By Dr. Jack
Hyles
A BROOK IN THE
WAY
"The Lord
said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy
footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou
in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: Thou hast the
dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest
for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall
strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen,
He shall fill the places with dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many
countries. he shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall He lift up
the head." Psalm 110
This Psalm
looks forward to the coming of Christ in Bethlehem. The Psalmist is projecting
his vision to the first coming of Jesus, not the second coming, although that
is included, I think. The basic outlook is toward the coming of Christ for the
first time. It pictures the week of suffering that is called sometimes the
Passion Week. (This is found in Psalm 109, too). It pictures the week of
suffering from the time that He set His face toward Jerusalem to be crucified,
buried and then to rise from the dead. It is pictured as a journey. He was
going for the last time. Oh, how he must have suffered as He realized that His
days were numbered! Then came the awful time of suffering in Gethsemane, when
the perspiration fell like drops of blood from His brow. Then as He went on to
Caiaphas' court where He was tried in a mock trial, and on to Pilate, from
Pilate on to Herod, then back to Pilate. There was the scourging with the
cat-o'-nine-tails, a long whip with nine different prongs on it. He was hit 39
times across the back. Isaiah 52:14 says that He was beaten so much that you
could not tell that He was a human being. Following that, the cross was placed
upon Him and He was led up to Calvary. There was the crucifixion, and there was
the shame and suffering on the cross, the nakedness and the dogs licking His
wounds, the back-handing and the plucking of His beard, the mocking, the making
fun of Him as a king, the crown of thorns on His head, and the other events
that tell of the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this awful
time of suffering, we find an unusual statement, "He shall drink of the
brook in the way." This brook symbolizes a refreshing drink of water. That
brook is a stream that has fresh water from which one need not fear to take a
drink.
This Psalm is
likened to a king in battle. There is a king leading his forces. the day is
hot. The desert is arid and dry, and the king comes to a place where there is a
refreshing brook. He says, "There is a brook in the way". the king
stops on a hot day, and gets the refreshment of the brook.
Now what is
the "brook in the way" of Christ? This brook is a little stream that
runs across the week of suffering in the life of Jesus Christ. Get the picture,
very carefully, and you will find a beautiful truth. Here is Jesus in His week
of suffering. It is not a time to laugh. There is no enjoyment as far as we can
see. Everything is dark and gloomy, the suffering of shame, the suffering of
the crown of thorns, the suffering of the agonies of the cross. It is a week we
call "a week of passion". Yet trickling across that week of passion,
like a brook in the way, something refreshed Him. Something delighted Jesus in
that week of suffering, and it is called, "a brook in the way". Like
a fresh stream would bring refreshment to a weary traveler, there was something
trickling across the path of Jesus, in the darkest week of His life, so that it
was like a "brook in the way".
What was this
refreshing oasis over which Jesus crossed, that gave him refreshment like a
brook in the way? Was it the home of Mary and Martha, where He spent His last
night before being tried? Was it the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus where
they served Him, worshipped Him, cooked for Him, and loved Him? Was that the
oasis? I do not know. maybe it was. Maybe this brook in the way, this little
refreshing stream of water, this stream that trickled across the path of Jesus,
was the wonderful time spent with Mary and Martha and Lazarus in their home. I
do not know.
What was this
refreshing oasis? What was that refreshing brook in the way? was it the love of
Mary Magdalene, that woman whose body had been possessed of seven devils, out
of which Jesus had cast them? She, no doubt, loved Him more than anybody on the
face of the earth. She stood with Him when all others had forsaken Him. She
stood beside the sepulcher when no one else did. She was there first in the
morning when all others had fled. Was the love of Mary Magdalene the brook in
the way?
What was the
refreshing oasis that crossed the path of our Lord through the week of
suffering? Was it the thief who cried for mercy by saying, "Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom"?
Jesus replied,
"Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise".
Was not Jesus
dying that sinners might be saved? Was not this the purpose for which he came
into the world? Even now, in his death, there cries a thief, "Lord, don't
forget me. Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Was this the
brook in the way? Maybe it was.
Was it the
women who stayed until the end? Peter was out cursing in the garden. Judas had
betrayed him with a kiss on his brow. The disciples had forsaken him and fled
Thank God, a little handful of women stood beside the cross. They tried to give
him something to help his sufferings, and they did give their loyalty. Was this
the brook in the way? I do not know.
The Bible does
not tell us what it was. We do not know exactly what it was, but we do know
there was something in the week of suffering of Jesus Christ that was a
refreshing to Him as a spring would be to a weary traveler going across a
desert. It was a brook in the way. I do not know what it was, and I shall not
advance to you what I think it was, but I would like to suggest two thoughts to
you.
I. EVERY
CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE A BROOK IN THE WAY
So many times
in my life I have met such brooks. Have you in your life been withered down
with your load of heartaches and problems? Have you thought life was not worth
living? Have you wondered if you could make the day? Then suddenly in a
wonderful way, God sent to you a person who was a brook in the way. Maybe a
smile when no one else was smiling, maybe a pat on the back when no one else
would give it, maybe an encouraging word when no one else could quite give an
encouraging word, was to you like a brook in the way. Don't you think it would
be a wonderful thing to help the weary traveler, help carry his load with a pat
on the back, a smile, or an "I love you", or maybe a helping hand?
You and I should be a brook in the way for others.
I was thinking
last night of Tommy Ford. He was one of my deacons in the country church in
east Texas. He was saved shortly after I became pastor of the little country
church. I baptized Tommy shortly after I got there. What a wonderful man! What
a sweet wife! WHat a fine family! What a brook in the way! We had some problems
there in the church. Some of the people did not think I was old enough to pastor
a church. Through many heartaches Tommy and his family were a brook in the way.
When I was
pastoring in Garland, one night after we had had a little problem which no one
knew much about, Jack Barber (God bless him) came to me and said,
"Preacher, come to our house and have refreshments after the
service". We did. (He did not know about the problem). The next time we
had a problem, again Jack did not know about it, but God had a way of telling
him to say "Preacher, come to our house tonight for refreshment." We
would. In the six years and eight months that I was Pastor there, we ate in the
Barber home only a half dozen times, but every time it was a time we were
discouraged and needed help the most. He was a brook in the way.
Everybody is
having a difficult time. There ought to be some brooks. There ought to be some
people to cheer others on the way. There ought to be some folks who are brooks
in the way. Everybody is having a tough time. Everybody is having problems.
Nobody needs your insults. Nobody needs your crabby disposition. Nobody needs
your slander. everybody is having a tough time; everybody has fear of
Communism; everybody is afraid of the atomic bomb; everybody is afraid about
heart attacks; and everybody is afraid about cancer; everybody is concerned
about Vietnam; everybody has a heat that is heavy and broken. Let's see to it
that every one of us is a brook in the way, to encourage people in a time of
suffering and sorrow.
II. HAVE A
BROOK IN THE WAY
What do you
mean, Preacher? I mean this: You should have a brook in the way. I know you are
having it rough. I know you have troubles and problems, difficulties and
heartaches. I know that, but have a brook in the way.
Now you say,
"Preacher, what is the 'brook in the way' for me?" One brook in the
way is the church. Every church ought to be a brook in the way. What do I mean
by that? I mean that I want the First Baptist Church in Hammond to be the kind
of a church that can be a brook in the way to all who attend. When you walk in
the doors of this church, I want you to feel refreshed. The church is a brook
in the way.
There are
folks here this morning whose hearts are heavy and broken and who are
discouraged and lonely. There ought to be a brook in the way as we stand to
read the Scripture, hear announcements, preach, fellowship, and sing.
People
sometimes come to our church and they say, "Pastor, you don't have morning
worship service".
I say,
"Yes, we do. We just do not worship like you do. We have a brook in the
way, not a stagnant stream. We do not have a cesspool We want to have something
you can drink and be refreshed." When you come to First Baptist Church of
Hammond, we want you to have a place where you can lay your burdens down for
awhile and rejoice that we serve a living Saviour! There are people here this
morning that are sick, I mean, very sick. They do not know how long they will
live. They wonder if this will be the last Christmas they will see. I say,
"Oh, my God, let the First Baptist Church be a brook in their way. In their
time of suffering, may there appear a refreshing stream across their path like
what trickled across the path of our Lord jesus Christ." may the Church
service this morning be a refreshing brook in your path like a refreshment in a
dreary world or an oasis for a traveler on a desert. may this be a brook in the
way.
There is a
family this morning in this service whose boy perhaps yesterday landed in
Vietnam. He came by my office this last week to tell me good-bye. He is one of
our own boys. We knelt and prayed in my office and asked God to watch over him.
Last Sunday he sat in this service. His parents, I am sure, are here. Their
hearts are heavy. Oh, let us be a brook in the way to people like that. In a
time of suffering, when your heart is the heaviest, may it always be that when
you come to First Baptist Church, there will be that lilt, delight, joy and
thrill that will make the service refreshing, not some kind of funeral where
you come feeling bad and you go away feeling worse.
There are
people in this service this morning who will face a Christmas Day for the first
time without a father. There are people in this service who will face Christmas
without a husband for the first time in years. There are people this morning
who will face Christmas Day without a delight or joy, but with a dread because
someone is gone. They have burdens and heartaches. God has placed across the
path a place like this where they can come and feel the refreshment of the
brook in the way.
There are
people this morning in this service who will be beaten when they get home. As
the choir sings, as we have the Lord's Supper, and as I try to preach, may this
service be to you a brook in the way.
That is one
reason why I put a little humor in my sermons. I do not think there is anything
wrong with it. I think God is pleased. I do not think it ought to be
inappropriate or obnoxious, but I certainly think that a little laughter here
and there causes God to be pleased when His people, with burdens, heartaches,
sorrows and loads to carry, have a little trickling brook in the way over which
to cross, every Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday night.
There are
folks who have had loved ones die. They need a brook in the way. I have walked
in this pulpit time and time again when I was discouraged I could hardly face
the service or preach a sermon. As I stood to preach, the service was to me as
a brook in the way. Before I got through preaching, I was refreshed I felt
better. Why? There was a brook in the way. How I thank God for this church! How
I thank God for this place where we can come with our burdens and leave them!
You can forget them for awhile, rejoice for awhile, "Hallelujah" for
awhile and praise the Lord for awhile. A brook in the way.
As you have
your burdens, problems, heartaches, sorrows and bereavement, I hope that this
can always be a place where you can come an feel like, "There is a drink
of water here".
I trust that
hungry hearts that come to First Baptist can find a brook in the way. I trust
that people who lay loved ones in the grave will look forward to Sunday where
there is a brook in the way. I hope that those of you whose boy is in Vietnam
can come to church and find a brook in the way. I hope you aged people who live
alone find here a brook in the way. What this old world needs this morning is a
brook in the way!
Now wait a
minute. A brook is to carry water. Jesus said, "I am the living
water". Are you thirsty this morning? Are you thirsty for something this
morning that you have not found? You are thirsting for Christ and you do not
know it. Have you sought peace in the world? You will not find it there. You
are thirsting for Christ and do not know it, for He is the living Water! He is
that refreshing brook. No one has ever come to Christ and been disappointed
because Christ has always quenched everybody's thirst. "Ho, everyone that
thirsteth, come ye to the water", said God in Isaiah 55:1. In Revelation
22:17 we find, "And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life
freely". If you are thirsting for something in life, come to Christ and
find in him a brook in the way.
If you would
take Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you would find that he is your brook in the
way. He is that refreshment in the hour of trial. He is that load carrier in
times of a heavy load. He is that burden bearer in times of burdens. He is that
comforter in time so sorrow and bereavement. He is a brook in the way.
May I say this
morning, be a brook in the way.
Look all
around you,
Find someone
in need,
Help somebody
today.
Though it be a
little,
A neighborly
deed,
Help somebody
today.
Help somebody
today,
Somebody along
life's way.
Let sorrow be
ended,
The friendless
befriended,
Oh, help
somebody today!
Be that little brook that crosses the path of sorrow. Then find in your
church a brook in the way. Then if you are not saved, turn your eyes upon
Jesus. Put your faith in Jesus, and find in him a brook in the way.