Psalms 71:16

A MOTTO FOR THE NEW YEAR

‘I will go in the strength of the Lord God.’

Psalms 71:16

Observe the two thoughts which compose this sentence. (1) ‘I will go’—the language of active, frequent, glad progression; (2) but no less, balancing it and justifying it, in all modesty and holy caution, turning rashness into courage, and sanctifying the fire of an impulsive nature, ‘I will go in the strength of the Lord God.’

I. It is of the first importance that we should understand what is meant by the ‘strength of the Lord God.’—In Himself His strength is in the clouds, and the strength of the hills is His also. He is infinite in power, and His strength from everlasting. (1) But the going forth of His strength is His arm. The arm of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore the ‘strength of the Lord God’ to man is Christ, and to ‘go in the strength of the Lord God’ is only, in other language, to walk in Christ. The strength of man is union with Christ. In Him the weakest, according to his capacity, becomes a partaker of the omnipotence of God.

II. Subordinate to this union with Christ, and included in it, are other elements which compose ‘the strength of the Lord God.’—(1) There is a an exceeding strength in the simple feeling of being at peace with God. That man has a giant’s strength who, holding his soul secure, goes in the composure of His confidence, and is therefore at leisure for every providence that meets him. (2) The presence of God is strength. (3) The promises are strength. (4) There is strength in knowing that you travel on to a large result, and that victory at last is inevitable. The sense of a fated life is indomitable: it may be abused, but it is God’s truth, and truth is strength. ‘Blessed is the man whose strength is in Him.’

—Rev. James Vaughan.

Illustrations

(1) ‘So long as we live on earth our sufferings have no end; but God’s righteousness, power, and goodness likewise never cease to declare themselves. Only let our faith never cease to rely alone on this strong foundation of salvation, and let it drive us thither with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving! For we will then confess in old age what we have learned in youth, and sing in evil days as well as good: “I will not leave God, for God does not leave me.” ’

(2) ‘The seventy-first psalm stands in our own Office for the Sick; it is the only psalm with its antiphon preserved. “O Saviour of the world, Who by Thy Cross and precious Blood hast redeemed us, save us, and help us.” ’