| Christian Life and Doctrine | January 1977 |
The Christian’s Source of Help
“Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? Whence should my help come?” —Psalm 121:1, Marginal Translation
THE question raised in our text by David was a natural one for him. David was a warrior, and in those ancient times the hills and mountains afforded a considerable degree of protection from the attack of the enemy. This would not be true in our day of bombing planes and other modern weapons of war, but for David it was. It did not require many guards to make sure that a hostile army did not make a frontal attack over the tops of high hills and mountains. So man, without faith in God, and depending wholly on his own knowledge of warfare, would be quite likely to say, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
But the marginal translation gives us the truer thought by putting this in question form. David knew that as far as his real help was concerned it did not come from the hills. He knew that his real help came from the Lord. So after asking the question, “Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? Whence should my help come?” he answers it by saying, “My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” (Ps. 121:2) He adds to this, concerning the Lord, “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.” (vs. 3) David could and did put his complete trust in the Lord in all his times of great need.
In Psalm 3:1-6 he wrote, “Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.”
The occasion on which David wrote this psalm was when his enemies had stirred up his son Absalom against him and he was pressuring David with a nondescript army, hoping to wrest the kingdom from him. But as David pointed out, he had full trust in the Lord. He did not wish to fight back, but took the occasion to rest. So, as he says, “I laid me down and slept.”
David was a man of prayer, and we find his great trust in the Lord expressed through many of those prayers as recorded in the Book of Psalms. David’s trust in the Lord, and his spirit of obedience to him, reveal the reason he was called a man after God’s own heart. Being a man of war, David found himself often in precarious situations, but he never despaired of what the ultimate outcome would be. His trust in the Lord was as complete in times of danger as in times of peace and tranquility.
The David Class of the Gospel Age
The faithful footstep followers of Jesus during the present age also look to the Lord for help. They know that in their own strength they cannot do the Lord’s will as they should; they know that they have many weaknesses and many opposing influences in their lives; but still they do not despair, because they know that greater is He that is for them than all that be against them.
The commission in doing the Lord’s will is not to engage in carnal warfare. Indeed, they are instructed to do good unto all men, and as far as possible, to live peaceably with them. However, because of certain similarities between carnal warfare and the struggle of the Christian to do the Lord’s will, war is used in the Scriptures in a limited way as an illustration of our position as servants of the Lord. We are admonished to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. But being a good soldier of Jesus Christ implies the need to be at peace with all men, with our opposition being toward the principles of unrighteousness. The Apostle Paul admonished Timothy to “war a good warfare; holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.”—I Tim. 1:18,19
Paul wrote to Timothy, saying, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”—II Tim. 2:1-4
Here we are reminded that the life of a soldier is a rigorous, severe life, one that requires hardness or staunchness of character. This quality is also true of the Christian. The Christian life is not one of ease. It is a life of tranquility and peace in so far as the Christian can exercise faith in the power of God to care for his best interest, but that faith must be able to grasp the fact that the Christian can be a good soldier only by dying in the cause. He is called upon to be faithful even unto death. This being true, in experiences which the Lord permits him to endure, even though they are difficult, entailing much suffering and weariness, he knows that the Lord has not promised the deliver him from such experiences, but only to help him endure them in order that he might be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
A true Christian soldier knows that his victory in the warfare will not be something he can relate to his family when he returns home. He knows that his victory will mean death; so he is admonished to be faithful unto death, with a promise attached, “I will give thee a crown of life.” But it requires faith to grasp this and let it be the guide of our life in the service of the Lord. It is all too easy to seek an easier way when we are confronted with opportunities of serving and suffering. So the apostle admonishes us to “endure hardness,” knowing that there are many times as we journey along the narrow way that we will need admonitions of this kind, that the flesh will falter and need to be lifted up by reassurance that God is our Helper, our Leader; that Jesus Christ himself is the Captain of our salvation.
Separate from the World
Paul also admonished Timothy, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” The one aim of a good soldier of Jesus Christ is to please the Lord who has called him to be a soldier, and he knows that in order to do this he cannot be partly for the Lord and partly for the world. He knows that he cannot entangle himself with the affairs of the world and at the same time be wholly devoted to the Lord. He cannot be divided in his viewpoint and outlook in life.
Paul adds to this admonition, “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” It would be unlawful in this Christian warfare to be only partly on the Lord’s side and devote much of our energy to serving and pleasing the world. No crown of victory, no exaltation to glory at the end of the way, can be expected by those who participate in such a halfhearted struggle to know and to do the Lord’s will.
Our Enemies
The Christian’s enemies are not imaginary. There are the world, the flesh, and the Devil against whom we must do battle. We would be unable to cope with any of these, even individually, in our own strength. It is only because the Lord is our Helper, as he was David’s Helper, that we can hope to be victorious. The spirit of the world is the spirit of selfishness, and this is the very opposite of the spirit of Christ, which should and does dwell in the heart and life of every follower of his. We will not, therefore, battle against the spirit of selfishness in the world by employing the spirit of selfishness as a weapon. We will use only those weapons of warfare which the Lord has provided, and every one of these operates upon the basis of love—a self-sacrificing love which induces one to lay down his life on behalf of others rather than in any way to do them harm.
Nor will the true Christian allow the selfish spirit of his own flesh to guide him in how he serves the Lord and how he deals with those who may be opposing him. The world and the flesh work together, and the Christian should know that the selfish spirit of his own flesh will not gain him victory in the Lord’s army, even though it might appear to gain him slight advantage at times in his dealings with those of the world.
Satan the Devil, of course, is our most formidable and wily adversary. He goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And we surely need the help of the Lord in order to resist him. However, we do have the assurance that if we resist the Devil he will flee from us. But he may flee today and come back tomorrow. We cannot allow ourselves to be unconcerned. We cannot afford to be indifferent to his wiles and ways. They are clearly pointed out to us in the Word of God, and the Lord expects us to be acquainted with these deceptions and the spirit behind them. Satan will endeavor to poison our minds even against the Lord himself, and certainly he makes every effort along this line in order to turn us aside from our loyalty to the brethren and from faithful cooperation with them in the service of the Lord.
He endeavors to poison our minds with respect to the Lord by efforts to point out that the beauties of the truth which have revealed the glorious character of our God are deceptions, that they do not reflect the ways of the Lord at all. But we are not ignorant of his devices. We will put our trust in the Lord and be guided by his Word with respect to those devices and will not let them influence our lives.
The Armor
The Lord knew from the beginning that as Christians we should be keenly aware of the fact that in our struggle against the Adversary we cannot depend upon our own strength. King Hezekiah of Judah said to his subjects when they were confronted with destruction by Sennacherib, king of Assyria, that the greatest source of his strength was an arm of flesh. “But with us,” the good king said, “is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles.” (II Chron. 32:8) How grateful we are for the Lord’s assurance that he will indeed help us in our every time of need if we continue to put our trust in him!
One of the Lord’s provisions is what the Bible refers to as the “armor” which he provides. Paul refers to this in Ephesians 6, where we read, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”—vss. 13-18
In Ephesians 6:12 the apostle explains that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” We are not to understand from this that the world and the flesh are not our enemies as new creatures in Christ Jesus. The thought is, rather, that we wrestle not merely against flesh and blood. We have unseen forces arrayed against us, described by Paul as principalities and powers. He also speaks of the rulers of the darkness of this world, which would be Satan and the fallen angels—spiritual wickedness in high places.
Then beginning with verse 13, which we have already quoted, Paul admonishes us to put on the “whole armor of God” that we might be able to stand in the evil day. Here he is reminding us that, so far as these enemies are concerned which are beyond our weak powers to combat, the Lord is on our side, and that he has provided for us an armor, and that if we put on the whole armor of God, this will enable us to stand in the evil day against all the evil influences which are arrayed against us. When he adds to this, “having done all, to stand,” he does not mean that we should cease to be active in living our Christian life and serving the Lord. The picture is of standing against an enemy, and one who is standing against an enemy is very busy indeed.
In a description of the whole armor of God, the apostle mentions first the girdle. He says, having our loins “girt about with truth.” In ancient times when men wore flowing garments, they were handicapped from being especially active in work or efforts of any kind, so they used a girdle. This girdle was put on when they prepared themselves for activity. Without the girdle, one would not be able to accomplish very much; but with it, he could serve as well as though he were not wearing those flowing garments. Because of this use of the girdle, it becomes a very apt symbol of service itself. Paul speaks of it as the girdle of truth. If we put the two thoughts together, it suggests that we use the truth in our service of the Lord and of one another. It is this girdle, when we analyze the matter further, that to a large degree holds the remaining parts of the armor together. So in actual practice if we fail to be active servants of the Lord through the truth, it would mean that the remaining part of the armor would not continue to be a defense for us against the wiles of the Adversary.
In verse 14 Paul also mentions what he calls “the breastplate of righteousness.” The breastplate in the armor of an ancient soldier was designed specially to protect the heart and lungs. Those vital organs which, if injured, would mean death are thus hidden in the Christian’s armor behind the breastplate of righteousness.
The Christian has no real righteousness of his own. The righteousness is that which he receives through Christ, through his response to the truth of God’s plan in which Jesus is the central figure. But to have on this breastplate means more than simply to assent to the fact that Christ died for us. It means a full dedication to the Lord and to that principle of love and righteousness which was illustrated by the gift of God and the death of Jesus. If we have made the truth our own in this sense, it means that we have put on the breastplate of righteousness.
In verse 15 the apostle adds, “And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.” Having one’s feet shod suggests a way of life, a course in life, the direction in which we are going; and Paul says here that a part of the armor is to have our feet shod with the Gospel of peace. In other words, our course in the world should be one of peace. It means that we will be proclaimers of the Gospel of peace. We will be peacemakers rather than troublemakers.
The Gospel of peace is in reality the Gospel of Christ. And it is through Christ and his shed blood that peace is established between God and those who are out of harmony with him as members of the fallen race. So the work of Christians is to be ministers of reconciliation; and if we are devoting our lives to this work of reconciliation, we will be radiating peace through our own personal lives, and we will be encouraging those with whom we come in contact to be reconciled to God through Christ. All this is involved in having our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.
Verse 16 reads, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Certainly the great wicked one, Satan, and his cohorts in the wicked spiritual world, are shooting out many fiery darts. Unfortunately, at times, the Lord’s people may unwittingly be engaged in the work of Satan in helping him to shoot forth these darts against the brethren. But we should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices. If we have on the shield of faith; that is, if we understand the faith once delivered to the saints, and are using that as an shield against all of Satan’s efforts to destroy us as new creatures, we will be protected through the power of the Lord and his truth.
Verse 17 reads, “And take the helmet of salvation.” Elsewhere Paul speaks of the helmet which is our hope of salvation. The helmet is worn on the head and suggests that this part of the armor has to do with those things which we know. We should, of course, know the truth of God’s plan. We should know the truth concerning the redeeming blood of Christ. We should also know the love of God which passeth all understanding. We should know that he is a God who delights in exercising loving-kindness on the earth. And it is very important for us to know that all things work together for good. If we are well equipped with this basic understanding of God and of his plan, we will be well protected in our minds and hearts against all the efforts of Satan to thwart the divine purpose in our lives, which is the growth and finally the coming to maturity of the new creature.
Verse 17 also says that we should use the “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” We should use this to a large extent against the motions of sin in our own flesh. It is to be directed inward. It is never to be used to browbeat the Lord’s people, and not even our enemies. The Word of God is precious, and wherever it goes it will radiate peace. True, it will divide asunder, as Paul puts it, the joints from the marrow; but here the reference is to the cleansing and purifying work the sword of the spirit will accomplish in our own lives.
Verse 18 is a good climax to Paul’s outline of the various parts of the armor: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” In addition to having on the armor, we need to be diligent in prayer—prayer for the brethren, prayer for the Lord’s blessing upon the efforts of brethren in sounding forth the glorious Gospel of the kingdom. The poet has well said:
“Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;
Prayer keeps the Christian’s armor bright;
And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.”
How thankful, indeed, we are for the help that comes to us through the Lord, through his Word, through the Gospel he has provided, through our fellowship with his people, and through all the various ways he helps us by those wonderful agencies which he has provided for blessing his people. May we never lose sight of the Lord as we endeavor to press along the narrow way, until we hear his “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”