55Leaning on the Beloved

 

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Leaning on the Beloved

Who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?
Song of Solomon 8:5

To lean on the beloved is faith—faith that looks to Christ, as distinct from feeling that looks to itself. Faith looks to what the Lord has here done and said, as to justification and sanctification.

There are many cases where we have no express promise to pray for, and yet faith has room to work. The Canaanite woman had no such promise, nor did the centurion; they were both Gentiles, and their prayers were for temporal blessings. And yet in both cases Christ was happy with their trust in Him. These were the only cases where He said He had found great faith, and He gave them all they desired.

The Canaanite woman had heard of Christ and His ways, the kindness and compassion He showed to the multitudes. What He did for others, He could do for her daughter, and she determined to approach Him. Open rejection could not shake her from her faith in Him: 'Yes, Lord, for' -. The officer felt utterly unworthy, had very low thoughts of himself and very high thoughts of the person of Christ, and true thoughts of His heart: 'But say the word.' Faith believes nothing bad about God, but all good about Him. It leans on His grace, even when it cannot point to His faithfulness and say, 'Do as You have said.'

The Lord is pleased with faith that shows itself in this way. 'Do this for me because You are gracious' rather than 'because You are faithful.' David showed this faith in God when he preferred to fall into the hands of God rather than into the hands of men. Such trust in Him brings joy to Christ. Shall we not please Him by trusting in Him, whether we have a promise or not?

The Lord acknowledged the faith of these two, by, after testing it, doing what He had not promised. Similar cases are constantly occurring among ourselves. You pray for a friend who is sick or in trouble. You cannot go to Him and say that He has promised to remove these, and it may not be to His glory that they should be removed. You may look at the verse, 'Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do,' and yet you cannot point to a promise of the promised blessing, and therefore you cannot pray in faith that you have it. And yet faith has its place here. It looks to Him to give you what you want, and your prayer will be heard, and He will respect your faith in Him.