REFORMED WITNESS
Volume IX, January 2001, Number 1
New Year's Meditation: A Safe Guide
By Rev. H. Hoeksema
A Reformed Witness Hour radio sermon
As presently we shall stand on the threshold of another year, it is my sincere wish that by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ you are able to take upon your lips the words of the psalmist in Psalm 73:24: "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."
How blessed is the man whose God is the Lord! Blessed indeed the soul that is spiritually acquainted with the unspeakably rich comfort, embracing; both time and eternity, life and death, the way and the goal, that is contained in the words of the psalmist: "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." These words indeed contain all that the soul could desire for the present time and for his way though the present world: "Thou shalt guide with thy counsel." But it also implies all that the soul can make the object of its hope for the everlasting future: "Thou... shalt receive me to glory." And do not fail to note the connection between the two parts of this verse of Psalm 73. For the thought is without any question that the Lord shall lead His people by His counsel in such a way that the end must be the glorious inheritance which He has laid away for His own people.
Let us appropriate these words as our own and make them our personal confession. Let us receive them by faith in our hearts, and take them upon our lips as the expression of our deepest confidence. Do not change them so as to eliminate their personal note. Do not alter them into a mere piece of cold dogmatics, so that you would say, perhaps: "The Lord shall guide His people with His counsel, and afterward receive them to glory." O, this is certainly true. And a precious truth it is for them that know the Lord. But it does not bring the truth as close to your heart and to mine as do the words of the psalmist in the very way he puts the truth here: "Thou shalt guide me... and receive me to glory." To make them our words we must look directly at God, at Jehovah, at the unchangeable Rock of our salvation: look at Him by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We must look at Him with the steadfast eye of faith, with the tranquil look of confidence in them, with simple and childlike trust that loves and is conscious of being loved, that is weak, but leans on the Strong One, with the longing look of hope for the glory that shall be revealed in us; and then, with that look in our eye, fixed on Jehovah as the God of our salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord, in that disposition of heart and mind express it just in that very form: "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."
Then indeed we are blessed forever, for time and for eternity, no matter what the way may be. Then we have complete peace, satisfaction, submission, confidence, quiet trust in the Lord God of our salvation.
In the year that lies before us we have need of a guide. A traveler in a strange mountain country needs a guide. He knows not the way, and would be hopelessly lost, would he venture out alone in the labyrinth of winding and climbing trails and mountain paths. There are lurking dangers of sudden precipices and hidden ravines with which he is not acquainted and in which he would find his death, should he spurn the aid of a guide. The guide knows and will lead him safely.
The same is true for us. We do not know life's way. We do not know what lies before us on the way. Nor do we know what is best for us. There are ways indeed that seem broad and smooth, and others that appear narrow and rugged. But whether the one or the other be the better, we cannot judge and we do not know. There are wide and beautiful roads of joy and gladness, of prosperity and wealth, in the which there are no bands unto our death. And there are dark trails of sorrow and grief, of suffering and pain, of war and tribulation, whose gloom appears like the shadow of death. But which to choose, these or those, we would not know, even were it left in our power and to our wisdom to chose. And there are dangers in the way. False guides there are, whose direction would lead us without exception in broad and seemingly happy roads, but that lead to destruction nevertheless. There are slippery places, hidden from our view, on which if we set our feet we are hurled into certain desolation. There are enemies that lurk to seek our destruction, that like wild beasts would fain eat our flesh. How sorely in need, then, are we of a guide.
The psalmist too had felt this need. For a while he had mistrusted the guide of his life. In ways narrow and steep, rough and dark he had been led, while others were allowed to travel royal highways, smooth and wide. These lived in ease and splendor, and knew no bands unto their death. And these were the godless, the wicked, that oppressed the people of God, that spoke blasphemy against the God of heaven. Pride compassed them about as a chain, yet their prosperity was constant, and never were they in trouble. But he, the psalmist, washed his hands in innocence, and his delight was in the law of the Lord. Yet a way of unchanged suffering and grief had been mapped out for him. His punishment was waiting for him at every dawn of day. And for a while his confidence in his faithful Guide had been severely shocked. He had been inclined to oppose his own judgment to that of his Guide. He had relinquished his hold upon the hand that led him, and become dissatisfied and fretful. Other ways, better roads he would choose for himself. But his Guide had been merciful to him. When his feet had struck one of the slippery places and he had well-nigh perished, his merciful Guide had taken him into His sanctuary, in order that from the viewpoint of that holy place he might see smooth and wide roads of the wicked in contrast to his own narrow way once more. And he had seen how the end of those is destruction, and how upon it the wicked are brought into desolation in a moment, while the outcome of his own dark way was light and glory. He had seen his foolishness. He had humbled himself before the Lord that led him, and vowed that he would distrust Him never again. He had felt how blessed he was as Jehovah held his right hand. And in the consciousness of this blessedness he had cried out: "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." Blessed is the man whose God is the Lord!
Thou shalt guide me. Who then is that marvelous guide? He is Jehovah. How perfectly safe I am when He is my guide in all my way! The safety of a traveler depends upon the trustworthiness of his guide. For to that guide he surrenders. He submits his own judgment to that of his leader. He travels in unknown regions, blindly to an extent, following his guide. Three things, therefore, are greatly necessary in the guide. He must know the way. He must be powerful to protect those whom he guides. And he must be favorably disposed to them, and purpose to lead them safely to the place of their destination. Certainly, one who does not know the way cannot lead others. One who is himself weak and helpless cannot protect others in the presence of danger. And one who is our enemy and ill-disposed towards us cannot be trusted to lead us safely on. Therefore, it is a very important question: who is he of whom the psalmist speaks when he says, "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel"?
That guide is Jehovah, the God of our salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.
He is the One, and the only One, who knows with a perfect and eternal knowledge the way and the destination. For mark you well, the psalmist says that He guides with His counsel. According to that counsel He fixed the end of His people's way, the end of my way, in eternal glory. For whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed according to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom He did predestinate, them He also called, justified, and glorified. In His eternal good pleasure Jehovah fixed the end of all His people, and He determined also the particular place in that glory that every one must occupy when the end of the way is reached. But there is more. Not only did He establish the end by His eternal counsel, but He also determined the way that must lead thither. Every curve in the road, every narrow stretch and steep incline, every hour of suffering and tribulation, of grief and sorrow, every shadow of darkness through which I must pass, He knows because He so determined the way before the world was, in order to lead me on to eternal glory. All things, therefore, must work together for good to them that love God, to them whom He has called according to His purpose.
But there is more. God not only knows the way, but is also powerful to lead me in that way, and that too through all kinds of dangers. For He is almighty. There is no way too steep for me to climb it, if His strong hand upholds me and lifts me up. There is no darkness so thick and dark that His light is not sufficient to lead me on. There is no ravine so deep that should I stumble and fall His might could not save me. There is no enemy so strong that would be able to overcome me and cause my death and destruction, if He chooses to protect me. All the power of the world is not sufficient to prevail against His power. All the assaults of hell and of the devil are vain, if the Lord of Hosts is the fortress of my life, my strong tower and refuge. Nay more. For He guides me by His counsel. And it is by that same counsel that also the enemy is placed on my way, and according to that counsel all the forces of opposition operate. They move not against His will. They but execute His good pleasure. And executing that everlasting counsel of my Guide, I may be assured that they must all operate for my salvation. How safe, then, am I under the guidance of Jehovah my God!
Still more. Not only does He know the way. And not only is He able and strong to lead and to protect me in the midst of hosts of enemies that seek after my soul. But He also loves me with an immutable and eternal love. Well may I feel that I can safely lay my hand in His, that I may confidently press close to His side. For He loved me before the world was, I know not why. He loved me too, when I was in sin and rebellion and when I lifted my fist in His face. He loved me with a love that is faithful and true and passes far the bounds of all human comprehension. And He manifested this love when I was still a sinner, a child of wrath, as were also the others. He revealed how He loved, when He sent His only begotten Son into the world, when He sent Him into my shame and into my death, when He sent Him on to the accursed tree, into the bloody death of Calvary. That love He spread abroad in my heart. And in that love of His, spread abroad in my heart, I love Him and feel that He loves me. And feeling that He loves me with an infinite love, knowing that He is strong, and assured that He perfectly knows the way, I entrust myself to Him, and looking at His face confidently express it: "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, all is well."
But in that confidence I am assured not only that the way is good, but also that the end shall be glory, the glory of the incorruptible and undefileable inheritance, that never fadeth away. For the psalmist continues: "And afterwards thou shalt receive me to glory."
When the pilgrim's journey is ended, when the last curve has been rounded, and the last incline has been climbed, when the last dark valley of this strange country has been passed through, then, then, I will see that my trust in Him was not in vain, that He knew the way, and that the end of it is glory everlasting in His eternal tabernacle.
The poet says: "afterward thou shalt receive me to glory." And by this qualifying word afterward Scripture no doubt refers in the first place to the moment immediately after death. For when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, I know that I have a house of God, eternal in the heavens. He has His house prepared for me, a house of many mansions. And in it He will receive me. He will open the gates and welcome me, His pilgrim child, whom He loved for His own name's sake, and press me to His heart, and clothe me with new garments, give me a scepter for the sword, a crown for the helmet, a palm branch for the pilgrim's staff, dry my tears, and receive me into His everlasting tabernacle. There is the Lord that loved me unto death. There are the saints that have trodden the way of suffering and trouble before me. There are the angels that so often served and guarded me in the way. There is no sin, no darkness, no sorrow, no grief, no enemy, no battle. There is everlasting perfection, the beauty of holiness, the blessedness of heavenly fellowship. There is light, the perfect light that beams forth from the countenance of Him that loved me. There is everlasting glory.
But there is more. Even at the entrance into the house of many mansions all is not finished. For my body was still left behind in the dust of death. Afterwards He will also receive that body into glory, and will raise it, to glorify it. He will change its weakness into strength, its corruption into incorruption, its mortality into immortality. And as we have born the image of the earthy, so we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. He shall make all things new, deliver the creature from the bondage of corruption, that it may partake of the glorious liberty of the children of God. And in the united and glorified heaven and earth He shall spread His tabernacle over me and over all His people forever and ever.
"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." May that be our hope and trust, our confidence and faith; may that be our confession, as we stand on the threshold of another year, committing our way unto Jehovah, knowing that in His way we are safe, in His guidance we may trust, because He leads us on, and when He leads us, all is well. Whatever then may be the way that lies before us, whether sunshine or rain, whether prosperity or adversity, whether sickness or health, whether peace or war, whether life or death, I know that all is well. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him!
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