Heb. xiii. 5. _I will never leave thee nor forsake thee._
Isa. ii. 6. _Thou hast forsaken Thy people the house of
Jacob._
How comforting is the Apostle's assurance! But do not the hope and
courage which it inspires die out of us, and testify, "Thou hast
forsaken Thy people"? No! because before there is any light
concerning this question in our understanding, our faith tells us
there must be a way of harmonising these seemingly conflicting
declarations. God must necessarily be faithful to His promise. "I
will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Were God to forsake any of
His believing, expecting people, He would do more than forsake
them--He would forsake _Himself!_ He would put off His crown and lay
aside His sceptre, and become one of ourselves. Then the whole
universe would have cause to mourn in sackcloth and ashes; there
would no longer be any GOD to whom we could make supplication in our
sorrows.
+I. The first of these inspired declarations make it plain that God
has a people who He will never forsake.+ In every distress and
tribulation He will be with them. Though all other friends may fail
them, God will continue faithful to them. When the most devoted of
human friends _could_ not be of any avail, God will be their
succour--when bereavement has broken their heart; when persecution or
temptations are threatening to sweep them away; in the hour of death.
+II. The second of these inspired declarations makes it plain that
those who have been accounted the people of God may be forsaken by
Him.+ This is a declaration that would smite us with dismay, and
plunge us into saddest confusion, were we to put a full stop where
the prophet has put a comma. Why had God forsaken His people, the
house of Jacob? Because they had first forsaken Him: they had first
voluntarily ceased to be His people. The truth in this matter may
perhaps be best apprehended by means of a Scriptural symbol. God
compares the union that exists between Him and His people to that
which exists between a man and his wife. Will a good husband ever
forsake his faithful wife? The bloom and beauty of her youth may have
gone; a wasting sickness may have rendered her positively unlovely,
but will he forsake her? Never! Her misfortunes will only cause him
to cherish her with a tenderer love. But if she be unfaithful to him,
what then? Why, then, the whole case may be altered. If he be a
merciful as well as a just man, he may seek to reclaim her; but if
she be "joined to her lovers," and persistently heedless of all his
claims and her duties, the time will come when he will leave her to
her fate. To him she will be as if she were dead. So God is wondrous
in His forbearance towards His backsliding people; but if they
persist in their apostacy, He will leave them to the gods whom they
have chosen (Judges x. 13, 14; Jer. ii. 28). We see now that between
these apostolic and prophetic utterances there is the most perfect
harmony. Our discussion of this subject should teach us--1. _Not to
found conclusions upon fragments of God's sayings or doings._ His
words and His works are mutually explanatory; but we must not cut the
explanations short! If we put periods where God has only put commas,
we shall be plunged into frightful perplexities; with the words of
Scripture on our lips, we shall have most damnable heresies in our
hearts. Our study of God's word must be comprehensive. So also must
our study of God's providence. Let us not be in a hurry to come to
conclusions. Wait, and we shall have more light, because we shall not
be looking at parts, but at wholes. Our life is being written in
clauses, and not till the last is completed shall we be able to
interpret the first aright.[1] 2. _Not to build too much upon past
submissions to the Divine will and past enjoyments of the Divine
favour._ "Once in grace always in grace" is an _ignis fatuus_ which
has lighted many a soul down to hell. If after being fenced around as
a garden of the Lord, and tilled by the great Husbandman, and watered
by dews and rains from heaven, we relapse into mere desert ground, we
may be sure we are nigh unto cursing (Heb. vi. 4-8). 3. _That those
who are humbly and loyally faithful to their Heavenly Friend cannot
be too confident of His faithfulness to them._ Assuredly He will
never forsake them (Isa. xliii. 2). And His presence is all they
need. Having Him they have all things (Ps. lxxxiv. 11, 12).