THE NAME OF THE LORD
[p. 96] THE NAME OF THE LORD
The Spirit of Christ gives character to the whole book of Psalms. You will find that the Psalms contain celebrations. A song is more strictly a celebration than a psalm. A psalm is usually the expression of experience, the medium through which the writer gives expression to experience, whereas a song is usually a celebration; in most cases songs are celebrations of victories. It occurs to me that each believer should have his own song, and each his own psalm; that is, on the one hand we ought to be able to celebrate what God has done for us, outside of ourselves, and also to give expression to what God has done in us. The former is a song, the latter a psalm. Perhaps among the people of God there is a great lack of songs and, psalms. An example of a song in Isaiah 26: “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah”. What is the theme of it? “We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks”. (Isaiah 26:1) Now, there is a celebration. The singers shall be in the light of what God has accomplished for them. He has established a city for them, and that city has walls, and the walls are divinely appointed. They are salvation; that is, salvation composes the walls. I take that to be a sort of indication of what the people of God had at the outset of Christianity: they had a strong city, and God had appointed walls to it. They were not simply taking refuge in it, they were celebrating its existence. They recognise the city, and they recognise that the walls are salvation; they take account of the existence of these things. I take that to be what should mark us in the light of Christianity. We recognise what God has established here on earth. In other words,
[p. 97] the city is supported by the kingdom. I hope you understand that. A city is a sphere of rule and influence, but it requires protection, and God has appointed protection; He has appointed salvation for walls.
Now, where is salvation? I refer to this to indicate how Christianity stands. The gospel was set in relation to the assembly, and the enemy took account of this and set to work to attack the city, for in order that the gospel might be obliterated and effaced the church must be destroyed. The position and importance of the city came to light in connection with David. The enemy sought to attack it. What did the Lord do? Have you ever in your history been attacked by the devil? If you have not, I will tell you why. You have never raised your colours. What I mean by raising your colours is that you are true to your baptism. You did not baptise yourself, but you are responsible to be true to your baptism. You are baptised to the name of the Lord, and that is in the light of the kingdom. Now you have to be true to that, and if you are true to that you hoist your colours. You give public notice that you are on the side of the Lord. Now, if you do that, you will be attacked by the world. The standard has never been raised yet but what it has been attacked. And now, what? The Lord undertakes to defend the colours you raise. The Lord has charged Himself with the protection and support of His standard; to raise it is your salvation.
To come to the Acts: the assembly was attacked. The apostles and believers had raised their standard. There were no half measures in those days, they took sides with the rejected Nazarene. Look at Peter’s testimony: “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner”. (Acts 4:11) What a courageous testimony! There the standard of Christ was raised up in presence [p. 98] of the world, and the Lord defended that. The apostles were attacked mercilessly by the leaders of Israel. Saul came out boldly to attack every member of the assembly, to overthrow what God had established, but it was invulnerable. It seemed a critical moment; everything seemed to be going before the wind, but the Lord’s voice is heard from heaven, and Saul is subdued. Have you ever been attacked? “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered”. (Acts 2:21) There is no possibility of final defeat. There were many prayers in those days. In Acts 4 we are told that Peter and John, being let go, went to their own company. The whole world was against that tiny band, but they lifted up their voices with one accord to God, and the place was shaken. The power of God was there and surrounded them, so that they could not be crushed. So in chapter 9, when the very existence of the assembly and the gospel was threatened, the Lord’s voice is heard out of heaven, and it brought down at one stroke the combined power of the world. That power, religiously and politically, was centred in Saul, but God had appointed salvation for walls, and He brought Saul down at one stroke. That ought to be the theme of our song. When attacked by the wicked one, how happy to turn to the Lord.
You remember how Paul speaks of the name of the Lord, saying, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord”, (Romans 10:9). See how the apostle looks at things: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth”. Do you do that? In your business place, and in every circle outside of the sphere where the Spirit of God is, the influences are against you; now what are you to do as to these influences? Are you to succumb, and be quiet, or are you to speak? The elders of Israel commanded the apostles not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. They did not enjoin them not to believe,
[p. 99] but not to speak or preach. Satan will let you alone if you keep your mouth closed. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus”; (Romans 10:9) that is raising the divine standard. When you confess Jesus as Lord you give notice to the world that power belongs to that Man. You give public notice that government is in the hands of Christ. What will happen? You set your face against the world, and there is conflict at once. Well, that is your moment of triumph. It is then you realise that the kingdom is not a myth, it is a reality. I beg of you to try it; put to the proof that Christ is Lord by giving forth that you are on His side. You shall be attacked, but you realise that the Lord is for you, and who can stand before Him, who brought down Saul, that man of power, at a stroke? As the result of his overthrow the assembly had rest; rest is secured behind those walls strong and high. The saints recognised the One who had power, and were edified and multiplied, Acts 9:31. It was due to the Lord that they should sing this song: “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks”. (Isaiah 26:1)
The occasion of the singing in Psalm 113, is not the city but “the name of the Lord”. The Lord is not here on earth, but His name is here, and the psalmist is engaged with the name of the Lord. It is a great thing to get hold of the Lord’s name; it represents His authority, everything done now by intelligent Christians is done in the name of the Lord. Now the Lord is in an official place, as the king is, and everything done in His interests here is done in His name, and this secures His support. Hence the preaching of the gospel is carried on in the Lord’s name, and salvation is in His name. But now the psalmist is engaged with the name for its own sake. Do you cherish the name of the Lord?
[p. 100] When I think of it I think of the four gospels. I think of that marvellous pathway of Jesus, His many mighty works of power, His affection for His people, His unswerving devotion to the will of God. Put all these things together, as they are blended together by the Spirit of God, and you get the name of the Lord. It is fragrant; it is to be praised from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same; the whole sphere is to be filled with that glorious name. How do you regard that worthy name which is called upon you? Is it with you the occasion of praise?
I want to show a little what marked the Lord. Verse 4: “He is high above all nations”. This is a great day for nations. It is not a day of universal empire, as in ancient times, but a day of great and mighty nations, possessing wealth and power, and vieing with each other. The Lord is above all, and more, His glory is above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord who dwelleth on high? His glory is above the heavens. His name is to be praised from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, and He has title to exalt Himself to dwell on high. He humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth. You may think yourself a tiny mite in the world, but the Lord humbleth Himself that He may behold you. Think of Him in the gospels. What minuteness of detail we get! The Lord takes account of poor needy ones. Think of Him taking account of Peter. He had humbled Himself to the position of a fisherman. He descended to that position; He did not come in connection with great wealth and renown; He came in connection with the lowest of people. He humbled Himself to be there. Ah! beloved friends, He did. He was near enough to that fisherman to ask him for his boat. He who could exalt Himself to dwell on high, whose glory is above the heavens,
He said to Peter: ‘Simon, let me have your boat’. He would be near to Simon. Why did He want Simon’s boat? The cattle of a thousand hills, and all the boats and the timber of them were His, but He wanted Simon. He humbled Himself to discover Himself to Simon. I cannot go into it, but the details are most interesting. “Let down your nets for a draught”, He says. There was an immense draught of fishes; the nets brake, but the work was done. The Lord has accomplished His design. Peter says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”.
Now note this. The recognition of the Lord in your soul is the beginning of the end; you shall never be right with God nor with men until you recognise the Lord. It is the primary element in the soul of man. “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Paul said. It is an age of lawlessness; young people are drawn into the sphere of lawlessness. “Depart from me”, Peter said, “for I am a sinful man, O Lord”. I say, how perfectly the Lord accomplished His design. Peter fell down at Jesus’ knees. The Lord descends into Peter’s boat, to become attractive to Peter. Peter recognises his sinful condition and the next character that appears is a leper. Peter was the leper. The Lord discovers Himself to Peter, and Peter is repentant, and as such is in the position of the leper; and the judgment that attaches to the leper is that he had no place in the camp; he is outside; but the Lord touches the leper, and he is cleansed.
This only serves as an illustration of how the Lord humbled Himself to behold the things in heaven and in the earth. “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust”. That is where we are; man is in the dust. See His wonderful work, in other instances, in the gospels. “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust”, and what does He do? He is waiting on you [p. 102] to take you up out of the dust and give you a place among princes. It is a great thing to be illuminated in that way. He only can do that. He only can put you in the society of true nobility. I do not know how you take account of nobility, but there is no nobility on earth now, in God’s account, that is not after the pattern of Christ. Nobility in God’s account is seen in Christ; to be noble is to do the will of God, and he who does the will of God is signalised in some way by God. God ennobles you, God will never confer on us, in any official way, what we are not equal to morally. Christ was anointed, but He was equal to the anointing in His Person, He had proved Himself equal to it. He was entitled to it, entitled to the Messiahship on the ground of what He was personally. What the Lord proposes to do is to take you out of the dust and to ennoble you. Man is degraded to the dust on account of losing his position in regard to the will of God. The Lord removed vicariously all that lay on you in judgment; He removed it through His death, and what more? He intends to ennoble you. How is man ennobled. Jacob was ennobled. “Thy name shall be called no more, Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed”. (Genesis 32:28) In other words, Jacob was already a prince morally, and God changes his name; that is, God formally recognises what you are; “by the grace of God, I am what I am”, (1 Corinthians 15:10) said the apostle. Whatever you are, you are that by the grace of God, but God gives you credit for it, and ennobles you formally. He makes you a prince. Every Christian has the spirit of a prince. What a thing to be among princes! You are a prince, and you have ample means, and a heart to dispense them. You have all the wealth of God and ability to dispense it. Have you appreciation of this great dignity? There are many claimants of your soul. The world claims it [p. 103] and the devil. There are many bidders: the Lord bids for it, and He has paid a price. He shows that He values it. “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people”. What a thing to be numbered among the princes of God!.
Then “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children”. I believe the housekeeping spirit is very little known among the people of God. There are many phases of the Christian position in the world, warrior, priest, Levite, and so forth, but one thing God looks for; and a thing that every right minded man looks for in his wife, is the housekeeping spirit. God has a house down here. The Lord is the Man of the house. The Lord is in heaven, and what He looks for in us down here is the housekeeping spirit. We are set here in relation to one another. The greatest test to a man’s faithfulness is to serve in the house of God, and the testimony in regard to Moses is, that he was faithful in all God’s house. Moses possessed in a remarkable degree the spirit of the house-keeper. He was faithful in all God’s house. Now, if you are a believer in Christ, you find how He acts for you; He raises you up from the dunghill, and sets you among princes; endows you in every possible way; gives you His Spirit; puts dignity on you, but the question arises, What are you to do? You are not taken up to heaven at once; if you obey your parents, and there is submission, you have the promise of long life here; you have the honour of being left here to carry on the testimony in Christ’s absence. Well, the Lord sets you to housekeeping. That is a test to your spirit. To keep house, you have to set yourself in relation to the saints. You have to see that the saints are in order. And what is the stand-by? Love is the great stand-by. What a [p. 104] thing for Christ to look down and see the reflection of Himself in our affection for one another! There is no possibility of going on in the light of the house apart from mutual affection.
Then you get multiplication: “to be a joyful mother of children”. If there is affection and the housekeeping spirit, you are multiplied. If there are great additions, and large numbers of people brought in, and not a housekeeping spirit, what happens? You feel sad to see a large family without a housekeeping spirit. A disorderly family, and that a large family, is a moral blot; so, in the psalm, the housekeeping spirit is put before children. If there is not a housekeeping spirit, great additions are simply weakness and a moral blot. See the great additions in Christendom, but where is the housekeeping spirit? The idea of housekeeping precedes multiplication; but how happy where love is active, and then you get increase. In Acts 2 you get one hundred and twenty together; there is, as yet, no multiplication, but there was loyalty of heart to Christ, and then children were added, three thousand of them. They were brought to a warm place, to a sphere of affection. The Lord had made the barren woman to bear children.
I trust the Lord will use the word to make us desire a housekeeping spirit that there may be multiplication.