In 1897 in Plymouth, England, a young English woman died and was buried in the place of her birth yet her name rings on across the century. The name of Edith Gilling Cherry (1872-97) features in our modern hymn books. The hymn for which she is best remembered was in the top 100 of a write-in poll taken by the television programme “Praise Be” (TV 1) in 2003. A total of 3111 votes were recorded for 603 different hymns and “We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender” was in joint 96th place.
The reason for this hymn spanning one hundred years is because of a sad story associated with it. In January 1956, five missionaries sang it before entering the Ecuadorian jungle to bring the Gospel to the Auca Indians. Their names were Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Jim Elliott, Roger Yoderian, and Peter Fleming. After the men reached the Aucas, the Indians murdered them on the Curaray River.
One of the best known of the five martyrs was Jim Elliot. A number of his sayings are still quoted (e.g., “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose”). Elliot’s wife Elisabeth went on to considerable fame as an author and radio broadcaster.
Her book Through the Gates of Splendour describes the encounter with the Aucas; its title comes from a line in the final verse of this hymn.
We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know:
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”
We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.
When passing through the gates of pearly splendour,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.
On the morning of what was to be their final departure the group sang “We rest on Thee” to the stirring tune “Finlandia” and from that moment this hymn and the story of the five martyrs were linked in people’s minds.
The words, “We rest on Thee and in Thy Name we go” are taken from King James Version of the second Book of Chronicles and they form part of the Prayer of King Asa.
“And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.”
2 Chronicles 14:11.
King Asa was entering upon a battle with the Ethiopians and he was declaring his confidence in the Lord God of Israel. The Lord gave him victory but in the following chapter Azariah led by the Holy Spirit and with a great deal of boldness went out to king Asa and all of Judah and made this statement.
“The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.”
2 Chronicles 15 verse 2 (New King James Version).
Often in life we can return from a particular victory and regard that we have accomplished it all on our own. Asa was a man of prayer but pride could have come into his moment of triumph. The Plea to Asa was that he would seek the Lord. Among the kings of Judah, Asa was a good king but as he entered into old age something happened. The fact that it is mentioned in scripture is of some significance.
We read “And in the thirty–ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians.”
2 Chronicles 16:12 (NKJV)
The Plight of Asa. All of his life he had been known as a person who was constantly seeking the Lord but for the last two years of his life the testimony of Asa was stained in that he didn’t seek the Lord in those last months of his life.
It is a great sadness when those who have been “running well” fail to “finish well”.
When Professor Verna Wright, the famous physician, research scientists and evangelist of the late 20th century, discovered that his life was about to end, he responded: 'When you see the tape, you run faster'. Getting old is no time for slowing down but it should be a time for seeking the Lord for added blessing. Other pursuits will not give the blessing that seeking the Lord will bring. Keep looking to Him, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
The Apostle Paul could say “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
2 Timothy 4: 7-8
What needs to be seen in those who are older in the faith is a maturity in righteousness. That only comes as we constantly seek the Lord. “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55: 6-9
Let us all make it our goal to run well and endeavour to finish well.
