LECTURE V.—FAITH CONFIRMED.
The Lord is mindful of His own, He remembereth His people. He may,
indeed, permit faith to be put to sharp trial, but His love supports
His servant through it. If, as in the case of Gideon, God removeth
earthly friends; if He take from us the prop of human aid, He can supply
other props, and even from the enemy’s camp. When friends are silent,
encouragement can come from the lips of a foe. A Balaam, eager to curse,
has been made an instrument to bless.
Strong as was the faith of Gideon, we cannot wonder if a feeling of
misgiving arose in his mind when he looked on the handful of men to which
his force had been reduced. How was it possible that they should meet
the shock of battle with the multitudes of Midian? They were brave and
resolute men, they would follow him to the death; would it not be indeed
_to the death_; had he not been selecting victims for slaughter rather
than warriors for conquest? We must conclude that some such thoughts as
these troubled the spirit of Gideon, from the very circumstance of God’s
finding it needful thus to strengthen his faith:
“Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine
hand,” said the Lord. “But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah
thy servant down to the host: and thou shalt hear what they say; and
afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host.”
It could not have been personal fear that weighed upon the soul of
Gideon; his anxious care must have been for the safety of others, for
the success of the effort to free his country, or formidable would have
appeared the adventure which he was called to undertake almost alone.
But Gideon appears to have had no hesitation or fear in trusting his own
life to God’s providential care. We picture to ourselves the leader, with
his single attendant, silently treading the path towards the enemy’s
camp, lighted by the glimmering stars in the dark blue midnight sky.
How wide spreads the camp of Amalek and Midian, how innumerable seem
the dark tents within which are slumbering foes, “like grasshoppers
for multitude,” with their camels tethered around, “as the sand by the
sea-side for multitude!” Nor are all amongst the host sleeping: Gideon
hears the sound of voices in converse as he approaches the tents. The
man of God stands still, as conscious that what he will hear will be a
message from God to himself.
[Illustration: GIDEON LISTENING.]
“Behold, I dreamed a dream,” said one of the Midianites to his companion,
little guessing on whose ear his words would fall; “and, lo, a cake of
barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and
smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.
“And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else, save the sword
of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God
delivered Midian, and all the host.”
The message from the Lord had been given, and Gideon required no more.
There, close to the unconscious enemy, he worshipped; then returning with
renewed faith and hope to the warriors of Israel, he cried, “Arise, for
the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian!”
Brethren, are we to look for such encouragements now? The age of
miracles, it may be said, is past; we must rest upon what has already
been revealed, nor seek for wonders and signs to encourage our feeble
faith. Yet, without interrupting the course of nature, God has His own
way of giving strength to the weak and joy to the sorrowful. An instance
of this, which occurred during the fearful Indian Mutiny, suggests itself
to my mind. Two ladies and a child were prisoners in the power of the
cruel enemy, who had destroyed the brother of one of them by blowing
him from a gun. Great must have been the anguish of mind, the fears of
these captive ladies—they were encompassed, as it were, by the hosts of
Midian; could faith endure the fiery trial? The child fell sick, medicine
was asked for, and the captors gave it wrapped up in a soiled piece of
paper. Who would have guessed that through the enemy of our name and
of our faith would be sent medicine not only for the body but the soul?
With wondering joy the ladies discovered that the scrap of paper was
a leaf torn from an English Bible, and containing such a portion of
Scripture as was most exactly suited for their comfort and refreshment.
With what emotions must the poor prisoners have received such a message
from God as this, conveyed through the enemy’s hand: _I, even I, am He
that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man
that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and
forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and
laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day
because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and
where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he
may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread
should fail_ (Isa. li. 12-15).
Doubtless these captive Englishwomen received those blessed verses as
a promise from God, even as Gideon did the Midianite’s relation of his
dream, and in their dreary prison bowed their heads and worshipped.
The ladies were delivered from the fury of the oppressor; the captive
exiles were loosed; and surely with them, as with Gideon, would faith be
confirmed, not only for the present time of peril, but through all the
succeeding years of life.
When we regard faith, as we have been doing during this course of brief
lectures, under the emblem of a fruit tree, we must remember that it is
no standard rearing itself aloft in the pride of its strength, but a
plant in itself but feeble, which must lean on the Rock of Ages; which,
even when its branches are fullest of swelling fruit, needs the props,
the supports which God’s grace only can give. Without these supports how
the branches would lie low on the earth, their fruit be defiled with its
dust! How constantly in the history of God’s people do we find strong
consolation given at the moment when faith is most ready to fail! To
Jacob, a lonely, benighted wanderer, is sent a bright beam of heaven.
Does he fear to encounter an angry brother? the angel of the Lord meets
him and blesses. Joshua, ere commencing an arduous campaign, receives the
promise, _I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee_. To David comes the
assurance of his final triumph from the lips of the very enemy engaged
in hunting for his life: _I know well that thou shalt surely be king,
and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand_. But
I need not multiply instances of which the Scripture records are so
full; now, as when He dwelt upon earth, our gracious Saviour says to the
anxious, afflicted spirit, _Be not afraid, only believe_; and to His
disciples entering on the conflict with sore temptation, _Let not your
hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me_.
Rest, therefore, ye afflicted servants of God, on the promises made by
your heavenly Master. The night of trouble may be around you, enemies
may be before you, difficulties may press you from without, temptation
assail you from within; but this is no proof that God has forsaken you.
Are you looking to Him, trusting in Him; are you ready, like Gideon, to
go forth in His strength to fight His battle against every besetting
sin? Then fear not, for He is on your side; _heaviness endureth for a
night, but joy cometh in the morning_; nay, more, the Lord giveth _songs
in the night_, even before the darkness passeth away the tried one, like
Gideon, may worship God and rejoice. The believer goes from strength to
strength, even as day by day on the bough the fruit ripens and swells
towards perfection. There is a growth in grace, an increase in love and
in submission, which is visible even to the world.
_The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in
the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: He
shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in
Him._
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