Whilst the preceding chapter, then, brings in Christ as pro-
claimincj the great work of deliverance for which He is anointed
of God, the following chapter presents Him as treading the
winepress alone, which is a symbol of the future judgment by
the glorified Saviour. Between these two prophecies of the
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464 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
earthly life and of the still future judicial energy, this chapter of our text lies, referring, as I take it, to the period between these two — that is, to all the ages of the Church's development on earth. For these Christ here promises His continual activity, and His continual bestowment of grace to His servants who watch the walls of His Jerusalem.^
THE LORD'S REMEMBRANCERS. "Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers."
It is hardly possible not to linger a little over this curious
appellation, "The Lord's remembrancers," given in the margin
of the Authorized Version and in the text of the Eevised.
Several interpretations of it have been suggested. The original
word itself has both the ordinary meaning of one who reminds
another, and a technical meaning (2 Sam. xx. 24) akin to,
though not identical with, that of the English word. By some
it is applied to the angels, who are also supposed to be the
" watchmen " upon the walls, referred to in the preceding dause.
But such an explanation lifts the passage entirely out of the
sphere of human privilege and duty, and introduces into it
allusions to matters about which very little is known. There
may be in it a special reference to prophets, whose functions
would naturally include that of leading the people in their
supplications to God, as well as that of warning them of danger
and inciting them to effort. But there is no need to confine
the term to officials of any kind. The entire New Testament is
a sufficient authority for applying it to all true Christians.
IT If indeed there be truth in the tradition, in Judaism itself it was recognised in part of the sacrificial ritual that every man could be and ought to be the Lord's remembrancer. The forty- fourth Psalm describes some of the marvellous things done by Jehovah for Israel in the past, and the forsaken and oppressed condition of Israel in the present ; and one of its closing verses is said to have been regularly sung for long in the Temple worship — the one in which Jehovah's remembrancers, after having reminded Him of their need and of His promised help, caU upon Him:
' A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester, 2nd series, p. 19.
ISAIAH ^65
" Awake, why sleepest thou, 0 Lord ? Arise, casfc us not off for ever." John Hyrcanus is reported to have abolished that custom, in spleen at the refusal of the Pharisees to let him reign in peace ; or, possibly, according to a more charitable conjecture, under the feeling that the idea of awakening and reminding Jehovah involves a defect of faith. The psalm, however, is entirely true to human nature. For when men are tempted to imagine themselves forsaken of God and begirt inextricably by perils, it is an immense stimulus and encouragement of faith to remind God of their needs and of His promises, of their present reliance upon Him, and even (for Scripture warrants it elsewhere) of the way in which His faithfulness and honour are concerned in their protection and deliverance.^
1[ The remembrancer's priestly office belongs to every member of Christ's priestly kingdom, the lowest and least of whom has the privilege of unrestrained entry into God's presence-chamber and the power of blessing the world by faithful prayer. What should we think of a citizen in a beleagured city, who saw the enemy mounting the very ramparts, and gave no alarm because that was the sentry's business ? In such extremity every man is a soldier, and women and children can at least keep watch and raise shrill shouts of warning. The gifts then here promised, and the duties that flow from them, are not the prerogatives or the tasks of any class or order, but the heritage and the burden of the Lord to every member of the Church.
1. How distinctly these words of our text define the region within which our prayers should ever move, and the limits which bound their efficacy ! They remind God. Then the truest prayer is that which bases itself on God's uttered will, and the desires which are born of our own fancies or heated enthusiasms have no power with Him. The prayer that prevails is a reflected promise. Our office in prayer is but to receive on our hearts the bright rays of His word, and to flash them back from the polished surface to the heaven from whence they came.
1 It is said that Philip of Macedon, lest he should be unduly exalted by his earthly greatness, or puffed up by the adulation of his subjects, instructed certain of his officers every morning as he woke to whisper in his ear, " Eemember, sire, you are but a man." They were his remembrancers, keeping in his mind what he knew well but chose to be reminded of continually.
2. This quaint word, " remembrancer," leads you to expect
^ R. W. Moss, The Discipline of the Soul, p. 160, 30