and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing' (Psalm cxlv. 15, 16). In some of the discourses of our Lord, which appeal most strongly to our human sympathies, this truth is beautifully brought out. He points us to the birds of the heaven,' which 'sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,' and then He adds, "Your heavenly Father feedeth them' (Matt. vi. 26).

But the providential government of God is more especially to be viewed in its relation to mankind. The events which affect the career and destiny of nations are under His control. He raises up, from time to time, men whose strength of character and extensive influence largely determine the course of things around them; and He often interposes to bring down the lofty and powerful, and to frustrate their schemes and hopes. When Sennacherib boasted of his power and resources, claiming to be independent and absolute, the declaration of Jehovah respecting him showed that he was permitted to be an instrument of judgment to the nations, and affirmed that the Hand which had given him power would interpose for his overthrow and destruction (Isa. xxxvii. 23-29). Impressive is the view which Isaiah gives of the agency of God as blasting the hopes, and frustrating the schemes, of many of the great ones of the earth, so as even to bring them down to impotence and ruin. He 'bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown; yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth; and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble' (Isa. xl. 23, 24).

It is instructive, also, to mark how God sometimes overrules the wickedness and malice of men to bring about beneficent results, and to place individuals in positions in which they can largely influence others for good. The case of Joseph may be adduced in illustration of this statement. When he made himself known to his brethren, he sought to relieve, in some degree, the feeling of self-reproach which their past conduct

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towards him could not but inspire by the consideration, that God had sent him into Egypt to preserve life. God sent me before you, to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither but God: and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt' (Gen. xlv. 7, 8).

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But the providence of God is further to be viewed in its relation to individual men, however humble their position, and however limited their influence. In the devotional poetry of the Jewish Church this consolatory truth is again and again affirmed, in connection with the special interest which the Most High takes in those who fear and love Him. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry' (Psalm xxxiv. 15). Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore' (Psalm cxxi. 4; 7, 8). But it is in the discourses of our Lord that the providential care of God over individuals is most impressively set forth. He teaches us that even the humblest of the brute creation share in the regard of God, and then He adds, that man calls forth a deeper interest in the Divine Mind, and that even the minutest circumstance that affects us is marked by God and is under His control. 'Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God. But the very hairs of head are all numbered. Fear not: ye are of more value than many sparrows' (Luke xii. 6, 7). In His Sermon on the Mount, after warning His people against the love and eager pursuit of wealth, He guards them also against distressing solicitude as to the supply of their temporal wants, by dwelling on the universal agency of God, and His constant care of all who seek His favour and devote themselves to His service. 'Be not, therefore, anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

your

For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you' (Matt. vi. 31—33).

It may sometimes, perhaps, occur to us, that it is beneath the majesty of the Eternal God, who upholds and rules the whole Universe of being, to care for individual men, and to mark every circumstance that affects them. But, on the contrary, there is nothing that affords a more impressive view of the infinite resources of the Divine Mind than this constant regard to individuals. For it implies that God observes with interest all that bears on each one of the hundreds of millions of our race, that He does this, not in successive moments, but at one and the same instant,-and that He has exercised this oversight without intermission throughout all the ages. Only an Infinite Mind, that knows no exhaustion, weariness, or perplexity, is capable of this all-comprehending and unremitting

care.

This precious doctrine of the special Providence of God is to be connected with the truth, that He is accessible to us in prayer, and that He invites us to make known to Him all our requests. Thus Christianity opens to us a refuge from the assaults of worldly anxiety, and affords us solace under all the sorrows and trials of life. Our Lord Himself has taught us the efficacy of prayer, assuring us of the readiness of our Father in heaven to give all things that are really good to them that ask Him; and His Apostles encourage us to draw near to God, to tell Him all our wants, and hopes, and fears. St. Peter invites us to cast all our anxiety upon Him, because He careth for us; and St. Paul has left us the charge and promise, 'In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus' (Philip. iv. 6, 7).

CHAPTER VII.

THE MORAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD.

IN of we have no over

N contemplating the government of God, we have now to

all rational and moral beings, and, in particular, His moral administration of our world.

We have seen that conscience naturally leads us to conceive of a Moral Ruler of the Universe. It recognises the reality and importance of the distinctions of right and wrong; it recognises, too, the obligation resting upon us to do that which is right, and to turn away from everything that is wrong; and, to use the striking words of Mr. Wace, it enforces the conviction, 'not only that certain consequences will follow our evil deeds, but that we deserve certain penalties, and that we must expect them to be inflicted because we deserve them.' All this implies that we are living under a moral constitution, presided over by the Author of our being, who will vindicate at last the claims of rectitude and order.

But the Christian revelation places the moral government of God before us distinctly and impressively. The great principles of rectitude are defined in His law, and enforced by His authority. The duties which we owe to Himself, to our fellow-men, and to ourselves, are traced out in the successive revelations which He has given, and are now placed in the clearest light by the teaching of our Lord and His Apostles. While certain principles and acts are recognised as right in themselves, they come to us with the sanction of the will of God; and to do that will cheerfully, uniformly, and perfectly, is the highest object to which

we can aspire. The restoration of man to a state of holiness, so that he shall maintain a course of practical obedience to the Divine will, is ever represented as the great result to which the economy of redemption and all the operations of Divine grace are directed. It will suffice to quote two passages from the writings of St. Paul :-'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them' (Ephes. ii. 10). For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works' (Titus ii. 11—14).

It is one feature of the moral government of God that His displeasure rests on those who defy His authority and practise iniquity, while His complacency is called forth by piety and rectitude. On the one hand we read, "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy' (Psalm cxlvii. 11); and on the other, 'The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold down the truth in unrighteousness' (Rom. i. 18). We are not, indeed, to conceive of the wrath of God as involving any degree of malignity, or as being a turbulent passion, like that which sometimes agitates the human breast, but as the deep and intense moral displeasure of a perfectly holy Being and a righteous Governor who hates and punishes sin. And the declaration of the Apostle teaches us, that the knowledge of the truth only heightens the guilt of those who resist it and live in the violation of their duties.

We are thus led to the great principle which characterises the moral government of God. That principle is retribution. We are taught, in the most emphatic manner, that God will render to every man according to his works.' The apparent

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