There is nothing to which we are naturally more prone, nothing more dangerous, nothing so difficult to eradicate as self-confidence.
And yet there is nothing so delightful as to feel that we have not anything in ourselves in which we can be confident. For the moment we have arrived at that experience we are prepared to turn to Him without whom we can do nothing.”
I. IN WHAT SENSE THE LORD IS THE KEEPER OF HIS PEOPLE.
1. In one sense the Lord is the keeper of all; for “in Him all live, and move, and have their being.” And the Apostle Paul (1Ti_4:10) speaks of Him as “the Saviour, or preserver, of all men, specially of those that believe.”
2. He speaks of keeping them as a city from an enemy.
3. He speaks again of keeping them as a vineyard from foxes. In Son_2:15 we read, “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” Those things which may appear gentle and innocent have a tendency to undermine the work of indwelling grace.
4. Again, the Lord speaks of keeping His people as the apple of His eye.
5. I might speak again of the fires of persecution, through which His people are called to pass. For here again the Lord is the Keeper of His people.
6. He not only defends and preserves His people, but He keeps them refreshed in seasons of drought by continual and plentiful supplies of mercy and grace. So in the text He says, “I will water it every moment?”
II. WHEN IS IT THAT HE KEEPS THEM? “By day and by night.” He watches over them continually, in the bright day of prosperity and in the dark night of adversity.
III. HOW IS IT THAT THE LORD KEEPS HIS PEOPLE?
1. By His angels (Heb_1:14).
2. By His ministers; by their warning voice in public; or by that advice and reproof, and instruction which they give in private.
3. By His providential dispensations.
4. By His own omnipotent arm. His people are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”
IV. WHAT WARRANT WE HAVE AS HIS PEOPLE TO EXPECT THAT THE LORD WILL BE OUR KEEPER.
1. The first plain proof of this is, that as His people we are not our own, but given to Christ.
2. Coupled with this, we may consider the faithfulness of Jesus (2Th_3:3).
3. Connect with this, the consideration of the love of Jesus for His people.
4. Indeed, we have as believers the warrant of the Triune Jehovah for believing that the Lord will be our keeper. Bear in mind that, until the time when knowledge shall be increased, and faith and hope end in sight and enjoyment, we shall never be aware of the full extent of our obligations to
Him as the Keeper of His people. Yet, while we thankfully lay hold of the comfort which this truth is calculated to give, let us remember that our own responsibility is not overthrown. On the contrary, it is increased. For though encouraged to trust in the Lord as our keeper, there is no excuse for neglect of duty on account of our own weakness; but rather encouragement to say with the apostle, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me.” (M. Villiers M. A.)
God’s care of His vineyard
God takes care--
I. Of the SAFETY of this vineyard. “I, the Lord, do keep it.”
II. Of the FRUITFULNESS of this vineyard. “I will water it every moment,” and yet it shall not be over watered. (M. Henry.)
The keeper of the vineyard
I. THE CONTINUAL KEEPING which the Lord promises to His vineyard.
1. Do I need keeping?
2. Can I not keep myself?
3. Do I enjoy this keeping?
II. THE LORD’S CONTINUAL WATERING.
1. Do I need watering within as well as keeping without? Yes, for there is not a single grace I have that can live an hour without being divinely watered. Besides, the soil in which I am planted is very dry. Then, the atmosphere that is round about us does not naturally yield us any water. The means of grace, which are like clouds hovering over our heads, are often nothing but clouds. The beauty of the text seems to me to lie in the last two words: “I will water it every moment.”
2. Have we all realised, as a matter of experience, that the Lord does water us every moment? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Kept and watered
God is both a wall and a well to His people. (C. H.Spurgeon)
God’s vine needs keeping
1. There is the arch enemy; how he longs to lay the axe at the roots of God’s vines!
2. There is a wild boar of the woods, that would fain tear us up by the roots; I mean, that wild boar of unbelief that is constantly prowling around us. How does it seek with its sharp tusks to bark our vines and fig trees!
3. Then, the vine is often subject to injury from various kinds of insects. We have the fly of pride.
4. Then, the vine is subject to the attacks of the little foxes that Solomon speaks of,--I mean, false doctrine and sceptical teaching.
5. Besides, when we have a few grapes that are beginning to ripen there are the birds that come and try to pick the fruit,--those dark-winged thoughts of worldliness and selfishness which come to us all. (C. H. Spurgeon)
God the Keeper of His vineyard
A vineyard will engross the whole of a man’s time--perhaps the time of many men. The nourishing of the soil, the pruning of the branches, the syringing of the leaves, the thinning of the grapes, the support of the heavy clusters--all demand constant and assiduous care. There is a tendency in all cultivated things to go back to their original type. However it may be made to agree with the modern ideas of development and evolution, it is nevertheless a fact that the fairest results of human skill are not in themselves permanent; but tend ever backward to the rudest and simplest forms of their species--the apple tree to the crab, the vine of Sorek to the wild vine of the hills. Therefore the keeper of the vineyard is ever engaged in fighting every tendency towards deterioration with unwavering patience. With similar care, but with much more tenderness, God is ever watching over us. With eager eyes He marks the slightest sign of deterioration--a hardening conscience; a deadening spirituality; a waning love. Any symptom of this sort fills Him with--if I may use the words--keen anxiety; and His gentle but skilful hand is at once at work to arrest the evil, restore the soul, and force it onward to new accessions of that Divine life which is our only true bliss and rest. Let us not carry the responsibility of our nurture. It is too much for us. Better far is it to devolve the care of our keeping on our faithful Creator. (F. B.Meyer, B. A.)
God the great Preserver
It is not with God as it is with carpenters and shipwrights, who make houses for other men to dwell in, vessels for others to sail in, and therefore after they are made look after them no more; God, who made all things for Himself, looks after the preservation of all. (John Arrowsmith, D. D.)
God’s solicitude for His people
The tear water, constantly flowing over our eyes, removes the grit and dust that alight on them, impairing our power of vision. The eager mother shields her children from any polluting words or influences that might approach them from child companion or school fellow. The physician is eagerly solicitous that no germ of disease should enter an open wound, and lays his instruments in carbolic that they may carry no spore on their keen edge. And may we not count even more certainly on Him who says, “I, the Lord, do keep it,” etc. (Christian Endeavour.)
I will water it every moment
A refreshing promise
In warm climates irrigation is essential to fertility; hence travellers see on all sides pools and watercourses, wheels and cisterns, and channels for the water to flow in.
I. There is a great NECESSITY for the watering promised in the text.
1. This we might conclude from the promise itself, since there is not one superfluous word of promise in the whole Scriptures, but it becomes more evident when we reflect that all creature life is dependent upon the perpetual outgoing of Divine power.
2. Moreover, the truth is specially certain as touching the believer, for a multitude of agencies are at work to dry up the moisture of his soul.
3. Neither have we any other source of supply but the living God. “All my springs are in Thee.”
4. Our need of Divine watering is clearly seen when we consider what drought, and barrenness, and death would come upon us if His hand were withdrawn. Without watering every moment the most faithful among us would be cast forth, and be only fit for the fire; every prophet would become a Balaam, every apostle a Judas, every disciple a Demas.
II. THE MANNER in which the Lord promises to water His people--“I will water it every moment.”
1. Our first thought is excited by the perpetual act--“every moment.” Mercy knows no pause. Grace has no canonical hours, or rather all hours are alike canonical: yea, and all moments too.
2. The Lord’s watering is a renewed act. He does not water us once in great abundance, and then leave us to live upon what He has already poured out.
3. A personal act. “I will water it.”
III. THE CERTAINTY that the Lord will water every plant that His own right hand hath planted. Here a vast number of arguments suggest themselves, but we wilt content ourselves with the one ground of confidence which is found in the Lord Himself and His previous deeds of love. Our souls need supplies so great as to drain rivers of grace, but the all-sufficient God is able to meet the largest demands of the innumerable company of His people, and He will meet them to His own honour and glory forever. Here, then, we see His truth, His power, and His all-sufficiency pledged to provide for His chosen, and we may be sure that the guarantee will stand. If we needed further confirmation we might well remember that the Lord has already watered His vineyard in a far more costly manner than it win ever need again. The Lord Jesus has watered it with a sweat of blood, and can it be supposed that He will leave it now? Hitherto the sacred promise has been fully kept, for we have been graciously preserved in spiritual life. Droughty times have befallen us, and yet our soul has not been suffered to famish; why, then, should we question the goodness of the Lord as to years to come! One thing is never to be forgotten--we are the Lord’s. Therefore, if He do not water us, He will Himself be the loser. An owner of vine lands, if he should suffer them to be parched with the drought, would derive nothing from his estate; the vineyard would be dried up, but he himself would receive no clusters. With reverence be it spoken, our Lord Himself will never see of the travail of His soul in untended vines, nor in hearts unsanctified, nor in men whose graces droop and die for want of Divine refreshings. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
