed as our exemplar; to recognize the presence of the
Lord is the duty of every believer, and to trust the Lord as our
champion and guard is the privilege of every saint.
8–9. Because he is at my right hand. The apostle translates verse 8 as, “I foresaw the Lord
always before my face” (Acts 2:25). The eye of Jesus’ faith could discern
beforehand the continuance of divine support to his suffering Son, in such a
degree that he should never be moved from the accomplishment of his purpose of
redeeming his people. By the power of God at his right hand he foresaw that he
should smite through all who rose up against him, and on that power he placed
the firmest reliance. He clearly foresaw that he must die, for he speaks of his
flesh resting, and of his soul in the abode of separate spirits; death was full
before his face, or he would not have mentioned corruption; but such was
his devout reliance upon his God, that he sang over the tomb, and rejoiced in
vision of the sepulchre. He knew that the visit of his soul to Sheol, or the
invisible world of disembodied spirits, would be a very short one, and that his
body in a very brief space would leave the grave, uninjured by its sojourn
there; all this made him say, my heart is glad, and moved his tongue,
the glory of his frame, to rejoice in God, the strength of his
salvation. Oh for such holy faith in the prospect of trial and death! It is the
work of faith, not merely to create a peace which passeth all understanding, but
to fill the heart full of gladness until the tongue bursts forth in praise.
Faith gives us living joy, and bestows dying rest: my flesh also shall rest
in hope.
10. Our Lord
Jesus was not disappointed in his hope. He declared his Father’s faithfulness
in the words, thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, and that faithfulness
was proven on the resurrection morning. Among the departed and disembodied
Jesus was not left; he had believed in the resurrection, and he received it on
the third day, when his body rose in glorious life, just as he had said in
joyous confidence, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Into the outer prison of the grave his body might go, but into the inner prison
of corruption he could not enter. He who in soul and body was preeminently
God’s Holy One was loosed from the pains of death because it was not
possible that he should be held by it. This is noble encouragement to all the
saints; die they must, but rise they shall, and though in their case they shall
see corruption, yet they shall rise to everlasting life. Christ’s resurrection
is the cause, the earnest, the guarantee, and the emblem of the rising of all
his people.
Wretched will that man be who, when the Philistines of death
invade his soul, shall find that, like Saul, he is forsaken of God; but blessed
is he who has the Lord at his right hand, for he shall fear no ill, but shall
look forward to an eternity of bliss.
11. Thou wilt shew me the path of life. To Jesus first this way was shown. He himself opened up the
way through his own flesh, and then trod it as the forerunner of his own
redeemed. The thought of being made the path of life to his people gladdened
the soul of Jesus. In thy presence is fullness of joy. Christ being
raised from the dead ascended into glory, to dwell in constant nearness to God,
where joy is at its fullness forever: the foresight of this urged him onward in
his glorious but grievous toil. O God, when the worldling’s mirth has all
expired, may we dwell forever with Jesus at thy right hand, where there
are pleasures forevermore; and meanwhile, may we have an earnest by tasting
thy love below.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
