Genesis 49:18 I have waited for your salvation, O LORD. I. WHAT IS THIS SALVATION OF WHICH JACOB SPEAKS? As a dying man, he speaks of a salvation towards which he had looked, and for which he had waited until that hour. What that salvation really is, we now know by clear and unequivocal revelation; but the question before us is, what it was in Jacob's estimation, what it was in its actual results upon the dying believer of his day? The full knowledge of the salvation of the gospel gives victory over sin, and death, and the grave. 1. Salvation with him would be deliverance from the burden of the flesh. A mind so spiritual as his, and so habituated to intercourse with the great Father of spirits, could not but discriminate between the immortal spirit and the perishable tenement in which it was confined. He had long experienced the sorrows incident to this imperfect state. The infirmities of age had long been stealing upon him. 2. The salvation for which he looked would be deliverance from sin. Sin was a permanent evil, with which, in some form or other, he had to contend in every period of his life. In youth, maturity, and age, it had still been, in one way or other, the cause of his anxiety. He had, however, attained by faith to the hope of the remission of sin. He leaned upon "the Angel that redeemed him from all evil." The system of grace, however fully or scantily revealed, was to him a sufficient ground of hope and practical comfort in the house of his pilgrimage. 3. Jacob would include also in this salvation the high and permanent felicities of an eternal existence. I have waited all the days of my appointed time until my change come. And now, O Lord, fulfil all that I have been led to hope for, and crown this faint and failing spirit with immortal strength, and blessedness, and perfection. 4. Jacob evidently implied, in this strong expression of reliance upon God, the expectation of deliverance from the evils of death itself. The act of dissolution is an event from which human nature shrinks. It is unnatural. It is the consequence of sin. But, Lord, I have waited for Thy salvation. I have looked for complete deliverance. Let my Shepherd and my Guide be with me in the shadowy valley. O God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O merciful Saviour, Thou most worthy Judge Eternal, suffer me not, at my last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from Thee. Here, then, we have a view of the salvation for which Jacob waited. II. WHAT ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND BY JACOB HAVING WAITED FOR THIS SALVATION? He refers to the habit of his previous life, to the whole tenor of his course. "This has been the grand object of my existence. This is the thing for which I have sought." 1. The expression implies that he had believed the truth of this salvation; but of this we need say nothing, for every step of his life exhibits his willing acceptance of the promise of deliverance, and his perfect satisfaction with the covenant of mercy. 2. He had sought for this salvation in the zealous use of the means of grace, in the way of holy and prayerful obedience. 3. He had expected this salvation with increasing affection. It became more and more the object of endeared attachment. To wait, implies the intense occupation of the soul. 4. That Jacob waited implies that he was patient. A waiting spirit is a patient and submissive one. His is not a petulant wish, in a moment of dissatisfaction, to depart; but a calm and even energy of soul bearing towards immortality.Lessons: 1. Be thankful that, in a rebellious and lost world, the benevolence and the wisdom of God provided, even in the earlier stages of our history, a means of redemption so ample and effective, and left on an infallible record such bright examples for our encouragement and comfort. Let us thank God, and take courage. 2. Again, be humbled when you compare the faith of earlier days with ours in days so rich in evangelical privilege. 3. Lastly, be diligent, then, that you may be found of God in peace, without spot and blameless. (E. Craig.) Parallel Verses KJV: I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. |
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