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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Hebrews 12:12
Comments
Because of the weakness of the flesh and because of the hostility of the devil and his success in temptation, every believer has times of spiritual low. Not to justify these things or to make them sound inevitable, but through our fault and our weakness it is the case. Here is the way to deal with them, to recover from a period of spiritual declension.These words come from Isaiah chapter 35:3, ‘Lift up the hands which hang down.’ You could translate the Greek as ‘straighten up’. The idea is you are supposed to be on guard, poised and ready, but it is applied to the soul not the body. The hands and knees of the soul have become loose, floppy, and totally relaxed: this is a spiritual low. You are not ready for action; you are not participating. You could not possibly engage in the battle or the athletic endeavour, whichever is in mind. Knees are slack and not braced, and hands droop down. Of course, this is not something we say to people when they are ill, really under the weather. We would not say, ‘Pull yourself together, just get going’, and yet this is the way that we are addressed by the Spirit of God here. Is it harsh, is it cruel? No, actually it is immensely encouraging. The implication is that I can climb out at my spiritual low today, straight away. I can be given an immediate instruction. Change your mental and your spiritual posture and intentions, and come back and serve the Lord with all your heart and fight the enemy of souls and his temptations, and get back on track. This is not the way we think. We think, ‘If I am in a spiritual malaise, I cannot just take up my Bible and get on my knees and resolve before God to get on with the Christian life and honour and please him, to renew the fight against temptation. Surely I cannot do that overnight.’ But no, when it comes to spiritual malaise the word of God tells us, by the power of God, we can.
Application
Perhaps I have turned aside to foolish distractions. Perhaps it is that television again, taking too much time and eroding away all my vigour. Perhaps it is un-confessed sin. There is something there and you will not break with it and bring it before the Lord. We are in a battle to some extent with ourselves, to watch the old nature and to resist rising desires. We are in a war against Satan's suggestions that come from outside, sometimes questioning our sincerity and our salvation. We have a task to carry out to spread the name of Christ. We have to engage in intercession for souls the people who God has laid upon our hearts. We have to be watchful, and we have to have self-control, and we have to learn of God and worship him.
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