Psalm 100:3-5 Know you that the LORD he is God: it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.… It is not in God's work in creation that the text is laid, but in His redemptive work in history. It is an exultant historical consciousness that teaches the lips of the psalmist to sing, "It is He that fashioned us; and His are we." I. God's fashionings of human life constitute THE CHIEF WITNESS OF HIS POWER AND GLORY TO MEN. The hand of God was unmistakably the power that fashioned the striking course of Israel's history. The great difference between the history of Israel and that of contemporary nations corresponded precisely to the difference in their relation to Jehovah. While other nations had wandered after the gods which were no gods, Israel had been the servant of Jehovah. The authority of Jehovah, and the influence of their worship of Him, had been beyond all question the shaping force of their distinctive and remarkable history. Other nations waxed great in external splendour; Israel's own consciousness of national greatness lay in inward truth. Other nations produced statesmen and conquerors; Israel's preeminent sons were its seers and prophets. Other nations fell when the foot of the conqueror trampled them into bondage; Israel waxed greater in the dark years of captivity. II. God's method in fashioning human lives is SELECTIVE. The conspicuous instance of the nation of Israel I have already mentioned. This little nation was, by a marvellous process of selection which can be conceived only in reference to a Divine plan, singled out of the general mass of humanity for special blessings, spiritual potencies, and religious responsibilities. In spite of its per-versifies and infirmities, the elective call of God was so effective that it answered to the call, became conscious that it was chosen of God, and was made the radiant centre of truth for the whole world. In varying degrees and for different ends, one can see the elective operations of God's shaping hand in reference to other nations, and not least in the startling history of our own England. The history of nations is full of acts which irresistibly point to a Divine elective and discriminative power. This principle is still more evident, if possible, in the life of individual men. In the circle of the nation, of the city, of the village, or of the family, we constantly see this process of election, sometimes in very startling forms. By the operation of some unseen and mysterious force, "the one is taken and the other left." God's strongest men have always lived and acted in the holy consciousness that they were singled out by God. III. God's selective method is one of CONCENTRATION WITH A VIEW TO THE MOST EFFECTUAL UNIVERSALIZATION. The inward essence of "particular election" is the yearning of God's love for the salvation of the world. God's "vessels of mercy" are chartered to bear the freight of His grace to every shore. The "few are chosen" in order that the many may be more effectually reached. Exclusion is but a fleeting phase of God's elections; the abiding soul of them is a graciously determined and comprehensive inclusion. The mountain of the house of the Lord is exalted above the hills, in order that all nations may flow into it. This gracious development of God's elective purpose multiplies the honour and glory of the elect spirit. For in this glowing light, every "election" is twofold. It is an election of a human soul into the grace and Kingdom of God, and it is also an election into the special ministry of salvation to others. (J. Thomas, M.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. |
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