THE BARNABAS LINK
2 - PSALM 46
` . . .. that a man be found faithful.'
Whilst we are aware that language as a living means of communication constantly changes as it reflects the character of a particular age, when dealing with spiritual matters we often need to refer back to an earlier age where words used seemed to have a deeper meaning. No doubt psychologists could write reams about such matters as it is inherrent when dealing with important matters to look back to a past age seen not only in the usage of words but also in the realm of music - the perceived gulf between modern and classical music being emphasized in the latter case by formal dressing for special occasions in the mode of a past age. We feel therefore that we are on sound emotional ground when we use the seemingly archaic words of the King James Version of the Bible on occasions when we wish to emphasize a particular meaning in Scripture.

Such an occasion arises in the use of the title and the words surrounding it, which come from the Apostle Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians. Chapter 4 opens with these words:

" Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. "

In order to gain a deeper understanding of these words of Paul they need to be placed within the context of `pre and post' chapters of this Letter, and we see that Paul was emphasizing his apostolic authority and not merely speaking as a servant, as we understand that word. Paul, with all the knowledge of his God-given authority, speaks out boldly against the activities found in the Corinthian Church - `Let a man so account of us, as of ministers of Christ'. We find in the more modern translations that the word `ministers' has been recorded as `servants', but this weakens the meaning through the contemporary perception of the word which has come to mean submissive, lesser mortals. However the word `ministers' (or servants) is translated from a Greek word with a meaning of `an under oarsman' . . a subordinate rower, yet one of a team under authority'. Therefore the importance of the use of this particular word is clearly stated: Paul is an under rower to Christ Jesus as His servant, to whom has been entrusted, as a steward, the mysteries of God!

Through the excellence of years of Scriptural teaching available to the Body of Christ the meaning of the word `mystery' is well-known, which is `the sharing of the deep councils of a king with his most intimate courtiers'. And so here in these opening words of chapter 4 Paul is informing the Corinthians that the mysteries of his King had been entrusted to him as a servant of Christ Jesus and that he must, as a steward, be found faithful to his King in his dealings with the King's other subjects. Again remembering our opening comment regarding the contemporary usage of words in their setting in order for the words to be `comfortable' to the reader, we would pick up the word translated as `steward'. Our present-day cultural use of the word suggests a person of lowly position, but a quick look into our trusty dictionary reveals a `steward' to be `a person entrusted with the management of another's property'. It is with this background that we can understand more fully the authority by which Paul spoke - he knew that the mysteries of God had been entrusted to him as a steward of another's property, and he spoke to all who acknowledged that Person as Lord and Saviour. We too, who follow on from Paul, need to grasp that same sense of the authority of God's Word, now entrusted to us as stewards of another Person's property, the proclamation of the `mysteries of God'! How that would transform the life of the Church where all too often the Word expounded is for our ease and comfort - a tolerant people living in an intolerant world if we spoke as `a man found faithful' to that which is entrusted to us as stewards of the mysteries of God!

With the thought in mind of `a steward entrusted with another Person's property' we turn to Psalm 46. We find this Psalm placed in the Second Book of Psalms, which corresponds to the principle message of the Second Book of Torah, the Book of Exodus, which speaks clearly of a cry for deliverance and of the faithfulness of God in His provision of salvation. The opening words record that it is a Song, translated from the Hebrew word `Shir', and said to have been written as a Song celebrating Hezekiah's defence of Jerusalem against the siege of the Assyrian armies - a long protracted time of standing firm against powerful enemies because Hezekiah knew that what had been entrusted to him would stand if he stood firm and proved to be faithful in his stewardship over God's City, Jerusalem. We pick up this sense in the opening words of this Psalm:

"God is our help and strength,
a very present help in trouble. "
These words are not merely the words of defiance against a naturally superior enemy; they are words of complete security because what we have is entrusted to us by the Superior Person of God Himself, our refuge and strength! Because of this Hezekiah could say with certainty, `Therefore we will not fear', no matter what the danger, even through the most appalling physical danger where even the natural elements seek to overcome us, because:

"There is a river whose streams make glad the City of God,
the Holy Place wherein the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall . . . . " (v4-5)
Within the walls of Jerusalem was the Temple, wherein was the manifest Presence of God seated on the Chariot Throne between the mighty cherubim. The people knew it, and Hezekiah experienced it every year during the Feast of Tabernacles - a time of great rejoicing when the king, an embodiment of the Most High, was seated on the Throne overshadowed by the mighty cherubim. Hezekiah too understood the mystery, the intimate Council of God. He knew that what had been entrusted to him as a steward was of God and not of man - and he was called to be faithful. The roaring waters of the world may well be fearsome in their foaming, but in God's Temple, wherein He dwells, there is a river whose streams make glad the City of God . . God is within her and she will not fall. God entrusts the people to stand firm, to be found faithful. It is not a loud aggressive stance that is required, only the authority of a steward who is asked to be found faithful in what has been entrusted to him. At the end of verse 7 comes the entreaty `Selah':

"The LORD of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. "
Here the Psalmist is not speaking encouragement to the strong people of God - those who can look beyond the physical danger and not be afraid. Here He is the God of Jacob (the man of flesh) with all the carnality of the flesh when faced with danger: `Do not fear, fearful, fleshly Jacob. Stop . . pause . . consider not the property entrusted to you but the God who has entrusted it to you, and be found faithful'. The `Selah' not only calls for a pause to consider whom He is, but to remember all that He has done in the natural life of His Covenanted people. `Come and see . . recall . . remember .. . look about you and:

"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth. "
The Psalmist ends with another Selah, following a cry of knowledge of the faithfulness of God to outwork His covenanted purpose in the midst of what appears to be an overwhelming force and danger:

"The LORD of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. "
The Psalm is then entrusted to the Chief Musician of the Temple music that he might bring it out whenever similar seemingly overwhelming forces came against the City of God in order to remind the people of this, for as Paul writes in his Second Letter to the Corinthians:

" He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us . . . " (2 Corinthians 1:10)

In this Dispensational Age of the Church, the Temple setting is the Body of Christ - God's manifest Presence by the work of the Holy Spirit - and throughout his letters Paul constantly draws on the Temple imagery: The indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit uplifting and encouraging the fleshy `Jacobs' of today, who as living stones are being built into a Holy Temple wherein He dwells by His Spirit. Our Chief Musician is entrusted with the Word of God, to be brought out to remind us that we have a Deliverer Whose work is complete, and that whenever seemingly overwhelming dangers harrass us we need to `be still and know that I am God'! He will be exalted in and through our dangers as surely as King Hezekiah was:

"The LORD of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. "
The Apostle Paul knew the faithfulness of his God and was able to stand in that faithfulness when speaking to the Corinthian Church all that was required of him - and which is still required of us today in what we see around us in the world and in the Church for:
" it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. "

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