'They relied,' says the chronicler, 'upon the Lord.' Now the word
rendered 'relied' is one of several picturesque words by which the Old
Testament, which we are sometimes told, with a great flourish of
learning, has no mention of 'faith,' expresses 'trust,' by metaphors
drawn from bodily actions which symbolise the spiritual act. The word
here literally signifies to lean on, as a feeble hand might on a
staff, or a tremulous arm on a strong one. And does not that picture
carry with it much insight into what the essence of Old Testament
'trust' or New Testament 'faith' is? If we think of faith as leaning,
we shall not fall into that starved misconception of it which takes it
to be nothing more than intellectual assent. We shall see there is a
far fuller pulse of feeling than that beating in it. A man who leans
on some support, does so because he knows that his own strength is
insufficient for his need. The consciousness of weakness is the
beginning of faith. He who has never despaired of himself has scarcely
trusted in God. Abijah's enemies were two to one of his own men. No
wonder that they cried unto the Lord, and felt a stound of despair
shake their courage. And who of us can face life with its heavy
duties, its thick-clustering dangers and temptations, its certain
struggles, its possible failures, and not feel the cold touch of dread
gripping our hearts, though strong and brave? Surely he has had little
experience, or has learned little wisdom from the experience he has
had, who has yet to discover his own weakness. But the consciousness
of weakness is by itself debilitating, and but increases the weakness
of which it is painfully aware. There is no surer way to sap what
strength we have than to tell ourselves what poor creatures we are.
The purpose and end of self-contemplation which becomes aware of our
own feebleness is to lead us to the contemplation of God, our immortal
strength. Abijah's assurance that 'God is with us at our head' rang
out triumphantly. Faith has an upper and an under side: the under side
is self-distrust; the upper, trust in God. He will never lean all his
weight on a prop, who fancies that he can stand alone, or has other
stays to hold him up.
But Abijah's example teaches us another lesson--that for a vigorous
faith, there must be obedience to all God's known will. True, thank
God! faith often springs in its power in a soul that is conscious but
of sin, but a continuance in disobedience will inevitably kill faith.
It was because Abijah and his people had kept 'the charge of the Lord
our God,' that they were sure that God was with them. We can only be
sure of God to lean on when we are doing His will, and we shall do His
will only as we are sure that we lean on Him. Our trust in Him will be
strong and operative in the measure in which our lives are conformed
to His commandments. Much elaborate dissertation has been devoted to
expounding what faith is, and the strong, vivid Scriptural conception
of it has been woefully darkened and overlaid with cobwebs of
theology, but surely this eloquent metaphor of our text tells us more
than do many learned volumes. It bids us lean on God, rest the whole
weight of our needs, our weaknesses, and our sins on Him. Like any
human friend or helper, He is better pleased when we lean hard on Him
than when we gingerly put a finger on His arm, and lay no pressure on
it, as we do when in ceremonial fashion we seem to accept another's
support, and hold ourselves back from putting a weight on the offered
arm. We cannot rely too utterly on Him. We honour Him most when we
repose our whole selves on His strong arm.