God’s Upholding Hand
By J.P. Thackway
“The LORD upholdeth him with his hand” (Psalm 37:24)
These are precious words. They apply to each believer, whose steps are ordered by God and who is prone to falling. Concerning each one: “The LORD upholdeth him with his hand.”
Condescension
This reminds us of the condescension of our God. He who upholds the universe and governs the nations is a Father to His people. He regards them as His children and holds their hand. Of course we must understand this figuratively. “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24) — He does not have hands, or any bodily parts. The statement is an “anthropomorphism:” a term that attributes bodily parts and actions to God to illustrate His relationship to us. But do not let this language of accommodation weaken this truth. He does not literally hold our hand, but as a God to us, in all His gracious dealings, He actually does.
Bold
The Bible is quite bold in using language like this of God and us. Consider these verses:
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: l will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. ”
“For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”
“My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. ”
“If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there thy hand shall lead me, and right hand shall hold me.”
(Isaiah 41:10,13: Psalms 63:8; 139:9,10).
Weakness
These choice verses are not sentimental. They remind us of our chronic weakness and our Lord’s all-sufficiency. We face a wicked, seducing world, our corrupt flesh warring against us, and a tireless devil waiting his opportunity. Given these foes on three fronts, how likely it is that we shall go down! But these verses tell us that God is an almighty Father to us. And as that caring, protective One, He holds His child’s hand – particularly in times of danger, worry or upset. What better comfort could we wish for? God going with us, holding our hand, imparting His strength, keeping us from falling, leading us along in the way! Let us believe this and walk with God. Fanny Crosby captured this when she wrote:
Hold Thou my hand! So weak I am and helpless,
I dare not take one step without Thy aid;
Hold Thou my hand! For then, O loving Saviour,
No dread of ill shall make my soul afraid.
Challenging
As well as sublime comfort, this thought is also challenging. For it means that if God is holding our hand every moment of life – it means that we commit sin in that very place. We sin while God holds our hand! What a truth! To really understand that would be a most sanctifying experience. What wife would be unfaithful to a wonderful husband while he is holding her band? Was this not what helped Joseph, when assailed by temptation, to say, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). If we see the Lord holding our hand like this, sin becomes hateful and (seemingly) impossible.
Unbelief
However, it means that when we do sin, we have been guilty of unbelief. At the point of sinning, we had to deny to ourselves God’s existence. Otherwise, how could we bear to sin against a God so near and dear? Sinning believers are practical atheists. The root sin — disbelief – does away with God, then the way is open for the sin we are going for. This is why all our sin is such a compounded and heinous offence. It has ingratitude and rejection of God in it. And the potential for apostasy from God.
Those who were Christians only in profession began their fatal plunge just here. Repeated unbelief and sinning meant “an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12). King Saul, Judas, Demas, and a host of others have shipwrecked themselves this way. However, the Lord keeps true believers from following this through (Jeremiah 32:40), but none of us dares presume all is well if we are living carelessly and sinning with a high hand. Who is to say that today’s backslider will not be, after all, tomorrow’s apostate?
Preserving grace
There is, though, a better note on which to end. Notwithstanding all our backslidings, falls, failures and shortcomings, why are we still loving our gracious God in Christ and seeking to please Him? Is it not because of the truth of our verse: we fell into sinning, but we were not “utterly cast down” because the Lord “upheld us with His hand.” It is the truth of preserving grace: “Kept by the power of God through faith” (1 Peter 1:5). Asaph gratefully acknowledges this when, looking back over his personal crisis, he said: “Nevertheless, I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand” (Psalm 73:23). He was still in the presence of God, and God held on to him throughout and restored him!
The Lord has kept us, and He will keep us. Let us, then, use the psalmist’s prayer as we go forward with Him: “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually” (Psalm 119:117). And then we shall know Jude’s benediction: “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 24,25)