LIFTED
"When they cast thee down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up" (Job_22:29)
Yes, thank God, although we may at times be cast down, and our characters almost dismantled by merciless hands, we can still hope in God, for His hand is not shortened that it cannot save, we can confidently say, "There is lifting up."
I. The Need. In Luk_13:11 we read of a poor woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. Such were some of us, "bowed together" by the love of the world that we could in no wise lift ourselves above it, and, like the publican, we could not lift up so much as our eyes unto Heaven. At that time without strength.
II. The Lifter. "But Thou,O Lord, art.. the Lifter up of my head" (Psa_3:3). When the head is lifted above the whelming flood, the life is saved. Man in his helplessness and guilt needs such a lift that only God in His infinite mercy and power can give. Christ is not only the Breaker up of the sin-closed way, but the Lifter of the sin-bound head (Psa_27:6).
III. The Provision. "I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto Me" (Joh_12:32). Our Almighty Lifter had Himself to be lifted on the Cross, lifted from the grave, and lifted to that throne that is "high and lifted up," that He might be the Lifter up of His people. His love is an uplifting power: "Thou hast loved my soul out of the pit of corruption."
IV. The Condition. Those whom He lifts up are described as being needy. "He raiseth the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill" (Psa_113:7). It belongs to the character of God to choose the weak things, and to exalt the lowly. His mercy seeks the guilty, His power the weak, His wisdom the ignorant, and His love the lost. Again, He lifts up the humble. "Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and He shall lift you up" (Jam_4:10). He that exalteth himself shall be abased, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Wherever there is true humbling of ourselves before God, His mighty uplifting hand will be manifested in due time (1Pe_5:6).
V. The Manner. The Lord took Peter’s wife’s mother "by the hand and lifted her up" (Mar_1:31). Ezekiel the prophet says, "So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away" (chap. Job_3:14). There is still lifting up by the hand of faith and by the Spirit of power. It is the Spirit that quickeneth the whole man, lifting the entire character into the upper regions of faith, where as on eagles’ wings we can run and walk without growing weary or faint.
VI. The Results. There is-
1. The uplifted FACE of reconciliation. "Then thou shalt have thy delight in the Almighty, and shall lift up thy face unto God" (Job_22:26). Once afar off, with face earthward and Hellward, but now God-ward.
2. The uplifted HEAD of confidence. "Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luk_21:28). Saved from all fear amidst the perilous times of the later days, when men’s hearts are failing them for fear when the powers of Heaven are being shaken.
3. The uplifted HANDS of supplication and consecration. "I will lift up my hands in Thy Name" (Psa_63:4). Hands that used to hang down in feebleness and idleness now lifted up in holy intercession for others, and offered as empty hands to God to be filled for His service and glory.
4. The uplifted VOICE of praise and testimony. "They shall lift their voice, they shall sing..they shall cry aloud" (Isa_24:14). The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. Cry aloud, and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for the Lord hath done great things for thee. Say to those who are cast down, or who are wallowing hopelessly in the sinking mire of sin: "There is lifting up."
Autor: James Smith