In Psalm 94 we find, first, the tumult of the enemies, and, then, that God has done it. So with the saint constantly in trial: He sees the work of Satan, then God’s hand in it, and he gets blessing. All the present effect of these dealings of “the wicked” is, “Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Jehovah, and whom Thou teachest out of Thy law; that Thou mayest give him rest from the days of evil, until the pit be digged for the wicked” (Psa. 94:12-13 JnD). The pit is not yet digged; the throne of iniquity is not yet put down. If, in chastening, the power of the adversary is against us, the Lord’s end in it all is to give “rest in the day of evil.”
I speak not merely of suffering for Christ. If we are reproached for the name of Christ, it is only for joy and triumph and glory to us, but I also refer to those things in which there may be the “multitude of thoughts within,” because we see that we have been walking inconsistently and carelessly in Jehovah’s ways. Still it is, “Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Jehovah.” Jehovah does not chasten willingly, without a needs-be for it. And when there has been failure or inconsistency that brings chastisement, He turns the occasion of the chastisement to the working out of the heart’s evil that needed to be chastened. In chastening, Jehovah throws back the heart upon the springs which have been the occasion of the evil. The soul is hereby laid bare for the application of God’s truth to it, that the Word may come home with power. It is taught the reason why it has been chastened, and not only so, but it is brought into the secret of God’s heart; it learns more of His character, who “will not cast off His people, neither forsake His inheritance” (vs. 14). What God desires for us is not only that we should have privileges conferred upon us, but that we should have fellowship with Himself. Through these chastenings, the whole framework of the heart is brought into association with God. And this stablishes and settles it on the certainty of the hope that grace affords.
Look at Peter after the enemy had sifted him. Though his fall was most humbling and bitter, yet by it he gained a deeper knowledge of God and a deeper acquaintance with himself, so that he could apply all that he had learned to his brethren.
Rest From Adversity
The Lord gives our souls “rest from the day of adversity” by communion with Himself — communion not only in joy but in holiness. We are thus brought into the secret of God. Circumstances are used only to break down the door and to let in God. God is near to the soul, when He, in the certainty of love, comes within the circumstances and is known as better than any circumstance.
Jehovah never chastens without occasion for it, and yet, “Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Jehovah.” There is not a more wonderful word than that! I do not say that a man can say this always while under chastening, for if the soul is judging itself, there will be often anxiety and sorrow, but the effects are blessed. What we want is that all our thoughts and ways and actions of the will should be displaced and that God should be everything. All chastening must have, in principle, the character of government in it, for it is His dealing with His people in righteousness (as it is said, “If ye call on the Father who without respect of persons, judgeth according to every man’s work”), not in the sovereign riches of grace. It is God’s allowing nothing in the heart inconsistent with that holiness of which the believer has been made partaker. It is indeed most blessed grace that takes all the pains with us, but that is not the character it assumes.
Intimacy With God
What we need more than anything is intimacy of soul with God, resting in quietness in Him, though all be confusion and tumult around us. When the man in this psalm had God near his heart, though iniquity abounded, it was only the means of making God’s “comforts” known to his soul, as it is said, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul” (vs. 19). Our portion is not only to know the riches of divine grace, but the secret of the Lord — to have intimacy of communion with Him in His holiness. Then, however adverse the circumstances, the soul rests quietly and steadfastly in Him.
If we would have full, unhindered peace and depth of fellowship with God and one with another, if we would meet circumstances and temptations without being moved thereby, it must flow from this: not merely the knowledge that all things are ours in Christ, but acquaintance with God Himself, as it is said, “Being fruitful in every good work, and increasing by the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:1010That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:10)).
May we, through grace enabling, let God have all His way in our hearts.
J. N. Darby (adapted)