THE DESIRE OF THE LORD’S HEART
Jim T Brown
Psalm 21: 2
This verse was before me on Lord’s day. It is very precious to think of the desires of the heart of the Lord Jesus. How wonderful that He has been given His every desire! What a perfect man He is in every respect.
We read of the mind “which was also in Christ Jesus”, that lowly mind, Phil 2: 5. King Solomon could speak of “the cedar-tree that is on Lebanon”, which suggests the dignity of Jesus, but he also spoke of “the hyssop that springs out of the wall”, which conveys the lowliness of Jesus in all His movements, 1 Kings 4: 33. See Him at Sychar’s well, “wearied with the way he had come” (John 4: 6); here He was - the hyssop that springs out of the wall. Even at the cross, in the midst of His sufferings, He could consider the plea of the malefactor, saying to him, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”, Luke 23: 43.
Then the Scriptures refer to the holy soul of Jesus. His soul was made an offering for sin, Isaiah 53: 10. His soul became “very sorrowful even unto death” in Gethsemane, Matt 26: 38. Isaiah says, “he hath poured out his soul unto death ... and made intercession for the transgressors, chap 53: 12. What intensity of feeling is there.
But there is something particularly appealing about the heart of Jesus, and the desires that were in it. If the mind “which was in Christ Jesus” brings out that every thought of His was perfectly consistent with His God and Father’s will and, if His soul suggests a depth of feeling, the heart seems to suggest a perfection of affection, which underlay all His desires. The Lord Jesus, on that passover night in Luke’s gospel, said, “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer”, chap 22: 15. There could never have been a passover like that. No doubt it had been celebrated, even perhaps by the disciples before they became associated with Jesus, as a kind of ritual, or as a yearly event; but this passover was supremely different. The sacrificial Lamb was there in their midst - “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”, John 1: 29. As we know, when the lamb was sacrificed, Moses added the fact that the households were to take a bunch of hyssop, bringing out the lowly character of that blessed Sin-Bearer, the One who was made a sacrifice for sin as bearing the judgment of God, Exod 12: 22. The lamb was not to be boiled; it was to be roast with fire (v 9), emphasising the severity of the judgment Jesus bore, and then the blood was taken from the basin and smeared on the door-posts and the lintel. How affecting to ponder the desire in the heart of the Lord Jesus to eat the passover with His own on that auspicious occasion..
In John 17, the Lord Jesus says, “I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world”, v 24. What a request from the lips of the Lord Jesus to His Father at the golden altar! It will not be withholden, but eternally fulfilled. How blessed that the Lord Jesus should have such a desire in His heart that men, who have been secured by His precious work, should be capacitated to see the distinctive glory that the Father has given Him. We cannot, of course, share or compass that glory, only behold it. Another has said that “the saints are brought to the edge of abstract Deity” (JT vol 48 p178), that glory involving a link between the Lord Jesus in manhood and what He is in Deity, such a One being loved “before the foundation of the world”.
Then, too, how glorious that the assembly is seen as the object of Christ’s desires. Psalm 45 says, “the king will desire thy beauty”, v 11). Applying this, the Lord Jesus desires the beauty of the assembly. He has secured her at such infinite cost; He laid down His life for her; He sold all whatever He had in order to acquire her for Himself, Matt 13: 46. The spouse says,
I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is toward me.
(Song of Songs 7: 10)
It is affecting to reflect on the preciousness of the assembly to the Lord Jesus and His longings for that vessel, which will satisfy His heart eternally. She is His counterpart, a creature vessel yet so formed as to be His fulness, Eph 1: 22.
What richness there is in these words, “and hast not withholden the request of his lips.” What holy conversations there must have been between the Father and the Son in His pathway here: His longings, deep affections, desires, made known to the Father in these blessed communications as He unfolded what was in His heart. The Father would understand them completely because they were in full consonance with what He desired for His Son. So every desire of His is fully met. In Gethsemane, of course, He said, “My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me”, Matt 26: 39. That cup could never pass from Him, if we were to come into blessing and the assembly be secured for His pleasure eternally and thus, in perfect obedience to His Father’s will, He says, “not my will, but thine by done”, Luke 22: 42. He took that cup unreservedly from His Father’s hands, and drank it to its last dark drop. His desire was ever to do His Father’s will. Our verse concludes with “Selah”, as if we are urged to pause in consideration of this affecting fact, that every desire of the heart of the Lord Jesus has been fully met, and that for all eternity.
But this brings a challenge to our own hearts as to what our desires are. Spiritual formation in us will flow as our desires deepen. A fine exercise it is to seek a greater desire for development in these things so gratifying to the heart of Christ and to be more substantial contributors to the things which are precious to Him.
We find in the New Testament things which we are to desire. Some of them might not appear very great, but they can yield much. So Paul says, “in the assembly I desire that I may speak five words with my understanding”, 1 Cor. 14: 19. Just five words, but it is “with my understanding”. We often misquote by saying ‘with the understanding’, but it is “with my understanding”. That surely is the product of communion with divine Persons, and of earnest contemplation. In this way, there is opportunity to convey through these five words some impression of the Lord Jesus or indeed His mind for His people at that particular moment. Paul says that “we have the mind of Christ”, 1 Cor 2 16. Just five words might be used to convey what is necessary and applicable for the testimony at that juncture.
The numeral five is very interesting. David took five smooth stones from the brook: smooth stones, stones over which the water had flowed to make them serviceable, 1 Sam 17: 40. Only one was selected for the slaying of Goliath: only one was necessary for that purpose; just one smooth stone. It was not a boulder; nothing outwardly large. “The word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division … of joints and marrow”, Heb 4: 12. That is like one of the stones - conveying the word for the moment that will secure the divine end
Then there was the young lad with the five barley loaves and two small fishes (John 6: 9), some seemingly little impression of Christ risen and glorified, having conquered the power of death. Five loaves. Just someone, maybe a young person, may be able to bring into the reading meeting or any other meeting a simple impression. What were these five loaves able to do? Five thousand souls were fed, and there were taken up afterwards twelve hand baskets of fragments left over, v 13. What is outwardly small can edify and build up the spiritual constitution of the saints. We can be encouraged by that. Let us each, old and young, have such desires.
Well, how fine to see that the desires of Christ’s heart have been met. May it inspire in us an answering response of desire and affection towards the One who can satisfy our every longing. “For he hath satisfied the longing soul”, Ps 107: 9. The Lord Jesus is able for that; that is His desire. Let His desires for the prosperity of the assembly be our desires too.
For His Name’s sake.
Word in a Meeting for Ministry, Edinburgh
4th December 2018