Twenty Thousand Chariots

T. Spurgeon.

Psalm 68:17

The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.

I have seen in this multitude of chariots an emblem of the Divine promises. Some may judge this a fanciful comparison, but it has greatly cheered my heart, and I, therefore, feel disposed to pass it on.

I. Let us, then, in the first place, SEE IN THESE CHARIOTS AN EMBLEM OF GOD'S PROMISES. Some one who has taken the trouble to count the promises in God's Word declares that there are about twenty thousand, and I suppose it was this fact that led my mind to connect the promises of God with the chariots of Jehovah. So suppose we paraphrase this sentence thus: "The promises of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands." We will not limit the number, for almost every verse of Scripture is in a sense a promise. The histories are promises, for what God has done God can do, and even the precepts, from some points of view, bear promises within their bosoms, for God never gives an order without providing the power with which to obey it. The prophecies and the parables are but various forms of promises. All the promises of God bear brightly marked upon them the royal arms; the Divine mark is plainly stamped on every good word of God. Seine of them have attached to them, "Thus saith the Lord," lest there should be any manner of doubt as to whom the equipage belongs. Oh, that we had the trust in them that Dr. Isaac Watts possessed when he said, "I believe them enough to venture an eternity upon them." It is related of him that when one spoke of the promises as "plain" promises, he said, "I rejoice in their plainness, for now that I am old I can do little but turn to God's Word, and look out and rest upon the plain promises of God." The best of all is that "the Lord is among them." The Commander-in-chief is in the midst of His host. We stand side by side with the Promiser, when we trust His promises. Dr. Hamilton has said that "one single promise of Christ Jesus accredited in the heart, unites the soul to God."

II. LET ME VOLUNTEER SOME ADVICE CONCERNING THESE CHARIOT-PROMISES. if the promises of God are so numerous, if they are so like to chariots, how is it that you sit waiting by the roadside, wondering that you make so little progress in the heavenward way? These chariots are for you; if Christ is yours, His Word is yours, and every syllable that He has spoken speeds forth on your behalf. God's words are "words upon wheels." Mount the chariot, and you also will have free course.

(T. Spurgeon.)