The Perfect, Dependent Man: January 2024
Table of Contents
The Perfect, Dependent Man
Prayer as we know it today was first exemplified in the life of our blessed Lord. Although fully God, He took the place of the perfect, dependent man. He was often found in prayer, so that His disciples, seeing this, made the request, “Teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). When the Lord Jesus was about to go to the cross, He emphasized to His disciples that prayer would be their resource in His absence. In the so-called upper-room ministry, particularly in John 16, He told them, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you” (John 16:23). Prayer to the Father in His name would be answered. Following these exhortations, we have abundant reference to prayer in the epistles, showing us the importance God attaches to it in our lives. Truly, as another has said, “A prayerless life is a powerless life.”
W. J. Prost
The Lord Jesus in Prayer
Several scriptures in the Gospel of Luke bring before us the Lord Jesus as a perfect, dependent Man in prayer. We shall consider these prayers.
“Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him” (Luke 3:21-22). Here the Lord had just identified Himself with the few godly Jews who acknowledged the need of repentance for the remission of sins, whether for themselves or the nation at large. Our Lord, of course, had no sins to confess, but as a godly Jew would identify Himself with these as being on the right ground. Then as He prayed, there came this direct voice from heaven: “Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).
We know that the Lord was the “only begotten Son” and none other can enter that place, but He has brought us into the position of sons before the Father. As we are in dependence and prayer before God, we enter more into the fullness of the place we have through His grace.
He Went Into the Wilderness to Pray
“He withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed” (Luke 5:16). This was after the Lord had healed the leper. This is an example of prayer in connection with service. The service the Lord had for the poor leper and in testimony to the people was perfect. But He did not leave it there; He went to God in prayer about it. This is a voice to us. After any little service we are able to do for Him, feeble and weak as it is, do we go aside to ask His blessing upon it? All the blessing on it must come from Him.
“He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12). This was before He chose His disciples. He well knew all of them would often fail to enter into His thoughts and that of one of them (Judas Iscariot) He would later say, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” Who can tell what it cost the holy One, the Lord Jesus, to be in association with that man during His public ministry here, well knowing what would be the end of his path?
He was in prayer with His Father all night before choosing those with whom He would be associated. The lesson for us in this is prayer in connection with our associates. The Christian is not left here to be alone. The book of Acts speaks of “their own company,” and how happy we can be to find those with whom we can walk here as with the Lord and before Him. We need to be in communion with the Father as to those with whom we are associated.
The Transfiguration
“As He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering” (Luke 9:29). This well-known incident of our Lord’s transfiguration is recorded in three of the gospels, but it is only in Luke that we are told it was “as He prayed.” We know, of course, that the Lord is seen here in His own glory, but the day is coming when we “shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” Even now, if we want to be more like Him here, the way to achieve that is to be in prayer and dependence upon God day by day. The more we are in secret communion with the Father, the more we shall be like Christ and have power to represent Him here.
“Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
Teach Us to Pray
“One of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). This also was “as He was praying in a certain place.” It may have been that seeing the Lord engaged in prayer touched their consciences and awakened a desire in them also to pray; hence their request. And so the Lord gave them a prayer perfectly suited to their condition at that time. While commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, it cannot be the expression of the Lord’s own heart, nor is it in accord with the full Christian position. For example, it is not in the Lord’s name as brought out in John 16:23: “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name.”
What does it mean to ask in His name? It does not mean, as some think, just adding the name of the Lord Jesus to the end of our prayers. He is absent from the world now and we are His representatives. So the Father looks to receive from us prayers that are in accordance with the mind of Jesus. It is, as it were, asking for what He would ask. If this is true of our petitions, the Father will delight to grant them. All kinds of petitions and requests are sometimes heard that are not of this character and then the Lord’s name is added as if to give them weight. This is a very solemn thing and not at all what is meant by asking in His name. (See Philippians 4:6-7.)
Note, while our Lord taught His disciples to pray and urged them to do it, He did not ask them to pray for Him, nor does He pray with them.
Men Ought Always to Pray
“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). You might ask how it is possible for us to be always in prayer. It is, of course, impossible for us to be always in the outward attitude of prayer. It has been likened to the way our bodies are sustained by receiving fresh air from the outside which oxygenates our lungs and is necessary to our very life. So it is as to our spiritual life: We should be in the atmosphere of constant dependence on God, our thoughts turning to Him habitually throughout the day. Then, if trial or difficulty comes our way, we can do some “deep breathing” by just lifting our thoughts and hearts to Him. Our hearts will then be sustained; the despondency passes away, and our strength is renewed. The Lord was always thus. He prayed always and never fainted.
“He... kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done “ (Luke 22:41-42). What the Lord had before Him was the cross into which none other than Himself could ever enter. From this we may see how very important it is for us to learn to say from our hearts, “Not my will, but Thine, be done.” Unless we come to this surrender of our will to His, we have not fully learned our lesson, and there will not be the entire peace of mind that He would have us enjoy.
We have traced the blessed Master in these connections in prayer. We have to own our failures. Indeed, the broken state outwardly of the church of God upon earth must be traced in large measure to the sad lack of this spirit of prayer in our own souls and among His people. May we learn this lesson and seek more and more to “follow His steps.”
F. W. Lavington, Christian Treasury, Vol. 5
The Opened Ear
When discoursing with His disciples after His resurrection, the Lord said “that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning” Him (Luke 24:44), indicating the concurrence of testimony found in the Old Testament Scripture as to Himself. The subject of the opened ear is one of these.
The Hebrew Servant
In Exodus 21 we have a deeply-interesting Jewish ordinance. It established that the Hebrew servant who should be bought must fulfill his prescribed term of service, and he was afterward entitled to his liberty, but should he have acquired, during his servitude, a wife and children, these he must surrender to his master, going out alone. In case, however, his affection to his master, to his wife and to his children precluded his doing so, provision was made by Jehovah for him to take on perpetual service. His master, in presence of the judges, should then bore his ear with an awl, by which procedure his service would be forever. In this striking act, we see a beautiful type of that incomparable Servant — that blessed One whose service to His Father (or master), to His church (or wife), and to His earthly people (or children) shall be as perpetual as it is profound.
If we now turn from “the law of Moses” to “the Psalms” (see Psalm 40), we find again the opened or digged ear of this devoted Servant. Though the poor and the needy One, He was mighty to save and strong to deliver, but He is depicted here as the sorrowing, suffering Witness bent upon doing the bidding of God, in the body which had been prepared Him. He waited patiently upon Jehovah-Elohim, delighting to do His will. What a picture is this of the perfect Servant, the sent-one of God! And in the midst of it we read that beautiful exclamation that forms the divine answer to the exquisite type of Exodus 21: “Mine ears hast Thou opened [or digged].”
The Opened Ear
Again, if we add to these the completing testimony of “the Prophets” (see Isaiah 50:4-7), we get a yet fuller description of the devotedness of this perfect Servant. “The Lord God,” He says, “hath given Me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned [or learner]. The Lord God hath opened Mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting.” Surely no language could more touchingly express how truly He had emptied Himself to become the dependent Man upon earth! And here we may remark how suitably the ear, being that organ through which commands are received, is in these Scriptures made the subject of the prophetic teaching concerning God’s faithful Servant. Nothing could be more beautiful than the attitude of the Lord Jesus as listening morning by morning with the opened ear of a subject will, to take instructions from His Father!
Thus also may we understand what otherwise might seem inexplicable — His refusal to do at one time what He really does shortly afterward. There are three instances of this in John’s gospel. In the second chapter His mother, as they sit together at the marriage in Cana, says to Him significantly, “They have no wine.” In His answer He affirms, “Mine hour is not yet come.” But there was but a short break before He wrought the kindly miracle that manifested forth His glory! Also in the seventh chapter, when His brethren suggest His going up to the great feast of tabernacles, “then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready,” indicating surely to us that while they did their own will, He waited upon the will of Another. So He abides in Galilee, but a day or two afterward goes up to Jerusalem, and what a message He is charged to convey! Again in the eleventh chapter, after receiving from the beloved sisters of Lazarus the message concerning his sickness, He abides two days still in the same place where He was. “Then after that” He gives the unexpected word to His disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.” When the touching appeal from the sorrowing family reached Him, He had received no word from the Father, and consequently, resisting the impulses of His love, He remains where He was.
As the girded Servant He must wait orders through an opened ear. What must He have felt in His deep human compassion and sympathy, as in His omniscience He followed the ravages of the disease up to its culmination in death, tarrying throughout the whole two days, expecting the word on which He waited? At length He gets this morning note; the Lord Jehovah wakened His ear to hear as the learner, and He gives the signal for departure.
Human Fears
Now, however, arises another thing. His disciples, in the timidity of unbelief, bring in their human fears and would dissuade Him from returning to Judea; there is a lion in the way! How full of divine wisdom and of heavenly light is the ready reply with which He not only silenced their objections but banished their anxieties! “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.” And thus as He would not be induced by the precious, tender love of His human heart to move towards Judea until He had Jehovah’s word in His ear, so on the other hand will He not be deterred from returning thither by any apprehensions of Jewish enmity or Satanic opposition. The will of Him who sent Him had fallen upon His opened ear, and it is enough.
The Perfect Servant
What a lesson in subjection to the Father’s will do these scriptures convey to us if we had only His teachableness of spirit! He is unmoved by His mother’s suggestions, by His brethren’s entreaties, and by His own heart’s promptings, and equally is He unhindered by the dissuasions which come from His disciples. As the perfect Servant, in absolute submission of will and perfect self-surrender, He waits upon Jehovah’s word, and having that, He treads the hitherto-untrodden path of a perfectly obedient and dependent man. He who was Jehovah’s fellow gave Himself unto suffering and servitude and hid not His face from shame and spitting. Precious, peerless Savior!
A Body Prepared
If, in conclusion, we may add a word as to His distinct characters of service to us, three well-known scriptures will bring its past, its present, and its future character divinely before us. In Hebrews 10 the Apostle refers to Psalm 40, a scripture we have already looked at, where the words “Mine ears hast Thou opened” are quoted from the Septuagint: “A body hast Thou prepared Me.” In that body He bare our sins, and by His death delivered us from the wrath to come. He was serving us there, for this was the will of God, that through such service He should glorify Him and take spoils from the enemy.
In John 13, before going away, knowing the Father had committed everything to His hand, He lays aside His garments and becomes the girded Servant of our present daily need. In the same act He rebukes His disciples for their unseemly strife (compare Luke 22:24) and sets before them what His ministrations on behalf of His saints should be during the long night of His absence. He would be a pattern for our care and love to one another.
The Girded Servant
And lastly, in Luke 12 — where He gives every true saint the credit of being a watcher for His return—He lovingly cheers their hearts with the hitherto-unheard-of disclosure that He had a deeply-cherished purpose to fulfill in the glory, even that of making us to sit down to meat and coming forth Himself even then also as the girded Servant of those whom He will delight to serve forever. May we have the understanding so opened by Him of the opened ear, that through grace we may gather up this lesson from the law of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets concerning Himself. We are indwelt by the same Spirit. May we exhibit the same self-denial for the glory of our Master.
W. R. D. (adapted), Christian Friend, Vol. 6
The Perfect, Dependent Man at Gethsemane
The Lord’s perfect dependence as man is displayed in Gethsemane in the most striking manner. In Luke the whole scene of Gethsemane and the cross is the perfect, dependent man. He prays: He submits to His Father’s will. An angel strengthens Him: this was their service to the Son of Man. Afterwards, in deep conflict, He prays more earnestly: dependent man, He is perfect in His dependence. The deepness of the conflict deepens His communion with His Father. The disciples were overwhelmed by the shadow only of that which caused Jesus to pray. They take refuge in the forgetfulness of sleep. The Lord, with the patience of grace, repeats His warning, and the multitude arrives. Peter, confident when warned, sleeping at the approach of temptation when the Lord was praying, strikes with his sword when Jesus allows Himself to be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and then alas! denies when Jesus confesses the truth. But, submissive as the Lord was to His Father’s will, He plainly shows that His power had not departed from Him. He heals the wound that Peter inflicted on the high priest’s servant, and then permits Himself to be led away, with the remark that it was their hour and the power of darkness. Sad and terrible association!
Conflict
There are elements of the profoundest interest which appear in comparing this gospel with others in this place, and elements which bring out the character of this gospel in the most striking way. In Gethsemane we have the Lord’s conflict brought out more fully in Luke than anywhere, but on the cross we have His superiority to the sufferings He was in. There is no expression of them: He is above them. It is not, as in John, the divine side of the picture. There in Gethsemane we have no agony, but when He names Himself, they go backward and fall to the ground. On the cross, in John, there is no “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” but He delivers up His own spirit to God. This is not so in Luke. In Gethsemane we have the Man of sorrows, a man feeling in all its depths what was before Him, and looking to His Father. “Being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly.” On the cross we have One who as man has bowed to His Father’s will and is in the calmness of One who, in whatever sorrow and suffering, is above it all. He tells the weeping women to weep for themselves, not for Him, the green tree, for judgment was coming. He prays for those who were crucifying Him; He speaks peace and heavenly joy to the poor thief who was converted. He was going into paradise before the kingdom came. The same is seen specially in the fact of His death. It is not, as in John, giving up His spirit; but, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” He trusts His spirit in death, as a man who knows and believes in God His Father, to Him whom He thus knew. In Matthew we have the forsaking of God and His sense of it. This character of the Gospel, revealing Christ distinctively as perfectly Man, and the perfect Man, is full of the deepest interest. He passed through His sorrows with God, and then in perfect peacefulness was above them all. His trust in His Father was perfect, even in death — a path not trodden by man hitherto, and never to be trodden by the saints. If Jordan overflowed all its banks at the time of harvest, the ark in the depths of it made it a passage dry-shod into the inheritance of God’s people.
J. N. Darby Synopsis, Luke 22
David — A Type of Christ
1 Samuel 17:30-40
What a beautiful picture we see in David here of the Lord Jesus Christ. When rejected by the leaders of the people of Israel, the Lord turned to those who looked for deliverance, just as David did, when his brethren despised him. The Lord Jesus had been sent by His Father in love to save His people from their sins, but He was hated and despised by the scribes and Pharisees, who were envious of Him. Any of us too, who seek to please the Lord in the path of obedience, will find ourselves accused of pride sometimes, even by other Christians, but let us not resent it. Let us be gracious and continue in the path of obedience to the Lord, regardless of what others may say. Obedience to God ought always to come before everything else. There will be a time of manifestation someday, when the Lord will reward all that is according to His mind, even though we have been despised for it. This encouragement is given to those who trembled at the Word of God (Isa. 66:5).
No Fear
When Saul heard that David was not afraid of the giant Goliath, he sent for him. David told Saul that their hearts need not fail because of Goliath, for he would go up and fight with him. Saul, the natural man, thought only of how Goliath was a giant and a man of war from his youth, while David was young and inexperienced. He could not understand David’s courage. David then told Saul of how the Lord had enabled him to overcome a lion and a bear, which had come to rob his father’s flock, and that this Philistine was no different, seeing he had defied the armies of the living God. Poor Saul did not have faith and he could not understand David. He even forgot he ever knew him, though David had once played the harp in his court. However, if David were willing to go, Saul would not hinder, so he said, “Go, and the Lord be with thee.”
Saul did not know anything of the strength of the Lord and thought only of natural means. He therefore put his own armor on David, and David took Saul’s sword in his hand and started to go. But he soon realized that this would never do, for he had not proved them. To wear Saul’s armor was not confidence in the Lord, but in the armor, and so he said, “I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.” He had not proved the armor, but he had proved the Lord and knew He was able!
In Weakness
David then took his staff and a sling in his hand instead and went down to the brook where he chose five smooth stones which he put in his shepherd’s bag. Five, in the Scriptures, is a picture of weakness, and this would, I believe, tell us of the Lord Jesus who came into this world in weakness. It was in weakness He overcame all Satan’s power. He first met Satan in the wilderness, using the Word which, as man, He had hidden in His heart; there He bound the strong man and went forth to spoil his goods (Matt. 12:29). In applying this to ourselves, we see the importance of the Word in meeting Satan’s power against us through temptation. Of course, the Lord Jesus, the blessed Son of God, could not sin, but the manner in which He met Satan became an example for us. He did not dismiss Satan in His power as God, though He could have done so, but met him as a perfect, dependent man should. Let us then form the habit of meeting Satan’s questions and temptations by the Word of God.
Bible Talks, Messages of God’s Love, 10/03/1954
Jonah — A Type of Christ
Jonah was both a disobedient servant and also a type of the nation of Israel. Both characters of Jonah afford us real insight into the wonderful ways of God, whether with His servants individually or with His earthly people collectively. But doubtless the most precious type depicted in Jonah is his reflection of Christ Himself.
At first glance, we can scarcely think of one so unsuited to being a type of Christ. Christ was the perfect, obedient servant; Jonah was willfully disobedient. Christ said, “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:9); Jonah clearly did his own will. Christ came in love and mercy to those who were His enemies; Jonah would rather have seen the destruction of thousands of people, as well as animals, rather than “lose face.” Christ never did one thing to please Himself; Jonah’s heart was occupied with himself.
In Death and Resurrection
Yet our blessed Lord Himself, while on earth, was pleased to compare Himself with Jonah in one distinct way, and in this one way, Jonah shows us a remarkable illustration of the work of Christ. If Jonah’s natural character and behavior were far removed from that of our blessed Lord Jesus, yet in this one way he is a type of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When our Lord was about to reject Israel and reach out to the nations, He could remind “that evil and adulterous generation” that “there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas” (Matt. 12:39). Jonah was a sign to the nation of Israel in two ways. First of all, he was a sign in his preaching to Nineveh. Our Lord reminded the Jews that “they [the Ninevites] repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here” (Luke 11:32). Jonah preached only one short sermon, yet it resulted in the repentance of hundreds of thousands of people. Yet the continuous preaching of the Lord Jesus over three and a half years brought about the repentance of relatively few in Israel. However, our Lord was also a sign to them in His death and resurrection. He could say to them, “As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40). (Some may argue that our Lord was not that long in the grave, but in making this comment about Himself, the Lord Jesus simply adhered to the Jewish way of reckoning time, that counted part of a day as an entire day.)
Faithfulness and Willfulness
Jonah was an unfaithful and willful servant, and it was only through the bitter experience of being in the whale’s belly that he learned obedience to his Lord’s will. But there was One who came into this world, not only in obedience to His Father’s will, but in glad obedience. He suffered too, far more than Jonah did, yet He suffered for the sins of others. It was because of His obedience and suffering on Calvary’s cross that God could act in grace, not only toward Jonah, but also toward the thousands in the city of Nineveh. Thus it was that Jonah, while undergoing what seemed like a hopeless imprisonment in the whale’s belly, could illustrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Jonah in the whale’s belly corresponds to our blessed Lord under the sentence of death, and thus the Spirit of God gives Jonah expressions in his circumstances that far exceed any mere human terminology. For example, he says, “Out of the belly of Sheol cried I” (Jonah 2:2 JnD); our blessed Lord could say, “Thou wilt not leave My soul in Sheol” (Psa. 16:10 JND). Jonah could say, “The floods compassed me about: all Thy billows and Thy waves passed over me” (Jonah 2:3); our Lord said prophetically, “All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over Me” (Psa. 42:7). Jonah could say, “My prayer came in unto Thee, into Thine holy temple” (Jonah 2:7); our Lord said, “As for Me, My prayer is unto Thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time” (Psa. 69:13). All of these expressions, and others, were doubtless ordered by the Spirit of God, as being suitable to one who was a type of our Lord Jesus.
Contrasting Comparisons
Jonah resembled the Lord Jesus in other ways too. With reference to Jonah, there could be no fruit — no blessing — from the first man. Jonah, acting in the flesh, fled from the presence of the Lord and refused to go to Nineveh and preach the message given to him. It was only after going through the storm at sea and spending those awful days in the whale’s belly that he was ready to preach to the people of Nineveh. It was only, figuratively speaking, after death and resurrection, that he was able to give a message which resulted in blessing to thousands. So it was also with our blessed Lord. He could say at the end of His earthly ministry, “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished!” (Luke 12:50). So also He could say to some Greeks who wished to see Him, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Our Lord did indeed “instruct many in righteousness” (Isa. 53:11 JnD) during His earthly ministry, but it was only in His death that He was able to “bear their iniquities” (Isa. 53:11). All blessing, whether in heaven or on earth, flows from the death and resurrection of Christ; Jonah’s time in the whale’s belly and his subsequently being vomited out on dry land are a picture of this.
The Power of God
Finally, Jonah recognized that if he were to be delivered, it must be by the power of God Himself. After all the expressions in his prayer in the whale’s belly — expressions that, as we have seen, resemble the prophetic language of our blessed Lord — Jonah finally says, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). So also did the Lord Jesus. As a divine Person, He could say, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). As the perfect, dependent Man, He could say, “Save Me from the lion’s mouth” (Psa. 22:21), and, “Take Me not away in the midst of My days” (Psa. 102:24). His resurrection was the seal that God His Father had been fully satisfied and glorified in His work on the cross.
In being portrayed as a type of the Lord Jesus, Jonah joins a number of Old Testament believers whose failures are also recorded for us. Men like Isaac, Moses, Aaron, Samson, David and Solomon, to name a few, are all a picture of Christ in some way or other, yet failure, and sometimes serious failure, is recorded in the life of each of them. All this only magnifies the grace of God, while showing us that God looks for what is of Christ in each of His own, and He loves to record it!
W. J. Prost
The Secret Place of the Most High
Psalm 90 presents mortal man in contrast to the everlasting God. Psalm 91 presents Christ as the perfectly dependent Man in contrast to mortal man.
Psalm 90 opens by announcing the great fact that the Lord has been the dwelling place of His people in all generations. Psalm 91 states the blessedness of the one who dwells in the dwelling place, for He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. If Psalm 90 describes the blessedness of the dwelling place, Psalm 91 presents the blessedness of the dweller.
The Son of Man
We gladly own the fact that the one who dwells in the secret place of the Most High must abide under the shadow of the Almighty, but where can we find a man who dwells in this secret place? Adam, the first man, described in Psalm 90, failing to abide in the secret place, was driven forth to be a wanderer, to wither in the evening of his life and, at last, be “cut off.” In this psalm there comes before us another Man, One of whom we read, “He that dwelleth...shall abide.” Who can this be but Christ, the One who, in His pathway through this world, ever abode in the secret place of the Most High? He could speak of Himself as “the Son of Man which is in heaven.” He walked on earth but dwelt in heaven.
In verse 2 of Psalm 91 we know that Christ is the speaker, for the Spirit of God, in Hebrews 2:13, uses the statement “I will put my trust in him” as the language of Christ. It is the acceptance by Christ of the proposal of verse 1. He responds by saying, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.” He will make God his refuge in every storm and his defense from every enemy. The need of a “refuge” and a “fortress” proves that Christ is speaking in the circumstances of man. There will be no storms to ruffle the calm of heaven, no enemy to oppose. It is a wilderness psalm, and, in after days, is used by the Spirit of God in the wilderness circumstances of our Lord. (See Luke 4:10 and Hebrews 1:14.)
The Names of God
The names by which God is referred to in the first two verses have a special significance. The “Most High” speaks of the absolute supremacy of God (Gen. 14:18-20). “The Almighty” speaks of absolute power (Gen. 17:1). Then we learn from the lips of Christ that the One who is supreme in position and absolute in power is the Jehovah of Israel ― the Eternal God, the I AM. How safe then ― how sure of blessing must be the one who dwells in His secret place!
In verses 3-8, the Spirit of God addresses Christ, unfolding the blessings that flow to the one who dwells in the secret place of the Most High. Such will know the power of God delivering from the snares of the enemy and from the destructive pestilence of evil. Moreover, he will enjoy the watchful care of love, for “He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou find refuge.” In result, the one who dwells in the secret place will not be afraid of secret attack ― “the terror by night”—nor of direct and open opposition ― the “arrow by day.” A thousand shall fall at his side, but destruction shall not come nigh the one who confides in Jehovah. He shall have no part in the judgment of the wicked save to behold it with his eyes.
No Evil Befall Thee
In verses 9-13, the Spirit of God has spoken: Now one of the godly of Israel, with whom Christ has identified Himself, is led by the Spirit to address Christ. This godly soul can speak of Jehovah as his refuge, and thus with confidence can say to Christ, “Because Thou hast made the Lord ... even the most High, Thy habitation, there shall no evil befall Thee.” The evils and plagues that are common to fallen man shall not come nigh to His “tent” ― for thus it should read, clearly showing that it is His pilgrim journey on earth that is in view. Moreover, the resources of heaven are available for Him throughout His earthly pathway. The angels are charged to keep Him in all His ways. Furthermore, He will triumph over all the power of the devil, whether coming against Him as the lion, the adder, or the dragon. As the lion, the devil wields a destructive power over man; as the adder, he beguiles men (2 Cor. 11:3); as the dragon he persecutes (Rev. 12). Thus in the pathway of this perfectly dependent Man, earth’s evils cannot come nigh Him, heaven’s hosts wait upon Him, and hell’s forces are subdued beneath Him.
His Love
In verses 14-16, the Spirit by whom He was led has spoken; the voice of the remnant, with whom He associated, has been heard; now we are privileged to hear God Himself, as He testifies to the Man in whom is His delight. God has at last found in Christ a Man in wilderness circumstances of whom He can say, “He hath set His love upon Me,” “He hath known My name,” and, “He shall call upon Me.” Alas! we have set our affections upon anyone but God; we have been indifferent to all the blessedness of God as set forth in His name; we have done our own wills rather than walk in dependence upon Him. Here at last is a perfect Man who, while walking on earth, has set His love wholly upon Jehovah, who knows and delights in the blessedness of Jehovah’s name, and ever expressed His absolute dependence upon Jehovah by calling upon His name. To the personal perfection of this perfect Man, God will give a perfect answer. God can say of Christ:
I will deliver Him,
I will set Him on high,
I will answer Him,
I will be with Him,
I will honor Him,
I will satisfy Him with length of days, and
I will show Him My salvation.
H. Smith
Real Dependence — What Is It?
In other articles in this issue of The Christian the Lord Jesus is portrayed as the perfect, dependent Man. As always, when we want to look for perfection in any moral and spiritual realm, we must bring Christ in. He was the One who, as man, exemplified perfection in dependence here in this world. However, perhaps we could explore what true dependence is from a practical point of view, in the day in which we are living. That is, what is true perfection as it relates to those who still have a will of their own, who still possess a sinful nature, and who perhaps have some confidence in their natural abilities? When times are good and things are going well, it is easy to define dependence to ourselves in a simplistic way as that state of mind that does not pretend to any strength of its own, but rather leans on the strength of another. Perhaps in our definition we might also include that we should not have a will of our own, but rather seek to do the Lord’s will. But when times get tough and things are not going well, we may think differently about dependence.
Before we consider what constitutes true dependence, let us look at some attitudes that may pass for dependence, but are not really reliance on the Lord in the right way.
Carelessness
First of all, dependence on the Lord does not consist of leading a careless, sloppy life and then saying, “I am depending on the Lord.” No, God is a God of order and discipline, and we cannot expect the Lord to look after us when we are not diligent in our day-to-day responsibilities. I remember visiting with a dear brother and his family (more than 50 years ago), and even as a young man I could see that he was not running his business in a right way. They were evidently short of money, yet when I accompanied him on a service call to a customer, I watched him perform a good service for someone who certainly should have paid for it. However, he did not charge the customer, and when I remarked on it during the drive back, his response was, “My Father will look after me, but don’t tell my wife!” In one way his philanthropy was nice, but this is not what Scripture means by telling us to be dependent on the Lord.
The Lord’s Mind
Another corollary of this kind of thinking is that we may make up our mind about what we wish to do, without adequately seeking the Lord’s mind. Then we may say that we are depending on the Lord to enable us to accomplish what we have decided. I remember a young Christian girl who wanted to marry a certain boy (apparently a believer), and most of us who knew them both did not think it was a good idea. When she was spoken to about the inadvisability of the marriage, her only response was, “The Lord is able.” Yes, the Lord is certainly able, but He does not bless that which is the product of our own will. The young couple went ahead with the marriage, and as we had predicted, it ended in disaster and divorce.
Another type of false dependence is when we feel the need of the Lord’s help, but then, instead of waiting upon Him, we become anxious and frightened, and perhaps try this or that, wanting in our own way to deal with the problem. Yes, as we have noted earlier in this article, we are not to neglect our own proper responsibilities in our lives, but there are also times when, like Israel on the bank of the Red Sea, we must “stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” (Ex. 14:13). When there seemed no human way out of the difficulty, you will remember that the children of Israel became very afraid and even wanted to return to Egypt as slaves again. They did not realize that the Lord had everything under control. Again, this is not dependence on the Lord.
Plan B
Another common type of false dependence is to pretend to rely on the Lord, but then to have what is commonly called a “plan B” in the back of our minds. While we might not admit it, even to ourselves, this is really saying that since the Lord might not honor my faith, I need to have some other plan to fall back on, in case the Lord does not look after me. Once again, this is not real dependence on the Lord. We need to remember that while the Lord may test our faith, He will never disappoint our faith. If He does not do what we ask, we have to understand that He loves us dearly and will always act for our good and blessing.
Dependence
What then is true dependence? It is, first of all, a walk that is in communion with the Lord. Without this there can be no real dependence on Him. If we are truly saved, we are indwelt with the Spirit of God and can walk in continuous fellowship with the Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect example of this, and thus could discern the will of His Father, even when circumstances might seem to indicate some other course of action. God’s strength is behind us when we are in the pathway of His will, but He cannot support us in a wrong course.
Second, true dependence recognizes that although we are to carry out our everyday responsibilities faithfully, we must always recognize our need for dependence. When Peter was walking to the Lord Jesus on the water, he became frightened when he saw the wind boisterous. But without the Lord’s power, he could no more walk on smooth water than on rough water. So also we can no more deal with normal daily situations than with major problems, without dependence on the Lord. King Asa (2 Chron. 14) spent ten peaceful years fortifying Judah, yet when trouble came, he faced an army much larger than his own. He recognized his need for the Lord’s help and cried to Him. As a result, he won a great victory.
Wait on God
Third, true dependence recognizes the need to wait on God and to let Him deal with the situation in His time. King Saul did not realize this, and he “forced himself” and offered a sacrifice, when Samuel did not come as quickly as Saul expected. How many times in our lives we are tempted to “force ourselves” because of a lack of dependence on the Lord! Both David and Job had to learn to wait on the Lord, and having learned this, David could say, “Wait on the Lord ... wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psa. 27:14). Job was wisely told by Elihu, “Although thou sayest thou dost not see Him, judgment is before Him, therefore wait for Him” (Job 35:14 JND). God’s timing is always right.
Difficult Situations
Fourth, real dependence understands that sometimes the Lord allows us to go through a difficult situation, rather than delivering us from it. We speak with all reverence when we say that the Lord Jesus was perfectly dependent on His Father when He said prophetically, “Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them” (Psa. 22:4). But then He had to say of Himself, “I am ... a reproach of men, and despised of the people” (Psa. 22:6). In spite of His dependence on God, His cry was heard but not answered. He must go through the awful suffering of the cross, but there was that perfect confidence that God would bring Him through it.
Likewise the Apostle Paul asked three times that his “thorn in the flesh” would be removed, but the Lord’s answer was, “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Cor. 12:8-9).
Strength Through Weakness
Finally, we must appreciate that the Lord sometimes takes away some of our natural strength in order that we may rely more on His strength. Our natural hearts do not like this, for we like to feel strong and able to manage our own lives. This happened to the Apostle Paul, as we have already seen, and then he could write, quoting what the Lord said to him, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). If we act in our own strength, we tend to take the credit for it. If something is done in the Lord’s strength, we give Him the glory. He must have all the glory in the end; let us give Him the glory while we are still in this world.
W. J. Prost
Consider Him
“Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).
Now my eye rests on Jesus: I find the Lord from heaven a Man. Afterward, do I look at myself? At all around? If I do, what do I see? Enough to break my heart, if there is in me a heart to be broken. But a rest is here — a Man who satisfied God. This blessed Man was on earth, in the presence of God, looking to God, and He was an object to God! He was not at that moment the Messiah purging His floor, but the One in whom God’s thoughts and purposes are all enveloped. He was Jesus, the Son of Man, not merely coming down from Abraham and David, but traced up — “which was the son of Adam, which was the Son of God.” He was the second Man — the last Adam — the quickening Spirit. What a relief: for what is man? What am I when the heart’s sin is known? We would be just as prone as our first parents to give up God for a piece of fruit. But now a Man, a blessed Man, appears, and “He is praying.” He was the dependent Man, for dependence is the essence of a perfect man. Truly we see God shining all through, but yet shining in Jesus the dependent Man, in the place and condition of perfectness as man. The root of sin in us is self-will, independence. Here in Him my heart has rest! A dependent Man in the midst of sorrow, but perfectly with God in all; in humiliation or in glory, it makes no difference as to this: the dependent One is ever there in perfection. And when His blessed heart expressed its dependence, did He get no answer? On the contrary, “The heaven was opened.” Does heaven open thus on me? It is open to me indeed, no doubt, but I pray because it is open; it opened because He prayed. I may come and look up because the heavens were opened on Him.
God’s Beloved Son
It is indeed a lovely picture of grace, and we may be bold to say that the Father loved to look down, in the midst of all sin, on His beloved Son. Nothing but what was Divine could thus awaken God’s heart; and yet it was the lowly, perfect Man. He does not take the place of His eternal glory as the Creator, the Son of God — rather, He stoops and is baptized. He says, “In Thee do I put my trust ... Thou art my Lord” (Psa. 16:1-2). Then the Holy Spirit descends like a dove on Him — fit emblem of that spotless Man! — fit resting-place for the Spirit in the deluge of this world. And how sweet, too, that Jesus is pointed out to us as God’s object. I know the way the Father feels about Him. I am brought into this intimacy, and admitted to hear Him expressing His affection for His Son, to see the links reformed between God and man.
Thus I get rest, and my heart finds communion with God in His beloved Son. It is only the believer who enjoys it, but the link is there. And if I find in and about me that which distresses the soul, I have that in Him which is unfailing joy and comfort. With Him let heaven and earth be turned upside down, and still I have a rest. What blessedness for the heart to have the Object with which God Himself is occupied!
J. N. Darby (adapted)
The Miracles of Christ
Q. Is it a scriptural thought that Christ did all His miracles simply as a dependent man? Did He not perform them by virtue of being the God-man? If the latter is correct, why did He say in John 11:41, “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me”?
A. The power was of God, but no miracle was wrought save in perfect obedience to His Father’s will. The object of the miracles was to show that Christ was the Son of God, hence they are recorded for this end (John 20:30-31). He wrought them by the power of God (Luke 11:20), but He also had power in Himself by virtue of being not only man but God (John 5:21; 10:18). As man He said John 11:41. Christ therefore did not do miracles merely as a dependent man, for He had divine power, neither did He do them merely as Almighty God, for He was a dependent man. He did them in His inseparable and mysterious character of the God-man, Christ Jesus.
The Bible Student, Vol. 2, pg. 228
Constant Dependence
We are to be kept moment by moment in a state of dependence, yet reckoning on the constant grace and help of God. There is no blessing, and joy, and comfort, where there is not dependence on the Lord exercised. It is not enough for victory, that in the battle we have ranged ourselves on the Lord’s side. You will find the tendency of the flesh, whether in praying or preaching or anything else, is to get out of dependence on God. We may be saying true things in prayer or in testimony, but if we are not realizing our dependence on the Lord, we shall not have His strength in the battle. Then the Lord must make us learn our dependence on Him, through weakness and failure and defeat, because we have refused to learn it in the joy and confidence of communion with Himself.
Christian Truth, Vol. 16
Dependence and Circumstances
When the saint is in true dependence on God, he takes everything directly from God; it is not the circumstance that his heart dwells on, but God, who has permitted the circumstance. Nature puts the circumstances between the heart and God: faith puts God between circumstances and the heart — has God in between itself and everything that may come.
The Young Christian, Vol. 36
The Path of Submission
The path that I have trod
Has brought me nearer God,
Though oft it led through sorrow’s gates;
Though not the way I choose,
In my way I might lose
The joy that yet for me awaits;
Not what I wish to be,
Nor where I wish to go,
For who am I that I should choose my way?
The Lord shall choose for me;
’Tis better far, I know,
So let Him bid me go or stay.
The cross that I must bear,
If I a crown would wear,
Is not the cross that I should take;
But since on me ’tis laid,
I’ll take it unafraid,
And bear it for the Master’s sake;
Not what I wish to be,
Nor where I wish to go,
For who am I that I should choose my way?
The Lord shall choose for me;
’Tis better far, I know,
So let Him bid me go or stay.
Submission to the will
Of Him who guides me still
Is surety of His love revealed;
My soul shall rise above
This world in which I move;
I conquer only when I yield;
Not what I wish to be,
Nor where I wish to go,
For who am I that I should choose my way?
The Lord shall choose for me;
’Tis better far, I know,
So let Him bid me go or stay.
C. A. Miles