4
4
seen in the Lord. The first is, He is clothed with a garment
reaching to the feet. This suggests dignity of movement—there
is no hurry. If it had been a question of moving as a warrior or
even running in the activities of grace. He would have been
seen as with girt loins; He would not have been seen as with a
long garment. But a garment reaching to the feet suggests a
deliberate and patient movement. This marked the Lord in
perfection, and it should also mark us in dealing with any
matter of the Lord’s interests. The man of patience is the man
of power. This feature, however, does not suggest dilatoriness
or indifference such as marked Amasa in the days of 2 Samuel
20: 5. He wrongly delayed. It is not that here, but that there is
no unbecoming haste. The Lord would give us this dignity to
move in patience in every matter.
The second feature is that the Lord is seen as “girt about at
the breasts with a golden girdle”.
The affections are to be under divine control; we are not to be
moved by human sentiment nor carried away by mere
emotion. Think of Paul when he dealt with Peter whom he
withstood. Barnabas in Acts 15 was not girt. Mark had gone
back from the service, and Paul says he was not suited, he
was disqualified. Mark was recovered later, and the Lord used
him who had known what it was to have failed, to bring before
us the perfect Servant who never failed. But Barnabas was
influenced by natural affections. No comments are given in
Acts save that we are told that the brethren commended Paul
and Silas and that Barnabas took his nephew and went to his
native land (Acts 15: 38–40). If we are dealing with a matter of
service or of discipline, we must beware lest our affections are
influenced by natural ties.
If we were girt about the breasts with a golden girdle, there
would be the divine control of our affections. How beautifully
this was seen in Paul when writing to the Corinthians! There
was patience, there was dignity of movement, and then, too,
the affections were divinely controlled. The Lord moves thus