| |
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By Arthur W. Pink
CONCLUSION
"Halleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth"
- Revelation 19:6
In our Foreword to the
second edition we acknowledge the need for preserving the balance of Truth.
Two things are beyond dispute: God is sovereign, man is responsible. In this
book we have sought to expound the former; in our other works we have
frequently pressed the latter. That there is real danger of over-emphasizing
the one and ignoring the other, we readily admit; yea, history furnishes
numerous examples of cases of each. To emphasize the sovereignty of God,
without also maintaining the accountability of the creature tends to
fatalism; to be so concerned in maintaining the responsibility of man, as to
lose tight of the sovereignty of God, is to exalt the creature and dishonor
the Creator.
Almost all doctrinal
error, is, really, Truth perverted, Truth wrongly divided, Truth
disproportionately held and taught. The fairest face on earth, with the most
comely features, would soon become ugly and unsightly, if one member
continued growing while the others remained undeveloped. Beauty is,
primarily, a matter of proportion. Thus it is with the Word of God: its
beauty and blessedness are best perceived when its manifold wisdom is
exhibited in its true proportions. Here is where so many have failed in the
past. A single phase of God’s Truth has so impressed this man or that,
that he has concentrated his attention upon it, almost to the exclusion of
everything else. Some portion of God’s Word has been made a "pet
doctrine", and often this has become the distinctive badge of some
party. But it is the duty of each servant of God to "declare all the
counsel of God" (Acts 20:27).
It is true that the
degenerate days in which our lot is cast, when on every side man is exalted,
and "superman" has become a common expression, there is real need
for a special emphasis upon the glorious fact of God’s supremacy. The more
so where this is expressly denied. Yet even here much wisdom is required,
lest our zeal should not be according to knowledge." The words
"meat in due season" should ever be before the servant of God.
What is needed, primarily, by one congregation, may not be specifically
needed by another. If called to labor where Arminian preachers have
preceded, then the neglected truth of God’s sovereignty should be
expounded—though with caution and care, lest too much "strong
meat" be given to "babes". The example of Christ in John
16:12, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them
now", must be borne in mind. On the other hand, if I am called to take
charge of a distinctly Calvinistic pulpit, then the truth of human
responsibility (in its many aspects) may be profitably set forth. What the
preacher needs to give-out is not what his people most like to hear, but
what they most need, i.e. those aspects of truth they are least familiar
with, or least exhibiting in their walk.
To carry into actual
practice what we have inculcated above will, most probably, lay the preacher
open to the charge of being a Turncoat. But what matters that if he has his
Master’s approval? He is not called upon to be "consistent" with
himself, nor with any rules drawn up by man; his business is to be
consistent with Holy Writ. And in Scripture each part or aspect of truth is
balanced by another aspect of truth. There are two sides to everything, even
to the character of God, for He is "light" (1 John 1:5) as well as
"love" (1 John 4:8), and therefore are we called upon to
"Behold, therefore the goodness and severity of God" (Rom. 11:22).
To be all the time preaching on the one to the exclusion of the other,
caricatures the Divine character.
When the Son of God
became incarnate He came here in "the form of a servant" (Phil.
2:6); nevertheless, in the manger He was "Christ the Lord" (Luke
2:11)! All things are possible with God (Matt. 19:26), yet God "cannot
lie" (Titus 1:2). Scripture says, "Bear ye one another’s burdens
(Gal. 6:2), yet the same chapter insists "every man shall bear his own
burden" (Gal. 6:5). We are enjoined to take "no thought for the
morrow" (Matt. 6:34), yet "if any provide not for his own, and
specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse
than an infidel" (1 Tim. 5:8). No sheep of Christ’s can perish (John
10:28, 29), yet the Christian is bidden to make his "calling and
election sure" (2 Pet. 1:10). And so we might go on multiplying
illustrations. These things are not contradictions, but complementaries: the
one "balances the other". Thus, the Scriptures set forth both the
sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. So too should every
servant of God, and that, in their proper proportions.
But we return now to a
few closing reflections upon our present theme. "And Jehoshaphat stood
in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before
the new court, And said, 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. 20:5, 6). Yes, the Lord is God, ruling over all the
kingdoms of men, ruling in supreme majesty and might. Yet in our day, a day
of boasted enlightenment and progress, this is denied on every hand. A
materialistic science and an atheistic philosophy have bowed God out of His
own world, and everything is regulated, forsooth, by (impersonal) laws of
nature. So in human affairs: at best God is a far-distant spectator, and a
helpless one at that. God could not help the launching of the dreadful war,
and though He longed to put a stop to it He was unable to do so—and this
in the face of 1 Chronicles 5:22; 2 Chronicles 24:24! Having endowed man
with "free agency God is obliged to let man make his own choice and go
his own way, and He cannot interfere with him, or otherwise his moral
responsibility would be destroyed. Such are the popular beliefs of the day.
One is not surprised to find these sentiments emanating from German
neologians (coiners of new words), but how sad that they should be taught in
many of our Seminaries, echoed from many of our pulpits, and accepted by
many of the rank and file of professing Christians.
One of the most
flagrant sins of our age is that of irreverence—the failure to ascribe the
glory which is due the august majesty of God. Men limit the power and
activities of the Lord in their degrading concepts of His being and
character. Originally, man was made in the image and likeness of God, but
today we are asked to believe in a god made in the image and likeness of
man. The Creator is reduced to the level of the creature: His omniscience is
called into question, His omnipotency is no longer believed in, and His
absolute sovereignty is flatly denied. Men claim to be the architects of
their own fortunes and the determiners of their own destiny. They know not
that their lives are at the disposal of the Divine Despot. They know not
they have no more power to thwart Hs secret decrees than a worm has to
resist the tread of an elephant. They know not that "The Lord hath
prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all"
(Ps. 103:19).
In the foregoing pages
we have sought to repudiate such paganistic views as the above-mentioned,
and have endeavored to show from Scripture that God is God, on the Throne,
and that so far from the recent war being an evidence that the helm had
slipped out of His hand, it was a sure proof that He still lives and reigns,
and is now bringing to pass that which He had fore-determined and
fore-announced (Matt. 24:6-8 etc.). That the carnal mind is enmity against
God, that the unregenerate man is a rebel against the Divine government,
that the sinner has no concern for the glory of his Maker, and little or no
respect for His revealed will, is freely granted. But, nevertheless, behind
the scenes, God is ruling and over-ruling, fulfilling His eternal purpose,
not only in spite of but, also by means of, those who are His enemies.
How earnestly are the
claims of man contended for against the claims of God! Has not man power and
knowledge, but what of it? Has God no will, or power, or knowledge? Suppose
man’s will conflicts with God’s—then what? Turn to the Scripture of
Truth for answer. Men had a will on the plains of Shinar and determined to
build a tower whose top should reach unto heaven, but what came of their
purpose? Pharaoh had a will when he hardened his heart and refused to allow
Jehovah’s people to go and worship Him in the wilderness, but what came of
his rebellion? Balak had a will when he hired Balaam to come and curse the
Hebrews, but of what avail was it? The Canaanites had a will when they
determined to prevent Israel occupying the land of Canaan, but how far did
they succeed? Saul had a will when he hurled his javelin at David, but it
entered the wall instead! Jonah had a will when he refused to go and preach
to the Ninevites, but what came of it? Nebuchadnezzar had a will when he
thought to destroy the three Hebrew children, but God had a will too, and
the fire did not harm them. Herod had a will when he sought to slay the
Child Jesus, and had there been no living, reigning God, his evil desire
would have been effected; but in daring to pit his puny will against the
irresistible will of the Almighty, his efforts came to nought. Yes, my
reader, and you, too, had a will when you formed your plans without first
seeking counsel of the Lord, therefore did He overturn them! "There are
many devices in a man s heart: nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that
shall stand" (Prov. 19:21).
What a demonstration of
the irresistible sovereignty of God is furnished by that wonderful statement
found in Revelation 17:17—"For God hath put in their hearts to
fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the Beast, until
the words of God shall be fulfilled." The fulfillment of any single
prophecy is but the sovereignty of God in operation. It is the demonstration
that what He has decreed He is able also to perform. It is proof that none
can withstand the execution of His counsel or prevent the accomplishment of
His pleasure. It is the evidence that God inclines men to fulfill that which
He has ordained and perform that which He has fore-determined. If God were
not absolute Sovereign, then Divine prophecy would be valueless, for in such
case no guarantee would be left that what He had predicted would surely come
to pass.
"For God hath put
in their hearts to fulfill His will and, to agree, and give their kingdom
unto the Beast, until the words of God shall he fulfilled" (Rev.
17:17). Even in that terrible time, when Satan has been cast down to the
earth itself (Rev. 12:9), when the Antichrist is reigning in full power
(Rev. 13), when the basest passions of men are let loose (Rev. 6:4), even
then God is supreme above all, working "through all" (Eph. 4:6),
controlling men’s hearts and directing their counsels to the fulfilling of
His own purpose. We cannot do better than quote here the excellent comments
of our esteemed friend Mr. Walter Scott upon this verse—"God works
unseen, but not the less truly, in all the political changes of the day. The
astute statesman. the clever diplomatist, is simply an agent in the Lord’s
hands. He knows it not. Self-will and motives of policy may influence to
action, but God is steadily working toward an end— to exhibit the heavenly
and earthly glories of His Son. Thus, instead of kings and statesmen
thwarting God’s purpose, they unconsciously forward it. God is not
indifferent, but is behind the scenes of human action. The doings of the
future ten kings in relation to Babylon and the Beast— the ecclesiastical
and secular powers—are not only under the direct control of God, but all
is done in fulfillment of His words."
Closely connected with
Revelation 17:17 is that which is brought before us in Micah 4:11, 12—"Now
also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled,
and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord,
neither understand they His counsel: for He shall gather them as the sheaves
into the floor." Here is another instance which demonstrates God’s
absolute control of the nations, of His power to fulfill His secret counsel
or decrees through and by them, and of His inclining men to perform His
pleasure though it be performed blindly and unwittingly by them.
Once more. What a word
was that of the Lord Jesus as He stood before Pilate! Who can depict the
scene! There was the Roman official, and there also was the Servant of
Jehovah standing before him. Said Pilate, "Whence art Thou?" And
we read, "Jesus gave him no answer. Then said Pilate unto Him, "Speakest
Thou not unto me? Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and
have power to release Thee?" (John 19:10). Ah! that is what Pilate
thought. That is what many another has thought. He was merely voicing the
common conviction of the human heart—the heart which leaves God out of its
reckoning. But hear the Lord Jesus as He corrects Pilate, and at the same
time repudiates the proud boasting of men in general—"thou couldest
have no power against Me, except it were given thee from above" (John
19:11). How sweeping is this assertion! Man—even though he be a prominent
official in the most influential empire of his day—has no power except
that which is given him from above, no power, even, to do that which is
evil, i.e., carry out his own evil designs, unless God empowers him so that
His purpose may be forwarded. It was God who gave Pilate the power to
sentence to death His well-beloved Son! And how this rebukes the sophistries
and reasonings of men, who argue that God does nothing more than permit
evil! Why, go right back to the very first words spoken by the Lord God to
man after the Fall, and hear Him saying, "I will put ENMITY between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed" (Gen. 3:15)!
Bare permission of sin does not cover all the facts which are revealed in
Scripture touching this mystery. As Calvin succinctly remarked, "But
what reason shall we assign for His permitting it but because it is His
will?"
At the close of chapter
eleven we promised to give attention to one or two other Difficulties which
were not examined at that time. To them we now turn. If God has not only
pre-determined the salvation of His own, but has also fore-ordained the good
works which they are to walk ‘in (Eph. 2:10), then what incentive remains
for us to strive after practical godliness? If God has fixed the number of
those who are to be saved, and the others are vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction, then what encouragement have we to preach the Gospel to the
lost? Let us take up these questions in the order of mention.
1. God’s Sovereignty
and the believer’s growth in grace.
If God has
fore-ordained everything that comes to pass, of what avail is it for us to
"exercise" ourselves "unto godliness" (1Tim. 4:7)? If
God has before ordained the good works in which we are to walk (Eph. 2:10),
then why should we be "careful to maintain good works" (Titus
3:8)? This only raises once more the problem of human responsibility.
Really, it should be enough for us to reply, God has bidden us do so.
Nowhere does Scripture inculcate or encourage a spirit of fatalistic
indifference. Contentment with our present attainments is expressly
disallowed. The word to every believer is, "Press toward the mark for
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14).
This was the apostle’s aim, and it should be ours. Instead of hindering
the development of Christian character, a proper apprehension and
appreciation of God’s sovereignty will forward it. Just as the sinner’s
despair of any help from himself is the first prerequisite of a sound
conversion, so the loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential
in the believer’s growth in grace; and just as the sinner despairing of
help from himself will cast him into the arms of sovereign mercy, so the
Christian, conscious of his own frailty, will turn unto the Lord for power.
It is when we are weak, we are strong (2 Cor. 12:10): that is to say, there
must be consciousness of our weakness before we shall turn to the Lord for
help. While the Christian allows the thought that he is sufficient in
himself, while he imagines that by mere force of will he shall resist
temptation, while he has any confidence in the flesh then, like Peter who
boasted that though all forsook the Lord yet should not he, so we shall
certainly fail and fall. Apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5).
The promise of God is, "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that
have no might (of their own) He increaseth strength" (Isa. 40:29).
The question now before
us is of great practical importance, and we are deeply anxious to express
ourselves clearly and simply. The secret of development of Christian
character is the realization of our own powerlessness, acknowledged
powerlessness, and the consequent turning unto the Lord for help. The plain
fact is that of ourselves we are utterly unable to practice a single precept
or obey a single command that is set before us in the Scriptures. For
example: "Love your enemies"—but of ourselves we cannot do this,
or make ourselves do it. "In nothing be anxious"—but who can
avoid and prevent anxiety when things go wrong? "Awake to righteousness
and sin not"—but who can help sinning? These are merely examples
selected at random from scores of others. Does then God mock us by bidding
us do what He knows we are unable to do? The answer of Augustine to this
question is the best we have met with—"God gives commands we cannot
perform, that we may know what we ought to request from Him." A
consciousness of our powerlessness should cast us upon Him who has all
power. Here then is where a vision and view of God’s sovereignty helps,
for it reveals His sufficiency and shows us our insufficiency.
2. God’s Sovereignty
and Christian service.
If God has determined
before the foundation of the world the precise number of those who shall be
saved, then why should we concern ourselves about the eternal destiny of
those with whom we come into contact? What place is left for zeal in
Christian service? Will not the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, and its
corollary of predestination, discourage the Lord’s servants from
faithfulness in evangelism? No; instead of discouraging His servants, a
recognition of God’s sovereignty is most encouraging to them. Here is one,
for example, who is called upon to do the work of an evangelist, and he goes
forth believing in the freedom of the will and in the sinner’s own ability
to come to Christ. He preaches the Gospel as faithfully and zealously as he
knows how; but, he finds the vast majority of his hearers are utterly
indifferent and have no heart at all for Christ. He discovers that men are,
for the most part, thoroughly wrapt up in the things of the world, and that
few have any concern about the world to come. He beseeches men to be
reconciled to God, and pleads with them over their soul’s salvation. But
it is of no avail. He becomes thoroughly disheartened, and asks himself,
What is the use of it all? Shall he quit, or had he better change his
mission and message? If men will not respond to the Gospel, had he not
better engage in that which is more popular and acceptable to the world? Why
not occupy himself with humanitarian efforts, with social uplift work, with
the purity campaign? Alas! that so many men who once preached the Gospel are
now engaged in these activities instead.
What then is God’s
corrective for His discouraged servant? First, he needs to learn from
Scripture that God is not now seeking to convert the world, but that in this
Age He is "taking out of the Gentiles" a people for His name (Acts
15:14). What then is God’s corrective for His discouraged servant? This—a
proper apprehension of God’s plan for this Dispensation. Again: what is
God’s remedy for dejection at apparent failure in our labors? This—the
assurance that God’s purpose cannot fail, that God’s plans cannot
miscarry, that God’s will must be done. Our labors are not intended to
bring about that which God has not decreed. Once more: what is God’s word
of cheer for the one who is thoroughly disheartened at the lack of response
to his appeals and the absence of fruit for his labors? This— that we are
not responsible for results: that is God’s side, and God’s business.
Paul may "plant," and Apollos may "water," but it is God
who "gave the increase" (1 Cor. 3:6). Our business is to obey
Christ and preach the Gospel to every creature, to emphasize the
"Whosoever believeth", and then to leave the sovereign operations
of the Holy Spirit to apply the Word in quickening power to whom He wills,
resting on the sure promise of Jehovah—"For as the rain cometh down,
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth,
and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and
bread to the eater: So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it
shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please
(it may not that which we please), and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it" (Isa. 55:10, 11). Was it not this assurance that sustained
the beloved apostle when he declared "Therefore (see context) I endure
all things for the elect’s sake" (2 Tim.2:10)! Yea, is not this same
lesson to be learned from the blessed example of the Lord Jesus! When we
read that He said to the people, "Ye also have seen Me, and believe
not", He fell back upon the sovereign pleasure of the One who sent Him,
saying, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and him that
cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:36, 37). He knew that
His labor would not be in vain. He knew God’s Word would not return unto
Him "void." He knew that "God’s elect" would come to
Him and believe on Him. And this same assurance fills the soul of every
servant who intelligently rests upon the blessed truth of God’s
sovereignty.
Ah
fellow-Christian-worker, God has not sent us forth to "draw a bow at a
venture". The success of the ministry which He has committed into our
hands is not left contingent on the fickleness of the wills in those to whom
we preach. How gloriously encouraging, how soul-sustaining the assurance are
those words of our Lord’s, if we rest on them in simple faith: "And
other sheep I have ("have" mark you, not "will have";
"have," because given to Him by the Father before the foundation
of the world), which are not of this fold (i.e. the Jewish fold then
existing) : them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice" (John
10:16). Not simply, "they ought to hear My voice," not simply
"they may hear My voice", not "they will do so if they are
willing." There is no "if", no "perhaps", no
uncertainty about it. "They shall hear My voice" is His own
positive, unqualified, absolute promise. Here then, is where faith is to
rest! Continue your quest, dear friend, after the "other sheep" of
Christ’s. Be not discouraged because the "goats" heed not His
voice as you preach the Gospel. Be faithful, be scriptural, be persevering,
and Christ may use even you to be His mouthpiece in calling some of His lost
sheep unto Himself. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast,
unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Cor. 15:58).
It now remains for us
to offer a few closing reflections and our happy task is finished.
God’s sovereign
election of certain ones to salvation is a MERCIFUL provision. The
sufficient answer to all the wicked accusations that the doctrine of
Predestination is cruel, horrible, and unjust, is that, unless God had
chosen certain ones to salvation, none would have been saved, for
"there is none that seeketh after God" (Rom. 3:11). This is no
mere inference of ours but the definite teaching of Holy Scripture. Attend
closely to the words of the apostle in Romans 9, where this theme is fully
discussed—"Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand
of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. . . . And as Isaiah said before,
Except the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been
made like unto Gomorrah" (Rom. 9:27, 29). The teaching of this passage
is unmistakable: but for Divine interference, Israel would have become as
Sodom and Gomorrah. Had God left Israel alone, human depravity would have
run its course to its own tragic end. But God left Israel a
"remnant" or "seed." Of old the cities of the plain had
been obliterated for their sin, and none was left to survive them; and so it
would have been in Israel’s case had not God "left" or spared a
remnant. Thus it is with the human race: but for God’s sovereign grace in
sparing a remnant, all of Adam’s descendants had perished in their sins.
Therefore, we say that God’s sovereign election of certain ones to
salvation is a merciful provision. And, be it noted, in choosing the ones He
did, God did no injustice to the others who were passed by, for none had any
right to salvation. Salvation is by grace, and the exercise of grace is a
matter of pure sovereignty—God might save all or none, many or few, one or
ten thousand, just as He saw best. Should it be replied, But surely it were
"best" to save all. The answer would be: We are not capable of
judging. We might have thought it "best" never to have created
Satan, never to have allowed sin to enter the world, or having entered, to
have brought the conflict between good and evil to an end long before now.
Ah! God’s ways are not ours, and His ways are "past finding
out."
God fore-ordains
everything which comes to pass. His sovereign rule extends throughout the
entire Universe and is over every creature. "For of Him, and through
Him, and to Him, are all things" (Rom. 11:36). God initiates all
things, regulates all things, and all things are working unto His eternal
glory. "There is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and
we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by
Him" (1 Cor. 8:6). And again, "According to the purpose of Him who
worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11).
Surely if anything could be ascribed to chance it is the drawing of lots,
and yet the Word of God expressly declares, "The lot is cast into the
lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Prov. 16:33)!!
God’s wisdom in the
government of our world shall yet be completely vindicated before all
created intelligences. God is no idle Spectator, looking on from a distant
world at the happenings on our earth, but is Himself shaping everything to
the ultimate promotion of His own glory. Even now He is working out His
eternal purpose, not only in spite of human and Satanic opposition, but by
means of them. How wicked and futile have been all efforts to resist His
will shall one day be as fully evident as when of old He overthrew the
rebellious Pharaoh and his hosts at the Red Sea.
It has been well said,
"The end and object of all is the glory of God. It is perfectly,
divinely true, that ‘God hath ordained for His own glory whatsoever comes
to pass.’ In order to guard this from all possibility of mistake, we have
only to remember who is this God, and what the glory that He seeks. It is He
who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,—of Him in whom divine
love came seeking not her own, among us as ‘One that serveth.’ It is He
who, sufficient in Himself, can receive no real accession of glory from His
creatures, but from whom—‘Love’, as He is ‘Light,’—cometh down
every good and every perfect gift, in whom is no variableness nor shadow of
turning. Of His own alone can His creatures give to Him."
"The glory of such
an one is found in the display of His own goodness, righteousness, holiness,
truth; in manifesting Himself as in Christ He has manifested Himself and
will forever. The glory of this God is what of necessity all things must
serve—adversaries and evil as well as all else. He has ordained it; His
power will insure it; and when all apparent clouds and obstructions are
removed, then shall He rest—‘rest in His love’ forever, although
eternity only will suffice for the apprehension of the revelation. ‘God
shall be all in all’ (italics ours throughout this paragraph) gives in six
words the ineffable result" (F. W. Grant on "Atonement").
That what we have
written gives but an incomplete and imperfect presentation of this most
important subject we must sorrowfully confess. Nevertheless, if it results
in a clearer apprehension of the majesty of God and His sovereign mercy we
shall be amply repaid for our labors. If the reader has received blessing
from the perusal of these pages, let him not fail to return thanks to the
Giver of every good and every perfect gift, ascribing all praise to His
inimitable and sovereign grace.
"The Lord, our God, is clothed with
might,
The winds and waves obey His will;
He speaks, and in the shining height
The sun and rolling worlds stand still.
Rebel ye waves, and o’er the land
With threatening aspect foam and roar,
The Lord hath spoken His command
That breaks your rage upon the shore.
Ye winds of night, your force combine—
Without His holy high behest
You shall not in a mountain pine
Disturb the little swallow’s nest.
His voice sublime is heard afar;
In distant peals it fades and dies;
He binds the cyclone to His car
And sweeps the howling murky skies.
Great God! how infinite art Thou,
What weak and worthless worms are we,
Let all the race of creatures bow
And seek salvation now from Thee.
Eternity, with all its years
Stands ever-present to Thy view,
To Thee there’s nothing old appears
Great God! There can be nothing new.
Our lives through varied scenes are drawn,
And vexed with mean and trifling cares;
While Thine eternal thought moves on
Thy fixed and undisturbed affairs."
"Halleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth"
(Rev. 19:6).
|
