4. The Lord has called back to himself his servants, and commissioned them
for his service, presenting them with a standard to be used in his wars. Thouhast given a banner to them that fear thee. Their afflictions had led them
to exhibit holy fear, and then being fitted for the Lord’s favor, he gave them
an ensign, which would be both a rallying point for their hosts, a proof that
he had sent them to fight, and a guarantee of victory. The bravest men are
usually intrusted with the banner, and it is certain that those who fear God
most have less fear of man than any others. The Lord has given us the standard
of the Gospel; let us live to uphold it, and if needful die to defend it. Our
right to contend for God, and our reason for expecting success, are found in
the fact that the faith has been once committed to the saints, and that by the
Lord himself. That it may be displayed because of the truth. Banners are
for the breeze, the sun, the battle. To publish the Gospel is a sacred duty, to
be ashamed of it a deadly sin. The truth of God was involved in the triumph of
David’s armies; he had promised them victory; and so in the proclamation of the
Gospel we need feel no hesitancy, for as surely as God is true he will give
success to his own Word. Dark signs of present or coming ill must not
dishearten us; if the Lord had meant to destroy us he would not have given us
the Gospel; the very fact that he has revealed himself in Christ Jesus involves
the certainty of victory. Selah. There is so much in the fact of a
banner being given to the hosts of Israel, so much of hope, of duty, of
comfort, that a pause is fitly introduced. The sense justifies it, and the more
joyful strain of the music necessitates it.
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