It is pretty well known now to believers that Psa. 69 gives us the sufferings of Christ from man-as one might so say, as a martyr,.-and it is important to be distinct as to this. He came to the earth, and He was a Witness for God on the earth, as well as being a Victim-the One who died for us. We hardly understand the position we hold if we do not understand that, because, Christians, we hold Christ's position here.
The Holy Ghost is the One sent down to occupy the ground, that is, God's ground; therefore, where the Holy Ghost is, the ground is occupied, and it does not matter what He displaces. It is of all importance to know where the Holy Ghost is, and to recognize the ground. that He holds, and what He occupies; and well to know what the witness of God is, and what it is to be a martyr in this world-witnessing, as we pass through this life. The stake is only the close of the martyr's existence. The Lord did not suffer martyrdom on the cross only, He was a Martyr from the time He occupied God's ground, and that is the place we have to occupy in this world, and that is what the apostle meant by " filling up what was behind of the sufferings of Christ."
If one martyr is burnt, it does not follow that all the martyrs are gone; it does not take away the distinctiveness of the martyrdom at the stake, that there should be others left who do not go to the stake. It does not take away from the martyrdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, that there are some left to fill up His sufferings. There are martyrs in the present day, though there are no fires at Smithfield. One is not a Christian at all, if one is not a martyr; not that one would seek to be a martyr. The only real martyrdom is to be for Christ, and occupy the ground Christ occupied, and then you will be a martyr, whether you like it or not. To occupy His ground in this world is martyrdom itself. In Psa. 69 the Lord Jesus Christ is a Martyr.
The Thessalonians were suffering martyrdom, but from whom were they suffering? Did they suffer from God? They were in trials and sufferings, and they were so taken in by false teaching, that they were completely deceived, and thought what they were suffering from man was from God, and that the day of the Lord was come. Now, the apostle tells them that the day of the Lord is the execution of the judgment upon those who were troubling them, the very reverse of martyrdom. Suffering is the right thing in this world; it is the result of association with Christ. In this psalm the Lord Himself looks for retribution, that is, God's righteous judgment. That is where Christendom fails in understanding and applying the Psalms. The true Christian spirit in this day is the suffering of martyrdom, and not crying for vengeance. Verse 22 does not refer to Christianity, of course, but in principle it is carried out in Christendom. There is no greater snare to the soul than what Christianity has become, namely, man in the flesh having put on Christ—put on Christianity; that very thing becomes a snare. But Christ makes a difference, and separates, calling the poor and needy, such as hear His voice, and gathers His own together.
Well, now all that being distinctly before the soul, what comes out of it all, is, that when the trouble is
over, there is rest. There is no rest here, though the soul has rest in Christ. He says, " Come unto me, and I will give you rest." There is the rest, and the only rest, for the soul-Christ. He is our peace; nothing can be more plain, distinct, blessed, or secure than that. It is the portion of every soul that has faith in God. It is entirely beyond the past dispensation; the whole thing is set at rest in the soul. But as to circumstances we wait for rest; it is well not to look for rest now. No doubt we like to see things go smoothly, and would try to cause them to go smoothly, and it is very blessed to have things go smoothly; the object is, however, to have no more trouble, but the Christian without trouble is no Christian at all. It is a pity to be on the look-out for having things perfectly smooth religiously, or any other way-to make that your object; if you are on the look-out for that, you will not get it. If we think we are going to have rest here, we are very much mistaken ' this is not a world to rest in; looking for rest here is not Christianity; it is anything but that. Not that we have got to look for the trouble, it will come fast enough. The rest is where He is, where He rests on the throne, and that for us is by-and-by.
In 2 Thess. 1:77And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, (2 Thessalonians 1:7) we read, " And to you who are troubled, rest with us: when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels." That is the time, and the vengeance must come before that. If you are looking out for rest, you are looking out for something beyond the vengeance; so therefore let us be quiet, let us learn to know how things are, and so wait. The day of the Lord will not come until that which hinders shall be taken away.
May the Lord, in His grace, keep our souls occupied with Himself. " Occupy till I come," He says; in the meantime praising, for His name's sake. W. B.