Text: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Psalm 80:1.
“This then is the message which we have heard
of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at
all.”
1 John 1:5.
Good morning, enlightened Christian! Once you and the author were in the total darkness of sin and self, and far from the light of the Lord God’s Salvation. Now, by His Sovereign grace alone, we are forgiven of all our sins, and enabled to ‘…walk in the light…’ with Him in fellowship – and all because of Christ’s Sacrifice for our sins on Calvary’s Cross. Hallelujah! What a Saviour! Glory to the Lamb Who lives forever! Amen.
“If we (born again Christians) say that we have fellowship with Him (Jesus Christ), and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7)
When the Psalmist penned Psalm 80, the nation of Israel had obviously incurred the righteous anger of our Holy Lord God, Jehovah, by their many and varied manners of disobedience and blatant sin. God could not ‘shine His face upon them’, for His eye-lids were firmly shut against Israel’s national and personal sin. God cannot look upon sin without punishing it with His Holy wrath. Fact.
“Thou art of purer eyes to behold (look upon) evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest Thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest Thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?” (Habakkuk 1:13)
Our Holy Lord God cannot deny Himself. Our Holy Lord God of wrath against all sin cannot bless us if we are wallowing in such sin – personal and National sin. God is Holy.
Holiness, purity, honesty, humility, and reverence of God and His written Word, are what the Lord God looks for with His Holy eyes; smiles upon with all the righteous countenance of His face; blesses, with all the blessings of His Salvation, protection, and matchless grace.
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation (Second Coming) of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath called you is Holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (entire lifestyle); because it is written Be ye holy; for I am Holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16)
Verse 1. “O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like
a flock. Now, can you watch such a scene and not think
of that Shepherd Who leadeth Joseph like a flock, and of another river which
all His sheep must cross? He, too, goes
before and, as in the case of the flock, they who keep near Him fear no
evil. They hear His sweet voice saying,
‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee.’ With eye
fastened on Him, they scarcely see the stream or feel it’s cold and threatening
waves.
“The great majority, however, ‘linger, shivering on the brink, and fear to launch away.’ They lag behind, look down upon the dark river, and, like Peter on stormy Gennesaret, when faith failed, they begin to sink. Then they cry for help, but not in vain. The Good Shepherd hastens to their rescue, and none of all His flock can ever perish. Even the weakest lambkins are carried safely over.” (W.M. Thomson, in ‘The Land and the Book’,1881)
Verse 1. “Shine forth. …Stretch forth Thine hand for our assistance that the mouth of them that speak iniquities may be shut. We seek not gold and riches or the dignities of this world, but we long for Thy light, we desire more ardently to know Thee; therefore ‘shine forth’."(Girolamo Savonarola, 1452-1498)
Verse 1. “Shine forth. Our greatest dread is the withdrawal of the Lord’s Presence, and our brightest hope is the prospect of His return.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 346)
Mankind, in Adam’s fallen image, is equipped exclusively with a heart that is so utterly prone to live in the darkness of our sin and failure – Adamic failure and personal failure of sin. When enlightened by God the Spirit; ‘quickened’ from Spiritual death to Spiritual life, by God’s gift of faith, imparted through the hearing of God’s Word – we crave to always walk in the light with the Lord God Almighty Who has redeemed us by the sinless Blood Sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. We are earnest seekers after God’s light.
The apostle John, writing under the full inspiration of God the Spirit, teaches us this fact: “This then is the message which we have heard of Him (God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ) (v.3), and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7)
The quickened ‘sheep’ cannot abide living in the darkness of sin, and loudly bleats to be washed from daily committed sin, that we might walk in the light of the Lord’s Presence.
Verse 3. “Turn us, and cause Thy face to shine. To Thyself, convert us from the earthly to the Heavenly; convert our rebellious wills to Thee, and when we are converted, show Thy countenance that we may know Thee; show Thy power that we may fear Thee; show Thy wisdom that we may reverence Thee; show Thy goodness that we may love Thee; show them once, show them a second time, show them always, that through tribulation we may pass with a happy face and be saved. When Thou dost save, we shall be saved; when thou withdrawest Thy hand, we cannot be saved.” (Girolamo Savonarola, 1452-1498)
Thought: We sheep seek our Shepherd - because He has first
sought us, ‘His sheep’.