The Governor of the Soul
“My soul is continually in my hand.” (Psalm 119:109)
When God put an immortal soul in man and gave him the responsibility for the eternal destiny of that soul, God gave man the greatest most weighty responsibility he has ever had.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37)
It is plain from this scripture that it is the responsibility of man as to how he governs his soul. Yea, “for it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:11-12) This is a fearsome responsibility—far too vast an obligation for a human being to bear alone.
Yes, every man has a soul, and this soul is going to always exist—somewhere, somehow. To ignore this responsibility is to choose a path of neglect. To become exceedingly concerned about one’s soul—to strain and to stretch to try to take care for one’s soul—will prove inadequate in the end. To simply do the best that one can do will prove insufficient, as well.
What is to be done? How can we deal wisely and adequately with such a huge responsibility? How can we properly govern our souls?
“Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” (Philippians 3:15) Here is a wonderful promise. Under a certain condition, God has obligated Himself to monitor the soul and to faithfully “reveal even this”—anything less than pressing toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus—“unto you.” You will noticed that God has not taken the responsibility of your soul from you. That is still in your hand. But He has promised “as many as be perfect” that He will take upon Himself the responsibility of watching over the soul and alerting us to any adjustment that is needed. This is a wonderful privilege, but it is conditional. It is promised to the perfect, who are thus minded.
What does it mean to “be perfect”? The Bible teaches a certain perfection that is not only obtainable now, but is necessary for holy living. It also teaches a perfection that is to come (Philippians 3:12). Here are some of the scriptures that teach a certain perfection now.
“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.” (Hebrews 13:20-21) Notice that this being made perfect is for the purpose to doing His will, and the time of doing His will is now. As Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) It is done perfectly in heaven, and it can be done the same way on earth if we are guided and taught by more than just our own understanding.
“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Peter 5:10)
“God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:16-17)
“But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:4)
“For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” (Hebrews 7:19)
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
“The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.” (Luke 6:40) “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3)
All of these scriptures teach a perfection that is obtainable and vital to have in this present world for the purpose of victorious, triumphant Christian living. The same thought is presented in Hebrews 4:3,10 as entering into God’s rest, “For we which have believed do enter into rest…. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” In verses 12 and 13, we are told of the role of the Word of God in this rest, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” If we have the Word of God watching over our soul, then we need not fear that it will miss anything that is less than perfect in our soul. If we have ceased from our own works to do the works of God, then there will be no resistance in us to what the Word of God reveals. We can then “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in [us] both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13) The key to the whole thing is to let go and let God. I cannot escape the responsibility for my soul, but I can enter into rest and completely trust God with it. I still must act on what God shows me, but I am relieved of the awful and impossible strain of trying to figure out what I should be for God. I just rest in Him and trust Him and let Him show and reveal to me what I should see, exactly as He has promised to do. In the words of the poet,
“I pass the rough rocks with a smile and a shout,
And I just let my God His dear purpose fulfill.”*
My part is to trust and obey. Not obey and then trust, but (1) trust God to reveal “even this” unto me, and (2) as God reveals to me, obey. Those dear conscientious souls who have a heart to carefully obey, but who unknowingly doubt the Lord by trying to govern their souls by their own careful management, have skipped over the trusting part. If they trusted, as is their privilege, they would realize the complete inadequacy of the human mind to do what only God can do. As though to say, “Let us therefore, as many as be extremely conscientious, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, we must stretch and strain until we get it right before God.” (This must be from the Book of Imaginations, for it is certainly not in the Bible.) Instead, the Bible says, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23) “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:1-2) Please note that there is a sleep (rest) for the people of God, and that it is a rest of trust in Him. It is not how hard I try; it is how thoroughly I trust. All else besides trust in God and obedience to what He reveals is just vain—it won’t do any good and is counterproductive.
When Satan sees a conscientious soul who will not quit on trying to please God, he tempts them to take the management of their soul into their own hands. The adversary knows well that no human being can successfully govern his soul—that only God can “reveal even this unto you.” If Satan can break the trust between the soul and God by getting you to take your case into your own hands, he knows that he can wear you out and wear you down. Discouragement and accusation, confusion and lack of clarity are in that direction.
“If thou wilt know the fountain deep,
Of sweet unbroken rest;
The rest of faith thy soul shall keep,
He that believes is ever blest.”*
The great hunger of the conscientious soul to get it right and to really please God, brings that soul to a place of subtle temptation. The temptation is to do—to labor and sacrifice mightily—instead of laboring to enter into the rest of faith (Hebrews 4:11). The conscientious soul knows that carefulness and earnestness are important and pleasing to God. It is hard to understand why carefulness and earnestness, even extreme carefulness and earnestness, do not bring about the desired closeness to God. The focus is on human comprehension—careful, earnest acquisition of understanding. Instead, we must labor to trust. The focus must be on trusting. To trust completely, without sufficient comprehension to enable the soul to stand upon self-confidence, but with absolute unqualified confidence, blind, naked confidence in God. “God shall reveal even this unto you.” I stake my soul on God’s willingness, ability, and power to reveal what I need to know about my soul, and I vow “yes, Father” to everything He reveals.
If I snatch my soul back from the hands of Him to whom I have committed it (2 Timothy 1:12) to improve or correct it for God (intending to present it to Him as soon as I take care of things that need to be taken care of that I see), I take things into my own hands, and I am not up to the job. Furthermore, I have broken the faith link (without meaning to), and it is in my hands, all right. I meant well, perhaps, but I have made a mistake. It is a wise man who can say, “Lord, You gave me the responsibility for my soul, but, O Lord! I see it is too big for me. I trust You with it. I will endeavor to hold myself consecrated to obey immediately whatever You say to do. I will wait upon You.” Then the great Keeper of the soul can say, “I can keep you from falling. I can keep that which is committed to Me. I will perfect that which concerneth you” (2 Timothy 2:12; Jude 1:24; Psalm 138:8).
“I will reject all doubts and fears,
I will believe and simply trust;
Thou hast said, “Cast on Me thy cares,”
Can I obey? Yes, Lord, I must.”*
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder.” (Isaiah 9:6)