hut it is in the work of Redemption that the perfections of : God must be chiefly viewed ; because in that are displayed his ^ justice, his mercy, and his grace; for the exercise of which there is, in the works of creation and of providence, compara- tively but little scope.
But, to discover these, we must view them,]
As displayed in the person of his Son —
[The Lord Jesus Christ is called " the image' of the invi- sible God*^," because In him Jehovah, " who dweileth in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen or can seeV' is rendered visible to mortal eyes; so that in him we see *' the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person®." We know that " in his face all the glory of the Godhead shines ;" and that on that account the god of this world . is so anxious to blind our eyes, and to hide him from our view'.
See
' Col. i. 15. ^ I Tim. vi. l6. " Heb. i. 3. '2 Cor. iv. 4.
314 PSALMS, xc. 17. [399/
See then in him, and in his cross, not some perfections only, but all, even all the perfections of the Godhead shining in their utmost splendor. Draw nigh to the garden of Gethsemane, or to Mount Calvary, and there take a view of your adorable Saviour. How awful does the justice of the Deity appear, when not one sinner in the universe could be received to mercy, nor one single trans- gression of God's law be pardoned, till an atonement should be offered for it, not by any creature, but by the Creator himself, whose blood alone could expiate our guilt, and whose righteousness alone could serve as a sufficient title for our acceptance before God 1 And how bright does mercy appear, in that, rather than man should perish after the example of the fallen angels, God vouchsafed to give his only dear Son to die for us, and to effect our reconciliation by the blood of his cross ! What wisdom too is displayed in this way of making the truth of God, which denounced death as the penalty of sin, to consist with the hap- piness and salvation of those who had committed it ! as the Psalmist says, " Mercy and truth are met together; righteous- ness and peace have kissed each other s." To make these per- fections unite in the salvation of men, and to bring to every perfection far higher glory than it could have had if it had stood alone ; (for whilst each shines in its own proper glory, each has a tenfold lustre reflected on it by the opposite per- fection with which it is made to harmonize;) this required the utmost possible effort both of wisdom and grace; and to all eternity will it form the chief subject of adoration and praise amongst all the hosts of heaven. Here is God seen as " for- giving iniquity, transgression, and sin, whilst he by no means clears the guilty ^ ;" because their guilt has been expiated, and a righteousness has been wrought out by the Lord Jesus Christ, so that God is "a just God, and yet a Saviour'," and is no less just than he is merciful, in every exercise of his pardoning love, and in every blessing which he bestows on his redeemed people''."]
The petition offered respecting this, leads us to inquire,
II. In what respects we may hope that " this beauty shall be on us " —
Had the prayer been offered by Moses alone, like that, '' I beseech thee, shew me thy glory V' we might have supposed, that it was a peculiar favour, which other saints had no right to expect. But the prayer was uttered by multitudes, even by the great
mass
5 Ps. Ixxxv. 10. ''Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. ' Isai. xlv. 21.
'' 1 John i. p. ' Exod. xxxiii. 18.