THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom

VOL. LXV. March/April 1981 No. 2
Table of Contents

The Joy of God in His Children

"THOU REMAINEST."

The "Rest"

Entered Into Rest

Notice of Annual Meeting

"Behold, THE Man!"

PSALM TWENTY-TWO

"The Prophets ... prophesied, ... searching what or what manner time the Spirit Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them."
- 1 Pet. 1:10-11, A. R. V.

THE most exact and intimate account of the Passion of our Lord was written a thousand years before it took place. The evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, have recorded, in considerable detail, the testimony of eye-witnesses of His trial and crucifixion; and from these vivid accounts the follower of Jesus map enter as deeply into fellowship with Him in His sufferings as such a one's devotion, his temperament, and his own personal experiences permit. But-the account in the Twenty-second Psalm goes far deeper than the records referred to, and permits the earnest student a still more profound compassion in his Lord's extremity of pain. For this account purports to be the personal relation of the terrible ordeal of the cross by the Sufferer Himself.

Its accuracy is substantiated in such details as could be observed by the eye-witnesses, in the evangelists' accounts; and Peter, in the passage from his First Epistle quoted above, definitely attributes the authorship of this with other prophecies of "the sufferings of Christ" to "the Spirit of Christ" -- that is, the Logos.

A SUPERNATURAL MESSAGE

The supernatural character of the message is also confirmed by the one through whom it came, David, the Psalmist-king of Israel, who declared on his death-bed: "The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and His word was upon my tongue." The Psalm, therefore, cannot be understood to be merely an idealistic or poetic description in general terms of the foreordained sufferings of the world's Redeemer; it must be regarded as an exact narration of actual experience.

This Psalm contains, without doubt, the most remarkable account of a man's death ever written, because it sets forth His thoughts and sensations up to the moment of expiring, and picks up their continuity immediately upon His reanimation, or resurrection, which we know was more than a day and a half later.

It is also the greatest possible demonstration of divine prescience, or foreknowledge, extending even to the "thoughts and intents of the heart," of what a man would be thinking about a thousand years in the future, when He was dying and when He was resurrected; revealed by the Father, through His Logos or Spokesman, the established channel of "all things" concerning His earthly creation. - 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:12-18.

FOREKNOWLEDGE -- NOT PREDETERMINATION

However, we are not to reason that because of God's foreknowledge of these details of His Son's suffering, He had predetermined that every pang must be experienced as He had dictated in the prophecy. Rather, the proper view is that the sacrifice of a human victim was necessary to the general program of the ages as planned by the Creator; the carrying out of this program was willingly undertaken by the Son; and that while the details contingent upon His fidelity and zeal in following this course were foreseen by the Father, they were entirely dependent upon the Son's own volition.

When we consider this psychological dissection of a dying man's agony, and remember His innocence of any transgression, and why and for whom He suffered, our awe increases to the point of horror, only to be relieved b the joyful contrast in the record of the victory be and the tomb, and in the paean of universal praise with which the Psalm concludes.

The terrible conflict that raged within the consciousness of our Lord and which is so vividly described in this Psalm, can be appreciated only when we consider His characteristics and His former life. He was "the only-begotten Son, in the bosom of the Father," "the beginning of the creation of God," "the first-born of every creature." From the moment of that creation as the Logos, personification of the Creator's wisdom, He declares: "Then I was by Him, as a master workman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him." "All things were made through Him [the Logos]" writes the Apostle, "and without Him was not anything made that hath been made." - Prov. 8:22-31; Col. 1:15-18.

LIFE ON THE SPIRIT PLANE

The serenity, the beauty, and the magnificence of His prehuman existence, may perhaps be inferred from the description of a spirit being of a lesser order or degree, given us under the figure of the King of Tyre, by the Prophet Ezekiel: "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou wart in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering:... the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee: in the day that thou wast created they were prepared. Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth; and I set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." The description of a spirit being in terms of human comprehension involves the brilliance of precious stones, the melodic capabilities of instruments of music. Such beings go up and down among the gigantic sun-stars ("stones of fire") that seed the universe, upon errands for their Creator. Who in this world, where "darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people," whose inhabitants "groan and travail in pain together until now," can fully realize the peace, the splendor, the serenity, the happiness of the Logos in full association and communion with His Father, prior to the commencement of His great experience with sin upon the earth?

"HE EMPTIED HIMSELF"

In carrying out the Father's plan for man's redemption, the Logos had suddenly plunged from the spirit conditions of royal ease and power into intimate association with the degradation, sorrow, and suffering of man's estate. Of this tremendous transformation the Apostle writes: "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped [as did Lucifer], but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Phil. 2:5-8.

It was one thing for Him to view from a vastly superior position, with compassionate pity, the misery and woe of man's estate; but quite another thing to enter upon that estate Himself, to remain "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners," and yet to take upon Himself the full experience of the sinner's utmost suffering.

The Logos came to earth determined, with all the strength of a perfect mind and will, upon the carrying out of His Father's plan for man's salvation. Prophetically Hosea had written of Him (Peter tells us, at the dictation of the Logos Himself): "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance [i.e., turning back] shall be hid from My eyes." So completely committed was He in His own mind, and by the course that He had pursued up to that time, to the full completion of the Father's plan by His own sacrifice, that in His spoken prayer just prior to His going forth to Gethsemane, as recorded by John, He reported to the Father (as though that sacrifice was complete): "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou bast given Me to do." Perhaps He thus desired, as it were, to burn His bridges behind Him; to strengthen His own resolution by so committing Himself publicly and irrevocably to His determined course. And yet, so hard, so repugnant was that course, and so fearful the conflict that raged within His bosom, that later in the Garden He prayed: "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done"; but still later, just after His arrest, He said: "The cup that My Father hath given Me to drink, shall I not drink it?"

A FORSAKEN SUFFERER

In this study of the Twenty-second Psalm we use the critical and annotated translation of the Hebrew original by J. B. Rotherham, a devout and learned Jewish Christian, who spent a long lifetime in the study of the Holy Scriptures -- particularly of the text of the originals. His introduction to this translation is illuminating:

"Descriptive Title -- The Voice of a Forsaken Sufferer-Loudly Lamenting His Lot. Minutely Describing His Pain and Shame, without Reproaching God or Accusing Himself -- is Suddenly Silenced (in Death); and then as Suddenly is Heard in a Strain of Triumph, in which Other Voices join, all Celebrating the Praises of Jehovah as Sovereign Lord."

The Jewish theologian customarily seeks to find a fulfillment of the prophecies of this Psalm in the sufferings of his persecuted race. To the contrary, Mr. Rotherham says: "The Mysterious Forsaken Sufferer of this Psalm appears to be an Individual; seeing that, in the course of His loud lamentation, He distinctly alludes to His mouth, palate, tongue, gums, heart, bones, and clothing; looks 'back to His childhood, and forward to His death. His situation is indicated with circumstantial minuteness. He is exposed to public view; for He refers to all who see Him. He is fixed in one spot; for His enemies gather round Him. He has been deprived of His clothing ... and sees His garments distributed to others. . . . And finally, inasmuch as such as would see Him, both look for and gaze upon Him, it may be ... surmised that either He has companions in suffering from whom the onlookers would desire to distinguish Him, or else darkness has gathered, making it difficult to descry Him. He is either absolutely friendless, or His friends are so few and feeble that they are powerless to help Him; hence His repeated cries for Divine pity and succor.... Who is this Mysterious Sufferer? . . . It is notorious that Christians see in this Psalm a wonderfully vivid and realistic picture of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth... . All that is necessary is to take the Psalm as it is written, and the story of the crucifixion of Jesus as it is written in the four Gospels to lay them side by side, and then to look first on the one picture and then on the other. Detail by detail, the striking similarity comes into view.... As Dr. Briggs well says: 'It seems to the Christian that the Psalmist indeed gives a more vivid description of the sufferings of Christ on the cross than the authors of the Gospels."'

Why not, indeed, since Jehovah God Himself, through His Logos, is the author of the account in the Psalm?

THE GREATEST TRIAL

The Psalm begins abruptly, with the Savior entering upon His final trial. The despairing cry is in His heart, later to be given expression from the cross:

Psalm 22:1 My God, My God! why hast Thou failed Me? "Far from My salvation" are the words of My loud lamentation.

The supreme agony of being abandoned by His Father to the merciless hatred of His implacable enemies was no doubt first realized by Jesus when, in Gethsemane, the Roman soldiers and servants of the High Priest laid violent hands upon Him to lead Him away to His death. It was a new and bitter experience. Heretofore He had had the full consciousness of His Father's approval and support, which was essential to His peace of mind and confidence in His own great mission. This He repeatedly declared, saying: "I can of Myself do nothing: as I hear I judge: and My judgment is righteous; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." "I do nothing of Myself, but as the Father taught Me I speak these things. He that sent Me is with Me, He hath not left Me alone, for I do always the things that are pleasing to Him." His divine Protector had repeatedly delivered Him from those who would do Him injury.

Now all was changed. He was "delivered into the hands of sinners"; and although He sought to fortify His resolution by reminding Himself that He still had the power to set aside the whole procedure -- that "even now" He might beseech His Father, who would send twelve legions of angels for His rescue -- yet He remembered that He was the High Priest of the "better sacrifices," as well as the sacrificial Victim; and if He drew back, as He said: "How then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? ... All this is come to pass that the Scriptures of the Prophets might be fulfilled.... This is your hour and the power of darkness.... Then all the disciples left Him and fled." Then indeed the darkness settled down upon His heart. He felt that He was finally abandoned by God and men.

THE POWER OF DARKNESS

Mr. Rotherham thus comments: "The mental anguish so strongly indicated is due to the Divine permission that He, the Sufferer, should thus fall into the hands of His enemies; and that His God should be so long in coming to His rescue. The Sufferer feels Himself to be forsaken, or, rather, that His God has failed Him. . . . His enemies have got Him into their power.... Psalm 22:11 suggests a connection between the two; and Psalm 22:19-21 confirm it. The Divine forsaking consists in leaving Him thus to fall into His enemies' hands. The converse, prayed for, shows this. These verses (Psalm 22:11, 19-21) say, in effect: 'Return, come near; and rescue Me from the sword, from the dogs, from the lion, from the wild oxen'; thereby implying that it was God's withdrawing and holding aloof, that delivered Him into the power of these, His enemies. The Divine withdrawing, the Divine holding aloof -- this was the Divine failure."

That He should thus be delivered up to His enemies was clearly anticipated and foretold by Jesus (Mark 10:33, 34; Luke 18:32); and Luke declares (Acts 2:23) that it was "by the deliberate counsel and foreknowledge of God." Why then should Jesus so despairingly and repeatedly inquire the reason for His forsaking, and beseech His Father for rescue? Only in this Psalm can we find a satisfactory answer to this question.

Some have found in the cry, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' reason to conclude that God had "turned His face away" from His suffering Son, because He is "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13); and since, as the Apostle writes (2 Cor. 5:21), "Him who knew no sin, He made to be sin on our behalf," God was impelled to show His hatred of sin by momentarily turning away His face in disapproval of Jesus on the cross.

It is apparent, however, that Jesus was never a sinner, or evil, or iniquitous, as it is declared of Him that He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from' sinners." He was never more pleasing to the Father than when He hung upon the cross, the world's Redeemer. There He demonstrated His complete obedience and devotion to the Father's will. For the Father to have deliberately made Him feel His disapproval or detestation, in that awful hour of agony, for a purely legalistic reason, would seem to be cruel, unjust, and unloving. Jesus was paying the extreme penalty for sin, namely, death (Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:4, 20); what more of suffering could justly be imposed?

Comparison with a passage in Hebrews sheds some light on this question. "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9:28). Note in this statement the antithesis of being "without sin" in His second advent, is His having been "offered to bear sins" at His first advent. He was a sin-offering in His first advent; He will be without a sin-offering in His second advent. It is entirely proper, therefore, to make this passage read: "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without a sin-offering unto salvation" -- that is, by restitution, then in order. It is equally proper and in accordance with the context to read in 2 Corinthians 5:21: "Him who knew no sin He made to be a sin-offering on our behalf." In both these passages the Emphatic Diaglott renders the word as "sin-offering"; and the translator adds the following quotation from the noted commentator, MacKnight, as a footnote to the Corinthian passage: "There are many passages in the Old Testament where amartia, sin, signifies a sin-offering. Hosea 4:6: 'They [the priests] eat up the sin [sin-offerings] of My people.' In the New Testament, likewise, the word sin has the same signification."

Hence, we conclude that we need find no mystic significance in Jesus' lament, as revealed in the first verse of this Psalm, which would cause us to infer that the Father assumed, even for an instant, an attitude of abhorrence toward the Son. Later in the Psalm (Psalm 22:24) it is positively declared that the Father did not do so.

However, had Jesus gone calmly and triumphantly through His sufferings and death without any apparent evidence of faltering or weakness, sustained by a mental exaltation that lifted Him above all sense and feeling of pain and weakness, His followers might well have admired and worshiped, but they could never have shared His experiences and ultimate victory. No intent is evident in the record to indicate any such superiority on His part to the normal reactions of a human being. Truly, "we have not a High Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities [or feebleness]." "Surely, He hath borne our pains and carried our sicknesses."

"In patience as in labor thou must be
A follower of Me;
Whose hands and feet, when most I wrought for thee,
Were nailed unto a tree."

THE CRUCIFIXION

"It is little to confess, that we can only with the greatest difficulty begin to imagine, how an alphabet of thought for conceiving such a psalm as this could have been communicated to any psalmist's mind.

The ultimate product remains in this Divinely illuminated foresketch, offering a spectacle of Jesus of Nazareth suffering on the Cross, as a proof of Divine Foresight and Divine Skill, -- which nothing that we can conceive can ever surpass for satisfying the judgment and moving the soul." - J. B. Rotherham.

Psalm 22:1 My God, My God! Why hast Thou failed Me? "Far from My salvation" are the words of My loud lamentation.

Psalm 22:2 My God! I keep crying -- by day and Thou dost not answer Me, and by night and there is no respite for Me.

Psalm 22:3 But Thou, O Jehovah, the Holy One -- enthroned upon the praises of Israel: --

Psalm 22:4 In Thee trusted our fathers, they trusted -- and Thou didst deliver them:

Psalm 22:5 Unto Thee made they outcry -- and escaped, in Thee they trusted -- and were not put to shame.

Psalm 22:6 But I am a worm -- and No one, a reproach of mankind -- and despised of a people:

Psalm 22:7 All that see Me deride Me, they open with the lip -- they shake the head, saying: --

Psalm 22:8 "Roll Thy cause on Jehovah -- let Him deliver Him! let Him rescue Him -- since He hath found pleasure in Him!"

Psalm 22:9 Yea, Thou art He that caused Me to be born, My trust on the breasts of My mother:

Psalm 22:10 Upon Thee was I cast from birth, from the lap of My mother My God wast Thou.

Consider, all ye who would follow in His footsteps, who would suffer with Him, who would drink of His cup: how, during the long hours of the night in which there is "no respite" for Him from indignities, cruelty, and abuse, as He is dragged from one to another of His enemies, He seeks to fortify His resolution and maintain His courage by going over and over in His mind the considerations which are the basis of His faith and the reason for His present situation, in spite of the terrible feeling of desertion by His Father. God had been with His human fathers. They had trusted in Him and been delivered. They had made outcry to Him and escaped. They had not been put to final shame.

"DESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN"

But, He reminds Himself, these are no precedents upon which to expect His own release. "I am a worm, and no man." The Prophet Isaiah had foretold that He should be despised and rejected of men, a man of pains and familiar with sickness. Possibly there lingered in His mind the peculiar words of Bildad to job in his misery: "How can man be just with God? Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? ... The stars are not pure in His sight: how much less man, that is a worm! And the son of man, that is a worm!" Jesus had named Himself the Son of Man. Perhaps He asked Himself, as He begged His Father for help and it seemed not to come: Can it be that I am not pure in His sight? Is that the reason that He has forsaken Me?

A peculiarity of Bildad's utterance is that he used two different Hebrew words for "worm." The first, applied to man generally, simply means maggot, as something that breeds in the dust, or in filth. But he said: "The son of man is a scarlet-worm, " the worm from which a scarlet or crimson dye was made in ancient times. The word is used indiscriminately in the Scriptures to mean the worm, the color, or the material colored with the dye. It is used with double meaning to characterize sin, in Isaiah 1:18. It is also used as a symbolic allusion to the remedy for sin. More than thirty times it appears in the books of the law as the "scarlet" used in the hangings of the Tabernacle, the garments of the high priest, and otherwise in the ritual of the sacrifices, to represent the blood "shed for many for the remission of sins." Here, revealed by divine foreknowledge in the mind of the suffering Savior, it seems to remind us: He was not given the consideration due a man, by men, but was treated as a worm, to be mercilessly crushed. Yet from His sacrifice comes the crimson flood that shall wash away all sin and uncleanness from mankind. "He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and by His stripes we are healed. It pleased the Father that He should make His soul an offering for sin." - Isa. 53:5, 10.

It is for these sustaining Scriptural assurances that the consciousness of Jesus seems to be groping, but now they do not come with clarity -- because of the furious pace of His examination by question and by torture, and because of the consequent weakening of His mental powers, which He Himself realized, as revealed in the course of the Psalm.

"THEY SHOUTED.... CRUCIFY, CRUCIFY"

How pitiful His petition for His Father's aid -- be it noted without the slightest reproach because of His seeming failure to answer:

Psalm 22:11 Be not far from Me -- for there is distress, be near for there is no one to help:

Psalm 22:12 There have surrounded Me many bulls, mighty ones of Bashan have encircled Me:

Psalm 22:13 They have opened against Me their mouth, -- a lion, rending and roaring.

The sneers, derision, and abuse which His enemies heaped upon Him on the cross He could read in their minds as they hounded Him to His death before Annas and Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, and Pilate again. Their harsh and bitter accusations and the roar of the mob aroused against Him by the Jewish priests and politicians, sounded to Him like furious animals -- the proverbial mighty bulls of Bashan. Not only so; He realized, as ever, that behind them, and inspiring and urging them on, was a still fiercer and more implacable enemy; a being not to be likened to a domestic animal associated with man, such as the bull, but to the king of the wild beasts, existing outside the premises of mankind, in the fastnesses of the air -- "a lion, rending and roaring." The Apostle Peter later identified this evil being as "Satan, who goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour"; and Paul refers to him as "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who worketh and ruleth in the hearts of the children of disobedience."

This evil being the Logos had known in His pre-human life, as the great Adversary of God. Of him Jesus had said: "I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven." When Jesus came to the earth, Satan had, with the greatest effrontery, sought to compromise with Him at the beginning of His ministry; asking for himself the recognition as "de facto" ruler of earth, and for a prominent part in the Kingdom of Heaven about to be inaugurated; but Jesus had summarily rejected his proposals. Thereafter the Savior had constantly realized the presence and active opposition of the unseen and malignant world of evil spirits, directed by Satan. But at the close of His ministry Jesus had been able to declare: "The prince of this world cometh, and bath nothing in Me. " There had been no compromise with evil.

Did Jesus realize all these things, during that long night of agony? Evidently not with clarity. His conscious thinking under the stress of overwhelming outward pressure of events was disjointed, vague, indefinite. But His words and actions certainly were guided -- His fortitude and endurance maintained -- by His subconscious store of knowledge and understanding of His Father's plan as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. As Isaiah had prophesied: "By His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many." And His habit was to think in parable and symbolism; thus when He thought of the scarlet-worm, it may safely be assumed that it came to the surface of His consciousness because He had previously realized the full force of its symbolic significance.

Just here the revelation seems to indicate a complete lapse of consciousness on the sufferer's part. He had now been under the most severe and continuous mental and physical strain for nine or ten hours. He had been scourged, and had lost much blood. He probably had had nothing to eat or drink since the supper of the evening before. So weak had He become that He fell under the weight of His cross on the way to Golgotha, and was unable to proceed without assistance. It seems probable that coming at this moment of extreme weakness, the fearful shock of the actual crucifixion caused. Him completely to lose consciousness for a time.

"HE POURED OUT HIS SOUL UNTO DEATH"

The Psalm continues with the Savior seemingly struggling back to the fearful reality to find Himself hanging on the cross:

Psalm 22:14 Like water am I poured out, and parted from each other are all My bones: My heart hath become like wax, it is melted in the midst of My body.

Psalm 22:15 Dried as a potsherd is My palate, and My tongue is made to cleave to My gums; and in the dust of death will they lay Me.

Psalm 22:16 For there have surrounded Me dogs, a pack of maltreaters have closed in about Me; they have bored through My hands and My feet

Psalm 22:17 I may count all My bones; they look about -- they gaze upon Me.

Psalm 22:18 They part My garments among them, and for My garments they cast lots.

Physicians declare that this is an accurate description of the symptoms of a victim of crucifixion. The fluids of the body are quickly reduced, through the wounds in the hands and feet. This would be further affected by abundant perspiration, from pain and weakness, and exposure to the hot sun. An intolerable thirst ensues. But a greater cause for anguish to our Lord was His realization of mental weakness and dissolution. "My heart has become like wax, it is melted in the midst of My body." The heart is the Hebrew metaphor for the mind or intelligence. His mental clarity is gone. Where am I? What has happened? Why this terrible pain, and this "horror of great darkness"? My mouth and throat are so dry I cannot speak. They are killing Me. [He sees the detail of Roman soldiers about the cross.] "For there have surrounded Me dogs [Gentiles] -- a pack of maltreaters have closed in about Me; they have bored through My hands and My feet." He becomes conscious of His own shameful nakedness -- "I may count all My bones; they look about, they gaze upon Me." He notes the soldiers dividing His garments among themselves -- and realizes that He will never need them again.

At this point occurred two incidents related in the Gospels, but which are not referred to in the Psalm. The Psalm foretells the Lord's mental reactions as the sacrificial victim. These incidents arose from external appeals, not from His own consciousness. But the seemingly almost unconscious and automatic responses to these appeals reveal the dominance of His subconscious and habitual mind over His actions.

As He struggled back to a realization of His surroundings after the stunning experience of the actual crucifixion, His dimming eyes caught sight of His mother's face, convulsed with the agony of the "sword" which was even now "piercing through her soul." (Luke 2:35.) She was supported by John, the beloved disciple. It was not customary to crucify criminals on the towering and imposing crosses usually pictured by artists depicting the scene. Probably John and Mary had struggled through the crowd and had come close to Him, His face but a little above their heads, for they alone seem to have heard His muttered words, which are recorded only by John.

His reply was not in the stilted and formal language that our translation would indicate, but in the simplest and briefest form of everyday speech of those who heard -- little more than "Mother, thy son; son, thy mother." No further conversation with those most dear to Him in earthly association is recorded.

This incident probably took place about ten o'clock. The other occurred somewhat later --apparently just before noon. It reveals the strength of His inner faith in His own ultimate destiny, even as had His reply to Pilate -- "Thou sayest [truly] that I am a king." His reply to the believing and dying thief anticipated His kingly authority: "Truly, truly I say unto thee today, Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise" -- the restored earthly paradise of the future.

THE END APPROACHES

Again His consciousness seems to have dimmed-there is no record of visible or audible expression by the Lord until just before the end at about three o'clock. But the Psalm reveals that His profound despair and His urgent supplication of His Father continued as the end approached:

Psalm 22:19 But Thou, Jehovah! be not far off, Oh My help! to aid Me make haste!

Psalm 22:20 Rescue from the sword My soul, from the power of the dog My solitary self;

Psalm 22:21 Save Me from the mouth of the lion, yea, from the horns of wild oxen.

"Rescue Me, save Me, from the misdirected sword [of Roman justice]; from the power of [Gentile] dogs; from the mouth of the lion [Satan]; from the horns of the wild bulls" -- the nails that pierced His hands and feet were to Him like the horns of wild cattle, as the mob bellowed, milled, and raged about Him.

The witnesses record that "about the ninth hour" (three p.m.) He aroused Himself, and the burden of His heart, pent up during the long hours of agony, burst forth in words: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Apparently feeling that if His consuming thirst were to be assuaged, His failing mental powers might be refreshed and find an answer to this tormenting question, He said: "I thirst." A soldier, touched by an impulse of mercy (with what pleasure will he look back to the act throughout eternity!) gave Jesus some of the sour wine used by himself and his companions. Jesus "received it," and it seemed to have the desired effect, for the Psalm concludes His prayer with a sudden disjointed phrase: "Thou halt answered Me!"

The witnesses record that He then said, with apparent return of complete confidence: "Father, into Thy Hands I commit My spirit"; and with a loud cry (was it a cry of relief and of triumph?) -- He expired.

The voice has been silenced. The Man is dead. The rescue has come, because the Father has said: "It is enough." The victim is no longer in the power of Darkness; He is no longer at the mercy of His bitter enemies. They have done their worst. The Father's power has dominated every moment of the sufferings of His Son. Not one unnecessary pang has been inflicted; indeed, with exquisite love and sympathy, He has felt every pain experienced by the Son, for was it not written of Him, concerning Israel: "In all their afflictions He was afflicted"? Could He have less compassion for that Son who "ever did the things pleasing to Him" than for Israel, whom He declared to be "a stiff-necked and perverse generation"? Jesus was not called upon to suffer the maximum possible; His physical agony might have been prolonged: ordinarily a victim of crucifixion lives several days. The soldiers were surprised to find the Lord already dead after but six hours on the cross.

The precise extent and details of His suffering were determined by the Father's supervision for definite objectives, and by the Son's complete submission and cooperation with the Father's will and plan. He had exhausted His vitality by unsparing zeal and devotion to His ministry for three and a half years; by loss of sleep, long hours of fasting and prayer; by giving His life power directly in the healing of diseases. By the time of His arrest He was greatly weakened and debilitated; the severity of His examination and His extreme sensitivity and mental anguish further sapped His vitality. This limitation was foreordained; "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (in the control of Satan-dominated society) was the time-limit, and that was shortened somewhat by the Lord's complete self-surrender to the necessary experiences.

WHY WAS IT NECESSARY?

The reasons for the Father's requirements of the Son in connection with His sacrifice are perhaps more clearly stated in the Epistle to the Hebrews than elsewhere. There were four of primary importance: (a) "that He should taste death for every man" -- by paying the ransom price, thus eternally demonstrating the exactness of divine justice; (b) that He should complete His own education and acquire the sterner virtues by practicing obedience under the most trying and difficult circumstances -- being made perfect through suffering (Heb. 5:7-9); (c) in order that the Father's honor and name for perfect equity should not be open to question, "It became Him ... in bringing many sons unto glory" that the One destined for the highest position should not be promoted under any less rigid requirements than the other sons who are required to fight and suffer for their promotion; and (d) since it had been determined (for other good and sufficient reasons) that twelve tribes of the "seed of Abraham" should be "laid hold upon" for this great promotion, rather than "twelve legions of angels"; "wherefore it behooved Him" who was to become "the Captain of their salvation" -- "Head over all things unto His Body, which is the Church" -- "in all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest. . . . For in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted [tried] He is able to succor them that are tempted. . . . For we have not a High Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but One that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

The death of the Son of God was not a beautiful, calm, and peaceful death -- but horrible, and ugly, and revolting. It unmistakably and unforgetably portrayed God's attitude toward sin. But the spotlight of sacred and profane history will ever illuminate and glorify the heroic victim of Calvary, whose judge, the Roman procurator of Judea, presented Him to the people, not only of that age but of every age, with the verdict: 'Behold the Man! ... I find no fault in Him. " Upon Him should be centered all the love and adoration of those who recognize Him as the world's Redeemer and the perfect example to all the creatures of God, of love, of loyalty, and of self-sacrificing devotion to duty and honor -- "the chiefest among ten thousand, and the One altogether lovely."

"DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE"

This is the death that is celebrated in the Memorial Supper. The broken body -- "broken for you" -- is symbolized in the bread; the shed blood - "shed for many for the remission of sins" -- in the cup of wine. For in Jesus' death the believer sees his salvation, and he partakes of the emblems in token of his participation in its benefits. But to the ones who further "discern the Lord's Body" -- their "communion" with Him in the loaf and the cup -- and by personal covenant are pledged to "follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth," the emblems assume a much deeper significance; and the revelation of the Lord's mind in this marvelous prophetic Psalm, as He consummated His sacrifice, makes an ineradicable and invaluable impression, designed by Him who planned it and foresaw its every detail to remain both as an example and a warning throughout eternity.

If it was necessary that God's perfect Son "learn obedience by the things that He suffered," can we, ofttimes careless and backward students that we are, hope or wish to learn in any easier way? "In the days of His flesh He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him who was able to save Him from death," and "was heard for His godly fear"; shall we be heard with corresponding acceptance and blessing if our petitions are any less sincere, fervent, and persistent? He was "faithful unto death "; may we expect to share His throne if we stop short of the ultimate in our fidelity? To be sure, each follower of Jesus could not endure to suffer all that He suffered, of long-continued physical agony and mental obscurity, and still be true -- we would crack under the strain; it is diluted and tempered in each case to the individual need and capacity; but would we desire to escape the share that the Father's love lays upon each one of us?

Therefore, as we approach the Lord's table, we do well to remember the Apostolic admonitions: "Gird up the loins of your mind, and be sober"; "for our Passover hath been sacrificed, even Christ: wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

"Beloved Christ, so patient in Thy pain,
I shrink to own my starveling heart of fear
That counts the petty coin of common care
As 'twere some Calvary, or thorn-cut stain!
O let me breathe that faith-charged atmosphere
That made Thee conquer even Death's despair."

THE RESURRECTION AND THE TRIUMPH

"The sudden close of the suffering," comments Mr. Rotherham, "is very remarkable.... Strictly adhering to the Massoretic text, we get the break in the form and by the force of a single word, in a new strain, in the end of verse twenty one (literally), 'Thou halt answered Me. ' ... All at once the strain of sorrow ceases; and when it ceases, it ceases altogether: there is absolutely no recurrence of pain, no trace further of a single sob."

Thus by the break at the end of verse twenty-one, and by the omission at this point of four lines of the fifth strophe or stanza, the death of the Sufferer is indicated. A period of silence is implied -the silence of the tomb.

No message, of course, could come during this period, from the mind of the One who had died; but the record of the eye-witnesses bridges the gap. The Victim was removed from the cross, and decently and reverently entombed. The seal of the greatest earthly empire was placed on the entrance of the tomb, and a guard of soldiers was posted before it, to make it doubly "sure." His enemies, visible and invisible, were determined that His (to them) pernicious activities should never be resumed, nor be perpetuated by His followers.

How puerile, how futile, how ineffective, were their desires and their measures! There was another guard in bivouac about that tomb, awaiting orders. It is written: "The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them"; and again: "He will give His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways." Yes, the angelic guard was there!

At daybreak of the second day after the death of the Son, the order came! Was Gabriel, in command of the guard, the one who received it? Probably. Apparently, the actual resurrection had already taken place, for we read in Matthew's account: "And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men." Nothing is said of what went on within the tomb. Apparently without intermediary, the Father again bestowed life upon the Son; but to the angels was given the honor of proclaiming it.

Whatever Presence entered that tomb, whatever Majesty uttered the words that even the dead heard, the consciousness, the ego, that flickered out like a candle with the final breath of the Man who had hung on the cross on Golgotha, was instantly resumed with His awakening.

DIFFERENT -- YET THE SAME!

He awoke the same person, the same ego, but how different a being! He who died upon the cross was the Man Jesus, plus the personality of the Logos, merged by the power of God into one being, one soul. He who was resurrected was the Logos, plus the personality of the Man Jesus, plus a quality of life and powers that even the Logos had not before possessed; as it is written: "Wherefore the God hath supremely exalted Him."

No wonder the disciples were disconcerted and amazed at the manifestations of their risen Lord! No wonder the divine Mystery has been a subject of pondering, of unending discussion, of sects and divisions, among Christians true and false, for nineteen hundred years. We may not be dogmatic nor self-assured in our opinions regarding a matter so much above and beyond our powers of reasoning. In the final analysis we must accept by faith the great facts revealed to us.

Again quoting. Mr. Rotherham: "It cannot be doubted that it is the same voice which thus suddenly breaks out in praise; for the meter is the same, the direct address to Jehovah is the same, and -- allowing for the change of tone -- the theme is the same: the lament has been, 'He hath not heard'; the joy now is, 'He hath heard."'

Psalm 22:22 I will tell of Thy Name unto My brethren, in the midst of an assembly will I praise Thee: --

Psalm 22:23 "Ye that revere Jehovah praise Him, all ye seed of Jacob glorify Him, and stand in awe of Him all ye seed of Israel:

Psalm 22:24 Because He hath not detested to answer the humbled One, neither hath He hid His face from Him; but when He cried for help unto Him He heard."

Psalm 22:25 From Thee will come My praise in a large assembly, My vows will I perform before Thee.

The first desire of the reawakened Son is to praise and vindicate the name of His Father. If in His agony on the cross He has seemed to imply neglect or indifference, even in the thoughts that have been miraculously revealed -- it is not so; "He hath not detested to answer the humbled One, neither hath He hid His face from Him." In the light of this positive declaration on the part of the risen Christ, it seems strange that many Christians have so long held so erroneous as impression.

This indeed is the great reason given for calling on "ye that revere Jehovah, the seed of Jacob, the seed of Israel," to praise, glorify, and stand in awe of Jehovah: because He hath not hid His face nor detested to answer One who fully occupied the sinner's place and was suffering his penalty. Jesus seems to say: "Call on Him and He will answer you-no matter how vile and detestable, come in the Way provided, and He will receive you."

"PRAISE YE THE LORD!"

Throughout the remainder of the Psalm the great theme is the praise of Jehovah. There is no trace of personal glorification, of claim for self because of suffering experienced, of loyalty demonstrated unto death, of work accomplished for the Father. Equally is there no evidence of anger toward His enemies and late persecutors and tormentors. This laying bare of the mind of the risen Lord reveals complete selflessness; a desire and a purpose only to continue to do the Father's will, and to bless others.

Next to His Father, His resurgent thoughts are of His brethren. A part of His great work of atonement has been accomplished, but further vows remain to be performed "before Thee." They concern, first, the gathering of an assembly "a large assembly" -- and their inspiring to praise Jehovah. In this we recognize the work of the Gospel Age -- the selection of "the general assembly and Church of the firstborn," to be "enrolled in heaven." Perhaps the two classes of the Church are differentiated under the symbolism -- the ever-struggling, "much tribulation" -- experiencing Jacob, and the overcoming Israel.

Commencing with verse twenty six, the literary form of the Psalm changes. Instead of strophes of ten lines, they are now two lines each, with an antiphonal line -- the response of a chorus -- following each. The voice, the message, becomes prophetic, rather than personal as before. Mr. Rotherham remarks: "We have to bear in mind that the Hebrew has no quotation marks, and is reluctant even to employ the word 'saying."' Rearranged in this manner by the translator, the verses acquire a new beauty and significance.

"ACCORDING TO A PLAN OF THE AGES"

It is not surprising to find in this part of the Psalm an orderly progression, "according to a plan of the ages." Many of the Psalms permit such chronological interpretation to those who possess the invaluable "Key" of knowledge of the order of the Divine Plan; which, regrettably, Mr. Rotherham did not possess. What more appropriate than that, after setting forth the heavy Price paid for salvation and blessing, the various classes benefiting should be introduced in proper order, to offer their praises and thanksgiving?

Who benefits next after the Church, the Assembly? Ah, those who "without us should not be made perfect" -- the humble spirited yet overcoming ones of a previous dispensation -- whom we have come to know as the Ancient Worthies. The risen Lord introduces such a class:

Psalm 22:26 Humble ones will eat and be satisfied, they will praise Jehovah who are seekers after Him: -- "May your heart live evermore!"

From Abel to John, these humble ones "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." Now, in prophetic vision, has come the time for their reward -- "a better resurrection," and their appointment as "princes in all the earth." With all Israel they will say, as foretold in another Psalm (Psa. 118:22-24);

"A stone the builders rejected
Hath become the head of the corner!
"From Jehovah hath this come to pass:
It is wonderful in our eyes!
"This is the day Jehovah hath made!
Let us be glad and exult therein."

Now shall they "eat and be satisfied." Now their praises shall be offered in perfection to Jehovah. And to their Savior, the great Agent of the Most High, they say: "May your heart [Hebrew symbol -- for the mod, or ego] -- live evermore!" May it never again be extinguished as it was on Calvary, and so remained until relighted by the Creator! The response indicates that all this class, who lived prior to Jesus' death, in their resurrection are apprised of the great Transaction on Calvary and of its significance to themselves, and of their indebtedness to the One who suffered there; and in their gratitude their hearts' response is: "May your heart live evermore!"

Next is, epitomized the attitude of all mankind, living at the inauguration of the Kingdom:

Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth will remember and return to Jehovah, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him: --

Psalm 22:28 "Surely to Jehovah belongeth the Kingdom, and One to rule over the nations."

Perhaps we may detect in this response a note of reluctance, of compulsion, or of fear. The Kingdom has been set up in power and great glory, but with a "rod of iron," bringing all nations into subjection. The judicial right and executive power seems to be recognized in the response; but the enthusiasm of the preceding good wishes seems to be lacking.

"THE PRINCE OF PROSPERITY"

This is soon charged. The Kingdom brings release from wars, and pestilences, and famines; from tyrants and despotisms and grievous political burdens. Soon all the earth is turning to Jehovah's Anointed One with rejoicing. But a still greater -- a transcendent -- gift from the Father of Permanence ("Everlasting Father") begins to be realized; and the next strophe pictures the ultimate response of all those who, being willing and obedient, grow "fat" and flourish under the rule of the Prince of Prosperity (or "Peace"):

Psalm 22:29 Yea, to Him will bow down all the vigorous of the earth, before Him will kneel all who were descending to dust: -- "Yea, mine own soul to Him doth live -- my seed shall serve Him."

It is the gift of life! Mr. Rotherham very justly comments on his translation: "Not who 'go down' with A. V. and R. V.; but, as the participle may just as well be rendered, who were going down or descending; which makes all the difference, since their progress downwards to the dust is suddenly arrested. . . 'Yea, my soul to Him doth live-my seed shall serve Him.' Why! it is both literally and metaphorically 'life from the dead"'

A GLIMPSE FAR AHEAD

The final strophe of the Psalm penetrates even further into the future -- beyond the Millennial Age, into the "ages to come."

Psalm 22:30-31 It shall be told of my Sovereign to a generation to come, that they may declare His righteousness to a people to be born: -- "That He hath done it! That He hath done it!"

Jehovah is still "My Sovereign" to the Son; He is still entitled to all praise. There is a "generation to come" -- doubtless the regeneration of which Jesus spoke as recorded in Matthew 19:28: "Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shad sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

This regeneration or new life-giving to all mankind, through a reawakening from the dead and restitution processes, is pictured throughout the Scriptures as the function of the risen Christ, the "last Adam," who became a "life-giving Spirit." (2 Cor. 15:22, 45.) He is called the "Father of Permanence" or "Everlasting Father" in Isaiah 9:6, in recognition of the fact that the life which He will bestow will be permanent. Associated with Him as the second Adam will be His Bride; together they issue the invitation: "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come; ... and he that will, let him take the water of life freely." - Rev. 22:17.

"IN THE AGES TO COME"

The regenerated race must be taught to know and praise the Father, the "Sovereign" of all, the Giver of all good. But the concluding strophe of our Psalm tells us that this instruction is not only for their own education, but that they also -- the restored race -- may become the agents for further spreading the knowledge of the Lord, "that they may declare His righteousness to a people to be born!" This seems to speak of a post-millennial generation, born under conditions of perfection, but to whom also the story of earth's fall and recovery will have interest, and significance, and importance; the record that had its climax of devotion, of pain, and of glory on Calvary.

For the "Spirit of the living God" is writing records, "not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh." (2 Cor. 3:3.) Great problems and lessons are being worked out by Him in the laboratory of earth for His own eternal purposes. Blessed indeed are we if our hearts are wholly submitted to Him, and are being made use of by Him.

How vast and far-reaching the affairs that we may consequently have a useful and honorable and glorious participation in, we may now know but dimly and in small measure-but the hints that are let through to us from our Father's council room bid us pause in awe, and then in humility and gratitude follow the example of our Elder Brother, in diligently erasing every trace of our own fleshly wills, and in submitting ourselves wholly to our Sovereign Lord and Father.

"It shall be told of my Sovereign to a generation to come, that they may declare His righteousness to a people to be born: that "He hath done it! He hath done it!" Alleluia!

- H. E. Hollister

Doctrine According to Godliness

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." - 1 Thess. 5:21.

DO NOT, brethren, shrink from the duty of searching God's Word for yourselves, through fear of human censure and denunciation. Do not think that you may innocently follow the opinions, which prevail around you, without investigation, on the ground that Christianity is now so purified from errors, as to need no laborious research. There is much reason to believe, that Christianity is at this moment dishonored by gross and cherished corruptions. If you remember the darkness, which hung over the gospel for ages; if you consider the impure union, which still subsists in almost every Christian country between the church and the state, and which enlists men's selfishness, and ambition, on the side of established error; if you recollect in what degree the spirit of intolerance has checked free inquiry, not only before, but since the reformation; you will see that Christianity cannot have freed itself from all the human inventions which disfigured it under the papal tyranny. No, much stubble is yet to be burnt; much rubbish to be removed; many gaudy decorations, which a false taste has hung around Christianity, must be swept away; and the earth-born fogs, which have long shrouded it, must be scattered, before this divine fabric will rise before us in its native and awful majesty, in its harmonious proportions, in its mild and celestial splendors.

This glorious reformation in the church, we hope, under God's blessing, from the demolition of human authority in matters of religion, from the fall of those hierarchies, huge establishments, general convocations or assemblies, and other human institutions, by which the minds of individuals are oppressed under the weight of numbers, and a papal dominion is perpetuated in the Protestant church. Our earnest prayer to God is, that he will "overturn and overturn and overturn" the strong hold of spiritual usurpation, "until He shall come, whose right it is" to rule the minds of men; that the conspiracy of ages against the liberty of Christians may be brought to an end; that the servile assent, so long yielded to human creeds, may give place to honest and fearless inquiry into the Scriptures; and that Christianity thus purified from error, may put forth its almighty energy, an prove itself, by its ennobling influence on the mind, to be indeed "the power of God unto salvation."

- W. E. Channing (1819)

The Joy of God in His Children

"The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me." - Psa. 42:8.

THE PSALMIST has well said that praise is comely in the mouth of God's people, and that joy should characterize the upright in heart. The testimony of all those to whom God has shown His special favor should be, "The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad." His loving-kindness controls the forces and agencies that minister to our joy in the daytime, and the remembrance of this should fill our nights with praise. To be forgetful or ungrateful in regard to the multiplied blessings received from the hand of God,, surely denotes a very perverted condition of mind. But the Lord's children, mindful of His goodness, will not forget to offer the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of their lips, giving thanks to His name.

Selfishness and ingratitude never sing in the higher key of praise. The mind is too self-centered, the finer sensibilities too dwarfed to appreciate the benevolent character of a God who sends His rain on the just and the unjust alike. But gratitude and love must sing, and tell forth what the Lord has done. It is from hearts filled with these finer qualities that the statement comes, "Therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord." Psa. 27:6.

The angels who dwell in the presence of God, beholding with never ceasing wonderment the operation of His love and power, are revealed to us as chanting their reverent, "Holy, Holy, Holy," before Him, in admiration and joy; singing also the worthiness of the Lamb "to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." But none should ever be able to sing redemption's songs so enthusiastically,, so gratefully, as those who have been "redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb." -Rev. 7:4.

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice," is the spirit of happiness urged upon us by the Apostle Paul. If this be a practical thing, it follows then that he who lives near to the Lord, loving His will, and living "as seeing Him who is invisible," can have joy continually in his heart though all may not be serene in his surroundings. To have learned to rejoice always, whether in the daytime of pleasant tranquility, or in the night of perplexity, is to have reached a state approximating that of the Apostle's admonition. The darker hours of "encircling gloom," which must be expected, will be brightened by reflections of the abiding faithfulness of the Lord. Greater than the crushing weight of trial, sweeter than the bitterness of tears we may not be able to check, will be the assurance that He knows, and loves, and cares. Thus we carry the perpetual song in our hearts, even praises unto our God.

GOD'S SONG OF JOY

Let us look at our text again: "The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me." We readily grasp the idea of our singing songs to the Lord, since all His intelligent creatures ought so to do. This is not, however, the only suggestion of our text. Taking it as we have it in our King James translation, and most others, the thought is not so much that of songs we may sing to God, but of "His song" being sung to us in the darkness-singing to us the comforting assurances of His constant watchcare over us. In Ferrar Fenton's translation our text reads, "By day Jehovah shows His love, and sings with me at night." As to the correctness of that translation there could be some question, but as to the blessed truth it declares there should be no doubt. The God of the Psalmist is our God. "The God of all comfort," is our Father, and He assures us: "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you" (Isa. 66:13). The picture here is that of a mother who soothes her child, singing meantime the songs that can never be so sweet as when set to the music of a mother's love.

God's character combines all the attributes of fatherhood and motherhood. Thus we read, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." "Can a mother forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee" (Psa. 103:13; Isa. 49:15). It is therefore quite proper to think of God as singing those songs most suitable to our present needs. Times without number He has consoled us by anticipating our every need, and revealing His power as equal to every emergency confronting us. Our names "engraven on His hands," assures us of being constantly remembered: and He being for us is greater than all that be against us. It is a truth, God does sing to us of His power.

"The various testimonies of the Law and the Prophets are the several chords of that harp, which, when tuned by the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, and swept by the fingers of the devoted servants and searchers after divine truth, yields the most enchanting strains that ever fell on mortal ear. Praise the Lord for the exquisite melody of the blessed 'song of Moses and the Lamb' which we learn through the testimony of His holy Apostles and Prophets, of whom the Lord Jesus is chief!"

This indeed is God's song. No such story could ever have been conceived in the mind of mortal man, or originated in the thought of angels. It was faintly heard in the time of Enoch and Abraham, but grew in volume as dispensations moved onward to days of greater light, and as holy men of old, the heavenly choir over the fields of Judea, the faithful Apostles and succeeding generations of the saints have added their voices to the glad chorus. Faith rejoices in looking forward to a time when every creature in heaven and on earth will lend their voices to sing together the song of redeeming love, in harmony with God's song of love.

"AN EYE THAT NEVER SLEEPS"

Thus it is that our text, "The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime," takes on a very literal aspect. He who controls all influences for the good of His children, with unlimited agencies at His command, stands ready to marshal all these around our dwelling, if need be, to reveal His love in rich supplies of grace, or to protect us from the "ten thousand foes" seeking to do us harm. It is He who controls the forces of nature -- the warming sun, the rain, the snow, the supply of fruit and flower, and the vegetation which absorbs from the soil the elements so necessary to human life. He it is who is the Author of all the elements of beauty, tenderness, and sympathy conducive to the happiness of His creatures. All of these minister to our joy and comfort.

Likewise, in the night He who neither slumbers nor sleeps, ceases not His loving ministrations. When sorrow comes, or adversity has overtaken us, He is near with His comfort to cheer, and His grace to sustain, for He knows how to "give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning." We hear His song of love and joy, and find it easier to "glory in tribulation," for His song tells us that "through much tribulation we shall enter the Kingdom." Therefore as we read over His exceeding great and precious promises, as we ponder over the repeated assurances of His never-failing care through all the deep waters of unexpected trials, disappointments, and discouragements, let us listen ever more attentively to His song of love, consoling us with visions of eternal and inexpressible joys.

The sweetest song this world has yet heard came in the night. It burst over the fields where the shepherds watched their flocks in the darkness. How wonderful it must have sounded in a land where no voice of holy prophet had been heard for centuries. So it has been again and again. The announcement comes at midnight, "Behold the Bridegroom, go ye out to meet Him." Just when the heart is heavy because deferred hope has made it so, the burden is to be lifted. In all the history of the Church, the hour of extremity has been the season of God's opportunity. Her history's most touching memorials of faithfulness, and memory's most frequent and hallowed resting places, are eternally linked with those dark, critical hours when God intervened by sending His "song in the night" to give courage and strength to His children, and to show Himself strong in behalf of those who trusted in Him, and who had learned to tune in with the word of His grace.

-J. J. Blackburn

"THOU REMAINEST."

(Heb. 1:11.)

When from my life the old-time joys have vanished,
Treasures once mine, I may no longer claim,
This truth may feed my hungry heart, and famished
Lord, THOU REMAINEST! THOU art still the same!

When streams have dried, those streams of glad refreshing --
Friendships so blest, so rich, so free;
When sun-kissed skies give place to clouds depressing,
Lord, THOU REMAINEST! Still my heart bath TREE.

When strength hath failed, and feet, now worn and weary,
On glad some errands may no longer go,
Why should I sigh, or let the days be dreary?
Lord, THOU REMAINEST! Couldst Thou more bestow?

Thus through life's days -- whoe'er or what may fail me,
Friends, friendships, joys, in small or great degree,
Songs may be mine, no sadness need assail me,
Lord, THOU REMAINEST! Still my heart hath THEE.

- J. Danson Smith

The "Rest"

"Into a desert place apart. " (Matt. 14:13.)

THERE is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives; and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the "rest"? See him beat the time with unvarying count, and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come between.

Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look u n. God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, "There is no music in a 'rest,"' let us not forget "there is the making of music in it." The making of music is often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson!

- Ruskin

Entered Into Rest

Lydia Anderson, Orlando, Fla.
Leonard D. Bailey, Folsom, La.
Ann Barone, Somersworth, N.H.
Lillian L. Busby, Lumberton,
Miss. Alfred M. Casell, Alden, N.Y.
Ethel Chandler, Ilford, England
Irma Deal, Baltimore, Md.
Edith C. DeGroot, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Thomas Donnarummo, Lackawanna, N.Y
Ella E. Fowler, Myrtle Creek, Ore.
Agnes Gawel, Chicago, Ill.
Julia Fozkos, Griffith, Ind.
Joseph Grickiewicz, Poland
Charles J. Harris, Vancouver, B.C.
Angeline Kenneth, San Diego, Cal.
John I. Masterson, Mt. Morris, Ill.
Mrs. J. Middlebrooks, Ashland, Ala.
John R. Muzikant, Staten Island, N.Y.
John Nigel Walker, Stroud, Glos,, England
Muriel Reid, New York, N.Y.
Lucy W. Roddy, Tampa, Fla.
Jeanne Scott, Essex, Mass.
Henry Strickland, Grand Island, Neb.
Amy C. Trzeciak, Portage, Ind.
Betty Wade, Aurora, Ill.
A. J. Webb, Maidstone, England

Notice of Annual Meeting

The brethren here named are pleased to report that a spirit of Christian love and harmony exists in their midst; and they have every reason to believe that the Lord has seen fit to bless their association in this ministry. They realize however, that those carrying on any work may fail to see opportunities for improvement and expansion apparent to others not charged with such responsibilities, and that for this reason changes in office sometimes have beneficial effects. They therefore urge g on all members of our Institute that they make this a special occasion for prayer, that our Father's will may be expressed in the vote of the members. If, after prayerful meditation, any are led of the Lord to nominate brethren, and will forward the names and addresses of such brethren so as to reach this office on or before April 10, 1981, such names will be published in the May June issue of the Herald, that all members may have an opportunity of voting for them.

All should be aware of the fact that the affairs of our Institute are in the hands of seven brethren who are elected from its membership to serve for a period of one year or until their successors are elected.

Our Annual Meeting this year is scheduled to be held (D.V.) Saturday, June 6, 1981, at 11:00 a.m. in West Suffield, Connecticut, 145 N. Grand Street.

Membership in the Pastoral Bible Institute is, and always has been, open to any consecrated brother or sister who "is in full harmony with the purpose, spirit, and policy of the Institute," and who intends to support it "in all reasonable ways as he or she shall deem to be the Lord's will."

As stated in its charter, the purpose for which the Institute was formed is "the dissemination of Bible truths in various languages by means of the publication of tracts, pamphlets, papers, and other religious documents, and by the use of all other lawful means which its Board of Directors, duly constituted, shall deem expedient for the furtherance of the purposes stated."

The membership fee is five dollars ($5.00) which should accompany the application. If an applicant lacks the membership fee, but is otherwise acceptable, the fee will be paid out of a special fund provided for that purpose.

In order to participate in the election of directors at the next annual meeting, anyone not already a member, who desires to apply for membership, should do so promptly as, accord in g to our bylaws, "the registration of such membership must be made twenty days prior to the election."

Members of the Pastoral Bible Institute are hereby reminded of the privilege which is theirs of nominating in the pages of this journal the brethren they wish to elect as directors for the fiscal year 1981-82.

The brethren whose terms of service will expire are: J. L. Buss, A. Gonczewski, H. C. Hogrebe, L. Petran, W. J. Siekman, E. R. Villman, and J. B. Webster.

1981 Index