Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. A garden is a plot of land which
is picked out, set aside, prepared, planted, and tended by one who
has a purpose to enjoy the fruits of it. The beauty and fruitfulness
of any garden manifests the skill of the one who is its gardener.
A weed patch, on the other hand, grows all by itself and needs
no tending at all. Weeds will grow until the time
of the harvest and will produce after their own kind without
any special care or concern. A garden left untended will ultimately
become a weed patch, since it is the very nature of weeds to
grow wherever their seeds shall fall. In fact, weeds will even
grow in a well-tended garden, with only the desire and skill
of the gardener to control them. In the scriptures we read of
a garden which was planted by the same skillful gardener who
planted the Garden of Eden, which was actually planted before the
garden found in Eden. A garden enclosed is my sister,
my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. This garden
is that bride which the Lord loved from before the foundation
of the world and chose in Christ, that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be
glorified. Just as he planted the garden
in Eden to fulfill his purpose, so too did he plant this garden
and enclose it with the hedge of his grace. This is a garden
which the Lord hath planted for His own enjoyment, and out of
which He causes the perfumes and odors of His spices to come
forth, according as He directs the north wind to blow upon it.
This planting of the Lord grows exactly as He who planted it
desires, and His enjoyment of it cannot in any wise be hindered.
None can breach its walls to spoil that which He has planted,
nor can any enjoy the fruits of this garden apart from those
who are privileged to be planted therein. Then we read of another
garden which the Lord visited from time to time when he walked
upon the earth. This was a garden which was planted by the hands
of men and was called Gethsemane. Gethsemane literally means an
olive press, and it was here, no doubt, that the fruit of the
Mount of Olives was pressed in order to produce the needed oil
for light and food. The Lord Jesus often resorted
to this garden as well as the Mount of Olives to pray. On the
night in which he was betrayed, he was found there by those who
were intent on his destruction. Prior to his arrest by these
unjust men, he had visited this olive press, and here poured
out his soul as an offering for sin before the face of his father. It was here that he shed his
blood in the agony of sin's great burden. Here he wrestled with
death itself and entered into the very ante room of hell in
the behalf of his beloved bride. It was here that he exalted his
father's will and the glory of his kingdom. It was here that
he manifested most clearly his sonship as the only begotten
of his father. This garden was entered that
night by crossing the brook Sedron. This brook was also known as
the black brook and was essentially a sewer which flowed out from
Jerusalem. There was a canal which flowed into it, even from
the temple, into which the excess blood and dung of those Jewish
sacrifices were cast. This brook ultimately emptied
its contents into the Dead Sea. Is this not a clear picture of
the sin of His people? It is interesting to consider
that the Scriptures say that He crossed this brook with His
disciples. In this we are reminded that
God hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. For we have not
an eye-priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin. As he took his disciples across
this foul sewer, so too has he delivered his elect bride from
the stench of their sin by crossing it himself. Well did Isaiah say,
surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
we are healed. There is another garden planted
by men, which the Lord entered, not in life, but in death. Now
in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the
garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. The Lord
Jesus, being eternal with his Father, had no need of any sepulchre,
except as it pleased him to taste death as every man shall. He
came into the world for this very purpose, and though the
man who had this sepulchre carved out was sure he would be the
first one to occupy it, Yet the Lord, who is rich in mercy, had
ordained that this tomb's firstfruits would be that one who would destroy
death and take captivity captive. It was from the Mount of Olives,
but a stone's cast from Gethsemane, that the Lord ascended back into
the heavens. It is here that the angels testified
that this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Even so come, Lord Jesus. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.