Well, before we turn to God again
in prayer, let us for a while turn to Holy Scripture and to
the psalm that we've just read in Psalm 63, and drawing your
attention to the words that we find here in verse 8. Psalm 63,
8. My soul followeth hard after
thy right hand upholdeth me. my soul followeth hard after
thee thy right hand upholdeth me David speaks of himself and
he also speaks here of his gods we read of my soul and thy right
hand and the theme that i really want to take up is that that
we have in the expression thy right hand the right hand of
God the right hand of God and as we consider that subject dividing
what I want to say into two main parts First of all, to say something
with regards to God's eternal covenant of grace. And then secondly,
to say something with regards to the experience of saving faith,
as we have it set before us in this particular verse. First
of all then, God's eternal covenant of grace. And I think of that
in terms of this second clause of the verse. Thy right hand,
he says, Epauldus Murray. Often times when we come to the
Word of God and we try to interpret the Word of God, we have to of
course remember that there are basic principles of interpretation,
what the theologians call hermeneutics. And how are we to understand?
How are we to understand the Old Testament? There are many
difficult passages in the Old Testament, passages that are
dark and difficult. There are also some of course
in the New Testament. Even Peter speaks of some of
Paul's teachings and the difficulties that some might have and that
they can easily misunderstand, misinterpret the Word of God. So we need to remember some very
basic principles when we come to the Word of God with regards
to interpretation and I suppose the most basic principle of all
is to always read from the New Testament back into the Old Testament. It's the greater light that God
has given us in the New Testament that helps us to understand so
much of the Old Testament. In that sense, of course, the
New Testament clearly has the priority. I think it was Augustine
The great Church Father, Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, not
Augustine of Canterbury, but Augustine of Hippo, said concerning
the Scriptures how the New Testament is in the Old Concealed, And
the Old, the Old Testament, is in the New Revealed. It's really
saying the same as I just said, that we must always remember
that basic principle of interpretation. We go to the New Testament then
to understand the Old Testament. And I think that's very much
the case here with regards to this expression, Thy right hand
upholdeth me. And I think immediately of words
that we find in Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 16, it reads,
Verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took
on him the seed of Abraham. That's the reading as we have
it there in the text. But if you have a Bible with
margins you might see that there is another reading in the margin
There in Hebrews 2.16 we're told in the margin that the Greek
originally reads, "...verily he taketh not hold of angels,
but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold." And it's that interpretation
that we can ascertain from that statement that I think helps
us here when he speaks about the right hand of God. upholding
Him. How God has taken hold of His
people, His people being the seed of Abraham. And how has
God initially taken hold of them? Well, He takes hold of His people,
of course, in eternity, in the eternal purpose of God. He laid
hold on a particular people. And when Paul addresses the church
at Ephesus, remember how in that great first chapter he reminds
them, there in Ephesians 1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, according as
he hath chosen us in him. And then he goes on to speak
of his ordainers to the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ according
to his good pleasure. From eternity then God has laid
hold of a people. The church was given to Christ
in the eternal covenant of grace. And again, are we not reminded
of that there in Hebrews chapter 2? The Lord Jesus is that one who
is said to speak in the words that we originally find in the
book of Isaiah, when Isaiah speaks of that child that the Lord has
given him with the strange name, Maher Shalal Ashbaz, and the
prophet says, Behold I am the children which God hath given
me. But those words are taken up there in Hebrews 2.13, Behold
I and the children which God hath given me, and applied to
the Lord Jesus. It then continues, For as much
then as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he likewise
took part of the same. Or there were a people that were
given to the Lord Jesus Christ, God laid hands upon them, committed
them to Christ in that eternal covenant of grace. They are the
children which God has given to him. If we think of another
relationship that is taken up with regards to Christ and his
people, they're not only his children, but the church is also,
of course, his bride. And ultimately, all is to lead
up to that great marriage supper of the Lamb that's spoken of
at the end of Scripture, in Revelation chapter 19, and verse 7 following,
we read of that great marriage supper of the Lamb. And as the Lord has given this people
to Christ, He cleaves to them, and they cleave to Him. And here, what we read in the
text concerning David's soul, my soul, he says, followeth hard
after thee. And the particular verb that's
being used, to follow hard after, has the idea of being close. So close that there's a coming
together, there's a clinging, there's a cleaving. And remember
what we're told concerning Adam and Eve, when the Lord God presents
his wife to Adam. What does it say in Scripture
there in Genesis 2, 24? Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife. And how
the Lord God in that sense cleaves unto his people. How the Lord
Jesus Christ is that one who takes hold of his bride and clings
to her. Again, we have that passage in
Ephesians chapter 5, where Paul is speaking of relationships
in life, and he speaks at the end of that chapter of the relationship
between husband and wife. And what does he say? You're
familiar with the words, I'm sure. Ephesians 5.30, We are members
of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined
unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great
mystery. But I speak concerning Christ
and the Church. All this cleaning, this cleaning,
it's the Lord who takes hold of His people. And how we see
it, of course, ultimately in the incarnation or the Lord Jesus
Christ is that one who comes just where his people are. God has taken hold of them in
the eternal covenant, but in the fullness of the time the
Lord Jesus Christ himself comes and altogether identifies with
them. when the fullness of the time
was come, God sends forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law. And so again, in that second
chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, verily He took not on
Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. And for as much as they were
partakers of flesh and blood, he likewise takes part of the
same. He becomes bone of their bone,
flesh of their flesh. He identifies with them even
in their sad fallen condition, though he himself is without
every taint of original sin. But we read of God sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. It's in the eternal covenant
then, and the outworking of that covenant, that we see how the
Lord God takes hold of His people by His right hand. "'Thy right
hand upholdeth me,' says David." Whilst we're to think initially
of eternity, and the purpose of God, and then time, when God
begins to execute His decree, We also have to come to this,
there must be an experience. And surely this is what David
is speaking of here in the psalm. He's speaking of his own experience
of the grace of God. And he's speaking very much the
language of faith. My soul followeth hard after
thee, thy right hand upholdeth me. And there's a link between
these two clauses of the sentence. Why is it that David is following
hard after? Why is it that David is clinging
and cleaving? Because of the Lord's right hand. The Lord has taken hold of him.
And so really what he is doing here is expressing something
of his faith. And it's interesting when we
come to the Word of God to consider the various way in which God
describes what faith is and what faith is about. Different senses
are used on various occasions to describe what saving faith
is. The sense of hearing is so important,
isn't it? We know the words there in Romans
chapter 10, Our faith cometh by hearing. and hearing by the
word of God." Or there's something to be communicated, and God speaks. Ultimately God reveals himself
in his word, that's his special revelation. And that special
revelation finds its completion in the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. John speaks of him as the Word, and the Word incarnates.
We often sing the lines of Joseph Hart, the Scriptures and the
Lord bear one tremendous name. The written and incarnate Word
in all things are the same. We are recognizing how the faith
has to do with our hearing, there's something to be heard, the Word
of God. But there's not only the sense
of hearing, there's also the sense of sight, there's a looking. Hebrews 12.2 it's looking onto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith if we want faith
we cannot work faith up of ourselves we can have a faith, a natural
faith but that's not saving faith that saving faith comes from
God, it's the gift of God by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God we're familiar
with these sort of scriptures But we're told quite clearly
there in Hebrews 12 that if we want faith we have to come to
the Lord Jesus, and what do we do? We look to him. And we've
many a time commented on the force of the particular verb
that is used. That verb, looking, literally
means to look away to. to take your eyes off every other
object and to look away to one object alone. It's looking only
onto Jesus, looking to Jesus alone, who is the author and
finisher of our faith. So, faith is associated with
hearing and with looking, and then also we see in Scripture
our faith very much has to do with the sense of taste. In the
language that we have there in John chapter 6, the verse 53
following, the Lord says, Verily, verily, except ye eat the flesh
of the Son of God, and drink his blood, ye have no life in
you. Or there must be that spiritual
feeding upon the Lord Jesus Christ is flesh is bread indeed, his
blood is drink indeed. And where there is that partaking,
there is union. There is union, there is also
communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember how on a
previous occasion David speaks of tasting. "'O taste,' he says,
"'and see that the Lord is good, Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. And there, we have that parallelism
that is a mark, a striking mark of Hebrew poetry. Here in the
Psalms, we have these two statements there, and the one interprets
the other. What is tasting? Taste and see
that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. The tasting and the seeing is equivalent to the trusting.
So where there is faith, it's not just the sense of hearing
or the sense of sight, it's also the sense of taste. And then
furthermore, we have to think of the sense of smell. And we
see that in that remarkable little book, The Song of Solomon. And
what do we read there? In chapter 1 and verse 12, while
the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the
smell thereof. The church is speaking, the bride
of Christ. Here is the king sitting at his
table and the smell of a spikenard. Oh, there's a smelling. as well
as a tasting, and then also there's a touching. That's what John speaks of, isn't
it, at the opening of his first general epistle. That which was
from the beginning, he says, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands
have handled of the word of life. There's a handling of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He becomes so very real then
to those who know him by that saving faith. All these various
senses are involved where there is true faith. And we read of faith also in
the language that we have in our text tonight. It's not the
senses. But surely we see it here. There's
a holding fast here. And there's a following after.
My soul followeth hard after thee, thy right hand upholdeth
me. And thinking for a while of the
experience of saving faith in this particular text, I want
to mention two things. First of all, there is this cleaving
of faith. As I said just now, what we have
here, this expression, followeth hard, followeth hard after, literally
means, the Hebrew verb that we have here, means to be close. Following hard after, you're
near to this person that you're following. He goes on to suggest
that not only to be close, but to cling to this person, to cleave
to this particular person. Now, as I've said, it is God
who first lays hold of his people. He has laid hold of them in terms
of the eternal covenant. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
come in the fullness of the time, and He has laid hold of them
by partaking of their human nature. It's always God who's first,
and God is first also in the experience of His people. In
Psalm 20 and verse 6 we read, "...of the saving strength of
thy right hand." All God's hand you see. It's a strong hand. And what is God's right hand?
Well, the psalmist there says, it has saving strength. Again,
Psalm 17 and verse 7, the prayer of the psalmist is, Show thy
marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand. The lovingkindness of God. The
loving-kindness of God, we sang of it in our opening praise.
It's a great word, as I've said before. Many times it's translated
mercy. It has the idea of God's common
and faithfulness. And there is the prayer of the
psalmist, Show thy marvellous loving-kindness, O thou that
savest by thy right hand. And what does the Psalm is say
here in our Psalm verse 3 thy loving kindness he says is better
than life and God's loving kindness is associated with his hands
God lays hold of his people by his right hand and so his people
then lay hold of him my soul followeth hard after
thine Thy right hand upholdeth me. The primary meaning then of this
expression follow hard, follow hard after. One of the Puritans,
Samuel Chandler, says it literally means to glue together. That's
how he understands the word. It means to glue together. There's
such a union here. A cleaving together. And I think
of another illustration that we might say is set before us
in Scripture. In the language that we find
in Job chapter 38, there at the end of that chapter, Here is the Lord answering Job. Verse 37. Who can number the
clouds in wisdom? Or who can stay the bottles of
heaven when the dust groweth into hardness and the clods cleave
fast together? And it's that expression, when
the dust groweth into hardness. The margin says, or is turned
into mire, and the clods cleave fast together. It's God, as it were, affecting
this when he opens the windows of heaven and sends down the
rains, and the dust becomes mud and everything clings fast together. And that's the union that God
has with his people. There is this cleaving. My soul
cleaveth after thy. It's what David is literally
saying here at the beginning of verse 8. True faith doesn't
deal with God simply in terms of doctrine. We're not saying
that doctrine is unimportant. Of course, sound doctrine is
vitally important. He shall know the truth, says
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the truth shall make ye free. How important, then, is that
doctrine. But saving faith is not something
cold. It's not something that's distant
and detached. Where there is saving faith,
there is this closeness. There's this cleaving to the
Lord. Wasn't that the faith of Jacob and Peniel? And it was
there that he became Israel. When he was wrestling with the
angel, the angel was wrestling with him. He's disabled by the
angel and he cannot continue to wrestle, but what does he
do? He gives over his wrestling and he begins to cleave and he
says, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. And there he becomes Israel.
And all God's Israel, all God's spiritual Israel, are going to
know what it is to wrestle with God and to cleave to God. The names that are given to individuals
in Scripture are so telling, aren't they? Remember what we
read concerning Rachel. Rachel and Leah, the two wives
of Jacob. And we know how Rachel was barren.
And yet Leah is fruitful, bearing children. And then Rachel's maid
bears a son to Jacob. And then she bears another son.
There in Genesis 30 verse 7. Beli, Rachel's maid, conceived
again, and bared Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, With great
wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister Asliah, and I prevailed,
and she called his name Naphtali. And the very name Naphtali means
the wrestlings of God. The wrestlings of God. All God's
people know what it is then, if they're those who are the
true Israel of God, they know what wrestlings are. Wrestling
prayer can wonders do, says John Newton. Wrestling prayer can
wonders do, bring relief in deeply strait. Prayer can force a passage
through iron bars and brazen gates. God's people are to be
that praying people. And as they pray to God, so they
cling to God, they cleave to Him. My soul cleatheth after
thee. And they will not be separated
from Him. Nothing separates His people from Him. Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? asked the Apostle. Shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? No. Nothing. And here is David. David in the
wilderness of Judah. far off from all the privileges
of the tabernacle and the worship of the tabernacle but how his
soul is thirsting after God how his flesh is longing for God
he's in a dry thirsty land and he wants to be satisfied my soul
follow us hard after thee thy right hand upholdeth me you see
there is then Where there is saving faith there is that wrestling,
there is that clinging. But then also with faith there
is a coming. There is a coming. David pleads
to God that God upholds him. But David is also here one who
is following after. He's following after, he's behind
as it were. My soul followeth hard after
the ISS. Leupold says there is both a
holding fast, a cleaving, but there is also a following. What is faith initially? Faith,
of course, is that coming. All that the Father giveth me,
Christ says, shall come to me. And he that cometh to me, I shall
he know wise cast out. You see, we have to give diligence
to make our calling and election sure. There are those who might
be troubled because they read in Scripture of God's election.
We've referred to words already in Ephesians chapter 1 where
the elect are chosen in Christ from before the foundation of
the world. How can we know we're of the
election of Christ? Well, give diligence, he says,
to make your calling and election sure. We have to observe the
order that God has set before us there in Peter. He mentions
the calling before the election. Election, that's God's secret
thing. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. We don't know the elect are.
But first of all, if we want to know, we have to attend to
the matter of calling. Doesn't God call the elect to
himself? All that the Father giveth me
says Christ shall come to me. And he that cometh to me I shall
in no wise cast out. We have to come. There's the
important thing. There's the call There's the
coming, there's the response. That sinner, in response, calls
upon the Lord God for himself. He cries to God. He that cometh to me, says Christ,
shall never hunger. He that believeth in me shall
never thirst. It's so clear there, isn't it,
that the The coming is equivalent to the believing. The one who
comes is hungry. The one who believes is never
thirsty. Coming is equivalent to believing. As the Lord Jesus Christ lies
hold of his people, so his people are those who have a desire to
ever draw closer and closer to him. What does James say? Draw nigh to God, and he will
draw nigh to thee. Oh, David desires here not to
run ahead of God. He doesn't run ahead of God.
He follows after God. You see, this saving faith is
never presumptuous faith. We can never be beforehand with
God. We love Him because He first loved us. What does the person
of faith say? He says in the language of the
Song of Solomon, Draw me, we will run after me. As God draws
us, then we run after Him. And this is what David is saying
here in the text. My soul followeth hard after
thee. Why is it that David is so persevering
in pressing after God because God's right hand is upholding
him God has taken hold of him first and he says God has taken
hold of him that he must in turn seek to take
hold of his God to cling to him and to cleave to him and what
does God do? God satisfies it Verse five,
my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. Oh, he doesn't follow after the
Lord in vain. He doesn't seek God's face in
vain. And so too with us as we come
together, as we come into God's house, as we come to hear his
word, as we come to seek his face in prayer, Surely we come
with that expectation that God will minister to us and favour
us even with that sense, that felt sense of his presence and
his gracious ministry to us. My soul followeth hard after
thee, thy right hand upholdeth me. May the Lord be pleased to
bless this word to us.