THE POSTURE OF THE CHRISTIAN PILGRIM IN COMING UP FROM THE WILDERNESS OF THIS WORLD

WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM

By David Harsha, 1856.

"Who is this that comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" Song of Solomon 8:5

"But, firm as on a rock,
The saint on Christ relies; 
He smiles in death's dissolving shock, 
And mounts into the skies!" 

The Jewish church came up from the wilderness, leaning on the Eternal God for her support. He was the Guide, the Rock, the Salvation of his chosen Israel. "He found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling wasteland. He surrounded them and watched over them; he guarded them as his most precious possession. Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so he spread his wings to take them in and carried them aloft on his pinions. The Lord alone guided them; they lived without any foreign gods."

In like manner, the Christian church is passing through the deserts of life, has Israel's God for its Leader. The same gracious eye that watched over the wandering tribes of Israel in their long journey through the Arabian wilderness, is now watching with the tenderest care and love over that chosen band, who have forsaken all for Christ, and who are marching through a changing, terrestrial scene to a higher, brighter, nobler world on high. "But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love." "He that touches you, touches the apple of his eye." (Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession.) The same kind hand that led Israel of old to the promised land, guides the humble followers of Jesus to mansions of glory in the skies. "The Lord of hosts is with us." "The eternal God is our refuge; and underneath and around us are the Everlasting Arms."

In the 8th chapter of the Song of Solomon we have the posture of the pilgrim, advancing to the celestial city, beautifully presented to us "Who is this that comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" Here we see the blessed object on which the Christian reposes, while passing through this scene of fluctuating and perishing mortality. He relies entirely upon Jesus Christ, the Beloved of his soul. He look to no other source for protection and support. He hopes in no other refuge. His language is, "Lord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life."

We would advert to a few ways in which a believing soul, in coming up from the wilderness, rests on Jesus, the sinner's Friend.

1. He rests on him for STRENGTH. The poor pilgrim has no might in himself; but relying on Christ, he can say with holy Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong." What a happy thing it is to feel our own weakness and nothingness in the sight of Heaven; and then to cast ourselves into the strong arms of Jesus– those arms of infinite love, which encircle and sustain all the righteous. "The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe." It is by leaning upon the Beloved of our souls that we are made strong. 

Helpless pilgrim, would you obtain strength for gaining the joyful heights of Zion? Then look to Jesus. Rest in him now; and in a little while, when you cross into Canaan, you will rest with him in that happy land, where weariness and sorrow are unknown. Do not trust to your own strength; but lean upon the Lord, and you will be upheld with divine grace and power. Then you will be enabled to press onward with the greatest speed and alacrity to the heavenly mansions. "The Lord's voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, and the earth and heavens will begin to shake. But to his people, the Lord will be a welcoming refuge and a strong fortress." 

"Have you never heard or understood? Don't you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." 

"Blest Jesus, to my soul 
Your grace and strength impart; 
Till, clothed in perfect righteousness, 
I see you as you art. 
As I wander through the desert, 
Be my constant help and stay 
Shine upon my path, and lead me 
To the realms of endless day." 

Happy is he who in the morning of life casts all his care upon Jesus; who takes the Savior as his all and in all– as the strength of his heart and his portion forever. He may sweetly sing as he is tossed upon the surging billows of life's ocean, "Praise the Lord! He was angry with me, but now he comforts me. See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

"But Jesus is my living way,
My only trust, my hope, my stay; 
From him, I all my strength receive, 
And daily on his fullness live."

2. The Christian CLEAVES TO JESUS BY FAITH. He knows that his Redeemer lives, and he rests his whole weight upon him. He lives upon an unseen Savior. Our life in the wilderness is a life of faith. Here, we live by faith and walk by faith. This will be the manner of our life until we come to behold our Redeemer face to face in the Heavenly Jerusalem, and enjoy all the blessedness of that better country above. But such a life is one of comfort and joy to the Christian pilgrim in this wilderness land. "O! the blessedness and joy of faith! How does it bring near, and realize a view of Christ in glory! Do we indeed see Christ by the eye of faith? Is he the one chief object of our souls? Is he precious to us? Verily, then, we shall count our days on earth toilsome ones, and long for the full fruition of him in glory. It will be our great joy to see him, whose blessed head was crowned with thorns, and whose lovely face was spit upon, for us! Until then, let us live by faith in him, constantly crying, "Come, Lord, Jesus, come quickly." 

Though the believer may be walking to darkness, yet he must still, by faith, lean upon the Beloved of his soul. "Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God." The pathway to the celestial mansions is often obscured by darkness. Here, at best, we see but through a glass, darkly. "We are but as wayfaring men, wandering in the lonely night, who see dimly upon the distant mountain-peak the reflection of a sun that never rises here, but which shall never set in the 'new heavens' hereafter." (Bonar) 


"Darkness overspreads us here, 
But the night wears fast away 
Jacob's star will soon appear, 
Leading on eternal day!" 

The commission of sin is the great cause of the Christian being often left to wander in darkness. "Your iniquities," says the prophet, "have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, that he will not hear." How sad is such a condition! When, for a season, the light of God's countenance is withdrawn from the believer, he is led to cry with pious Job, "I long for the years gone by when God took care of me, when he lighted the way before me and I walked safely through the darkness. In my early years, the friendship of God was felt in my home. The Almighty was still with me..." "I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I turn to the south, but I cannot find him." 

At times he cries with the Psalmist, "I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and stand before him?" And he can also say with the pious Cowper, who trod a gloomy path to the realms of day, 
"O for a closer walk with God!
A calm and heavenly frame! 
A light to shine upon the road 
That leads me to the Lamb!" 

The duty of the Christian, walking in darkness to trust in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God. Let him always be found leaning on his Beloved; and, though his days on earth may be darksome, yet at the "evening time" of his pilgrimage, "it shall be light." How sweet will be the light of Heaven to such a soul! 

"We journey through a vale of tears;
But often from on high;
The glorious bow of God appears, 
And lights up all our sky. 
Then through the breaking clouds of heaven,
Far distant visions come;
And sweetest words of grace are given,
To cheer the pilgrim home."

In order to obtain the greatest light and comfort now, let the follower of the Lamb be found diligently improving the means of grace and salvation, which God has afforded him. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." How often has a beam from Heaven darted upon the pilgrim while engaged in the sweet employment of praising God!