Words in Season . BIBLE THOUGHTS . BY THE EDITOR . PSALM LXVIII

Words in Season . BIBLE THOUGHTS . BY THE EDITOR . PSALM LXVIII . 18 . THIS Psalm is of and for Messiah . It is He whose name is Jah , the Lord God of Israel ; He is addressed throughout this Psalm as God . It is this Psalm which the apostle quotes in Ephesians ( iv . 8 ) , and interprets of Christ and his ascension . It is Christ that David here addresses : ' Thou hast ascended on high . ' I. The ascension . - This is the last point of Mes- siah's earthly history , and sums up the whole . But according to the interpretation of Paul , it includes all that went before : What is it but that He also descended ? The ascent reminds us of a descent . He descended to Bethlehem , and then He descended to Joseph's tomb . After that all was ascension ; and the expression of our text includes , or rather expresses , resurrection . He went down into the lower parts of the earth ; He came up again ; and then He went on high . This ascending was the completion of his work , the carrying out of his love , the Father's testimony of personal acceptance and delight , and his seal set to the absolute perfec- tion of the work for which He descended . It was a real ascension , a glorious one , a very exalted one , -far above all principalities and powers , to the Father's throne . We see Jesus crowned with glory and honour . ' All heaven is his ; and He has entered into possession of his heavenly inheritance . All power is given to Him in heaven and in earth . He filleth all things . The universe now is his . He reigns now above ; He will come to reign below . II . The triumph . - Thou hast led captivity cap- tive . ' Whether this refers to his leading forth his redeemed out of their captivity , or leading into captivity those who held them bound , the triumph is the same , and the words point to the same event , the same enemies , the same battle , the same vic- tory . It is Messiah's triumph over his enemies- the Father's and ours . The warfare is that pre- dicted in Paradise between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent . That warfare con- cerns us ; it is for us . He who fights is the Captain of our salvation . The battle went on during the ages before He came ; it came to a head on the cross ; it is not yet finished ; and the full consum- mation of the triumph is reserved for his second coming , when He binds Satan , and casts him into the bottomless pit . Then shall He complete his triumph , and show that He is more than conqueror . Meanwhile his victory upon the cross is ours . He has fought our battle , and won our victory . ' Be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world . ' What enemy can prevail ? No weakness of ours can dismay us . We glory in our infirmities , that the power of Christ may rest upon us . Let us , then , fight the good fight . The foe is already routed by our Captain ; it is only with his broken and scat- tered troops that we have to do . III . The recompense . - Thou hast received gifts for men ; yea , for the rebellious also . ' Thus the Father rewards his faithful service . Not only does He receive the Spirit without measure for himself , but the gifts of the Spirit for others . This is the apt recompense of his self - emptying . He emptied himself , therefore hath the Father filled Him , - filled Him with the Spirit , -filled Him with the Spirit's mighty and manifold gifts . Much of the Spirit was given before He came . We read of the Spirit filling holy men ; but much was reserved for his glorification , that the connection between Him and the gift of the Spirit might be manifested . When He was glorified , the pentecostal shower came down ; the residue of the Spirit was given . This fulness of the Spirit was- ( 1. ) For men . - Not for angels , but men ; not for heaven , but for earth . It was as the ascended God - man that He received the Spirit , for those whose nature He took . ' I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; not on the unfallen , but fallen sons of Adam . ( 2. ) For the rebellious . For those who stand farthest off , full of enmity and resistance . Not for the good , but the evil . As of the Son of man , so of the Spirit we may say : ' He came to seck that which was lost ; not to call the righteous , but sinners . ' Thus Christ has received the Spirit for sinners- as Egypt's corn was entrusted to Joseph for the hungry . Go to Him who has the seven spirits of God ; deal with Him who freely dispenses this Spirit . Come to the waters . ' If any man thirst , let him come unto me and drink . ' IV . The final result . That the Lord God might dwell among them . ' God had been driven from earth - from among men . His object is to return ; and all that He has done , in and through Christ , is to secure that return . IIe does this- ( 1. ) By incarnation . - The Word was made flesh , and dwelt among us . ' God thus tabernacled with men . Because of this He gets the name Immanuel . ( 2. ) By the cross . - It is the propitiation that makes it a righteous thing for God thus to dwell . It is the blood that brings it about . No blood , no indwelling . For without the blood it would have been unrighteous in God to have come near to us or dwelt with us . ( 3. ) By the Holy Ghost . It is this that is re- ferred to in our text . The Spirit , purchased by the blood , comes down , and comes in . He has been doing this in individual souls . They are the habitation of the Spirit - temples of the Holy Ghost . He is yet to do so more conspicu- ously , when Jesus comes the second time . Then shall this prophecy be fulfilled . The tabernacle of God shall be with men ; God shall be with them - their God . Then all shall be holy here . The curse shall vanish away . Satan shall be bound . Creation shall be delivered and purged . There shall be no night , no crying , no sickness , no death . There shall be the new heavens and the new earth , wherein dwelleth righteousness . With men , and in men , God shall dwell . Earth shall then be what heaven is now . For when He comes again , and sits upon the throne , He says , ' Behold , I make all things new . '

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