Psalm 8:3-4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;… Christianity viewed as a system is seen to be sublime, when we consider the oneness and harmony of its grand design. But infidelity is not so; it is inconsistent with itself. Some say that human nature can regenerate, can perfect itself; that it has in it a principle inherently good, and needs no Gospel to lead it into the way of truth. Others say, man is so insignificant that it is not to be thought that he can be brought into contact with God; he is but dust, and as such is born and dies. They quote our text in a sense the opposite of that in which it is meant. But it meets both objections. The first — that man can perfect himself. For the Psalm evidently expresses astonishment at the condescension of God in visiting creatures so unworthy of His regard. Then people, in their pride, think that God has not visited man at all, nor do they desire that He should. Man does not need it. Thus they set aside the whole government of God, and turn the world into a desolate wilderness, and make the human race orphans, with no Father to guide, to help, to save. And then the second objection — that we are too insignificant for God to notice. This is a more natural thought than the former one, but it is, nevertheless, a very hurtful one. It resolves itself, really, into an infirmity of our perceptive faculties. It dethrones God, for it makes Him like ourselves. We, no doubt, are confined and baffled in the presence of a multitude of objects. But God is not as we are. He does care for the least as well as the greatest. The creation that is lower than ourselves refutes the objection; for if God care not for us, still less will He care for them. I. HOW GOD IS MINDFUL OF MAN. 1. He is so always, from the earliest hour of our infancy. 2. He has provided all things necessary for our existence. 3. And for our happiness. He has given us the pleasures of sense, of imagination, of friendship, of memory; above all, the pleasure of holiness. How monstrous, then, the thought that God has left the world to shift for itself, that He is far off and takes no notice of us. 4. Read also the Scripture histories for further proof. See how God visited Adam, Noah, Abraham, and others. How He became incarnate in Christ, whose whole life showed how God was mindful of man. And especially it was a visit of atonement. And now it is by His Spirit, who strives with each man's soul; who meets us in prayer, and in our worship in God's house. 5. And He is mindful of us in His providence. Even our afflictions are all for our good. II. BUT WHY IS HE THUS MINDFUL OF US? We may well wonder why. True, man is endowed with mind capable of understanding truth, but the chief reason is, For God so loved the world, etc. III. THEN, SHOULD WE NOT BE MINDFUL OF HIM? (W. M. Punshon.) Parallel Verses KJV: When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; |
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