Psalm 139:5 You have beset me behind and before, and laid your hand on me. Thou hast laid thine hand upon me. Aben Ezra called this "the crown of all the psalms." Man is completely in God's power - physically, intellectually, and morally. I. Look AT THE PROOFS. 1. Man's spiritual nature. Sense of sin and responsibility; conscience; instinct of prayer; sense of Divine omniscience. 2. The Divine providence. God's omnipresence; our lot appointed and mysteriously controlled. 3. In the provisions of the gospel. Cannot wholly throw off the power of the Divine love or Divine Law. God's hold of us through Christ much greater that our hold of him. II. FOR WHAT PURPOSE DOES GOD EXERCISE HIS POWER OVER MAN? Not to destroy his freedom of will and action. 1. To assert his property in us. 2. To make man conscious of his calamity and his hope. By the remedy in the gospel. 3. To draw man to himself as the exclusive Redeemer. - S. Parallel Verses KJV: Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.WEB: You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me. |
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