The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 529

I. THE TRUTII ADOUT Goo mmE INDICATED. Two attributes-omnipresence and omniscience-are asserted. But they are so mutually dependent and so inseparable as to be virtually one. By the very necessity of his Being as the infinite Spirit, Goel is not more in one place or sphere of existeuce than another, but alike in all, "a.far off" as well as "at hand," filling heaven and earth; and wherever he is, there he is in all the fulness of his perfect intelligence, not observant or cognizant of some things or beings more than others, but having infallible knowledge of all. Note respecting this divine attribute: 1. Its mystery. The being of One who is thus superior to the limitations of space and time and to all our finite conditions-to whom there is no nearness and no distance, neither past nor future, nothing new and nothing old, to whom "all things are naked and opened,"-must needs be inscrutable to us. Our boldest images are but the;veil of our ignorance, and even the sublimest representations of the inspired Word leave the problem as insoluble as ever. The celebrated dictum, "His centre is everywhere and his circumference nowhere," in no way helps us to any real comprehension of infinity; and such grand poetic utterances as those of the hundred and thirty-ninth psalm, however much they may find their echo in the depths of our spiritual consciousness, only call forth the confession, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." 2. Its moral significance-. The moral conditions involved, the moral attributes associated with it, and their direct relation to ourselves, clothe it with profound interest and solemn importance. If Goel were at an impassable distance, it might little signify to us what his moral attribute~ were. But now that he is thus near-a presence from which we cannot escape, an eye that is always searching us through and through, a hand that is always laid upon us- the question as to what his dispositions towards us are is one of unspeakable moment. His absolute knowledge of us is connected with a present secret act of judgment, prophetic of the open judgment to come. And it is his perfection that is thus coming into perpetual contact with our imperfect _thoughts and ways. His holy love is the light that searches into us, the fire that tries us. This attribute of omniscience derives tremendous importance from the fact that "our God is a consuming fire." 3. The individ·uality of its application. "Can any hide himself?" Like a.II other Divine truths, this is nothing to us until we bring it to bear on our own personal condition and doings. The fa.et itself is independent of all our thoughts a.bout it, and even of our very existence. But for it to have any real influence over us we must reduce it from its vagllc generality to the narrow compass of our own being, e.nd concentrate the force of it upon the single line of our own daily history-" Thou God seest me." We npprehend the universal truth aright only so far as that cry of Hagar expresses our soul's deepest consciousness-as if the whole world of accountable beings around us were annihilated, and we stood, as in the solitudes of a desert-, alono with God. I!. THE PRACTICAL EFFECT TlIAT TRUTlI MAY DE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE. We cannot imagine ono more fitted to have e. salutary influence in every way upon us. Let God be to you only a distant object of contemplation, e.s .be is to the mere theo- logical disputant, and with whatever attributes you may clothe him, they touch no part of your being with any living power. Conceive of him, in a dreamy pantheistic way, as a more impersonal, all-pervading force, and there is nothing in your belief to elevate your moral character and ennoble your life. Ilut believe in the God of the Bible, whose voice is heard in the text, and you embrace the grandest and most influential truth tbo human soul is capable of entertaining. The truth, mther, will possess you, as no other truth can, moulding nnd governing your whole nature, and adapting itself in an infinite variety of ways to every aspect of your being and life. Chiefly two lessons a.re enforced : 1. Self-scrutiny. We shall be concerned to become acquainted with ourselves that we may know bow far tho spirit and tenor of our moral life is in harmony with the will anll the life of God. Not that a mere curious and anxious ha.bit of testing tho quality of one's own fceliags, and weighing nnd measuring one's motives, has necessarily any healthy moral effect. It may be tho reverse. But the sense of God will naturally awaken a desiro that the relation in which we s,and towards him may be a right nnd happy ono. "If onr henrt condemn us, God is gref\tcr than our heart," etc. (1 John iii. 23, 24). 'rho loyalty of tbo heart to God is the essential principle of a religious life. The sin of theso false prophets was tho loosening of the bond of their spiritual allegiance to him. "They stood not 538 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEHEM]All. [en. xxm. 1-40,