Ver. 8.-God rompletes what he undertalces. (See Phil. i. 6.) "The Lord will carry to an end all things that concern my welfare." Man lives and moves through life r,urrounded with unfinished things. He has constantly to say, "My purposes are broken off I" He is always attempting what he cannot accomplish, beginning what he cannot carry through. God must be thought of as always having a distinct purpose in whatever he undertakes, and as active until that purpose is realized. Illustrate by reference to 2 Sam. vii. 25-29. I. Goo ALWAYS HAB A PURPOSE. Thoughtless action, unpremeditated action, can never be associated with God. Men drift into things without knowing where they are going to. God never does. Men may talk about" waiting for something to turn np." God never does. He is the Infinite Mind; and mind is put into everything he does. He knows the end from the beginning. We have always this consolation- there are no accidents to God. He is never surp1ised, never taken at unawares. IIe has a meaning in everything he does, a purpose in every design he forms. "Through- out the ages one unceasing purpose runs." II. Goo's punPosE Is :NEVER FOilGOTTEN. Man so often crowds his life with interests that be forgets what he intended to do. IIe is carried away with new attrac- tions, and quite forgets what he meant to do. So man's path is beset with the "young lions" of unfinished scheme&-tbings dropped and forgotten in order to take up some new thing. God never forgets. 'l'o us he may seem to ; and this may be 0111 explaoation of his delay. Hfa purpose is kept ever in view. Ill. Gon's PURPOSE 11; NEVER FilUSTRA'l'EO. Man's often is. He proposes to him- Edf too much and life beats him. Or what he proposes crosses what somebody else proposes, and'the opposition beats him. God never proposes to himself what is beyond himself; for he can do what he will. God permil$ no rivalry of human purposes to cross or frustrate his perfect plan.-Il. T.
Ver. 2.-Tlie greatness of the Word of God. "For thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name." I. Goo's WonD 1s GREATER THAN HIS MA'l'ERIAI, WORK. His word of commo.nd was the cause of creation. "Let there be light;" " He commandecl, and it stood fast." PII. oxxxvtn. 1~s.J 'l'HE BOOK OF PSALMS, 318
II. GoD's WoBD EXPBE8SES MORE THAN EIS WORK. God's Word is his uttered thought, and expresses more than the utmost science of nature can utter. Goes beyond all the teachings of chemistry, electricity, etc. Ill. Goo's WoRD CAN REGENERATE EIS WORK. In man and in all intelligent beings, when it has been injured and partly destroyed. Christ, the Word of God's regenerating power. IV. Goo's WORD ABIDES UNCHANGEABLY, wmLE SOME OF HIS WORK ALTERS AND PASSES MANY. "Wax old, as doth a garment; but thou remainest," etc. V. Gon's WoRV OF PROMISE IS GREATER THAN ANYTHING HE HAS DONE. That Word furnishes not only the pillars on which the present order of things rests, but is the ground of all the new and future. Of whatever is to come, in the outwar.l anrl. inward universe of man.-S.
Ver. 8.-God's perfecting. "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, 0 Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands." I. THE PSALMIST'S CONVICTION. Words such as these are said only in the strongest grandest moments of a good man's life. David, St. Paul, St. Peter, St. John, could say them ; but the majority of believers in Christ cannot say them at all times ; only at certain privileged moments of their lives. And the reason is-they see their own imper- fections more strongly than God's unchangeable love towards them; that salvation has a multitude of convictions as well as a multitude of promises. Look at some of the words of Christ and the apostles, and ask what they mean (John x. 27-29); Paul (Rom. viii.; Phil. i. G; 1 Pet. v. 10). I think it may be said that the meaning of these uniform utterances is that the strength of God's faithful love to us, and not the strength of our love to him, is the pledge of our salvation-the guarantee that we shall not be left to perish in our sins and weakness. We may unfold this in two par- ticulars. 1. That God will do for us towards this end what •Qe are unable to do for ourselves. Some think little of their sins. Forgiveness, renewed day by day, extend- ing to the new sins I commit. I have not the right nor the disposition (often) to pardon myself. He will give grace--that is, help and strength-according to our needs. "But my God shall supply all you1· need according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ." He will permit no tempt:ltion to assail 119 for which he does not furnish the means of resistance. He can do no more. In dying, we shull be utterly helpless in ourselves; but he will be with us to save and preserve-to lead us through tbo dark labyrinth. He will raise us up at the last day. 2. God will do for us what we are not willing to do for ourselves. A great part of our danger arises more from want of will thau want of strength. He will institute purifying processes. "Every branch in me that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." We are averse to this-to trials and afflictions and discipline. The clay does not know into what beautiful shapes it m11.y be wrought by the hand of the potter. Gold wheD it is in the ore does not know its neell of the furnace, to be separated and refined from the dross. We aro disinclined, naturally, to love him supremely, and to employ the means thnt will lead to it. He conquers our aver~ion by successive revelations ol his love. "He worketh in us tho willing llnd the doing" by his own sovereign will. II. THE GROUNDS OF THIS GLORIOUS CONVICTION, 1. God's enduring, unchanging mercy. His disposition to pardon-his delight in saving. Can it be a question, even for a moment, whether God would rather save you or allow you to perish? " Hi~ mercy endureth for ever ; " " He delighteth in mercy ; " " Who is a God like unto thee?" 'l'hen he will endure you and save you, though you have many sins in your henrl,-if you do not love the sins so that you cannot be sopnrnted from them. He will endure many backslidings, till he has healed you of them. Will endure your cold earthliness of mind, till ho has mat.le you heavenly minded, etc. 2. God will not forsake the worlc of his own hands. Has uot forsaken the cllrth, or the sun, or aoy work in the material universe, much less the most precious work he ever began. "The mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindDcss shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant ol my pe.1.Ce be removed." The sculptor may leave his statue unfinished, the artist his picture, and the poet his epic ; but God the Ever-Living will nut forsake the work of his hands. CoNoLUSION, 1. Take courage, 2, Bo diligent to make calling and election sure.-S. 314 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. (PS. CXXXIX. 1-24,