Consider And Discover

by R. Darke, Vancouver, B.C. | Category: General | Jun 1968

David considered the heavens (Psalm 8.3); the disciples were instructed to consider the lilies (Luke 12.27); and those in God's house are counselled to consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession (14ebrews 3.1). The word "consider" has some very interesting and important shades of meaning. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word "raah" is often used, and this describes the work of the shepherd perceiving the needs of his flock, and looking out for wild animals and scorpions, with eye sharpened by experience. "Jehovah Raah" is the divine title used by David when he opens the 23rd Psalm with "The LORD is my Shepherd". "Consider" can also mean to observe fully, behold, contemplate, note carefully, learn thoroughly, and discover. It is with the word "discover" we wish to link our thoughts in this article.

Although Job was a man of patience and endurance, there were times when his suffering, and affliction obscured the presence of the Lord. Occasions arose when it would appear as if Job had lost the Lord. "Oh that I knew where I might find Him", he cried, "that I might come even to His seat!" (23.3) Whatever lapses Job may have had, at the end of his long road of grief and pain he truly discovered the LORD, for this is one of the meanings of the word "seeth" which he uses in 42.5. "I had heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear", he declares, "But now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes". What was the outcome of Job's great discovery? He abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes. The relationship of a holy God to his humble servant had been brought into its right perspective, and Job was not only blessed abundantly but to him was paid the tribute that he died full of days (42.17).

It is possible for Christians to lose the sense of the Lord's presence, and maybe some of us have done so along the pilgrim way. The Song of Songs unfolds precious truth for us on these lines. The one who described her beloved as "the chiefest among ten thousand", lost him on at least two occasions. Once she said, "I sought him whom my soul loveth ... but I found him not ... I said ... I will... go about the city, in the streets and in the broad ways... When found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go... " (3.1-4). On another occasion she says, "I was asleep, but my heart waked ... it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me... my love..." (5.2). What was her answer to his plea? "I have put off my coat ... I have washed my feet ..." (v.3), and because of the lack of response her beloved withdrew himself and was gone. "I sought him", she cries, "but I could not find him; I called ... but he gave me no answer ..." (v.6). In her seeking she was persecuted by the watchmen, and discouraged by the daughters of Jerusalem. With scorn they asked her, "What is thy beloved more than another beloved?" Although she had lost him her anxious searching seems to have revived the memory of him, for she is able to describe. SD vividly the beauty of his head, his eyes, his cheeks, his lips, his hands, his body, his legs, his mouth. "Yea, he is altogether lovely", she declares. How she must have adored him as she considered him in their first love relationship for all these virtues to have come flooding into her soul as she was asked about him! What a wondrous discovery she had once made, and was about to make again when she found him! "I am my beloved's; and my beloved is mine", she exclaims triumphantly in her new-found love (6.3).

How do you feel, beloved, towards the Lord Jesus, the eternal Lover of your soul? Have you lost the sense of His presence? Are you happy without Him, or are you finding life drab, miserable, and unsatisfying? Do you want back those wonderful days when He meant everything to you, and you rejoiced in the song, "He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own?" Has the Christian life lost its lustre, and does prayer and Bible-reading seem lifeless? Do you find that when it comes to the time of worship and prayer that you go reluctantly, and you find it hard to control your wandering thoughts? Do you find yourself saying and doing things which you frowned on when the Lord was so near? Have you been lulled into that state of recline and relaxation that it is too much trouble to answer His love-call to become His companion? Pause and consider as you search your soul with these important questions. The Lord Jesus is your greatest Friend, and He has missed you, and He wants your friendship restored. Do you want Him? Seek Him, beloved, find Him, hold Him, and do not let Him go! This is the answer to a joyless, helpless, fruitless life. In the moment of his reconciliation with his companion in the Song of Songs, the beloved says, "My dove ... my undefiled ... choice one ... blessed ..." (6.9). What superlatives! How wonderful love is! This is just how the Lord Jesus feels about us. "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it" (8.7). "Love suffereth long, and is kind... seeketh not its own ... beareth all things ... endureth all things ... Love never faileth" (1 Corinthians l3.4-8). Such is Christ's love for us though we may have wandered far from Him, and though we may have ignored and forgotten, and tried to get along without Him. He is waiting for our souls to be knit together with His like that of David and Jonathan. Let us not deprive ourselves any longer of His companionship. Let us forsake all those things which have hindered our relationship with Him, whatever the cost. Let us go back to the time when we lost the warmth of His presence. Let us consider Him, discover Him. We must find Him, for our spiritual happiness depends upon it. Sit quietly and consider all the wonderful things that you know about the Lord Jesus, and compare them with what you are using to satisfy your soul at present. Say with Job, "Now mine eye seeth (discovereth) Thee ... I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes". Consider Him, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even Jesus! Discover the heavens in all their wonder; consider the lilies in all their beauty in the fields; but for your soul's delight CONSIDER HIM, the Source of all our joy and satisfaction.

R. Darke, Vancouver, B.C. | Jun 1968
General