Psalm 128 - Chambers, Oswald
1. Seemliness of sanctity
blessed is every one that feareth the lord ; that walketh in his ways. (psalm 128:1)
the remarkable thing about fearing god is that when you fear god you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear god you fear everything else. Blessed is every one that feareth the lord; the writer to the Hebrews tells us to fear lest haply there should be any promise of gods of which we come short. (hebrews 4:1). Are we alert enough along this line? . . . That walketh in his ways. The word walk breathes character, it is the symbol for seemly behaviour. John looked upon jesus as he walked (rv)not in a moment of ecstasy and
Transfiguration but as he walked, he saith, behold the lamb of god! Walk worthily (rv ), says the apostle paul, worthily, that is, towards god, not towards man, because mans standards are not gods. When a man says he is sanctified the charge is often made, and there is no reply to it, remember, you are not perfect. A saint is required to be perfect towards god. Walk before me, and be thou perfect; the standard of judgement is not mans standard, but gods. Our conduct before men will be judged by whether we walk in the seemliness of sanctity before god. That means conduct according to the highest we know, and the striking thing is that the highest we know is god himself. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect. There is something in human nature that enables it to go through a big crisis, but we do need help from god to walk worthily the sixty seconds of every minute. Am i behaving myself in gods sight in the seemliness of sanctity to those who are nearest to me? In my letter writing? In my study? Is the one great lodestar of my life walking in his ways? The thing we have to guard against is wanting to be somewhere else. Have i sufficient of the grace of god to behave myself as his child where i am? It is one thing to feel the sufficiency of god in a prayer meeting and in times of delight and excitement, but another thing to realise his sufficiency in whatever setting we may bein a thunderstorm or on a calm summer day, in a cottage or a college, in an antique shop or on a moor.
2. Satisfaction in strenuousness
for thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. (psalm 128:2)
This verse reveals the connection between the natural creation and the regenerated creation. We have to be awake strenuously to the fact that our body is the temple of the holy ghost, not only in the spiritual sense, but in the physical sense. When we are born from above (rv mg) we are apt to despise the clay of which we are made. The natural creation and the creation of grace work together, and what we are apt to call the sordid things, labouring with our hands, and eating and drinking, have to be turned into spiritual exercises by obedience, then we shall eat and drink, and do all to the glory of god. There must be a uniting in personal experience of the two creations. It cannot be done all at once, there are whole tracts of life which have to be disciplined. Your body is the temple of the holy ghost, it is the handiwork of god, and it is in these bodies we are to find satisfaction, and that means strenuousness. Every power of mind and heart should go into the strenuousness of turning the natural into the spiritual by obeying the word of god regarding it. If we do not make the natural spiritual, it will become sordid; but when we become spiritual the natural is shot through with the glory of god.
3. Security of the saint
thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the l ord. (psalm 128:34)
To-day people are altogether ignoring the fact that god has anything to do with human relationships. If we get out of any setting of natural life which god has decreed we shall not be blessed. Take the commandment to honour thy father and mother, and apply it spiritually. I believe that many a life is hindered from entering into sanctification through not being properly related in disposition to father and mother. It is one of the most practical tests. Am i allowing inordinate affection in any relationship? Or envy, or jealousy? If so i am certainly not finding blessing, it is getting dried up. I must maintain the spirit and disposition of my lord and master in all the ordinary relationships of life, then i shall realise the marvellous security of the saint.
4. Supremacy of sincerity
the lord shall bless thee out of zion: and thou shalt see the good of jerusalem all the days of thy life. (psalm 128:5)
Sincerity means in the straight. Am i straight in my relationship to god and to other people? If i am the lord says he will bless me. And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. It is righ- teous behaviour that brings blessing on others, and the heart of faith sees that god is working things out well.
5. Surroundings of sanity
yea, thou shalt see thy childrens children, and peace upon Israel. (psalm 128:6)
It is in ordinary surroundings and among common- place things that the blessing of god is to dwell and reveal itself. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city (rev- elation 22:14). Have i entered in through the gates? There is a time when the exceptional has to rule and the right arm has to go, but that is only a phase. Our lord was brought up so much in ordinary surroundings that the religious people of his day said that he was a gluttonous man, and a wine bibber. His life was unassuming in its naturalness. Read the records of the forty days after the resurrection, they bear the mark of superb sanity. The test is not the success of a revival meeting, that may be questionable, but the success of living in the commonplace things that make life what it is, letting god carry out his purposes as he will.