LIFTING UP THE HANDS IN THE NIGHT SEASON
LIFTING UP THE HANDS IN THE NIGHT SEASON
Psalm 30: 5; Psalm 134: 1-3; Job 35: 9, 10; Song of Songs 3: 6-8
One has in mind that we may be marked by that which is pleasing to God. There is every evidence that the night is closing in, for the darkness is increasingly manifest. I desire to show that the Lord would maintain features that are according to God, so that instead of being marked by the works of darkness, we may be marked as those who are “of the day,” 1 Thessalonians 5: 8. The apostle says, “They that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night,” — those are the characteristics of man’s night. First he becomes insensible to what is due to God — and how appallingly that is developing — insensibility as to what is due to God is seen abroad in Christendom. Then drunkenness also marks the night, I do not of course, mean literal drunkenness, but excesses which reduce and destroy true sensibilities. Take, for instance, the wide-spread craving for pleasure; then also, the desire for fame of some kind, which often dulls and even destroys right sensibilities. What is due to wives and children and home, is often sacrificed to a moment’s fame. Love of money is another form of excess, to satisfy which all else is sacrificed. All these are forms of drunkenness, resulting in the loss of true sensibilities.
I desire to show with the Lord’s help, what He would have marking His people as the night develops. The Lord would help us to have features that are suitable to God. In this connection, it will help to look a little at what the Lord did in the night, how He acted in the midst of darkness the like of which has never been. He entered into a night that was darker than any other in man’s history. I am not speaking of physical darkness, but of moral darkness. Scripture tells us that one feature of this is hatred. It says, “He that hates his brother is in the darkness,” — that is, hatred is one of the features of moral darkness. Was there ever such hatred as was expressed against the Lord, especially in the closing moments of His life?
The Lord said, “They have seen and hated, both me and my Father,” and again, “they hated me without a cause.” What touching words! He never gave them any cause. What cause could they produce that man should hate Christ? It was without a cause. Could anyone go through that wonderful life and produce one reason why such an One should be hated, and with such intense hatred? It was expressed in many ways. On two occasions recorded in the gospel of Matthew, men spat in His face! Think of what lies behind that — the intense contempt and hatred. Then it says also, that they gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall — the mingling of vinegar with gall would produce the bitterest drink that man could offer — they gave that to Jesus. They took thorns and plaited them, indicating the deliberateness of their act. And then finally, it says, they crucified Him. The Psalm says, “They pierced my hands and my feet, “they crucified the Lord of glory.
Another element of darkness is deception. The apostle said he had “renounced the hidden things of darkness.” Where can such deception be seen as in that period of which the Spirit of God says, “It was night”? To Judas who had been with Him the Lord says, “My friend, wherefore comest thou hither?” The Lord spoke to him as “My friend.” That is the place he had outwardly in relation to the Lord — he was His “friend.” What marks a friend properly is that he “loves at all times.” Judas had that place as one of His friends, and it says He came to the Lord and “covered him with kisses,” but all the time there was treachery in his heart. While he covered Him with kisses, he was betraying his Master.
Envy also, is a feature of moral darkness. What power envy has. It says of Pilate, that he “knew that for envy they had delivered him up.” The scripture says the Lord went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. That is what the merely religious man hates; the priests and levites; the scribes and Pharisees, could not tolerate One with whom God was. While they went on with their forms and ceremonies in all their deadness, they knew that God was with Jesus, and it brought out that dark terrible feature of envy, and “who can stand before envy?”
All these elements of darkness were concentrated in the dark night of Calvary; for it was their hour and the power of darkness. Into that dark night our blessed Lord went, and what did He do? There is one thing He did that is proper to the night — He wept. “Weeping may endure for a night” — weeping is proper to the night, meaning that those who go through the night rightly, feel things intensely, and the weeping is the expression of that intense sorrow and grief. How the Lord felt that night! We have already referred to the betrayal by Judas, and how intensely the Lord felt that as He said in the language of the Psalmist, “If it had been an enemy I could have borne it.” How intensely He felt the treachery and hatred as He drew near to that dark moment. It says “He began to be sorrowful and very heavy,” — what words to apply to the Lord! Man’s hatred, treachery and envy were felt in His own spirit. He said “Reproach hath broken my heart” — think of the intensity of those inward feelings that made Him say “My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.”
Then in addition to all that I have mentioned, there was also another form of darkness which gave character to the night which the Lord had to face. “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour” — the darkness of the judgment of God against sin, into which He, whose delight it was to live in the sunshine of the love of God, went — into the utter distance — a most solemn and unique moment. We can only contemplate this with wonder and adoration. Yet even the anticipation of this moment, necessitated by the holy judgment of God against sin, did not hinder the Lord fulfilling what we read of in Psalm 134: “Ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.”
God intended that however dark the night, His servants should stand before Him and minister to Him — the service of the sanctuary should go on. Think how the Lord took up that service in that darkest of all nights. The service of God does not stop although the night be dark. So in John 13, it says when Judas went out that “it was night,” and in John 17 we see that great Priest lifting up His eyes to heaven, and speaking to His Father. He is seen there presenting to God at the golden altar, the fragrant incense, the fragrance of which remains to this day. The true Priest is there seen standing and ministering, albeit it was such a night!
You see Him in Gethsemane as the night deepens, yielding still the fragrance of One wholly devoted to the will of God: “nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” The holy incense goes up to God as a fragrant offering, acceptable to God. As it says in Hebrews 5: 7, “Who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard” — What an offering! What shall we say dear brethren, of the sweetness rising from Calvary, when He lifted up His hands in the sanctuary and said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Think of the holy preciousness of that to God! How it has affected many a heart as the savour of it reaches it, but it was first presented to God. Above all, it was in that night that He “through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,” Hebrews 9: 14. It was done in the night — and the holy service of God still went on.
Then we come to that other scripture in Job. How the Lord fulfils that! Elihu said that what marked men was that they did not say “Where is God my maker who gives songs in the night?” Though that could not strictly apply to the Lord yet He had a song in the night — “And when they had sung an hymn they went out into the mount of Olives,” Mark 14: 26. You may say, How does that fit in with His tears? They are both true dear brethren, and while weeping is proper to the night, singing is also. Both are to go on. How perfectly it was so with the Lord. It was in that night in which He was betrayed, that He took bread, and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them: and after that it is added “And when they had sung an hymn they went out into the mount of Olives.” Think of the darkness of that night, and yet the Lord is singing! His heart was delighting in God, and His joy was so great that He is joining the singing in that night. “They sang an hymn” — the Lord was with them. He could weep — we can understand that. Precious holy tears rightly put in the bottle of God, but He could also sing in the night.
Another feature of service in the night is set forth in the Song of Solomon. There are three score armed men — every one with swords, because of alarms in the night. The Lord Jesus is seen like that in that dark night, guarding every interest. Men came out with swords and staves to take Him, but there were those with Him whom God had given to Him, so precious to God; and the Lord said “If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.” He would protect them. He said “Let these go their way,” and the enemies of Christ could not touch them. They went backward and fell to the ground in the presence of the Son of God. Then there was Satan’s desire to have Peter, but there is the armed Warrior with His prayer to guard him. In that night He looks upon Peter, after he had denied Him, and recaptures his heart for God. He will not let Satan have Peter; He is standing by night as an armed man guarding the interests of God.
Now, having said that, I want to apply it to ourselves. We are in the night. Another day is soon to come. The Sun of righteousness will soon arise with healing in His wings, and usher in a new day. Night is settling in upon Christendom. Man is turning away from God and from Christ — from the precious light of God. I dwell on it, for we want to have our eyes open to the truth of scripture. The apostle says in Hebrews they “have trodden under foot the Son of God.” It is morally a repetition of what was done when they spat upon Christ, and condemned Him and rejected Him. As is said in Hebrews 10 of such, “And hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing” — and “insulted the Spirit of grace.” These words describe the darkness that is setting in, but what are we doing in the darkness? He would have us do what He did. We are not of the night, and we cannot be for the Lord in the night if we are marked by the same characteristics as those who are of the night. The position of the children of God is that they are not of the night, but are of the day. As the Lord says, “Ye are sons of light,” but are we practically marked by features of the night? If so, may the Lord help us to judge them, so that we may be true to Him in the night.
The allowance of hatred or malice, an unforgiving spirit, or bitterness of heart, simply means that we are morally of the night, and therefore lose the greatest privilege we can have of being for the Lord in the night. The allowance of deception in any form, means that we are morally of the night. The apostle says, “having renounced the hidden things of dishonesty.” Now let us face this, for if there is anything in our home life, our business life, or in our relations with one another that is evil and unjudged, but hidden, we shall lose the most blessed privilege of being true to the Lord in the night. I would beg you young ones especially, to beware of anything you have to hide. When you feel you do not want a thing to be known, then deception will result, and if you do not judge it, you will miss being for the Lord. The moment we feel we do not want a thing to be known, we are coming under the power of darkness. I do not mean such things must be made known before all, but what needs to be hidden, should be judged, or it will rob us of the precious privilege of being for the Lord, because we cannot be of the night and be true to the Lord in the night.
The apostle Peter says, “Laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings.” If we envy another what he has — it may be his money, or his home, or his reputation, or it might be the esteem he has among the brethren, or his place in the local meeting, we pass morally into the night. That is the road that led to the crucifixion of Christ. That does not belong to the sons of the day, it belongs to the children of darkness. May the Lord help us to judge these principles in our hearts. The Lord would have us with the features that marked Him in the night. First, to weep.
I do not think we shall go far on the road I am seeking to indicate, if we do not weep;
that is, if we do not feel things. All the men of God wept. Moses wept as a babe. Nehemiah wept, so that the king, as he came before him said, “This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.” David was a man of tears; he said, “Put thou my tears into thy bottle.” Paul says, “I tell you weeping.” The Lord would have us feel the condition of the assembly; the public dishonour brought upon His name now that we are approaching the days of apostasy. Weeping indeed, is suitable to the night.
Paul did not stop at weeping: Nehemiah did not stop there: David did not stop there. Paul wept for he felt things, but he also stood in faithful service in the house of God in the night. He was one of those servants who stand by night in the house of the Lord. See him in the gaol at Philippi, standing there at midnight going on with the service of God. “At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God, and the prisoners heard them.” His back beaten with stripes, his feet fast in the stocks, but he is serving God. The songs that God had given them were given back to Him from their hearts. They are also seen guarding the divine interests for they had been sent to the man of Macedonia. The gaoler takes a sword to kill himself, but Paul says, “Do thyself no harm for we are all here.” That man is secured for God and for Christ.
Stephen too, how he felt the night. They gnashed upon him with their teeth — they ran upon him with one accord, yet in the midst of all, there he is, going on with the service of God, offering up to heaven the blessed fragrance of the holy incense, while his heart is filled with joy. He said, “I see the heavens opened.” He saw Jesus and the glory of God, and he said, “Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” He is going on with the service of God in the house of the Lord. He wants us to weep indeed, but the service of God must not stop. Let us stand by night in the house of the Lord so that the offerings go on. The fire on the altar was never to go out. Are we all contributing to it? God grant we may be.
You say, What can I offer? You can offer much. God values the bodies of His people; He wants them. While men of the world are dishonouring their bodies, let our bodies be laid on God’s altar, as a sacrifice acceptable to Him, which is our reasonable service. He wants the praises of our hearts; “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually.” Even if the night is dark, the fruit of our lips confessing His name is to continue. He is prepared to accept what you can give Him, even though outwardly it be but two mites that make a farthing. He is prepared to accept it. The giving of the Philippians was “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.” The scripture makes clear that certain things are not to be given to God — such as “the price of a dog,” Deuteronomy 23: 18. What comes from an unholy association or from what is unclean, is not to be contributed to the treasury. The Lord does not want it, in fact, He will not have it. If behind the scenes, there is that which is unholy in our activities, in our occupations, in our business methods, and we propose to devote part of the gain resulting to the Lord, He will not accept it, and it is not a sacrifice acceptable to Him. But otherwise, He loves the offerings of His people and He wants them to continue.
Then there are the songs, and they are still to be sung. He gives songs — there are many of them. I cannot dwell on them in detail, but God gives songs in the night. The one song I had in mind is the hymn that follows the Lord’s supper. That can still be sung — the affections of the saints rising up to God as they taste the sweetness of the love of God made known in the death of Christ — that of which the new covenant speaks to us. God says, “They shall all know me, from the least to the greatest,” and as we become more and more acquainted with God and His love week by week, the Lord would have the hymn still to be sung. That song is to go up in the night, from hearts that know the love of God.
Then at the end, we have the armed men standing round Solomon’s bed. Solomon’s bed represents that on which he rests in the midst of his people. The Lord has a resting place in the affections of His people. He had not where to lay His head when here, but He has a resting place now in the holy affections of His saints. He has a bed, and threescore armed men stand round and they have swords. They will not let anyone touch that bed. Who will interfere with the rest of Christ? How we can thank God for that rest! No false teaching — no unrighteous course allowed. Armed men are there to see that no one interferes with the rest of Christ in the affections of His people. We can reckon on that. If any disturber approaches that bed, these armed men have their swords and they are prepared to use them although it is the night. If we bring into the Christian company any unholy practice, or unholy teaching, sooner or later these armed men with their swords will have to be faced. We want to have part in this, and to use whatever power we may have to safeguard the precious interests of Christ in the night.