xxvii. 5. _Or let him take hold of My strength, &c._[1]
I. IN WHAT GOD'S STRENGTH CONSISTS. First, as we think of
Almightiness, that irresistible power which created the world, &c. We
are apt to forget those other and higher sources of strength which
belong to God (1 Kings xix. 12). Wisdom is strength (Eccles. ix. 15,
16). Truthfulness is strength. Justice is power. Mercy to the weak is
often the manifestation of the highest strength. England has often
put forth her power; her soldiers have crushed the most appalling
rebellions; her guns have sunk the mightiest navies; but history will
perhaps record it as the highest display of her power when, under a
sense of justice, she withdrew her forces when she might have crushed
her foes (as in the late Transvaal war, 1881). Now, this element of
mercy, as manifest in the work of Christ, is God's strength (Rom.
i. 16; 1 Cor. i. 24). God's fatherly love is the essence of His power
(H. E. I., 3206). Christ is the expression of that love. Christ is
God's strength. "And let him take hold of My strength."
II. HOW MAY MAN TAKE HOLD OF GOD'S STRENGTH? 1. By _submission_ (Rom.
vi. 13; Ps. li. 10). As nothing is so reasonable, so nothing is so
wise as submission to God. 2. By _prayer._ Prayer is the hand of the
child stretching itself under that father's protecting power. Prayer
takes hold of God's strength. 3. By _obedience_ (1 Pet. i. 14). When
Saul of Tarsus, after asking, "Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?"
went straightway and did God's will, then there came to him a moral
power mightier than he had ever wielded before. 4. By _implicit trust
in God's mercy_.[2]
III. THE RESULT OF THUS TAKING HOLD OF GOD'S STRENGTH. The result is
that Divine strength is infused into our minds. We become "strong in
the Lord, and in the power of His might." Trust is the medium through
which God's power is transmitted to man's weakness (Heb. vi. 19). We
can only really know those whom we love and trust (Dan. xi. 32). The
most invincible and lasting institution in the world is the Church of
Christ, because composed of those who are "partakers of the Divine
nature," and whom God has made strong.--_William Parkes, F.R.G.S._