1 Kings viii. 18. Thou didst well that it was in thine heart.
THE sovereignty of God is a subject from which the minds of men in general revolt. But this arises
from their considering it almost exclusively in rela- tion to things which have an arbitrary and painful aspect. For instance, when " God says to Pharaoh, Even for this purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth ;" St. Paul represents the proud heart of man as rising against it : " Thou wilt say then unto me. Why doth he yet find fault ? for who hath resisted his wilP ?" But, if we behold the same divine attribute as displayed in the_ appointment of Saul to the Apostleship, and the making of him " a chosen vessel to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles ^" we must surely acquiesce in the exercise of it, and adore our God as doing all things well. Now, in the passage before us we have a re- markable instance of divine sovereignty, in the refusal given to the wishes and desires of David, relative to the building of a temple for the Lord, and the transfer of that honour to David's son. On David's expression of his wish, the Prophet Nathan had encouraged him to carry it into effect. But God for- bade it ; and devolved the office of constructing the temple on David's son and successor: at the same time, however, commending David's purpose, and telling him, '' Thou didst well that it was in thine hearts"
Now, from this commendation, we may observe,
I. That there is in the hearts of God's faithful ser- vants more good than they are able to carry into effect — In the hearts of the ungodly there is more evil than they can execute. If the restraints of Divine Pro- vidence and of human laws were withdrawn, so that men could perpetrate all that is in their hearts, this world would be little better than hell itself. Of the godly, on the contrary, it may be said, that there is more good in them than they can execute : not because Divine Providence or human laws impose
=* Rom. ix. 17 — 19. *> Actsix. 1, 15. with Gal. i. 15.
<= ver. 17—19. with 2 Sam. vii. 1—3, 12, 13.