Leaning on Christ
Faith toward Christ has nothing whatsoever to do
with physical acts, physical posture, or physical movement. But, in the Word of
God, faith is often described symbolically by bodily actions.
Saving faith is looking to Christ, as the
perishing Israelites looked to the brazen serpent and were healed. The Saviour
declares: ‘Look to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God and
there is no other’ (Isaiah 45:22).
Faith is
also coming to Christ — for pardon, redemption, righteousness, and life,
acknowledging him as Lord and trusting him as Saviour: ‘He who comes to me
shall never hunger; and he who believes in me shall never thirst ... All that
the Father gives me will come to me; and the one who comes to me I will by no
means cast out’ (John 6:35-37).
Again,
faith is fleeing to Christ. (Hebrews 6:18; Proverbs 18:10). Realising
that were are under the wrath of God, and knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ is
God’s only appointed place of refuge for guilty sinners, we venture our souls
on the merits of his blood and righteousness.
And so
we could continue.
But in the Song of Solomon (8:5-7) we see faith
described in richer, more intimate terms: ‘Who is this coming up from the
wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved?’ Here is faith — intimate, confident,
loving, admiring, adoring faith — leaning on Christ. It pictures the church of
God and every true believer.
There is
no better description of true faith — as a cripple depends upon his crutches,
so the children of God lean on Christ.
We lean
on him because he has proven his love for us and his faithfulness to us —
because he is mighty and able to protect us. The more we trust him, the more
constant and real our fellowship with him will be.
The people of God are passing through a wilderness.
To the heavenly pilgrim, this world is a barren and desolate place.
Sometimes
our path leads through waters of affliction and seas of temptation. There are
dangers to be overcome, snares to avoid, and enemies to face.
The
world, the flesh, and the devil oppose us. The lust of the eye, the lust of the
flesh, and the pride of life make our journey troublesome.
Believers
must never forget that they are pilgrims. Our hearts are fixed upon Immanuel’s
land, not on the things of this world (Hebrews 11:8-10, 14-16; 1 John 2:15-17;
Colossians 3:1-3).
But the
bride is not alone. Her Beloved is with her. Every soul that journeys toward
heaven has Christ as its companion. He walks with us in tender, deeply felt
sympathy.
Whatever our temptations may be, the Lord Jesus has
been tempted in every point, just as we are. Whatever our afflictions, he has
been so afflicted. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
Our
Saviour is also with us in reality (Isaiah 43:2-5; 41:10). He is always at hand
(Philippians 4:5). This is not a dream, or a piece of fiction. It is fact, a
blessed, glorious fact.
And
though our pilgrimage sometimes seems long, we are passing through this
bleak land. ‘Who is this coming up from the wilderness?’ We shall not be
in this wilderness forever.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come:
Tis grace that brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
Do you know anything about this posture of faith?
About leaning on Christ? That is what faith is — leaning on Christ.
Faith
leans on him for all things and at all times. ‘Trust in the LORD with all your
heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge
him, and he shall direct your paths’ (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Trust
Christ; lean on him for all your salvation, for daily providence, and regarding
the future.
Every hour of everyday,
Every moment, and in every way,
I’m leaning on Jesus, he’s the Rock of
my soul,
I’m singing his praises wherever I go!
We lean on the person of Christ for acceptance with
God. We lean on the righteousness of Christ for justification. We lean on the
blood of Christ for pardon and cleansing.
We lean
on the fullness of Christ to supply all our needs, both physical and spiritual,
temporal and eternal (Lamentations 3:23-26).
The bride leans on her Beloved. Christ is
the Beloved. He is beloved of the Father, beloved of the angels, beloved of the
saints in heaven.
He is
the Beloved of every saved, believing soul. Is the Lord Jesus Christ your
Beloved? (1 Peter 2:7; 1 Corinthians 16:22).
In
prayer, we lean on Christ. In worship, we lean on Christ. In giving, we lean on
Christ. In praise, we lean on Christ. All our hope of acceptance with God is
Christ, so we lean on him.
Go ahead
and lean on him! He can bear all the weight of your soul.
This
word ‘leaning’ has many overtones. It suggests a picture of the bride casting
herself upon her Beloved, joining herself to her Beloved, associating with her
Beloved, cleaving to her Beloved, rejoicing in her Beloved, strengthening
herself in her Beloved, and clinging to her Beloved.
Secondly, faith not only leans but also remembers:
‘I awakened you under the apple tree. There your mother brought you forth’
(v.5).
Reading
only the English translation, we might assume that these words were spoken by
Christ to the church. But in the Hebrew the pronoun ‘you’ is masculine. So
again, the bride is speaking to her Beloved.
She
remembers the past. ‘I awakened you’.
That is
to say — I have wrestled with you in prayer and prevailed upon you to help and
comfort me (Psalm 34:1-6; 44:23). As the disciples awoke Christ to help them in
the storm, so the children of God ‘awaken’ him in prayer.
Not that
he is asleep. He is ready and willing to yield to our importunate cries of
faith. But Christ awaits our cry, and is found in the soul in the travail of
conviction and repentance — like one born of his mother’s travail into the
world. Believing sinners call on Christ in times of trouble — and awaken him to
help.
Thirdly, we see faith praying (v. 6) — ‘Set me as a
seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm’.
As she
makes her pilgrimage through this world, the bride prays that her union with
him might be confirmed, that her communion with him might be constant, and that
her fellowship with him might be intimate.
The
allusion may be to the High Priest who bore the names of the tribes of Israel
before the Lord on his shoulders and his breastplate (Exodus 28:9-12,15-30).
It is
enough for me that Christ should be my sin-atoning High Priest, that he carry
me upon his heart when he stands before God. Let me never lose the place that I
have in your heart.
Let your
love be secured to me, as a deed that is sealed cannot be broken (Ephesians
1:14; 4:30). Let me always be near and dear to you.
‘Set me
as a seal upon your arm’ — the High Priest also carried the names of God’s people
on his shoulders. Oh my Beloved, defend me and protect me with the right arm of
your power!
Let your
power be engaged for me as token of your love for me.
Fourthly, we see faith persevering (vv. 6-7) —
‘love is strong as death; jealousy as cruel as the grave: its flames are flames
of fire ...
‘Many
waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man would give
for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised’.
All true
faith is persevering faith. If ever a man comes to know and love the Lord Jesus
Christ, he will continue in both faith and love toward him.
Love for
Christ is the passion of the believing heart. His love for us was stronger than
death, and the love of a true believer for Christ is strong as death.
We are
jealous of anything that might draw us away from him. We are jealous of
ourselves, lest we should do anything to provoke him to leave us. Love for
Christ is the unquenchable passion of the believing heart, an all-consuming
fire (v.7).
Neither
the substance of this world nor the swelling floods of death could quench our
Saviour’s love for us (Romans 8:38-39). And when we truly love Christ, that
love is also indestructible.
Waters
of affliction cannot quench love — it only grows stronger and clings more
firmly to its object.
All the
riches of the world cannot buy love. Even life itself would be despised before
love could be sacrificed.
May the
Lord graciously grant us this holy faith and the love for Christ that rises
from it — a love that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
constraining us to lean on him alone.