The Man Up There

We are told that at a recruiting meeting in Trafalgar Square, after a poem had been recited called, “The Suit of Blue,” an aged, white-bearded man made his way through the crowd, and with the assistance of some soldiers, clambered on to the plinth of the Nelson Column. Pointing with his stick to the figure of Nelson, he shouted, “There’s the man for me up there.” He was seventy-seven, he said. He had been a soldier, a sailor, and a volunteer. He still wanted to fight. But they wouldn’t let him. He appealed to all able-bodied young men to rally to the defense of their country.
I too can say, pointing upward, “There’s the Man for me up there,” but I am pointing higher than the top of Nelson’s monument. I am pointing to the throne of God in heaven. Upon that throne my Saviour sits―the Son of God. He is there because He has been on earth to die for me, and is in heaven because He has died, “the Just for the unjust,” to bring me to God. The Man of Calvary, the Man of sorrows, is the Man in the glory now. He’s the Man for me up there. He is my Saviour and my God. He speaks to me― He says: ―
“Soul, for thee I left My glory,
Bore the curse of God―
Wept for thee with bitterest weeping,
Agony and blood.
“Soul, for thee I died dishonored,
As a felon dies;
For thou wert the pearl all priceless
In thy Saviour’s eyes.
“Soul, for thee I rose victorious,
Glad that thou wert free;
Entered heaven in triumph glorious―
Heaven I won for thee.
“Soul, I knock, I stand beseeching,
Turn Me not away:
Heart that craves thee, love that needs thee―
Wilt thou say Me nay?”
J.M.