Some of us think that such thoughts as the preceding are sad. Why
should they be so? They need not be. Our text adds a little word which
takes all the sadness out of them. 'With Me'; that gives the true
notion of our earthly life. We are strangers indeed, passing through a
country which is not ours, but whilst we are sojourners, we are
'sojourners' with the king of the land. In the antique hospitable
times, the chief of the tribe would take the travellers to his own
tent, and charge himself with their safety and comfort. So we are God's
guests on our travels. He will take care of us. The visitor has no need
to trouble himself about the housekeeping, he may safely leave that
with the master of the house. If the king has taken us in charge, we
may be quite sure that no harm will come to us in his country. So for
ourselves and for those we love, and for all the wide interests of
church and world, there are peace and strength in the thought that we
are the guests of God here, 'strangers and sojourners with _Him_.' Will
He invite us to His table and let us hunger? Will He call us to be His
guests, and then, like some traitorous Arab sheikh, break the laws of
hospitality and harm His too-confiding guests? Impossible for evermore.
So we are safe, and our bread shall be given us, for we are sojourners
with God.
True, we are strangers, and in our constant movement we lose many of
the companions of our march, and the track of the caravan may be traced
by the graves on either side. But, since we are 'with Him,' we have
companionship even when most solitary, and even in a strange land shall
not be lonely. Seek then to cultivate as a joy and strength that
consciousness that the Lord of all the land is ever with you, Whoever
goes, He abides. Whatever rushes past us like a phantasmagoria, He
passes not. Whatever and whoever change, He changes never. Where thou
goest, He will go. He will be 'thy shield at thy right hand,' and thy
'keeper from all evil.' So, looking forward to the unknown days of
another New Year, we may be of good cheer.
So will it be while we live; and if this year we should die--well, the
King of this land, where we are strangers, is the King of the other
land beyond the sea, where we are at home. So we shall only be the
nearer to Him for the change. Death the separator shall but unite us to
the King, whose presence indeed fills this subject-province of His
empire with all its good, but who dwells in more resplendent 'beauty,'
and is felt in greater nearness in the other 'land that is very far
off.' Whether here or there, we may have God with us, if we will. With
Him for our Host and companion, let us peacefully go on our road, while
the life of strangers and sojourners shall last. It will bring us to
the fatherland where we shall be at home with the King, and find in Him
our 'sure dwelling, and quiet resting-place, and peaceful habitation
for ever.'