As Of

Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail, Psalm 48:6.

In our opening verse the psalmist is comparing the fear and pain felt by the by the enemies of Zion to the pain and fear of a woman in the throws of childbirth. Of my 8 children, I was in the delivery room for 7 of them. I'm not one of these men who want to see the baby come out. I stood up there by my wife's head and held her hand. In actuality, she held my hand.

She squeezed her fingernails into my hand. She pushed and labored with all of her might to get that baby to come out. Her face was strained to being almost beyond recognition. I stood there like a helpless idiot praying and wishing with all my heart that the baby would come.

Very few women die during childbirth in our modern hospitals, but the word of God records the death of mothers who died in childbirth and family histories record many more. It was at these moments that I could not help but think of Rachel as she gave birth to Benjamin.

Genesis 35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

Genesis 35:17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.

Genesis 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

Genesis 35:19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

By invoking childbirth and labor the psalmist wanted his readers (and hearers as he sang this) to remember the births that they had witnessed and recall those moments when a man and woman were in terror over whether this birth would rip the mother open. He wanted us to remember the pain. Only then could we understand the fear and pain of the enemies of Zion as they were struck down seeking to overthrow the work of God.

How did he make the comparison? He used the small adverbial phrase "as of". That phrase is used 30 times in 26 verses of your King James Bible. It can be used as a comparison as we saw in Psalm 48:6, or it can be used to illustrate a point such as in Deuteronomy 12:15; Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

So powerful and so universal is the example of a woman in childbirth that phrase “as of” is used 5 times to compare something to a woman in travail. "As of" is used when the Lord wants his readers to take something with which they are familiar and to compare it to the point he is trying to make.

Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old, Lamentations 5:2. When the Lord renews Israel's days, how do they want them to be? They want them to be as of old. They want to be back in the days when God protected them and fought for them.

Why did Luke compare the sound that filled the room at Pentecost to a mighty rushing wind? And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting, Acts 2:2. It is a comparison to which every reader can relate. We have all heard the sound made by a mighty rushing wind, and we can get a feel for the sound heard in the upper room that day.

What then shall we do with 1st Peter 4:11; If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. How is a man of God to speak? Shall he speak with the ability God giveth? No, he is to speak "as of" the ability God giveth.

When people with discernment listen to a man speak for God, their judgment of that preaching should not be in marveling over the man's great ability to speak. It should be with their knowledge of that ability which God giveth and making a comparison to the man's preaching.

Our pulpits are filled and polluted with great orators. They are not taking the church anywhere. They are just marking time. For those who ever learned to march, marking time is when you march in place without moving forward. It is just as strenuous as moving forward but it is only done for the visual effect.

The Apostle Paul said, For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake, 1st Thessalonians 1:5. He said, For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe, 1st Thessalonians 2:13.

If you think that preachers today are preaching and speaking as of the ability which God giveth, look at the fruit. Does he have converts in his congregation? I'm speaking of people who came to him lost and without Christ, but upon hearing him speak as of the ability which God giveth, were converted unto Christ and now sit in the congregation learning of God.

Churches with even one person or family in the congregation who can look to the current pastor as the man who found them lost and undone, wooed them to Christ, and labored over them until Christ was fully formed in them are exceedingly rare.

Men are no longer taught to speak as of the ability which God giveth, and congregations no longer have the discernment to recognize it or to recognize the lack of it.

Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

Luke 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

Luke 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

Luke 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

If those who you have counted as converts look far more like verses 12-14 than they do like verse 15, why don't you get in touch with us here. After 17 years at the Black Creek Baptist Church, and with Evangelist Timothy McVey (now the pastor) co-laboring with me for the last 13 of those years, there are about 30 people who regularly attend who came to the church or who met us while they were lost and without Christ.

We didn't have some clever soul-winning technique to get them to pray our little prayer. We loved them as of the ability which God giveth. We spoke to them as of the ability which God giveth. We patiently sowed the seed of the word of God as of the ability which God giveth. We saw the power of God capture their attention. We saw the power of God convict them. We saw the power of God cause them to tremble. We saw them translated into the kingdom of God by the power of the preaching of Jesus Christ.

Those 30 or so comprise a solid core in the church. Their lives are irrevocably changed. They rarely ever miss the assembling of the saints of God. They love preaching and clamor for more. Their children, their parents sometimes, their friends and even doctors and social workers have marveled over the positive changes in their lives. Why?' because we learned to speak as of the ability which God giveth, and our people learned to discern that is was as of the ability which God giveth.