Another prophet foretold that the returning exiles would dwell in a
Jerusalem that had no walls, 'for I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a
wall of fire round about'; and Isaiah sang, 'We have a strong city;
salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.' There is no need
for material defences for the community or the individual whom God
defends. Would that the Church had lived up to the height of that great
thought! Would that we each believed it true in regard to our own
lives! There are three ways in which this promise may be viewed. We may
think of 'salvation' as meaning God's purpose to save. And then the
comfort and sense of security will be derived from the thought that
what He intends He performs, and that nothing can traverse that purpose
except our own rebellions self-will. They whom God designs to keep are
kept; they whom God wills to save are saved, unless they oppose His
will, which opposition is in itself to be lost, and leads to ultimate
and irreparable loss.
We may think of salvation as an actually begun work. Then the comfort
and sense of security will be derived from that great work by which
salvation has begun to be ours. The work of Christ keeps us from all
danger, and no foes can make a breach in that wall, nor reach those who
stand safe behind its strong towers.
We may think of salvation as a personal experience, and then the
comfort and sense of security will be derived from that blessed
consciousness of possessing in some measure at least the spirit, not of
bondage, but of a son. The consciousness of having 'salvation' is our
best defence against spiritual foes and our best shield against
temporal calamities.
It is good for us to live by faith, to be thrown back on our unseen
protector, to feel with the psalmist, 'Thou, Lord, makest me to dwell
in safety, though alone,' and to see the wall great and high that is
drawn round our defenceless tent pitched on the sands of the flat
desert.