Gen. xvi. 13. She called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God sees.t me.
AFFLICTIONS sanctified are amongst our great- est mercies. Hagar would have known less of her- self, and less of God, if she had not experienced domestic trouble. She had indulged an exceeding bad spirit in despising her mistress on account of her barrenness ; and, when she had thereby provoked the resentment of her mistress, she could not bear it ; but fled away towards her own country. The gracious and seasonable visit however which she received from God, brought her to a better temper: it led her to return to that station which she had left ; and to adore that God, whom as yet she had altogether neglected.
The person that appeared to her is called " an angel;" but he was " the Angel of the Covenant," the Lord Jesus Christ, under the semblance of an angel. This appears from the promise which he gave her, " I will multiply thy seed;" and, still more clearly, from the discovery which was made to her, that it was " the Lord Jehovah who spake to her;" and from the name by which she called him, " Thou God seest me."
From this name of God we shall be naturally led to speak of his Omniscience : but we will not occupy our time with proofs that this attribute belongs to God, or with uninteresting speculations respecting it: we will rather endeavour to impress the consideration of it upon our minds, and to mark its aspect upon the different states and conditions of men.
The consideration then of the Omniscience of God is suited to produce in us,
I. Conviction and sorrow —
[Men commit iniquity under an idea that God does not
notice thema Hence, though they know that they
have sinned, they are regardless of the consequences of their
a Ps. lxxiii. 11. Job xxii. 13, 14. k2