God's perfections and glorious attributes!
(James Smith,
"The Way to Be Happy"
1855)
"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our
fortress!" Psalm 46:7
"If God is for us — who can be against us?" Romans 8:31
Who can prevail against us? Who can really injure us? Let us
daily think of God's glorious perfections — and view them
as engaged for us at all times.
His power is engaged to support, defend, and strengthen
us.
His omniscient eye is constantly upon us — watching over
us for good.
His omnipresence is our safeguard from all our
foes — for no one can come and find our God absent from us.
His
justice and righteousness shine in all His
dealings with us — and are like lofty mountains round about us.
His
holiness shines in all His purposes and plans — and
forbids the thought that He will act unsuitably towards us.
His
mercy is ever great towards us — and by it He
sympathizes with us in all our sorrows, griefs, and woes.
His goodness
will constantly supply us — and is
sufficient to fill us with admiration and astonishment.
His truth
renders certain — every promise He has given
and recorded in His Word.
His immutability bears us up and bears us
on — confirming our faith and hope in His Word.
His wisdom
frustrates the designs of our foes — and
arranges and manages all for our welfare.
His eternity is the date of our happiness
— and the
duration of our unspeakable blessedness!
Here is enough to . . .
engage our thoughts,
overflow our minds, and
forever fill us with adoration and praise!
What a God is Jehovah! And Jehovah, in Jesus — is ours!
How cheering this fact, and what sweet support it yields to the
mind — to meditate on God's perfections
and glorious attributes — seeing them all in
Jesus — and in Him, engaged for our present and everlasting
welfare!
What could shake our minds — if we did but firmly believe that
God's omnipotence is engaged to defend us to the
uttermost?
What could tempt us to commit any known sin — if we were
realizing that God's omniscient eye is ever upon us;
yes, that God is present with us, and that He is our
sin-hating Father?
What could lead us into murmuring and rebellion
— if we were
fully persuaded that God's holiness and justice are for us, and
will shine resplendent in all His dealings with us?
What could lead us to think that our prayers would not be
answered, nor our petitions be regarded — if our minds were
influenced by the assurance, that God is truth?
How could we believe that He would ever turn against us
— if we
rightly viewed His immutability?
Or, how could we think that our affairs could be disordered
— if
we felt satisfied that His wisdom was working for us at all
times!
"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress!"
Psalm 46:7