Hide not thy face from me; put not that servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. Psalm 27:9
"Love never faileth." It ever works in believing hearts towards its beloved object. It cannot bear distance from Christ. The thought is grievous and painful. The dread of it makes the soul plead, fills the mouth with arguments, lest the heart should lose the sweet sense and comfort of his love. His presence is heaven; his absence hell. His smiles create joy; his frowns gloom and sorrow.
When the heart feels the withdrawing of God and the light of his countenance, it cannot but be restless and uneasy. For we experience christianity to be more than a name, its doctrines more than mere speculations to fill the head or amuse the thoughts: in its ordinances, more is enjoyed than a dull and formal attendance on them. It is a life of love. It consists in knowing and enjoying the God of truth, faithfulness, and love, in his ordinances. Therefore a loving soul most of all fears the anger of its loving Father. It dreads to be put away in displeasure, though but for a moment. To be left to ourselves, O this calls up cries and tears, and urges us to plead hard with our dear Saviour.
"Thou hast been my help." Past experiences of thy love and power are remembered, and pleaded for present help and future hope. God's precious promises of faithfulness and truth are beheld as "fitly spoken, like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Prov. 25: 11. Past love cannot be forgotten. Past mercies are recalled.
"Forsake me not." Why? Because "thou art the God of my salvation." To whom should we go, but to thee, O Jesus? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Forsake not the work of thine own hands; the soul, for whom thou didst toil, suffer, bleed, and die. There is salvation in thee, and in no other. I have found it so. Arise, O Sun of righteousness, scatter the clouds of darkness, the mists of sin, and the fogs of unbelief. Recall my wandering steps. Retire my drooping spirit. Bring near thy salvation in present peace and love.
Such are the pleadings of loving hearts, springing from the faith which worketh by love. It ever hath God in Christ for its object, his faithfulness and truth its support, his promises its pleas, his glory its aim, and the comforting sense of his love its portion and heaven. "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." Psalm 73: 25.
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