Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
God comes without silence to judge His people and commands those bound to Him by covenant to be gathered to Him, with heaven and earth called to witness and to declare His righteousness because He Himself is judge. To make that covenant by sacrifice is to give oneself wholly to God in surrender of self-will, consecration of heart and life, obedience to His commandments, and readiness to live holy and serve Him. That sacrifice costs something real, testing professed love by willingness to lay houses, lands, means, appetite and personal interests on the altar and to live in self-denying generosity for the salvation of others. Those who so covenant now will soon be gathered home into the holy city, sheltered in the day of anger after coming through great tribulation with robes washed white and characters fitted to endure His glory. The present is therefore the time to prepare by repentance and faith in Christ's pardon, for that judgment brings joy to the obedient but terror to transgressors who are unready to meet God.
Judgment Setting Described
The verse belongs to the moment when God comes and does not keep silent to judge His people and commands that those bound to Him by sacrifice be brought together to Him. Heaven and earth are summoned to witness His judgment of His people, and the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is judge. The saints gathered to Him are those who have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice, called to stand before Him for judgment.
In that setting He calls His people to account and makes clear that outward sacrifices alone are not what He requires. He calls instead for thanksgiving, fulfilled vows, trust in Him, praise, and right conduct. Belonging to the covenant does not excuse rejecting His instruction or treating what belongs to Him as one's own.
The psalm is to be read in the time of judgment, when every life is reviewed before God. That scene is connected with the coming crisis, when God's people must stand individually before Him. The gathering follows the call to be found without sin, ready to stand in the time of trouble.
The judgment brings joy to the obedient, who need not fear it, but terror and destruction to transgressors. It reveals God's greatness and warns those working on Satan's side what a fearful loss they are incurring. At the last great day those who have given themselves to anarchy and war and strife will see how many souls have been lost because they failed to take their stand under the rule of Christ.
The gathering is a time when those unprepared to meet God cannot enter the city. The present is therefore the opportunity to prepare before probation closes through humble repentance, forgiveness, and acceptance of Christ's pardon and righteousness.
Promised Gathering and Reward
Those who make a covenant by sacrifice will be gathered to God, and those who now sacrifice for the salvation of Jesus' scattered flock will soon be gathered home to receive a rich reward and possess the new kingdom forever. Making that covenant now means being willing to sacrifice rather than living for personal pleasure or interest, sacrificing personal interests for God and working for the salvation of His people.
The saints thus gathered are brought inside God's holy city as those who have come up through great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They obtain moral fitness on this side of the judgment so that they can endure the light of God's glory shining in the face of Jesus Christ and dwell with sinless angels and the redeemed. By contrast a sinner with defiled garments, with impurity and sin impressed on the countenance, cannot endure that glory and beauty but feels unworthy and unready, wants to flee from it, and would prefer rocks and mountains to fall on him and hide him.
Those who have entered into covenant by sacrifice belong to God and are gathered to Himself, and they may seek Him and righteousness and meekness before the day of His anger with hope of being sheltered when it comes. The covenant is the basis for belonging to God as a refuge, to rely on Him and trust His mercy, love and compassion. The sacrifice that enters this covenant costs something real, for it decreases and consumes rather than increasing what one possesses, and those who make it have a crown of glory laid up for them.
Covenant Meaning Affirmed
To make the covenant by sacrifice is to belong to God by giving oneself wholly to Him, giving up self-will in submission to Jesus Christ, choosing to serve the living and true God and to live a holy life in readiness to be with the holy ones in heaven, including bringing the light of truth to the cities. The choice must be made when the Spirit speaks and not postponed to the last moment. Those who so surrender can trust that God will not disappoint them.
Those in the covenant consecrate heart, mind and life to God's service, obey His commandments, remain faithful and obedient, seek a living connection with Him, and keep their pledge. Those who pray, believe and act in harmony with God are accepted by Him.
The covenant rests on accepting the sacrifice God and Christ made in giving His only begotten Son to live as a child and as a human being, to suffer abuse, rejection and crucifixion, and through His sinless life and atoning death to make it possible for humanity to lay hold of divinity. Responding means coming into right relation to God, laying hold of the promises of His Word, no longer living to human lusts but to the will of God, overcoming the temptations that are in the world through lust, becoming partakers of the divine nature and escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust. It means overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of testimony to secure the eternal reward, for the end of all things is near.
The covenant is thorough consecration to God, needing the blessings of the gospel every day and every hour, recognizing every proof of the Lord's power and presence and love with grateful thanks, and finding happiness by right action of the soul toward God. It is giving heart and mind and soul to Jesus Christ in gratitude because the Prince of life gave His life to save the world, setting apart the remainder of life to glorify the Redeemer and to lead children into truth and righteousness. The overcomer receives the crown of life placed upon the brow.
The covenant is a pledge made now in this life to live for heaven by obeying all the truth and working diligently and thoroughly as co-workers with Jesus Christ, intelligently taking hold of His work and sensing and carrying its responsibilities. It means training the voice to speak kindly, being tender and trustful, bearing with others as God bears, humbling the heart before God, and taking new steps heavenward in working with God. Angels are near to help such devotion, and then the salvation of God is revealed, His light comes upon them and shines through them as never before. The soul is worth more than all worldly advantages, and to lose heaven is to lose everything.
The covenant calls for entering a costly agreement with God at the present meeting by earnestly seeking the Lord for His blessing, praying in faith, carrying forward the work He has given to the point, and laboring unitedly as if eternal life matters for children and neighbors. True cost is measured not by felt sacrifices but by compassion stirred by seeing need in the highways and hedges, and the result is the joy of the Lord in the soul.
The covenant means being converted to Jesus Christ, overcoming passions and increasing in spirituality amid increasing wickedness in the cities, and becoming co-laborers to bring souls to the knowledge of the truth so as to remain a fruitful branch of the true vine. It means quickly and decidedly stepping off Satan's ground, turning square about without waiting for others, and renewing the covenant. It means coming to the tree of life, the Word of God, and eating its leaves for healing, breaking from satanic power, yielding will and way to God's will and way to become a child of God and heir of heaven, choosing Christ's righteousness instead of remaining in self-righteousness on Satan's side.
The covenant means giving oneself to God to remove all rubbish from the door of the heart and to put away every thread of selfishness and evil and follow a right course, so that His glory, benevolence, love and praise can take possession of the heart. God accepts this offering and makes givers vessels for honor. He enables them to reveal in association with others the grace that was in Christ Jesus, and to seek His presence, wisdom, judgment and power for His work.
Making the covenant means obeying God promptly and placing eternal concerns above earthly interests whatever the personal cost. It means giving oneself and one's children to God and living a consecrated life even when it requires sacrifice, and dedicating oneself to begin the new year in sacrificial service by giving one's best without selfishly limiting work to fixed hours, trusting God for help.
The verse calls sinners and backsliders to come now and make the covenant by giving up every idol with heart-broken confession and surrender. It means taking a present stand for Christ today, rising up and coming forward to be prayed for and given to God for His blessing, believing in Jesus who sweat great drops of blood in Gethsemane and died on Calvary to save sinful souls, and returning to a forgotten covenant by a fresh start now. Indifference dishonors the Lord, while earnest surrender brings Christ's meekness in the heart and His love in the life.
Covenant Lived Out Daily
The covenant by sacrifice means laying houses and lands on the altar, placing all property at God's disposal and selling it and giving the proceeds to support present truth when He makes it clear that it is duty. Each one is to earnestly seek His guidance about when and how much to sell, for the duty and its timing differ from person to person and not all are required to sell at once, some earlier and some when a later need arises, and those who follow His direction become free of possessions that would burden them in the time of trouble when property will be useless. The gathering of those in covenant by sacrifice tests professed love for God by willingness to sacrifice earthly possessions and give to Him, rather than letting love of the world keep one from hearing His call. The call is a commitment marked by sincere self-denial and self-sacrifice in giving to help extend the truth to many places, and God will certainly bless all who do His will in this way without murmuring or complaining.
Every believer is to willingly deny self and live economically, giving to God what is not needed for necessities as a thank offering to support the ministry and save souls. That renewed commitment is expressed financially by restraining unnecessary building plans and using resources to relieve debt and advance God's cause. The covenant is kept by committing to study the Word, giving up magazines and novels, and using the money instead to spread the truth. It requires cleansing the appetite and practicing self-denial of what is not good, so that those taught that flesh meats, tea and coffee, and rich and unhealthful preparations are harmful no longer indulge appetite for known unhealthful food. This cleansing work must be done before His people can stand before Him as a perfected, converted and sanctified remnant people.
Ministers and those called to ministry are to give themselves fully to God and undertake His work with a sanctified, self-sacrificing spirit. For them the covenant means accepting reproach for Christ, with work that costs earnest effort, study and prayer rather than a careless or empty offering. Covenant sacrifice means giving oneself to be imbued with God's Spirit as sanctified, self-sacrificing, strong and valiant workers fit for worthy enterprises, going forth without the camp bearing reproach. Such workers have the fidelity and unshaken trust of Caleb and Joshua, who go forward when God bids them go forward instead of murmuring, complaining and drawing back, and their sacrifice supplies the want that makes the cause of Christ and humanity suffer in the time on whom the ends of the world are come. God's workers bind themselves to Him at personal cost, laboring for love of souls rather than for wages and not held to the work by pay.
Christians professing living faith in the near coming of the Son of man and keeping all God's commandments must draw near through Christ and commit themselves in self-denying offerings. They are not to live for self, which cannot have God's approval, but to faithfully represent Christ by going about doing good, elevated in principles of action above worldly customs and fashions. They prove gratitude for God's Son and every blessing through His condescension, humiliation and sacrifice by rendering thank-offerings and best gifts, including themselves, and by making festal days occasions to honor God and benefit humanity rather than for gluttony, self-indulgence, feasting and merriment. The verse calls each person, including young people, to make the covenant through sacrifice, to gather with Christ, pledge to God, seek Him and cooperate with His work. That covenant is renewed in living faith, self-denial and service while relying on Christ's sacrifice and seeking the Holy Spirit's help to take up missionary work and keep the pledge.
God comes without silence to judge His people and commands those bound to Him by covenant to be gathered to Him, with heaven and earth called to witness and to declare His righteousness because He Himself is judge. To make that covenant by sacrifice is to give oneself wholly to God in surrender of self-will, consecration of heart and life, obedience to His commandments, and readiness to live holy and serve Him. That sacrifice costs something real, testing professed love by willingness to lay houses, lands, means, appetite and personal interests on the altar and to live in self-denying generosity for the salvation of others. Those who so covenant now will soon be gathered home into the holy city, sheltered in the day of anger after coming through great tribulation with robes washed white and characters fitted to endure His glory. The present is therefore the time to prepare by repentance and faith in Christ's pardon, for that judgment brings joy to the obedient but terror to transgressors who are unready to meet God.
Judgment Setting Described
The verse belongs to the moment when God comes and does not keep silent to judge His people and commands that those bound to Him by sacrifice be brought together to Him. Heaven and earth are summoned to witness His judgment of His people, and the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is judge. The saints gathered to Him are those who have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice, called to stand before Him for judgment.
In that setting He calls His people to account and makes clear that outward sacrifices alone are not what He requires. He calls instead for thanksgiving, fulfilled vows, trust in Him, praise, and right conduct. Belonging to the covenant does not excuse rejecting His instruction or treating what belongs to Him as one's own.
The psalm is to be read in the time of judgment, when every life is reviewed before God. That scene is connected with the coming crisis, when God's people must stand individually before Him. The gathering follows the call to be found without sin, ready to stand in the time of trouble.
The judgment brings joy to the obedient, who need not fear it, but terror and destruction to transgressors. It reveals God's greatness and warns those working on Satan's side what a fearful loss they are incurring. At the last great day those who have given themselves to anarchy and war and strife will see how many souls have been lost because they failed to take their stand under the rule of Christ.
The gathering is a time when those unprepared to meet God cannot enter the city. The present is therefore the opportunity to prepare before probation closes through humble repentance, forgiveness, and acceptance of Christ's pardon and righteousness.
Promised Gathering and Reward
Those who make a covenant by sacrifice will be gathered to God, and those who now sacrifice for the salvation of Jesus' scattered flock will soon be gathered home to receive a rich reward and possess the new kingdom forever. Making that covenant now means being willing to sacrifice rather than living for personal pleasure or interest, sacrificing personal interests for God and working for the salvation of His people.
The saints thus gathered are brought inside God's holy city as those who have come up through great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They obtain moral fitness on this side of the judgment so that they can endure the light of God's glory shining in the face of Jesus Christ and dwell with sinless angels and the redeemed. By contrast a sinner with defiled garments, with impurity and sin impressed on the countenance, cannot endure that glory and beauty but feels unworthy and unready, wants to flee from it, and would prefer rocks and mountains to fall on him and hide him.
Those who have entered into covenant by sacrifice belong to God and are gathered to Himself, and they may seek Him and righteousness and meekness before the day of His anger with hope of being sheltered when it comes. The covenant is the basis for belonging to God as a refuge, to rely on Him and trust His mercy, love and compassion. The sacrifice that enters this covenant costs something real, for it decreases and consumes rather than increasing what one possesses, and those who make it have a crown of glory laid up for them.
Covenant Meaning Affirmed
To make the covenant by sacrifice is to belong to God by giving oneself wholly to Him, giving up self-will in submission to Jesus Christ, choosing to serve the living and true God and to live a holy life in readiness to be with the holy ones in heaven, including bringing the light of truth to the cities. The choice must be made when the Spirit speaks and not postponed to the last moment. Those who so surrender can trust that God will not disappoint them.
Those in the covenant consecrate heart, mind and life to God's service, obey His commandments, remain faithful and obedient, seek a living connection with Him, and keep their pledge. Those who pray, believe and act in harmony with God are accepted by Him.
The covenant rests on accepting the sacrifice God and Christ made in giving His only begotten Son to live as a child and as a human being, to suffer abuse, rejection and crucifixion, and through His sinless life and atoning death to make it possible for humanity to lay hold of divinity. Responding means coming into right relation to God, laying hold of the promises of His Word, no longer living to human lusts but to the will of God, overcoming the temptations that are in the world through lust, becoming partakers of the divine nature and escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust. It means overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of testimony to secure the eternal reward, for the end of all things is near.
The covenant is thorough consecration to God, needing the blessings of the gospel every day and every hour, recognizing every proof of the Lord's power and presence and love with grateful thanks, and finding happiness by right action of the soul toward God. It is giving heart and mind and soul to Jesus Christ in gratitude because the Prince of life gave His life to save the world, setting apart the remainder of life to glorify the Redeemer and to lead children into truth and righteousness. The overcomer receives the crown of life placed upon the brow.
The covenant is a pledge made now in this life to live for heaven by obeying all the truth and working diligently and thoroughly as co-workers with Jesus Christ, intelligently taking hold of His work and sensing and carrying its responsibilities. It means training the voice to speak kindly, being tender and trustful, bearing with others as God bears, humbling the heart before God, and taking new steps heavenward in working with God. Angels are near to help such devotion, and then the salvation of God is revealed, His light comes upon them and shines through them as never before. The soul is worth more than all worldly advantages, and to lose heaven is to lose everything.
The covenant calls for entering a costly agreement with God at the present meeting by earnestly seeking the Lord for His blessing, praying in faith, carrying forward the work He has given to the point, and laboring unitedly as if eternal life matters for children and neighbors. True cost is measured not by felt sacrifices but by compassion stirred by seeing need in the highways and hedges, and the result is the joy of the Lord in the soul.
The covenant means being converted to Jesus Christ, overcoming passions and increasing in spirituality amid increasing wickedness in the cities, and becoming co-laborers to bring souls to the knowledge of the truth so as to remain a fruitful branch of the true vine. It means quickly and decidedly stepping off Satan's ground, turning square about without waiting for others, and renewing the covenant. It means coming to the tree of life, the Word of God, and eating its leaves for healing, breaking from satanic power, yielding will and way to God's will and way to become a child of God and heir of heaven, choosing Christ's righteousness instead of remaining in self-righteousness on Satan's side.
The covenant means giving oneself to God to remove all rubbish from the door of the heart and to put away every thread of selfishness and evil and follow a right course, so that His glory, benevolence, love and praise can take possession of the heart. God accepts this offering and makes givers vessels for honor. He enables them to reveal in association with others the grace that was in Christ Jesus, and to seek His presence, wisdom, judgment and power for His work.
Making the covenant means obeying God promptly and placing eternal concerns above earthly interests whatever the personal cost. It means giving oneself and one's children to God and living a consecrated life even when it requires sacrifice, and dedicating oneself to begin the new year in sacrificial service by giving one's best without selfishly limiting work to fixed hours, trusting God for help.
The verse calls sinners and backsliders to come now and make the covenant by giving up every idol with heart-broken confession and surrender. It means taking a present stand for Christ today, rising up and coming forward to be prayed for and given to God for His blessing, believing in Jesus who sweat great drops of blood in Gethsemane and died on Calvary to save sinful souls, and returning to a forgotten covenant by a fresh start now. Indifference dishonors the Lord, while earnest surrender brings Christ's meekness in the heart and His love in the life.
Covenant Lived Out Daily
The covenant by sacrifice means laying houses and lands on the altar, placing all property at God's disposal and selling it and giving the proceeds to support present truth when He makes it clear that it is duty. Each one is to earnestly seek His guidance about when and how much to sell, for the duty and its timing differ from person to person and not all are required to sell at once, some earlier and some when a later need arises, and those who follow His direction become free of possessions that would burden them in the time of trouble when property will be useless. The gathering of those in covenant by sacrifice tests professed love for God by willingness to sacrifice earthly possessions and give to Him, rather than letting love of the world keep one from hearing His call. The call is a commitment marked by sincere self-denial and self-sacrifice in giving to help extend the truth to many places, and God will certainly bless all who do His will in this way without murmuring or complaining.
Every believer is to willingly deny self and live economically, giving to God what is not needed for necessities as a thank offering to support the ministry and save souls. That renewed commitment is expressed financially by restraining unnecessary building plans and using resources to relieve debt and advance God's cause. The covenant is kept by committing to study the Word, giving up magazines and novels, and using the money instead to spread the truth. It requires cleansing the appetite and practicing self-denial of what is not good, so that those taught that flesh meats, tea and coffee, and rich and unhealthful preparations are harmful no longer indulge appetite for known unhealthful food. This cleansing work must be done before His people can stand before Him as a perfected, converted and sanctified remnant people.
Ministers and those called to ministry are to give themselves fully to God and undertake His work with a sanctified, self-sacrificing spirit. For them the covenant means accepting reproach for Christ, with work that costs earnest effort, study and prayer rather than a careless or empty offering. Covenant sacrifice means giving oneself to be imbued with God's Spirit as sanctified, self-sacrificing, strong and valiant workers fit for worthy enterprises, going forth without the camp bearing reproach. Such workers have the fidelity and unshaken trust of Caleb and Joshua, who go forward when God bids them go forward instead of murmuring, complaining and drawing back, and their sacrifice supplies the want that makes the cause of Christ and humanity suffer in the time on whom the ends of the world are come. God's workers bind themselves to Him at personal cost, laboring for love of souls rather than for wages and not held to the work by pay.
Christians professing living faith in the near coming of the Son of man and keeping all God's commandments must draw near through Christ and commit themselves in self-denying offerings. They are not to live for self, which cannot have God's approval, but to faithfully represent Christ by going about doing good, elevated in principles of action above worldly customs and fashions. They prove gratitude for God's Son and every blessing through His condescension, humiliation and sacrifice by rendering thank-offerings and best gifts, including themselves, and by making festal days occasions to honor God and benefit humanity rather than for gluttony, self-indulgence, feasting and merriment. The verse calls each person, including young people, to make the covenant through sacrifice, to gather with Christ, pledge to God, seek Him and cooperate with His work. That covenant is renewed in living faith, self-denial and service while relying on Christ's sacrifice and seeking the Holy Spirit's help to take up missionary work and keep the pledge.