Ess. VI.] His Sovereignty. 117 from them that by him alone all nature is maintained in its appointed order, and in its wonderful course of perpetual reproduction. "He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst...... He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart...... O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all! the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. These wait all upon thee: that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them, they gather; thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled : thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust. Thou sendeth forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works:" Ps. civ, 10—31; comp. cxlvii, 15— 20, &c. Infinite and unsearchable as is our Heavenly Father, every minute part of his creation is the object of his unfailing care. He clothes with radiance and beauty the "lilies of the field "-the grass which "today is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven:" Matt. vi, 29, 30. "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?” said Jesus to his disciples," and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your father:" Matt. x, 29. V. Closely connected with the divine attribute of omnipotence is the unqualified and irresistible sovereignty which God exercises over all other beings. 118 His Providence. [Ess. VI. Paul has sublimely described the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, "of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," as "the blessed and only potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see-to whom be honor and power everlasting:" 1 Tim. vi, 15, 16. “The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all:" Ps. ciii, 19. "I beheld," says Daniel, when relating his visions, "till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him!" vii, 9, 10. "O come, let us sing unto the Lord : let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. . . . for the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all Gods:" Ps. xcv, 1-3. "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice:" Ps. xcvii, 1. Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing :" Isa. xl, 15. "O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven, and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?" 2 Chron. xx, 6. Nor is the wisdom of the Almighty to be discovered only in the works of creation; for, although his councils are often incomprehensible to our limited understanding, we are assured in the Scriptures that this divine attribute is the sure regulator of the course of events-of the order of providence. "Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wisdom and Ess. VI.] God is a Spirit, 119 might are his; and he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: he revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him:” Dan. ii, 20—22; comp. Job xxxvi, 4, 5, 6, 7. In the dispensation of Christianity, more especially, the wisdom of our Almighty Governor is conspicuously displayed. Paul describes him as the "only wise God our Saviour," and speaks of "the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence:" Eph. i, 7, 8. "O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever: " Rom. xi, 33-36. VI. The Creator and Ruler of the universe is a spiritual and invisible Being. "God is a SPIRIT :” John iv, 24. He is "the King eternal, immortal, invisible :" 1 Tim. i, 17. "No man hath seen God at any time:" John i, 18. "Behold," said Job, “I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him; on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:" ch. xxiii, 8, 9. But, spiritual as he is in his nature, and imperceptible to mortal vision, God is every where. "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" Jer. xxiii, 23, 24.. "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me; thou 120 Omnipotent and Omniscient. [Ess. VI. knowest my down-sitting, and mine up-rising; thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways: for there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there! If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee:" Ps. cxxxix, 1-12. VII. We may observe that, in this sublime effusion of piety and truth, the Psalmist sets before us the omnipresence of the Deity, in immediate connexion with his omniscience. It is indeed a doctrine clearly declared and very frequently adverted to, in Scripture, that God "knoweth all things," 1 John iii, 20—that "known unto God are all his works, from the beginning of the world," Acts xv, 18-that "his understanding is infinite," Ps. cxlvii, 5-that "secret things belong unto the Lord our God," Deut. xxix, 29-that there is no creature which "is not manifest in his sight,” but that "all things are naked and opened to the eyes of him with whom we have to do," Heb. iv, 13-that "the Lord weigheth the spirits," Prov. xvi, 2, "and knoweth and trieth the hearts and reins," Luke xvi, 15; Ps. vii, 9-that the future, as well as the past and the present, is ever open to his view: Ess. VI.] His Holiness. 121 Isa. xlv, 20, 21. God "discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death: Job xii, 22. "He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection:" Job xxviii, 3. "GOD IS LIGHT, and in him is no darkness at all!" 1 John i, 5. Having thus briefly noticed the unity, the eternity, the omnipotence, the wisdom, the spirituality, the omnipresence, and the omniscience, of God, we may proceed to examine some of the declarations of Holy Writ, on another branch of our subject, viz. the moral attributes of the Deity. I. When Jehovah condescended to display his glory to Isaiah in the temple, the seraphim were heard by the prophet to cry one unto another, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." Isa. vi, 1-3. And of some of those celestial beings who surround the throne of God in heaven, we read, in the Apocalypse, that "they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come:" Rev. iv, 8. Frequently is the Supreme Being described as "the Holy One of Israel." He is, in this point of view, exalted far above all creatures. "There is none holy as the Lord:" 1 Sam. ii, 2. "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works :" Ps. cxlv, 17. Nor is there any one of the divine attributes which more loudly demands the blessings and praises of the saints. Sing unto the Lord O ye saints of his ! and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness :" Ps. xxx, 4. "Glory ye in his holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord;..... bring an offering and come before him: worship the Lordin the beauty of holiness!" 1 Chron. xvi, 10, 29. 66 God is described as holy, partly because he is a sacred Being the only proper object of divine ho G |