A Midnight Meditation

by T. DOBLE | Category: General | Feb 1943

Some time ago after I had been lying for some weeks on my bed, passing through sickness and trial, my daughter came into the sick room to tell me that the experience of Paul and his thorn in the flesh had been much on her mind. After his thrice repeated request that it might depart from him, he was told, "My grace is sufficient for thee : for My power is made perfect in weakness."

Recently, as is often the case now, I found myself like king Ahasuerus. (See Esther 6.1). His sleep had fled from him. I looked at my watch. It was just midnight. I closed my eyes and began to meditate on Paul's experience, and what had led up to that point when the thorn or stake in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, was given him. I thought of, and meditated on, his description of the hardships and suffering he had passed through, as recorded in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. The words of the Lord Jesus to Ananias, Acts 9.15, "Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, ... for I will shew him how many things he must suffer for My Name's sake," filled my thoughts. I must not take up time and space to tell of the imaginations that filled my thoughts, as in my meditations I went on from chapter 11. to chapter 12., passing on to visions and revelations of the Lord. Fourteen years previously Paul had had a marvellous experience in this respect. Whether in this experience he was in the body or not, he did not know, but he was caught up even to the third heaven. In my meditation I imagined him in his upward course passing the first and second heavens.

The question of how many heavens there may be also crossed my mind. I read Deuteronomy 10. 14, "Behold, unto the LORD thy God belongeth the heaven, and the heaven of heavens." Yet another scripture came to my mind,-that He who was conducting Paul through this experience had Himself ascended far above all heavens that He might fill all things. In my meditation I turned again to the third heaven, called here Paradise; I noted that Paul does not describe what he saw, but says that he heard unspeakable words, which it was not lawful for a man to utter. In verse 7 he speaks of "the exceeding greatness of the revelations. "But the Lord, who had saved him by His grace, knew well the dangerous effect these exceeding great revelations might have, and to save His beloved servant from being exalted overmuch, He allowed him to have a thorn, a stake, in the flesh to buffet him. Any of us who has had a thorn in his natural flesh, or a sharp splinter of wood under his finger nail, followed by a festering which will not yield to treatment, knows what " a thorn in the flesh " means. We can well understand Paul when he writes concerning this thing, "I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. " But He, who is perfect in knowledge and perfect in His ways and dealings, did not remove the thorn. He had something better in His mind, and He assured His servant that His grace was sufficient, and that His power was made perfect in weakness.

The longer I meditated the more I saw the all-sufficiency of the grace given of God, and the wonder-working power of God in weakness. I could see a little clearer the reason Paul was able to say, "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me." In this last sentence I noticed a word. Shall I call it a nugget? No, even the gold of Ophir cannot equal it. It is the word " REST." I noticed in the margin that the literal meaning of the Greek word rendered "rest upon me" is " spread a tabernacle over me." I imagine that I see a man bowed down with the trials of life; the road is rough; he is persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed; killed all the day long; just another sheep for the slaughter. As I draw near to him while he plods along his way, I notice that he has a tabernacle overshadowing him. But he has not got to carry it. Every step he takes, the tabernacle moves on. I draw near, and lo, across the tabernacle I read the words-" The strength of Christ."

The power that surrounds him is perfected in his weakness, and in his weakness he advances day by day nearer the end of his journey. How much his experience was like that of another, of whom in a later day it was written

"Deep waters crossed life's pathway;

The hedge of thorns was sharp;

Now these lie all behind me

Oh for a well tuned harp!

Oh to join Hallelujah

With yon triumphant band,

Who sing, where glory dwelleth,

In Immanuel's land

I pass on my meditation hoping that some other spirit may be refreshed as mine has been.

T. DOBLE | Feb 1943
General