A MEDITATION

The Lord God is Sovereign: He is clothed with Majesty.

The sovereignty of God is a great deep — a deep utterly unfathomable to human reason. This will be readily admitted by all whose creed is sound and judgment clear in the truth of God. To disbelieve, to doubt, to cavil at God’s sovereignty exposes a man to a suspicion, and for the most part a well-grounded suspicion, of unsoundness in head and heart. But do all who receive the doctrine of God’s sovereignty receive the truth of God’s sovereignty? For there is a difference between receiving a doctrine and receiving a truth in the heart. The judgment is the seat of the former: the heart the seat of the latter. Job, doubtless, had received the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, and by it had instructed and comforted others, as Eliphaz told him, “Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was fallen, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.” (Job 4: 3, 4). But how did Job feel when put into the furnace of temptation? Where was his hold then of the sovereignty of God, as applicable to his own case? “But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest:: it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.” (fob 4:5).

When David went out with a sling and stone, and especially when he returned with the Philistine’s head in his hand, he doubtless believed and admired God’s sovereignty. He felt it, too, when hunted like a partridge on the mountains, and even when driven from Jerusalem by his son Absalom, as is evidently shown by his touching speech to Zadok; “And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if 1 shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again, and show me both it and His habitation: but if He thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here I am, let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.” (2 Sam. 15:25, 26). But when tidings came that Absalom was slain, his crushed spirit could hardly submit to God’s sovereignty when displayed in a manner which cut his very heart’s strings. The feelings of the father overcame the feelings of the saint. His own life, which rested on the sovereign will of God to shorten or prolong, he could freely have laid down to have spared for awhile the life, equally determined by divine decree, of a rebellious son, who would, if permitted, have steeped his hands in the blood of his own father, and God’s anointed king. The deep, full tide of the father’s love swelled above all the restraints of grace, and burst forth in that heart-rending cry, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee. O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Sam. 18:33).

But not to speak of such deep and painful trials in which natural feelings are so overwhelmed that the voice of grace is almost silenced, there are other cases wherein the sovereignty of God is with difficulty bowed down to, or reverentially held by. Take, for instance, the work of grace on the soul. Our own experience, the experience of others most commended to our conscience, that of the preachers and writers most eminently blessed, all point to a certain line of divine teaching. In election itself, that cardinal feature of divine sovereignty, the objects of eternal choice are not always such as we should seem, at first sight, to approve of. But will the Lord walk within our narrow limits? Say, for instance, that He has chiefly chosen the poor in this world’s goods. Has He none in the wide reach of His gracious embrace whose minds have been cultivated by education, and whose acquirements He sanctifies to the use of the sanctuary as the jewels of old which were brought up out of Egypt? Or allow that it is a rare instance for any one of noble or distinguished birth to be called by grace. Is there never such an exception, now, as that of Queen Candace’s noble chamberlain, or Luke’s most excellent Theophilus.

The sovereignty of the great God was also remarkably seen in the life and death of a certain Dr. Gordon. He was a very godly man and yet he suffered unspeakable pains before he left this world. He possessed a searching and highly cultivated mind, was a most ardent and indefatigable student in the fields of science, had an extensive and lucrative practice, and was much looked up to and respected. His moral character and disposition, too, were peculiarly beautiful. He possessed the warmest possible affections, was of a singularly upright and truthful disposition, and especially full of benevolence and solicitude for the interests of the poor. Although suffering immense pains during his last illness, he was very patient and described justice unto his God and glorified Him in His sovereignty and eternal pleasure. The following extracts will show the acuteness of his sufferings, arising from a disease the nature of which much battled all medical skill:

“Dreadful agony now came on, arising from spasm of the heart. He frequently raised himself in bed, and lifted up his arms in great distress, comparing his sensations to the effect of ten thousand screws tearing him to pieces. As his powers of patient and endurance were remarkable, it was evident that the suffering which would cause such indications of it as were witnessed, must be of the most intense kind. He once cried out, ‘O my friends, my children, can you do nothing for me? O my heavenly Father, help me! O my dear Jesus, take me!’ Frequent vomiting, and the necessity of continually changing his position, added to his distress. But he retained most fully his self possession, frequently feeling his pulse, making remarks on its intermittent character, and calling for remedies as the symptoms varied; often expressing his surprise that he continued so long.”

“At intervals he made the following remarks: ‘Remember, this pain is only bodily. I’ve no fear. Is this because I’ve no dependence on myself, but am trusting to Jesus alone? If I will come, will He reject me? And will He put those white robes on me. This is indeed agony, torture; but what a mercy that my mind is at perfect peace.”

He also remarked, “This affliction was all for my good. God sends afflictions that we may remember Him. Not only that we remember Him, but that we may have joy. I have had more enjoyment the last few weeks than in my whole life. I could not have a doubt, not one. He saw me a rebellious child. I am a miracle — an example of a marvellous interposition of God. A short illness would not have been enough. He saw I needed all this, and O the blessing that has attend it.”

He had a wonderful death-bed. Like Stephen, he was, by faith, looking up to heaven, and with a clearer vision than may be hoped for till the river of death is well nigh passed, was beholding, through the opening gates of glory, “the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” And … “his face was as it had been the face of an angel.”

This glorious spectacle lasted for some time. The breathing now became shorter and shorter, then, after a long pause, one last gentle heaving of the chest, and without a struggle, the soul had fled.

“The Lord reigneth, He is clothed with Majesty.”

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