Your Heart His Target
(original title: Arrows Sharp in the Heart of Enemies)
"Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies;
the peoples fall under you." Psalm 45:5
While tyrants are wading to power through the blood of slaughtered
armies, and marching to the music of a nation's groans, there
is a Conqueror of a far different sort. He too has his arrows
and his two-edged sword, and "goes forth conquering and to
conquer"; but his track is not marked with desolation and
woe. His coming is not proclaimed by the cries of widows and orphans.
Mercy is his banner, and with him marches salvation. He wounds
only to heal, and kills only to make alive. "On his head"
are "many crowns," and his name is called, "The
Word of God." When the Gospel was sent forth, then this glorious
Conqueror girded his sword upon his thigh, according to the prayer
in verses 3 and 4 of this Psalm: "Gird Your sword upon your
thigh, O Mighty One, with your glory and your majesty. And in
your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and
righteousness; and your right hand shall teach you awesome things."
This is a devout prayer for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom
in all the fullness of its blessings. Although the idea of severity
to enemies may be included, and a full view of the Conqueror as
here arrayed may show us a Monarch marching into a rebellious
province, reducing some to obedience and destroying others, yet
the idea of mercy is much stronger. Although the Gospel, which
is the grand weapon employed, may be "set for the fall"
as well as "rising of many," and may prove a "savor
of death unto death," yet who does not know that its leading
feature is mercy? To this second view of the subject I shall confine
my attention, and do my best to celebrate the gracious triumphs
of our King. In order to show this, I will:
I. Examine the process of his individual conquests.
II. Contemplate the general march of the Conqueror.
I. I shall examine the process of his individual conquests.
"Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies,"
(that is, the enemies of your kingdom,) whereby "The peoples
fall under You."—fall prostrate at your feet after the manner
of vanquished foes. Several ideas are included in these words.
which, followed out in their proper order, will lead to a right
understanding of these individual conquests.
1. It is plainly implied that the King marches against none but
enemies. This clearly shows us the earlier character of all who
are subdued, and of course the natural character of all mankind.
The text does not limit its view to the conquest of thieves and
robbers: it looks at the general extension of the Redeemer's kingdom.
It does not limit its view to the reduction of pagans, unless
all besides pagans are real subjects of his kingdom and heartily
obedient to his laws. If you can find any in Christendom, any
even among the baptized, who do not submit to his laws in heart
as well as in practice, (for the heart is included in his requirements,)
you find those who, as really as pagans, have yet to be reduced
to subjection to his empire. And all who need to be thus reduced,
are his enemies according to the text. If then you can find any
with the Bible in their hands, who have not truly repented and
forsaken their sins, who have not exercised a saving faith in
Christ, who do not live a life of prayer, who have not heartily
renounced the world, who do not love God supremely, who do not
possess the spirit of martyrs, (for all these are essentially
characteristic of his subjects,) you find those who still remain
the enemies of Christ. "You are My friends if you do whatever
I command you." But: "he who is not with me is against
me." In a word, all who are yet to be brought into the kingdom
of Christ, that is, all the world except real Christians, are
his enemies.
2. The conquering of these enemies is the work of Christ. The
history of all genuine conversions is written in these words:
"Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies;
The peoples fall under you." Every new subject brought into
his kingdom is a trophy of his conquering power. His empire is
extended only by conquest. Allow that the text has reference to
the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom, and all this follows
with irresistible certainty.
3. We are now prepared to examine the process by which these conquests
are made. The first question is, What are these arrows by which
the enemies are shot through? Doubtless they are the same with
the sword mentioned in a preceding verse. Now the sword of Christ
is represented as proceeding out of his mouth; and long ago he
said by a prophet, "He has made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he has hidden me, and made me a polished
shaft" "The sword of the Spirit" is expressly said
to be "the word of God"; and we are told that "The
word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents
of the heart." No doubt then that the arrows which he pierces
us are the truths of his word. This piercing is accomplished by
the working of his Spirit, whose special work is to "convict
the world of sin and righteousness and of judgment." In an
hour when the mind is thoughtless and wandering upon the world,
it is made to feel one of these truths, and then another, and
another still, with increasing and decreasing power. The precise
order is not the same in every case; but sooner or later the same
truths get into every mind thus affected. The sinner is made to
feel, to a degree unknown before, that there is a God "who
is angry with the wicked every day"; that he himself is the
creation of God sent into the world to serve that God; that he
has wickedly neglected the work; that he has violated the laws
of God in numberless instances, in thought, word, and deed; that
for his sins he is justly condemned to eternal death. After seeing
these things he cannot but be deeply affected and dismayed. The
careless world may well pronounce him mad: but is he really insane?
Is it madness to believe the truths of God? The things which he
sees and feels are everlasting truths; and the only difference
between his present and former state is, that then he did not
realise the truth, now he does. Formerly he lived in unbelief,
like the rest of a careless world, heedless of the things which
God has spoken; now he believes them. Which is the real madman,
one who can refuse to believe infinite truths, and rush on to
eternity unmindful of the terrible declarations of God respecting
the world he lives in, or he who views things as they are?
It is a fashionable opinion among the heedless, that men submit
to the empire of Christ in a calm manner, without any distress
or ferment; that as religion is a pleasant service, all gloom
at the entrance upon it must indicate a morbid state of the imagination.
But this does not agree with the statement of the text. The heart
of a rebel will be transfixed with arrows: and if arrows enter
a heart there must be pain. And to look at the thing in its own
light, how can a man wake up and find himself an enemy to God
and under condemnation, and not be distressed? How can the sins
of his life be laid open to his sight without filling him with
confusion and anguish? How can "the wrath of God," which
"is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness," be
applied to him without producing trembling and dread? You say,
he ought to trust in the mercies of God in Christ: and so he will
as soon as he has fully seen his need and humbled himself for
his sins. But are there no pains of sickness to be felt before
he will apply to the physician? Is there no view of ruin before
he will prize the grace which came "to save that which was
lost?" —before he will flee to the refuge provided? Are
there no bitter tears of repentance before he can be pardoned?
And is it necessary to suppose that all these realizations occur
in a single moment? Is it not more consistent with the nature
of the human mind, with facts recorded in Scripture, and with
the testimony of daily experience, to suppose that these new understandings
must pass in succession, and often in slow succession? And that
the mind, hard and obstinate as it is, must ordinarily linger
for a considerable time under a sense of guilt and ruin before
it will embrace a Saviour? And is it not reasonable to suppose
that one who has been so deep in guilt, will be held off a while,
(like Miriam who was left to "be ashamed seven days,").
before he is admitted to the embraces of pardoning love? It is
perfectly reasonable and Scriptural and agrees with personal experience,
that a sinner should remain a while in darkness and distress before
he tastes the sweetness of forgiving mercy. And there are too
many reasons to fear that those who condemn these temporary glooms,
and find no difficulty in trusting at once on divine mercy without
a conflict or a pain, have never seen their need of mercy and
do in fact rely rather on the general clemency of God to which
they feel themselves justly entitled.
But our text carries the idea farther. I have said, if arrows
enter a heart there must be pain; I now add, there must be death;
and if life succeeds, it must be by a resurrection. By these arrows
the heart of Paul was pierced on the plains of Damascus; and he
himself tells us the effect: "When the commandment came,
sin revived and I died." The majesty and purity of God opened
to his sight; the strictness and extent of the divine law stood
before him; his own sins rolled upon him like a dark cloud of
thunder; he saw himself to be utterly condemned, utterly unable
to atone for one sin, utterly ruined, helpless, and hopeless.
Then it was that he died to all hope of justification by the law,—all
hope of helping himself,—and pronounced himself a dead man. Then,
and not till then, he lifted an eye to the Saviour,—lifted it
from the bottom of the grave, and rose to a new life of hope,—rose
to eternal life in Jesus Christ.
The work which the Saviour came to accomplish was nothing less
than to raise the dead. He did not come to remodel an old life,
but to raise men from their graves. He came to be, in every sense,
"the resurrection and the life." His purpose was to
raise to spiritual life the "dead in trespasses and sins,"
to raise to the life of hope and to eternal life those who had
seen themselves to be dead in the sentence of the law, and had
died to all hope of helping themselves. Finally he will raise
the body from the grave. Every part of his work is a resurrection.
How wonderful is the literal truth behind the figurative language
of our text! This glorious King and Conqueror, finding a rebel
in arms against him, thrusts him through with the arrows of truth,
fills him with the anguish of conviction, lays him dead at his
feet, and then raises him to the life of hope and to life eternal
in himself. This single figure presents the whole process of supernatural
conviction and conversion, and proves the reality of such a work.
Here I pause, and ask my hearers whether they have ever experienced
such a change. If you have not, you have no part in Christ. This
is precisely the change intended by the Saviour himself when he
said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God." If you have not felt the
arrows of truth penetrating your hearts, filling you with remorse
and anguish and repentance, showing you the justice of your condemnation,
causing you to die to all hope of thinking good of yourselves
before God, leading you to look up from your graves to the Saviour
of sinners, and raising you to a new life in him; you may be moral
and charitable to the poor, but you have no part in Christ. You
still lie under condemnation, and dying thus, must sink into eternal
woe. Have you then, my dear hearers, ever felt those arrows penetrating
your souls, and felt them extracted by him who applied the balm
of Gilead? How beautifully is this process described by the tender
poet Cowper!
- "I was a stricken deer that left the herd
- long since: with many an arrow deeply pierced
- my panting side was charged, when I withdrew
- to seek a tranquil death in distant shades.
- There was I found by One who had himself
- been hurt by the archers. In his side he bore,
- and in his hands and feet the cruel scars,
- With gentle force extracting the darts,
- he drew them forth, and healed and bade me live."
II. Let us now contemplate the general march of this divine Conqueror.
The great work of subduing a rebellious race is taken into his
own hands;—a glorious truth, which, though offensive to wicked
men, lays the only foundation of human hope. He made a promise
to undertake this wonderful campaign when there was nothing to
require him, no one to speak of our miseries, no one to plead
in our behalf. He undertook it from no desire of fame, with no
desire for reward but the pleasure of relieving the wretched and
bestowing on prostrate rebels freedom and life. He undertook it
knowing full well the perils of the war and the many pains and
scars it would cost him. The scene of the battle was not to be
a single district or kingdom, but a world. The interest at stake
was the dearest interest of God and his creation.
The warring sides were the strongest powers in the universe. The
army collected to oppose this mighty King made up of all the inhabitants
of two worlds was the greatest host that ever was marshaled since
time began. The great army of Xerxes was a platoon compared to
this. Against such an immeasurable host, who for ages had been
entrenching themselves throughout the world, in every temple,
in every school, behind every throne, in every heart, he went
forth single-handed. He girded his sword upon his thigh, he mounted
the chariot of his Gospel, and marched directly into the heart
of Satan's empire. Wherever he came he conquered. At his approach
devils fled, their temples and altars fell, their oracles grew
dumb. The Roman empire, the chief seat of Satan's visible kingdom,
shook to its center, and afterwards opened to the Conqueror and
fell prostrate at his feet. Wounds he carried, but the very blood
he shed dissolved the strongest hold of Satan, the heart of man.
He sent forth his arrows and three thousand wore pricked in the
heart at once. He marched through the nations, breaking down the
prisons which Satan had reared to confine his wretched captives.
Hundreds of millions who had been confined in dungeons from their
birth, were released from their chains and brought forth to joyous
light. Wherever he came freedom and joy sprung up around him.
He marched down the ages, scattering his arrows from his quiver
and bringing his enemies to his feet.
He still rides today through the nations "conquering and
to conquer." His arrows never miss their mark. No trumpet
is sounded before him: his march is silent and unobserved by the
world, but it is uninterrupted still. While the world dream that
he has retired from the earth, he is extending his conquests every
hour. It is the chief employment for which he lives. All the piety
of the present generation in the four quarters of the globe, is
the fruit of his recent conquests. Every saint on earth is a vanquished
rebel, whose heart was once pierced by the shafts of his quiver.
God speed thee, thou glorious Conqueror! Go on and prosper. "And
in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility,
and righteousness" and may the praises of millions ready
to perish come before you.
His signs of victory are not desolated countries, but prisoners
set free, souls delivered from the destroyer, sighs and groans
comforted, and the sting of death removed. These are his trophies;
these are his spoils. The high minded spirit of medieval legend
celebrated the feats of knights uninterested in their own gain,
who roamed the kingdoms, supposedly to deliver oppressed females
from enchanted castles or from the grasp of giants and monsters.
But how much more generous and kind a Deliverer is here,—marching
through the nations and rescuing the oppressed and those that
have no helper, from the tyranny of Satan. "Shall the prey
be taken from the mighty, Or the captives of the righteous be
delivered? But thus says the LORD: Even the captives of the mighty
shall be taken away, And the prey of the terrible be delivered."
O the divine compassion of this Godlike advance! Again we say,
the Almighty God speed thee, thou glorious Conqueror! We will
follow the wheels of his triumphal chariot, and shout as we go,
"Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord" to
redeem a wretched race: "Hosanna in the highest."
How many millions has this high-minded King subdued, from Abel
to the present day? How many even of us? How many of our dear
children and friends? Has not some of us seen a parent or a brother
delivered from eternal slavery and ruin? Has never a parent among
us seen a child set free from bondage and restored to his right
mind? In the hour when that parent stood with his child to thank
his Deliverer, did he not say again, "Hosanna to the Son
of David: blessed is he that comes" to save our children
from eternal death?
But the most glorious triumphs of this divine Conqueror are reserved
for ages yet to come, which the voice of prophecy and the signs
of the times declare to be now at the door. His hand is brushing
away the kingdom of religious authority and dropping spiritual
Babylon like a millstone into the mighty deep. His shafts will
shortly pierce the curtain that hides from the seed of Abraham
the glories of their Messiah; and some of you, I trust, will live
to see that long lost race restored to the land of their fathers.
His hand will break the Muslim powers, when they assemble on the
mountains of Israel to disinherit the restored tribes, and will
thus put a final end to that delusion which has long enchained
that part of the human race. His bow will bring down many nations
which are now kneeling to gods of wood and stone. His arrows will
pierce the priests of Hinduism and Buddhism, and lay the dervishes
of Turkey at his feet. They will sing his triumphs on the banks
of the Ganges and in the deserts of Sahara. They will celebrate
his victories on the frozen beach of Kamchatka and in the sultry
regions of Congo and Peru. The mosques of Mecca and the pagodas
of Hindustan shall be converted into temples of the living God:
and the enemy who deceived the whole world, ejected from all his
dominions on earth, shall be confined to his prison for a thousand
years. For a thousand years shall he who hung on Calvary reign
over this restored world, with all his enemies under his feet,
with none to question his messianic office, with none to deny
his godhead. At the end of this period he will triumph once more
over "Gog and Magog"; and then, as the last act of his
dominion on earth, will judge the world. And when he shall have
committed all his enemies to prison, and shall be returning, at
the head of his redeemed Church, towards heaven's gate,—going
home from all his wars and victories, covered with scars and honors,—how
will they shout his triumphs as they ascend: "Lift up your
heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And
the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your
heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King
of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of
hosts, He is the King of glory." And when they have conducted
him to his throne, they will sing out the eternal strain "like
the sound of many waters": voice: "Worthy is the Lamb
who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength
and honor and glory and blessing!" And the whole sanctified
creation will send forth the loud response: "Blessing and
honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And
to the Lamb, forever and ever!"
My dear hearers, fall down at the feet of this divine Conqueror,
and submit to his empire, and risk your eternal all upon his mediation.
If you refuse, know you that he has other arrows with which to
reach your heart. "God shall shoot at [you] with an arrow;
suddenly shall [you] be wounded." They that will not have
this King to reign over them, shall be brought forth and slain
before him. He will reign till all his enemies are made his footstool.
His first advent, with all the kindness which attended it, was
foretold in terms terrible to the wicked. "And the Lord,
whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger
of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says
the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And
who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire."
And that coming in his kingdom which is yet future, is predicted
in language equally alarming. "Who is this who comes from
Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, this One who is glorious
in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength?; 'I
who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.' Why is Your apparel
red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? 'I
have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one
was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled
them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And
I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My
heart, And the year of My redeemed has come.'" Terrible things
are to be accomplished upon the wicked, which will cause men's
hearts to fail for fear. "The kings of the earth, the great
men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave
and every free man, [will hide] themselves in the caves and in
the rocks of the mountains, and [say] to the mountains and rocks,
'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne
and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath
has come, and who is able to stand?'"
Therefore my friends, seek the arrows of his love before the time
comes for the arrows of his wrath. Run to the shelter of the Savior
before you wish for the shelter of the rocks. May you be a trophy
of his grace and rejoice in the day of his coming. Amen.
