IV. Inf. That God is Omnipotent, Vol. VII. He can do all things. Distance limits the Power of Creatures, and makes their hands fhort; but God is every where, nothing is out of his reach; and this alfo the Pfalmift intimates in the Text, v. 10. Even there fhall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand hold me. Fifthly, The Ufe and Improvement I fhall make of this, fhall be, 1. To awaken our Fear of him. 2. To encourage our Faith and Confidence in him. 1. To awaken our Fear of him. The Confideration of God's Prefence fhould awaken in us a Fear of Reverence. The Prefence of an earthly Majesty will awe our Spirits, and compofe us to Reverence; yea the Prefence of a wife and good Man; how much more fhould the Prefence of the great and glorious, the wife and the holy, and the juft God God ftrike an awe upon our SpiVol. VII. rits? Wherever we are God is with us, we always converfe with him, and live continually in his Prefence; now a Heathen could fay, cum Diis verecundè agendum, We must behave our felves modeftly because we are in the presence of God. And it fhould awaken in us a Fear to offend God, and a Fear of the divine difpleafure for having offended him. Fear is the most wakeful Paffion in the Soul of man, and is the first Principle that is wrought upon in us from the Apprehenfions of a Deity, it flows immediately from the principle of Self-prefervation which God hath planted in every Man's Nature; we have a natural Dread and Horror for every thing that can hurt us, and endanger our Being or Happinefs: now the greateft Danger is from the greatest Power, for where we, are clearly over-match'd, we cannot hope to make Oppofition nor Refiftance with fecurity and fuccefs, to rebel with Safety: now he " he that apprehends God to be near him, and prefent to him, believes Vol. VII 4 ? Sinners confider this, It is a fear- you are within his reach. Let then deter Vol. VII. deter us from Sin, and quicken us to our Duty. The Eye and Presence of a Superior will lay a great reftraint upon Men; the Eye of our Prince, or our Mafter, or our Father, will make us afraid or asham'd to do any thing that is foolish or unfeemly: And will we do that under the Eye of God, which we fhould blufh to do before a grave or wife Perfon, yea before a Child or a Fool? Did but Men live under this apprehenfion, that God is prefent to them, that an holy and all-feeing Eye beholds them, they would be afraid to do any thing that is vile and wicked, to profane and pollute God's glorious name, by a trifling use of it in cuftomary fwearing and curfing. Whenever you fin, you affront God to his Face; and provoke the omnipotent juftice which is at the door, and ready to break in upon you. And the confideration of this fhould efpecially deter us from fecret Sins. This is the use the Pfalmift here makes of it. If we believe that God God fearcheth us and knows us, that he knows our down-fitting, and our Vol. VII. up-rifing, and understands our thoughts. afar off, that he compaffeth our path, and our lying down, and is acquainted with all our ways, that there is not a word in our tongue, but he knows it altogether, that he hath befet us behind and before, that the darkness hideth not from him, but the night shineth as the day, and the darkness and light are both alike; I fay, if we believe this, how fhould we live in an awful sense of the Majefty which is always above us, and before us, and about us, and within us, and is as infeparable from us, as we are from our felves, whofe Eye is upon us from the beginning of our Lives to the end of our Days? Did Men believe that God is always with them, that his Eye pierceth the Darkness, and fees through all thofe Clouds with which they hide and muffle themselves, and pries into the most fecret Receffes of their Hearts, how would this check and reftrain them from devifing mischief in their hearts, or in their Bed cham ber? |