Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.
The temper for the crises of life
I. The question was once asked by an eminent thinker, whether nations, like individuals, could go mad. There certainly have been movements, like the Reformation or the French Revolution, of which no one could foretell the existence or power. But such movements, like the cataclysms of geology, have been rare, and they seem likely to be rarer as the world goes on. Yet this is not the aspect of the world which our imagination presents to us. There are the two opposite poles of feeling, the one exaggerating, the other minimizing, actions and events; the one all enthusiasm and alarm, the other cynical and hopeless. The true temper in politics is the temper of confidence and hope. “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Be patient, and instead of changing every day with the gusts of public opinion, observe how curiously, not without a Divine providence, many things work themselves out into results which we never foresaw.
II. A temper of confidence and repose is needed in matters of religion. The great changes in religious opinion during the last forty years have taken two directions--Rome and Germany. These changes are far from unimportant, but the temper of alarm and exaggeration is not the right way of dealing with them. Amid the charges of religious opinions and the theological discord which distracts the world, we may possess our souls in peace. If sometimes our ears are thrilled and our minds confused by the Babel of voices which dins around us, we may turn from without, and listen calmly to that voice which speaks to us from within, of love, and righteousness, and peace.
III. Let us apply the same principle to our own lives. We need to see ourselves as we truly are, in all our relations to God and to our fellow-men. We need to carry into the whole of life that presence of mind which is required of the warrior who in the hour of conflict is calm, and sees what he foresaw. (B. Jowett, M. A.)
A duty and a blessing
I. These words which to fleshly Israel must have seemed so strange, and which to weak faith echo so strangely still, contain two parts, a duty and a blessing. They were to “stand still,” and so should they see the salvation of God. And this condition of blessing runs continually through the whole history of the Jewish and Christian Church. When God has tried His chosen servants or His chosen people, the most frequent trial perhaps has been this, whether they would tarry the Lord’s leisure, be content to receive God’s gift in God’s way, hasten not, turn not to the right hand or the left, but “stand still” and see the salvation of God. By patient (the word implies suffering) waiting for God, an unresisting resistance unto blood, did the Church take root in the whole world.
II. It is for instruction only that we may ask why God should so have annexed the blessing of conquest to enduring suffering, and made patience mightier than what men call active virtues.
1. It may be that it has some mysterious connection with the sufferings of Christ. Vicarious suffering maybe so far well-pleasing to God as having a communion with the sufferings of His beloved Son, and doubtless it may make those who are partakers of it more capable of the communication of the merits and influence of His passion.
2. Then, also, it may be needful, in the wisdom of God, for the perfecting of His saints. As all trial implies pain, so the trial of the most precious vessels, it may be, is to be accompanied by pains proportionate.
3. It is evident, that so God’s power and glory are most shown in averting suffering, or in crowning the enduring faith by His blessing.
4. Since man’s self-will was the cause of his fall, God would thus teach him to renounce dependence upon himself, to quit his own wisdom and his own schemes, and do God’s will. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
Lessons
1. It concerns God’s instruments of salvation to reason quietly with a froward people who despise it.
2. God much contends by His ministers to remove the unbelieving fears of His people.
3. Stability in faith is God’s command to cure fears in unbelief.
4. Jehovah’s salvation is worth the looking unto by His poor creatures in faith.
5. Present salvation God can and will give to His people to quiet them in believing.
6. God’s command for faith carries proportionable reason for it in all cases.
7. Causes of fear which hinder faith God removeth at His pleasure.
8. In God’s great redemption, typical and real, the Church is passive, not a word to it.
9. In such appearances of God it is but just with men to be silent from murmuring (Exo_14:14). (G. Hughes,B. D.)
Faith and fear
As man is capable of different forms of actions, so is he susceptible of various kinds of emotions. There are two kinds of emotions which govern mankind more than any others--faith and fear. These comprehend almost all the interests, and sway almost all the actions of life. They are often opposed to each other, and frequently fear conquers faith. Fear is a power governed more by sense than faith; it is more selfish and timid than it. Faith is a more spiritual and religious power than fear, and must conquer all fear and all opposing powers before men can be powerful and triumphant.
I. Let us observe, first, the triumph of fear or feeling over faith.
1. Faith is often opposed and conquered when immediate danger appears, and when it cannot point to immediate deliverance.
2. When the superficial inclination of man is opposed and self-denial demanded, faith often is vanquished, and feeling triumphs.
3. Faith is often conquered by sense or feeling when reason cannot comprehend and explain things in God’s dealings towards His creatures.
4. Feeling often overcomes faith when religion appears to militate against what men consider their present interest.
5. Feeling sometimes gets the advantage over faith on the ground of ease and indulgence.
6. Faith also is often conquered for want of free and open heart and mind to receive truth and conviction. Prejudice and narrowness of mind are deadly enemies to faith, as they are to the advancement of truth and right life everywhere.
7. I mention another ground on which faith is too often conquered by feeling--namely, because it looks to the future for its full reward. Feeling has no patience to wait; it must be satisfied with its objects now; whilst faith rises above thevisible and the present to the unseen and the future.
II. We shall now notice the triumph of faith over sense and feeling. Though faith is above feeling, it is not necessarily opposed to it; it works through it, and makes it subordinate to its influence and end. The unity of the two is essential to make men strong and happy; when they are divided the happiness of men is marred, and their strength of heart and character is shorn.
1. When the mind is profoundly convinced of truth it conquers. In the degree the mind is capable of deep conviction, it is strong, and this also is one of the strongholds of faith. When the mind becomes thoroughly imbued with the importance and truth of anything, it possesses the first qualification of conquest over all opposition and difficulty; and never till then can great things be accomplished.
2. Another condition under which faith proves itself triumphant is a deep conviction of need. Conviction of need, either personally or relatively, is both the reason and power of any and every effort, and no great sacrifice and conquest will be accomplished without.
3. For the development and triumph of faith, it is requisite as a condition that the soul should be convinced of the failure and insufficiency of all sensuous and finite things to satisfy its requirements.
4. It is requisite that the moral perception and feeling of the soul should be opened and awakened to see and feel things as they are before faith can conquer. Though faith is a power of confidence in the dark, it is nevertheless a power that thrives in light, and demands all the evidence the case in hand permits.
5. Faith conquers whilst the soul lives in close union with God, and carries with it a consciousness of His presence; for conscious communion with God is the power as well as the life of the soul, and so long as this is enjoyed faith is triumphant.
III. We come now to the triumph of God over nature--“See the salvation of theLord, which He will show to you to-day.” Such a salvation was not wrought in the ordinary course of nature. Apparently the forces and laws of nature were against the possibility of it; it was a Divine display of Divine triumph of God over nature.
1. The event is represented as authentic and real. It is not an allegory, or any ideal manifestation representing a potential possibility, or a thing to excite human fancy.
2. The event was a manifestation, and produced in subordination to the purpose of mercy.
3. The event was produced for a moral and religious end. God had repeatedly promised to deliver them, and the act was a fulfilment of an old and repeated engagement. The promise was made and performed on the ground of religion.
4. The event is in harmony with its conditions. The event is not professed to be the production of ordinary power, which would be inconsistent; for it is an extraordinary one, and there must be some equality between the power of production and the production itself. The event is professed to be an extraordinary manifestation of an infinite power; and unless this power itself is denied in the fact of its existence, it is hard to guess how the event can be considered impossible. The event is professed to have been produced for a wise and sufficient reason.
Lessons:
1. The dealings of God are suitable always to the occasion. He works in the right time and place, when and where the thing is needed.
2. It is possible to be in a condition which is beyond all human and natural deliverance.
3. God sometimes delays His deliverance to an extreme hour.
4. Where duty is clear, difficulties should not prevent an effort to perform it.
5. The difference between thereal and the unreal is seen most clearly in extreme conditions.
6. There are things in life which we meet once, and we pass on and never meet again.
7. Genuine and deep-rooted faith shows its superiority in circumstances that baffle sensuous reasoning. (T. Hughes.)
Direction in dilemma
Our text exhibits the posture in which a man should be found while exercised with trial. Methinks, also, it shows the position in which a sinner should be found when he is under trouble on account of sin. We will employ it in both ways.
I. Take our text first as A picture of the believer when he is reduced to great straits. Then God’s command to him is, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” In this brief sentence there are two things very conspicuous: first, what is to be done, “Stand still”; and secondly, what is to be seen, “See the salvation of the Lord.”
1. What is to be done? Faith hears the bidding of her faithful God, and is not willing to be shut up in the iron cage of despair; nay, she defies the old giant to put so much as a finger upon her. Lie down and die? that she never will while her God bids her stand. See the word “stand.” What does it mean? Keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice. But in what way are we to “stand still”? Surely it means, among other things, that we are to wait awhile. Time is precious, but there are occasions when the best use we can make of it is to let it run on. A man who would ride post.haste had better wait till he is perfectly mounted, or he may slip from the saddle. He who glorifies God by standing still is better employed than he who diligently serves his own self-will.
(1) Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid.
(2) Wait in faith, for unfaithful, untrusting waiting is but an insult to the Lord. Believe that if He shall keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time; the vision shall come and shall not tarry.
(3) Wait in quiet patience, not murmuring because you are under the affliction, but blessing God for it.
2. But now, secondly, what is to be seen? You are to see the salvation of God. In your present temporal trials you are to see God’s power and love manifested. Now, I think I hear you say, “Well, one thing I know, I cannot deliver myself out of the dilemma in which I am now placed. I had some dependence once upon my own judgment and upon my own ability, but that dependence is entirely gone.” It is a good thing for you sometimes, Christian, to be wholly weaned from yourself. But you are saying, “What shall I see?” Well, I know not precisely what you shall see, except I am sure of this, you shall see the salvation of God, and in that salvation you shall see two or three things, just as the children of Israel saw them.
(1) You shall see, if needs be, all nature and all providence subservient to God’s love.
(2) You will see again, if you will but stand still and see it, that the Lord reigneth. You shall have such a picture of Jehovah sitting upon His throne, controlling and overruling all things, that you shall extol Him with your whole heart as your God and King for ever. You shall see most distinctly, if you will but wait and look for it, how He can make you a wonder.
(3) You shall be a wonder to yourself, and marvel how it is that God supports you. You shall be a wonder to your enemies. You shall do what they cannot do; you shall walk through the depths of the sea, which the Egyptians, assaying to do, were drowned.
(4) You shall see your enemies utterly destroyed, if you will but wait.
II. I intend to take the text in reference to the sinner brought into the sake condition in a moral sense.
1. “Stand still” in the renunciation of all thine own righteousness, and of all attempts to seek a righteousness by thine own doings.
2. But now the sinner says, “Suppose, then, I give up all hope, and do no more by way of trusting to myself, what shall I see?” Do remark that all the sinner can do, is to see the salvation. He is not to work it out, he is not to help it on, but he is to see it; yet, mark you, that sinner cannot even find out that salvation of itself, for if you notice, the next sentence to our text is, “which He will show you to-day.” God must show it to us, or else we cannot see it. I will tell thee of it.
(1) First, it was ordained of old, like the deliverance of the Red Sea. If God’s election comes to those who are without merit, without hope, without strength, here is hope for thee.
(2) In the next place, the salvation which God shows is one wrought by a mediator. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Salvation of the Lord
John Lyons, a well-known citizen in Arizona, while atwork in the shaft of his mine near Tres Alamos, had just put in a blast and lighted the fuse, when, on reaching the top of the shaft, he beheld four mounted Apaches rapidly approaching. Their horrible yells and hostile gestures revealed their murderous intent, and Mr. Lyons was for an instant paralyzed with terror. His first impulse was to hurl himself into the shaft and be blown to atoms by the explosion of the blast rather than perish miserably at the hands of the remorseless foe. Suddenly the blast at the bottom of the shaft exploded with terrific effect, throwing a shower of rock and debris high in the air, which was followed by a dense volume of smoke rolling up from the shaft. The Indians checked their horses, appalled by the unexpected and to them mysterious eruption, then, with a yell of terror, wheeled round and galloped off in the direction whence they came. But for the coincidence of the blast igniting at that particular moment, the man would, doubtless, have been tortured to death in the true Apache style. In the Christian life there come times when destruction seems inevitable, as it seemed to the miner, but those who trust in God experience deliverance as unexpected as his.
Fitness before action
The first thing this proud and sinful soul of mine needs is to be emptied of self and become like a little child. Action by and by. Work when you are ready and fit for work. March when you have been told where to go, and can seeyour way--not before. First of all, if we would do anything good or great we must get into a right attitude with God, from whom all goodness and greatness come. First of all get you to the Fountain Head, and see that the channels are open for real streams of light and life to flow down from the unseen and supernatural Heart into your own. Make sure that there is a God, and that He is your God; and that, being yours, His course is your course and His fight is your fight. It is not the atheist that is told to go forward; for his very going will be godless and he will blunder into Egypt again. The farther he goes the worse. It is not the pantheist that is bidden to go forward; for no fatherly hand will lead him but a blind force, the blind leading the blind. It is not the arrogant and unreligious moralist; for he will have to build his system out of the same materials that have failed him so often, or else trust the poor instinct which has already cast him helpless between the wilderness and the sea. When Christ and the apostles were asked, “What shall I do to be a Christian”? the answer was always in the same order--it was a pointing upward, first, not forward: Believe; lay hold on Heaven; take the hand of Christ; see that spiritual things are real; make your first act one of devotion; repent; be baptized; be confirmed; pray. Fill your mind and will with power from on high. (Bp. F. D. Huntington.)
The Christian must both “stand still” and “go forward”
Twice the Divine voice speaks. It says, first, “Stand still.” Stand still, O impatient, eager, unthinking, unbelieving men! Stand still, men of unregulated activity, of unconsecrated knowledge, of swift and sweeping passion, of intemperate desire! Stand still, reckless competitions, grasping enterprises, immoderate labours and furious amusements, of these hurrying days and heated nights! Stand still, boundless ambition, over-wrought and overconfident brain, from your wild chase for bubbles in the air! Stand still, selfish traffic, corrupted legislation, Mammon and Passion and Vanity Fair, an unprincipled press, a frivolous society, a worldly-minded and mercenary Church! Stand still and see the salvation of God! Stand still, O lustful appetite and unfeeling avarice and cruel pride and headstrong self-will in the unchildlike and unchristian heart! But go forward, men of duty, men of honour, men of faith, men of God! Speak to the children of the Christian Israel soberly; speak encouragingly to one another, you who have long borne a burden that presses hard and borne it for your covenant’s and your sanctuary’s sake. “The Lord shall fight for you.” Go forward, mercy and charity, works of faith and love, missions, healings, sacrifices, praises, reconciliations--go forward, O kingdom, in every soul and every land till they all are the kingdom of our God! (Bp. F. D. Huntington.)
Sit still and trust
One day when Stonewall Jackson, with his sister-in-law, was crossing the boiling torrent, just below the American falls at Niagara, in a slight boat manned by two oarsmen, the current so swirled the boat that the lady became terrified, believing they were going tothe bottom. Jackson seized her by the arms, and turned to one of the men and said, “How often have you crossed here?” “I have been rowing people across, sir, for twelve years.” “Did you ever meet with an accident?” “Never, sir.” “Never were capsized? never lost a life?” “Nothing of the kind, sir!” Then turning, in a somewhat peremptory tone, he said to the lady, “You hear what the boatman says, and unless you think you can take the oars and row better than he does, sit still and trust him as I do.”
Stand still
These words contain God’s command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties. “Stand still.” Despair whispers, “Lie down and die; give it all up.” But God would have us put on a cheerful courage, and even in our worst times rejoice in His love and faithfulness. Cowardice says, “Retreat, go back to the worldling’s way of action; you cannot play the Christian’s part, it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles.” But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it, if you are a child of God. The Divine fiat has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt; and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course. Precipitancy says, “Do something; stir yourself--to stand still and wait is sheer idleness.” We must be doing something at once. Presumption boasts, “If the sea be before you, march into it and expect a miracle.” But Faith listens neither toPresumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, “stand still,” and immovable as a rock it stands. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Ye shall see them again no more for ever.--
Social separations
Although theIsraelites beheld the next morning the Egyptian host dead upon the beach, they saw them no more in their pomp and power, fierceness and anger; they saw them no more in this world for ever. Let us look at the fact in three aspects.
I. As affording a glimpse of the moral government of God. A signal interposition displaying justice towards the oppressor, and mercy towards the oppressed.
1. Moral government takes cognizance of man’s conduct.
2. Moral government righteously visits man’s conduct.
II. As illustrating separations that are going on between men every day.
1. Every day we see men that we shall see no more in this world for ever.
2. Every day we see men that we shall see no more in their present circumstances for ever.
3. Every day we see men that we shall see no more in their present character for ever.
III. As foreshadowing that final separation which must take place between the wicked and the righteous.
1. This takes place really at death. No more sensualists with their seductions, sceptics with their insinuations, devil with his temptations.
2. This takes place publicly in the day of judgment. (Homilist.)
Lessons
I. Then wicked men shall perish in the very hour of their splendour and pride. Ii. Then wicked men are often powerless to inflict the injury they desire upon the good. If we are injured by these enemies of the soul, it is because of our unbelief.
III. Then the wicked and the good will be eternally separated in thelife to come. (J. S. Exell,M. A.)
Never again
I have seen one person at least, to-day, whom I have seen for thelast time in this life. He may live many days or many years--I may live many days or many years; but in a crowded city like this it must needs be that there is one among that throng whom I have passed whom I never again will see. He stands, therefore, as a messenger direct from me to the judgment seat of God. Little did I think, when I spoke to him, with what a message I was freighting him l It is the last look that strikes, the last touch that tells, and if it was an unkind or a false word I then spoke, that unkind or false word has sunk like a die on the molten memory of him from whom I have just parted, as well as of myself. What testimony will he bear against me in the judgment of the future?
1. Perhaps it was one whom I was bound to love on whom my words fell. If it were, may God forgive me! for if they burned and seared that heart, far more deeply will they burn and sear mine, when I find that the ear that listened so eagerly for love, and shrank so agonizingly from unkindness, is now closed in death.
2. Perhaps it was one whom I was bound to protect, and whom with words of cunning I have overreached. If so, may God forgive me, for I have thus sent direct to His throne of justice this accusation against myself! Never again! And yet again when I go forth to-morrow there is at least one other whom I will meet whom I may meet never again! Guard my tongue and my heart, O God, that my account as to him may be just before Thee! (Episcopal Recorder.)
The resource of God against the enemies of the good
During the American Civil War an English ship was boarded by the crew of a confederate cruiser. They drew their swords. But the gallant English Captain Williams marched forward and said, “Gentlemen, I am a simple sailor, but do not forget that behind this flag which I hold in my hand lies all the power of the army and navy of England. If you strike me you strike the might of England.” So we may be simple men and women, but when we are engaged in the Lord’s work we do not stand alone. (G. Howard James.)
