God the glorious Creator.
It is midnight. The sky is bright with stars. As the psalmist muses, the fire burns, and he bursts into song. The psalm is not for Israel alone, but brings before the mind such a vision of the glory of God as the great Creator, as binds all people of every land and age in a brotherhood of worship.
I. GOD'S GLORY REVEALED IN NATURE. The heavens have a purpose. The outward glory images the inward and spiritual glory. The stars are silent witnesses for God. Their size, their order, their steadfastness, their splendour, and their mystery, which grow and deepen as investigation is prosecuted and knowledge increases, all proclaim the greatness of God. And the more the glory of God strikes our eye, the humbler do we feel in his awful presence. "When I have gazed into these stars," said Carlyle, "have they not looked down upon me, as if with pity, from their serene spaces, like eyes glistening with heavenly tears over the little lot of man?" But while the glory of God in the heavens is fitted to humble us, it also awakens aspiration. It is the same God who rules above and below. If God so cares for stars, will he not much more care for souls? The argument of our Lord applies to the heavens as well as the earth—to the creation above and beneath. "Are ye not much better than they?" (Matthew 6:26).
II. GOD'S GLORY MORE FULLY REVEALED IN MAN. It may be said that in man mundane creation first of all became intelligent, self-conscious, endowed with conscience and will, able so far to understand its Maker. Man is the last and fullest expression of God's thought—a being like himself, and that can hold communication with himself. It is only through man, made in God's image, that God could rightly reveal himself. If the heavens stood alone, there would be silence. But when man was created, there was an eye made to see, and a heart to feel, and a voice to proclaim God's praise.
1. The greatness of man's being.
2. The dignity of his position. The last is first. Man is put at the head of creation. The past has evidence of his lordship, and more and more his sway increases. It is his, not only to replenish, but to subdue the earth.
3. The grandeur of his destiny. He has not only a great past, but a great future. God has not only given man his being, but provided also for his well-being. He has visited and redeemed his people (Ephesians 1:3-10).
III. GOD'S GLORY MOST PERFECTLY REVEALED IN CHRIST. What is dimly seen in creation and in man awakens the desire for more light and a fuller knowledge of God. This yearning is met and satisfied in Jesus Christ. He is perfect God and perfect Man. We might conceive of a man simply, so enlightened and swayed by God as that he should in all things be in harmony with God. In so far he might perfectly express God's mind and will. But there is far more in Christ. He is perfect Man and perfect God. He is the true Immanuel—God with us (John 14:9, John 14:10). Open, ye heavens, and let us see the Lord as Isaiah did (Isaiah 6:1-3)! Purge our eyes O Spirit of love and holiness, and let us behold Christ Jesus as Stephen did! and then we shall cry, with wonder, love, and praise, "It is the same Lord, 'my Lord and my God!'" Having such a faith, there is no bound to our hopes. What Christ did, he did for us; what Christ does, he does for us. We died with him and rose with him, and with him we shall be glorified (Ephesians 1:17-23).—W.F.
Psalms 8:2 (cf. Matthew 21:16)
God glorified in little children.
Two pictures: David on the housetop; Christ Jesus, David's Son and Lord, in the temple. With the hosannas of the people blended sweetly the voices of children. The Pharisees were offended, but our Lord was pleased. The words of the old psalm find a new fulfilment. The question for us is—How God is glorified in little children.
I. IN THE PLACE WHICH HE HAS GIVEN THEM IN CREATION. They form a part of the great whole. Necessary. Take them away, how different things would be! But they have their place. They are weak, but out of their weakness comes strength. They are helpless, but from their helplessness come endless benefits.
II. IN THEIR CAPABILITY OF RECEIVING CHRISTIAN NURTURE. Children show from the first their powers of growth. Their bodies, their minds, their souls, are constantly developing. By proper care they are capable, under God, of growing up unto Christ, as true and living members of his Church. Christ himself, and not fallen men like Augustine, or Luther, or Bunyan, is the true type and pattern of what children should be (Luke 2:40).
III. IN THEIR FITNESS TO SERVE AND PRAISE GOD. There is not only simple wonder in children, but also intelligence. Their moral sense is very keen. Their delight in the beautiful and the good is not the result of education, but the instinct of their innocent and pure hearts. How often has God used little children to do his will and show forth his praise! So in the sanctuary, so in life. Remember the infant Moses (Exodus 2:6), remember David's child (2 Samuel 4:1-12 :23), remember the young Josiah (1 Kings 13:2); above all, remember the Child of Bethlehem—the Babe in the manger (Luke 2:10, Luke 2:11).
IV. As THE OBJECTS OF HIS TENDER CARE. In manifold ways God has shown how dearly he loves little children. It is he who has established the paternal relationship. It is he who has provided for the holy upbringing of the young, by law and sacrament. It is he who has manifested by his dear Son, in what he taught and did when he was in the world, his tender affection and care for the young (Mark 10:16; Matthew 18:2-10).
V. IN TAKING SO MANY OF THEM TO HIMSELF. The heathen had a saying, "Whom the gods love, die young." And in this there is a hidden truth. Death is always a strange and terrible thing; but in the very young it is almost deprived of its terrors. Then it is but a sleep. It is the Lord calling his loved ones early to himself. Happy are we when we can say with unfeigned faith and lively hope, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." If our little ones were left to grow up in this world of sin and sorrow, we know not what their future would be; but we know and are sure that when Christ takes them to himself, it is "far better." They are away from our sight, but not from our hearts. "Love never faileth." They have been taken from our care, but it is to be under better teachers and to receive a nobler education. They have been parted from us, but it is only for a little while; for Christ is gathering his own to himself, and when he cometh, he will bring them all with him. In that day many a stricken heart shall be made glad. "Mother, behold thy son!" "Son, behold thy mother!" Have we the mind of Christ? Are we carrying out worthily the high trust committed to us, of caring for the young? Will our dear children, whom we have lost a while, meet us with joy and welcome in the heavenly world?
"O thou whose infant feet were found
Within thy Father's shrine,
Whose years, with changeless virtue crowned,
Were all alike Divine.
Dependent on thy bounteous breath,
We seek thy grace alone,
In childhood, manhood, age, and death,
To keep us still thine own."
(Koble.)
W.F.