Psalm 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant. God reveals Himself in two ways to man. God wrote His word "on the pages of the elements." But even on the heathen He wrote a more inward law, which answered to the outward and interpreted its voice — the law of conscience. Each of these voices is made more distinct as man is brought nearer to God. And when we forget both, He has given us the writings of the law, the voices of the prophets, the melody of the Psalms, the instruction of Proverbs, the experiences of histories, the words of Jesus and the Apostles. He speaks, too, by His Spirit. God ever speaks to the heart, as He speaks through the Word; for He cannot contradict Himself. What then? Because God must prepare the heart and open the ear and Himself speak to it, does nothing depend on us? It is with us to hearken or no. "The secret of the Lord" is a hushed voice, a gentle intercourse of heart to heart, a still small voice whispering to the inner ear. How should we hear it if we fill our ears and our hearts with the din of this world? There are two conditions, as there are degrees of inward hearing. You must fear God. You must be hushed yourselves. They who do not fear God cannot hear the secret. In grace, God forecomes man, and man follows grace given. In sin, on the contrary, man begins; he casts out grace, deadens his own car, until God's voice sounds fainter and fainter. The question on which all hangs is this — is the flesh subdued to the Spirit, or the Spirit stifled by the flesh? This is the first condition of knowing the will of God, that we will to know it wholly. In vain is heaven opened to eyes fixed on earth. Love sees God The Psalmist speaks not of the "secret of the Lord" only, but of a "secret converse" with the soul, as of a friend with his friend. To have the love of the Great Friend, we must desire no love out of Him. St. Bernard says, "A secret counsel calleth for a secret hearing. He will assuredly make thee hear of joy and gladness if thou receivest Him with a sober car." "They who would behold God," says St. Gregory, "dwell in a loneliness of soul, and free from the tumults of worldly cares, thirst for God." (E. B. Pusey, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.WEB: The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant. |
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