Walking, Standing, Sitting

Psalm 1 pronounces blessing in three well-worded triplets. He is a happy man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. Such a man has his delight in the law of the LORD. In it he meditates day and night. In the root of the Hebrew word for meditation is the imagery of a lion growling for sheer joy over his meat. Delightful, if somewhat forceful contemplation of the man or woman of God in the thorough day to day enjoyment of the reading and pondering of the Word.

We look briefly at the three well-known conditions of spiritual experience:

(1)Walking with God

The experience is as old as Eden and was first broken there. The LORD God brought to Adam every beast and fowl to see what he would call them. It was the beginnings of God walking with men. And in the cool of the day of Adam's transgression our first parents heard what had formerly been to them the well-loved voice, as the LORD God walked in the garden and called them. But now their walking days with God had ceased, nor would they be resumed till communion was restored.

In due course Enoch came, and he "walked with God... three hundred years". It was a long walk in a dark day. Jude described many of his contemporaries as "wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved for ever". Fearless, Enoch denounced them in the words of the prophecy disclosed centuries later through Jude (verses 13-15). Thus men who habitually walk with God are in a state of communion and in a position to speak for God His message regarding others.

Then Noah came and he too walked with God. On every hand was corruption and violence; already there was "no fear of God before their eyes". But this walker with God was in communion with his God and as a result Noah received the revelation of His purposes for that day. So he became "a preacher of righteousness" to "the world of the ungodly", and his walk of faith found expression in his work of faith.

Then Abram came, and he too walked with God. He had heard the call beyond the River, where "they served other gods". He separated himself and came to the land of God's choice for him. There the men of the cities of the plain "were wicked and sinners against the LORD exceedingly", but Abram maintained his separation, regardless of financial cost. To such a man the LORD appeared, saying, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be thou perfect". What a demand, what a standard! Yet it developed into what might fittingly be compared to the long walk of a man with his friend, for Abram became known as "the friend of God". So God communed with him (Gen. 18:33) and Abram came into the secrets of His counsel.

Then Levi came and of him (and in particular of Aaron his priestly descendant) Malachi wrote some lovely things, centuries later. "He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and did turn many from iniquity. For the priest's lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts" (2:4-7). Thus "Levi", in his walk with God, knew inward peace and showed outward uprightness, and by reason of his communion with the LORD he became His messenger to His people.

And so, down the ages, men and women learned to walk with God. Those of Old Testament days are brilliantly reviewed in Hebrews 11, where, as here, time would fail to name them. But all walking with God reached its glorious climax when the Son of God was here, and men "looked upon Jesus as He walked". That was the supreme walk of unmarred, unbroken communion, from Bethlehem to Calvary, Father and Son going both of them together. Others were privileged from time to

time to share in the joy of that walk, perhaps never so choicely expressed as when He drew near to the two on the Emmaus highway. Of that momentous experience they later said, "Was not our heart burning within us, while He spake to us in the way, while He opened to us the Scriptures?"

So men and women still walk in communion with Him, and their hearts still burn until, "While I was musing the fire kindled: then spake I with my tongue (Psalm 39:3). Little wonder the Holy Spirit said, "Look therefore carefully 'how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:15,16). So much depends upon it.

Such be the tribute of thy pilgrim journey

When life's last mile thy feet have bravely trod

When thou hast gone to all that there awaits thee,

This simple epitaph - "He walked with God".

(J. Danson Smith)

(2)Standing in His presence

When the owner of the vineyard went into the market about the eleventh hour he "found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?" (Matt. 20:6). Standing idle all the day; hired just in time at the eleventh hour.

Gabriel, the angel, said to Zacharias, "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent ..." (Luke 1:19). Standing and sent. Gabriel was not standing idle. No beings in the divine Presence stand idle. When Ezekiel was privileged to see them, he noted that they "ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning" (1:14). Winds, and a flame of fire, was how the psalmist described those who stand in His presence (104:4).

Elijah said, "As the LORD, the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand (1 Kings 17:1). So when the word of the LORD came to him, saying, Go, he went; whether it was to the court of the wicked Ahab in 17:1, or to the infuriated Ahab in 18:1. Human or angelic, it matters not, those who stand habitually in the presence of God are not only given messages for others but are also instant in their commission. Who among us would not long and pray for this experience of standing in His presence, and being sent forth commissioned?

Of others we read that when they stood in the divine Presence it was in a ministry Godward. Indeed "ministering spirits, sent forth" may well indicate a Godward ministry combined with an outward-bound service. We recall the word of good king Hezekiah to the Levites, "My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before Him to minister unto Him, and that ye should be His ministers, and burn incense" (2 Chron. 29:11). So in the divine Presence some men were honoured to stand in a Godward ministry, some offering incense, some lifting up their hands to the sanctuary blessing God in the service of praise. The latter were employed in this work day and night, the singers being in number 288, thus enabling the twelve tribes to enjoy a twenty-four hour representation in the Temple worship.

8tanding in the presence of God. They stand close who love His Word, reading it, meditating on it, then going out to live it. The wise king described it for God this way, "Blessed is the man that heareth Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors" (Prov. 8:34). Hearing, watching, waiting at God's doorpost. No wonder doorkeepers in the LORD'S 'house of old loved their assignment. They were sons of Korah. Other of his sons were chosen to be singers. They went right inside the beautiful building in their service. The doorkeepers only stood at the threshold. But they said, "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Psalm 84:10).

Only to stand on the threshold

Though I see not the Master's face,

At the gate of His holy palace

To have my name and my place.

From my post I shall never wander

At my watch I shall never sleep,

And my heart shall sing for gladness

At the door I am set to keep.

Individually we too can enjoy today the personal experience of standing in His presence, constantly availing ourselves of the cleansing blood for communion. They hear most who stand closest. They receive greater assignments who stand nearest. Collectively too we may enjoy today the experience of standing in the divine Presence in Godward ministry. We refer particularly to the time of the breaking of the bread. It is then, when gathered to keep the Remembrance of the Lord Jesus, that the people of God draw near in holy priesthood service, responding to the invitation of Hebrews 10:22. The boldness to draw near is one of the glories of the New Covenant, the way of the holies has been dedicated to this sublime purpose, for His people there is "a place of access among them that stand by" (Zech. 3:7), and the Lord Jesus an enabling Great Priest over the house of God. In all the range of God's dealings with His people, was there ever so glorious an era as this, so complete an experience of divine service?

(3)Sitting at His feet

From earliest times the learner sat at the teacher's feet, actually or metaphorically. There was a God-given principle in it, for at Sinai, Israel "sat down at Thy feet; every one shall receive of Thy words" (Deut. 33:3). They sat to receive and to bear away.

Elijah was taken away from the head of Elisha (2 Kings 2:5), so the young man who poured water on his hands also sat at his feet. Then in due course the sons of the prophets sat at the feet of Elisha (2:15).

Paul said at his Jerusalem defence that he had been "brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed (Acts 22:3). He had been reared and nourished there in the spiritual sphere, just as Moses had been in the physical, first in his mother's home and then in the palace of Pharaoh's daughter. And both men emerged as giants in their own sphere.

In the fragrant Bethany home, the two sisters prepared for their much-loved Guest, and at some point Mary left her sister and "also sat at the Lord's feet, and heard His word" (Luke 10:39). Martha, excellent Martha, went alone to serve an elaborate meal to the point of personal distraction. But Mary knew something of the secret of the proper apportionment of time between serving and sitting at His feet. She was criticised for her choice, misunderstood in this and other things, but in sitting awhile at His feet and listening she had chosen "the good part" and would never lose it, nor the things she heard. "And it was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair" (John 11:2). To her they were lovely feet, with the beauty of which Isaiah had written (52:7). As she sat beside them and listened, she saw what others failed to see; she saw impending Calvary and, regardless of cost, brought her very precious spikenard and anointed Him in anticipation of His burial. So far as we know she did not go to the tomb with the others, but He went over against where she lived for His ascension. In her sitting she had understood, and He appreciated it. Taking the time to sit at His feet and listen resulted then and results still in intelligent service, most acceptable to Him. Our heavenly Lover still yearns for those who, in a day of many pressures and advancing knowledge in things which are doomed to pass away, still take time to feel at home amid eternal things, will still find it their delight to sit at His feet, to stand in His presence, to walk at His side.

Only to stand on the threshold,

Ah l this were heaven to me,

After the weary desert,

After the wintry sea.

But I hear Him call me higher

In accents long and sweet

I shall not stand on the threshold

But sit at the Master's feet.

BarrheadJ. L. Ferguson

unknown | Jan 1972
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