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I. THE DOINGS OF GOD EMBRACE A WIDE RANGE. Science has established the fact, that you cannot disturb the smallest part of the watery or atmospheric world without disturbing the whole of it. So in the moral world; all events, however small, have a bearing on events great and distant. God governs the life of one man in connection with all men. What happens to-day is only one link in the chain, which stretches through ages, and is connected with events, it may be, of distant lands.

II. THE TRACES OF GOD'S DOINGS ARE NOT CONSECUTIVELY SEEN. Earthly soil which receives an impress retains it, but what impress can water retain? You may make the impression, but you cannot fix it. So may you interpret a sorrow; but its connection with your future history you may not see. The mark of God's finger you may see to-day, but to-morrow the impress is gone. Providence, like a vast and complicated machine, can only be comprehended, in all its complex arrangements, by Him who framed it.

III. THE REASON OF GOD'S DOINGS IS OFTEN BEYOND ALL HUMAN COMPREHENSION. "His paths are in deep waters." The origin of moral evil — the access of fallen spirits to, and their mode of operation on, man's spiritual nature — human responsibility, and God's eternal decrees, involve questions which by man may never be answered; but enough for us should it be that His footsteps are in deep waters. The mysteries of heaven, however, we must believe to conduce to universal good. Some we know to be positive blessings. Great, indeed, is the mystery of godliness; and yet what fact is more glorious in its character, and more blessed in its practical bearings?

(W. Bealby.)

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KJV: Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.

WEB: Your way was through the sea; your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.