The figures which men worshipped in the olden time were either shaped of wood or molten metal; but in either case they were hand carved or hand graven, finished off by man's skill; and to set prominently the fact of man's share in their making, they are called "graven" images. It does not matter what form a man's god may take - whether it be a creation of his hand or of his imagination; the thing that makes it an idol, a vanity, an altogether unworthy thing, is that
it is his. Man is a dependent creature. He did not make himself; he has a Maker. He does not want a God; he has a God. Whatever a man makes is less than the man. The god a man makes must be an
inferior being to himself; and so cannot be really his God.
I. THE INFLUENCES ON MEN OF WORSHIPPING THEIR OWN GODS. As they have no standard beyond themselves, there is no hope of their rising higher in intellectual or moral attainments. And men make their gods to represent what they like - their pleasures. So their gods are always actually lower than their best selves, and the worship of them must debase and degrade them. This is abundantly illustrated by the immorality of all heathenism, both formal and intellectual.
II. THE CONSEQUENCES OF MEN'S WORSHIPPING THEIR OWN GODS. They must come into a "confounding." Life brings round the strain-times when the helplessness of idols is revealed. Illustrate by the helplessness of the Baal priests in the great testing day of Carmel. Intellectual idols, in which men boast themselves now, can provide no cheer for sorrow, no light for death.
III. THE INFLUENCES ON MEN OF WORSHIPPING THE ONE GOD. They have the inspiration of an absolute standard. They can always see in God what they ought to be, what they might be, and what they should strive to be. They can always find in God something beyond them, something that they are not. High thoughts of God draw us on to noble attainments.
IV. THE CONSEQUENCES OF MEN'S WORSHIPPING THE ONE GOD. They are never "confounded." They do receive Divine help. They are lifted above all fear of nature forces or of human forces that may be arrayed against them. - R.T.
Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of Thy judgments, O Lord.
I. THE CHURCH IS GLAD, AND REJOICES IN THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD, BECAUSE IT IS ITSELF REDEEMED WITH JUDGMENT.
1. By judgment the Church is redeemed from the curse of the law — judgment on Christ.
2. By judgment the Church is delivered from the captivity of Satan — judgment oil Satan.
3. By judgment the Church is freed from the bondage and tyranny of the world — judgment on the world.
4. By judgment the Church is to be redeemed from the power of Antichrist (Revelation 18:20).
5. By judgment the Church is to be redeemed from the power of sin — judgment on the Church.
II. THE CHURCH IS GLAD, AND REJOICES IN THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE TRIUMPHS OF CHRIST.
1. The triumphs of Christ are of two kinds —
(1)The triumphs of His grace.(2)The triumphs of His vengeance.2. The one as well as the other is rejoiced in and celebrated by the Church.
III. THE CHURCH IS GLAD, AND REJOICES IN THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD, BECAUSE THEY DIMINISH THE AMOUNT AND PREVALENCY OF SIN.
1. The direct effect of judgments is to remove the barriers which hinder the progress of the truth.
2. Another effect of Divine judgments is to deter from the commission of sin.
3. The effect of the finally overwhelming judgments of God is to remove sin from its place in the moral universe, and shut it up in everlasting concealment, Hellazar-house.
IV. THE CHURCH IS GLAD, AND REJOICES IN THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD, BECAUSE THEY FURNISH A GLORIOUS MANIFESTATION OF HIMSELF.
1. They reveal His holiness — He cannot look upon sin.
2. They manifest His justice. He gives to each one according to his work.
3. They that prove His omnipresence as a moral governor. No sin escapes Him.
4. They demonstrate His truth — for they are for the most part predicted.
5. They exhibit His power — for they overwhelm the mightiest.
6. They reveal His love to the Church — for they are chiefly in her defence and rescue.
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People
PsalmistPlaces
JerusalemTopics
Exalted, Exceedingly, Gods, Greatly, Hast, Lifted, OOutline
1. The majesty of God's kingdom7. The church rejoices at God's judgments upon idolaters10. An exhortation to godliness and gladnessDictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 97:9 1145 God, transcendent
1205 God, titles of
1235 God, the LORD
5395 lordship, human and divine
8315 orthodoxy, in OT
Library
August 13. "Clouds and Darkness are Round About Him" (Ps. Xcvii. 2).
"Clouds and darkness are round about Him" (Ps. xcvii. 2). The presence of clouds upon your sky, and trials in your path, is the very best evidence that you are following the pillar of cloud, and walking in the presence of God. They had to enter the cloud before they could behold the glory of the transfiguration, and a little later that same cloud became the chariot to receive the ascending Lord, and it is still waiting as the chariot that will bring His glorious appearing. Still it is true that white …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth June the Thirteenth Clouded but not Lost!
"Clouds and darkness are round about Him." --PSALM xcvii. When Lincoln had been assassinated, and word of the tragedy came to New York, "the people were in a state of mind which urges to violence." A man appeared on the balcony of one of the newspaper offices, waving a small flag, and a clear voice rang through the air: "Fellow-citizens! Clouds and darkness are round about Him! His pavilion is dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies! Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne! Fellow-citizens, …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year
Righteous Hatred
The duty here enjoined is a general one to all God's people. We are to hate all evi--not some evils. It was said, you know, long ago, of certain professors, that they did "Compound for sins they were inclined to By damning those they had no mind to." And there are some, I dare say, at this day, who think others extremely guilty for committing iniquities which they do not care to commit, but they themselves commit other sins with which they deal very gently. O Christian, never take hold of sin, except …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858
We Too are Thine.
"The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice."--Psalm 97:1. "Herr, unser Gott, mit Ehrfurcht dienen." [68]G. Tersteegen. transl., Sarah Findlater, 1858 Lord our God, in reverence lowly, The hosts of heaven call Thee "holy." From cherubim and seraphim, From angel phalanx, far extending, In fuller tones is still ascending The "holy, holy," of their hymn. The fount of joy Thou art, Ever filling every heart, Ever! ever! We too are Thine, and with them sing, "Thou, Lord, and only Thou art King." Lord, …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther
The Morning Light
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. O ne strong internal proof that the Bible is a divine revelation, may be drawn from the subject matter; and particularly that it is the book, and the only book, that teaches us to …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1
Sixth Day. Holiness and Glory.
Who is like unto Thee, O Lord! among the gods? Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou in Thy mercy hast led Thy people which Thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in Thy strength to the habitation of Thy holiness ... The holy place, O Lord, which Thy hands have established.' --Ex. xv. 11-17. In these words we have another step in advance in the revelation of Holiness. We have here for the first time Holiness predicated of God Himself. He …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ
Man's Chief End
Q-I: WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN? A: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. Here are two ends of life specified. 1: The glorifying of God. 2: The enjoying of God. I. The glorifying of God, I Pet 4:4: That God in all things may be glorified.' The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions. I Cor 10:01. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Everything works to some end in things natural and artificial; …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity
The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments
The Ascension of Messiah to Glory
Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. T he institutions of the Levitical law were a "shadow" or "sketch" of good things to come. They exhibited a faint and general outline …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2
Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh
Messiah Despised, and Rejected of Men
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief. T he heathen moralists, ignorant of the character and perfections of God, the true dignity and immorality of the soul, and the root and extent of human depravity, had no better foundation, for what they call virtue, than pride; no higher aim in their regulations, than the interests of society, and the conduct of civil life. They expressed, indeed, occasionally, some sentiments of a superior kind; but these, however just …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1
Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament
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