THE LORD’S DAY
This Psalm speaks of the physical sun and its movements. It rises at dawn and goes forth from one end of heaven to the other end of heaven. It, no doubt, is a type of the Lord Jesus and what He will be in the world to come; His benign light and sway will dominate the universe. In Matthew 17, where the Lord was pleased to give to His disciples a preview of the world to come, He was transfigured and His face shone as the sun. The end of Malachi speaks of the Sun of righteousness arising with healing in His wings. The sun would have a reference, therefore, to the benign dominion of the Lord Jesus in the world to come. In Ezekiel 43, when the glory appears, it says, “and the earth was lit up with his glory”, v 21. Sunshine begins at dawn and goes through the whole day.
I would like to apply this to the Lord’s day. The world to come will, in a sense, be the Lord’s day. It would be a day of a thousand years when He dominates, when He is preeminent as Man, but we anticipate that world to come on what we call the Lord’s day. It is one day in the week when the Lord has something special for Himself. I would like to call attention to what the Lord’s day means to the Lord Jesus. We often speak and delight in what the Lord’s day means for us, a day of privilege, but let us think for a moment of what it means for the Lord Jesus, a whole day when He gets response in a special way. Of course He gets response every day, but there is something special about the Lord’s day which for the Lord begins in New Zealand. Dawn is there. The Lord is active that whole day right over the earth. I suppose the day finishes at Vancouver, that dateline. Think of what it means for the Lord Jesus, such a full day for Him. We come together to partake of the Lord’s supper, and it means much for us, but He has been active in a special way before this. It says, “And he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber”. Think of “his going forth”. It is written from His point of view—“his going forth”. In a sense He is always with believers in the suffering setting in which we are: we speak about His coming to us but there is something special about the Lord’s day. “And he is as a bridegroom”: think of the affection of the Lord Jesus beginning the Lord’s day! I think it can be applied that way. “And he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber”—whatever that means—“he rejoiceth as a strong man to run the race”. Think of the affection of the Bridegroom and the joy, rejoicing “as a strong man to run the race”, and the activity of the Lord Jesus on the Lord’s day, touching our hearts by His love, leading us in response to the Spirit, to the Father, to God. What a wonderful activity of affection, wonderful activity of power and of joy, rejoicing “as a strong man to run the race”! It says, “His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof”. This influence is meant to affect us—“nothing hid from the heat thereof”, the warmth and influence of the Lord’s love in this wonderful circuit which He is engaged in, especially on the Lord’s day. The Lord does not come corporeally—it is all by the Spirit, it is all spiritual, and that is what tests us; it challenges our spirituality and our reality. The Lord does not come physically; all this movement in the present dispensation is by the Spirit. It will be actual in the world to come, but there is something of that same character by the Spirit at the present time.
It goes on to speak about the law of Jehovah, the testimony of Jehovah, the precepts of Jehovah, the commandment of Jehovah, the fear of Jehovah, the judgments of Jehovah. That would involve persons who are subject to Him. The Lord says in John 14, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me ... and I will love him and will manifest myself to him” (v 21); this is the kind of persons the Lord manifests Himself to, who get the benefit of his circuit which the Lord is occupied with on the Lord’s day. This is really by the Spirit at the present time. Then, verses 7, 8 and 9 present the kind of persons to whom the Lord manifests Himself, who get the benefit of His movements. Because we belong to a certain company of persons is no guarantee that we will enter into all that is involved in this. This Psalm is from the Lord’s point of view, His going forth, and the extent of His circuit and His activities.
In the Song of Songs it is from our point of view. It is not “his going forth”, it is, “Behold, he cometh”, that is, we gather in each time zone, beginning in New Zealand time zone right over to Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco, we gather and look for His coming. The language in the Song of Songs is the language of those who expect Him, the expectation of affection. “The voice of my beloved! Behold, he cometh”. In Psalm 19 it is “his going forth”, it is from His point of view, His standpoint, but this is from our standpoint. It says, “Behold, he cometh Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills”. It could be likened to the dawn, to the sun coming up; “Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills”; it could be the sun as a figure. “My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart”; it is the activity, the agility of affection. It says, “Behold, he standeth behind our wall”; “our wall” is a local idea, the Lord coming to each locality—“our wall” in Edinburgh and in other places, persons in localities getting the benefit of the rising of the sun. “He looketh in through the windows”, the sun “glancing through”; that is the idea.
In Psalm 19 it is “his going forth”, and this is His coming, persons who have His commandments and keep them, expectant of His coming, and gradually it dawns on us that we realise His presence. May the Lord encourage us and give us to think a little of what the Lord’s day means for Him as well as for us. May He quicken our affections for Him for His Name’s sake.
EDINBURGH
8th January 1991
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