"Infelicissimus"

by DARKE, R. | Category: General | Dec 1957

People in days gone by used this word to describe their miserable condition. It means "most unhappy." It was once placed on the tombstone of a great philosopher at his own request, and this can easily be understood, for the man lived and died without Christ. But "infelicissimus" should never be used of a child of God, though sad to say it can be. As believers on the Lord Jesus Christ we cannot lose our salvation. " I give unto them (My sheep) eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My band" (John 10.28) is sufficient proof of this, for the guarantee was given by the Lord Himself.

"Once in Him in Him for ever,

Thus the eternal covenant stands."

But we can lose the joy of our salvation. This can happen to the best of saved persons; to young or old. It happened to David, and caused him to cry out to the Lord.

"Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation: and uphold me with a free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee " (Psalm 51.12, 13).

What had happened to the man after God's heart? He had sinned. When he should have been out fighting the battles of the LORD he remained at home. Temptation overtook him. He not only took another man's wife, but also ruthlessly planned the man's death (see [2 Samuel 11). David tried to live with this sin on his conscience, but it was impossible. His spiritual strength would ebb away day by day. He was like the eagle that swooped to the earth to gather its prey, and a serpent buried its fangs into the bird's body. It held on grimly as the giant bird rose as before to greet heights in the heavens, but the eagle gradually found its strength failing. It found it could not rise as high as it had done before ; the more it tried the less it succeeded and soon it found itself descending unwillingly to the earth to die from the enemy's poison. David could not rise to any spiritual heights while sin lurked in his bosom. Neither can I nor you. It will keep us earthbound spiritually as it did David. He was no longer able to serve the LORD with "clean hands, and a pure heart," and a soul not lifted up unto vanity (Psalm 24.4). He confessed to God,

"My sin is ever before me. Against Thee, and Thee only have I sinned" (Psalm 51.8, 4).

David had lost the joy of his salvation. He was "infelicissimus." What was the way back? How could David know restoration? It was by way of confession, repentance, and cleansing. Read again Psalm 51.

For I acknowledge my transgressions" (verse 8).

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:

Wash me, And I shall be 'whiter than snow" (verse 7).

"Create in me a clean heart, 0 God; and renew a right spirit within me " (verse 10).

What agony of soul this man of God went through after the joy of God's salvation had departed from him because of sin! What a warning to us as young men and women of God today! For how easy it is for sin to rob us of our joy in the Lord, and to nullify our service for Him! There are so many things that can creep in to bring this about, such as doubtful associations, undesirable literature, unkind remarks about our brethren and sisters, unclean thoughts, jealousies. Encouraging these things in our lives is just like the beginning of David's mistake in "staying at home," when he should be fighting the battles of the Lord. " Our warfare," says the apostle Paul, " is against ... the world rulers of this darkness ... against the spiritual hosts of wickedness ... " (Ephesians 6. 10-20). Let us put on the whole armour of God and be worthy soldiers of the Lord Jesus; let us rejoice fully in the knowledge of His wonderful salvation; let us be happy in His service, that the words spoken by the Queen of Sheba to Solomon might als6 apply to us as servants of the Lord Jesus,

"Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants" (1 Kings 10.8).

DARKE, R. | Dec 1957
General