THEN, SHOULD WE NOT BE MINDFUL OF HIM?(W. There prevails in him not merely a darkness with respect to spiritual things, but a dislike to them. 1. Fill your soul with the Divine anger against your own sin; leave it now, and fly to the Father of lights.(W. By the application and exercise of his thought man is becoming the perfect master of the world in which he lives, Never did mind wield such a kingly power over matter as at present.IV. Suicide would be reasonable, and, indeed, has been advocated as wise. If you consider that this world is a university. WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR HIM. A great and noble army of God's champions, who not only overcome their forbidden tendency to evil, but who also sacrifice time's noble things for something nobler: things seen, and even life itself, for things not seen, and who, by freeing themselves from all things earthly, have discovered to the world a freedom like that of God, to whom all things are subject. We were none the wiser after he left us. THE WORKS OF GOD'S GRACE IN THE DEPTHS BELOW. Buchner, that "Mental activity is a function of the cerebral substance. Yet just as mighty as is the foe, so glorious is the victory. The moral kingdom of God is extensive. He shall feed you with the living bread. "Wherein, then, is man to be accounted of?" They maintain that there are moral and spiritual facts in man's nature over and beyond those physical facts which fall within the range of natural science, and these cannot be overlooked, but must be idly taken into account if we would attempt an adequate answer to the question, What is man?(W. As we look upon this great world in which we live, upon the heavens robed in majesty and glory, we cannot but recognise man's superior excellence and importance. (iii) That there can be no transmission of sin. Ince, M. 3. We do not say that we are the only moral and spiritual beings in the midst of so many worlds. How.1. Does His work in the starry creation ever fail? Now, would it not take away from His glory if His creative power had called forth so many worlds in the immensity above us, but His preserving and sustaining power could not keep pace with it? But if the flying straw and gnat display His wonderful works, what will He not have done in and for man? If we had ever any doubt of man's destiny, and the purpose of his creation, surely the incarnation of God has removed it.2. III. Then —III. And experience is against it. The word means, God keeps man constantly in view, ever watching over him, and never ceasing to do him good.2. The very next verse shows that he could not mean that, for he says, Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, etc. REMARKS WHICH ARE SUGGESTED BY THIS THEME. Endeavour to form a conception of the whole of this infinite system of suns and worlds, and then raise thy mind to Him who made and preserves them all. How certain is the triumph of the Church.4. His thought has ever vibrated between two opposite conceptions of himself Today, in the fulness of his energy, he fancies himself the noblest of beings and the measure of all things. Yes, for the Saviour came, God manifest in the flesh. 3. In the constitutional workings of the soul God does manifest Himself to it. All sense of moral obligation demands as a postulate free will — all praise or blame of others are based upon the same hypothesis. Walters. Voltaire said, "The welfare of a nation often depends on the good or bad digestion of its prime minister"; and Mr. Motley avers that "The gout of Charles V may have changed the destinies of mankind." Redemption has far-reaching purposes. The accurate observations of physiology and biology have traced out numerous marks of likeness of organs between man and these earlier organisms, which we have been accustomed to call lower. He penetrates the bowels of the earth, and brings up to glisten in the sunlight that which lay hid in the darkness of her depths, he does more than this in his own bosom — an abyss not less deep and dark. All sense of moral obligation demands as a postulate free will — all praise or blame of others are based upon the same hypothesis. David reasons with himself that here is the Great Being who fills the midnight sky with suns and moons and planets and worlds, like shining jewels, and yet cares so much about man, who is physically so insignificant when compared to these creations, that He visits him and holds communion with him in loving tenderness. The child of circumstance, yet endowed with freedom of moral choice, and weighted with the responsibility which that freedom brings. Thus work up your souls into an astonishment at the condescension of God. Man's imitative art is a resemblance of the Creator's power. Then are we tempted to cry out in awestruck wonder, "O Lord, who am I that Thy Eternal Mind should be full of me?" It is a will separable in thought and fact from the material organism in which it finds its play and manifestation. FINE ANIMAL ORGANISM. In human affairs we pretty well know and are able to judge, of the powers, abilities, and ends of men, and of their wisdom. What, then, does he mean?1. Now this reasoning is plausible; it does justice to the wisdom of God, and no injustice to man. The real greatness of man as a sinner lies in his penitence, contrition, confession.3. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.)Man and the universeC. Suicide would be reasonable, and, indeed, has been advocated as wise. He has drawn aside the veil from the future, and made that long life and that large world our own. The reasonableness of the fact that God is mindful of us. Nowhere shall we find any hymns in which the glories of God in nature are more tenderly and devoutly celebrated than they are in these Psalms. He transposes into mental images the things perceived by the senses: he passes beyond the limits of sensuous impressions into the world of rational thought, and thus grasps the eternal truth underlying the perishable. God is just. The kingdom of grace. There are intelligent beings peopling other worlds than this. This visitation is no accidental feature introduced to repair the catastrophe of the fall, but an integral part of God's original design. How abominable, then, is man, who "drinketh in iniquity like water"! Trace God's visitations to His intelligent creatures upon earth, as Bible history unfolds them to us. See how God visited Adam, Noah, Abraham, and others. He does care for the least as well as the greatest. Scripture: Psalms 8:4. He can contend with his Maker.3. The greatest of our theologians have given to them very different interpretations, as they have sought to discover and to define those powers and faculties in man which appear to reveal in him the traces of the Divine image. It is therefore but a like wonder that God should send His Son to redeem us. And are we not taught modesty by this very vastness of the universe? Depreciation; for how little and how unworthy are they. The contemplation of our weakness and our littleness, the frailty of the perishing body, the instability of the mental powers, the fewness of our passing years, the shortcomings of our best endeavours, the insufficiency of what we accomplish compared with what we purpose and desire, — all this might well suggest to us a philosophy of despair. Bacon, who originated our modern philosophy, and Newton, who verified it, — the two minds who more than any other have ruled the world of mind, — both believed in the Supreme Intelligence which the material universe demonstrated. ON THE WONDERS OF DIVINE GRACE IN THE HEIGHTS ABOVE. The Biblical description of man's origin plainly teaches that man was created, not evolved. Certainly the price and value of things consist not in the quantity; one diamond is worth more than many quarries of stone; one lodestone hath more virtue than mountains of earth. Ince, M. The importance of man in the universe is greatly heightened when we advance from the mental to the moral. As though his very being itself, with all its noblest faculties, were a contribution of his physical development! This commandment is not easily fulfilled. (Dean Mansel. David, the author, never calls the reader to actually do anything. The disciplined will submits, and rejoices in submission. The moon and the stars cost nothing — the redemption of the soul cost God's Only Begotten Son.Inferences:1. What improvements has it undergone? This cannot be entertained. Further, the balance of qualities which we require in a perfect character, supports the teaching of the Gospel. We may heap figure upon figure to express our physical insignificance, and we shall not find the level of our nothingness.2. He needs it so much, but knows not the way of life. One spirit reigns in both. Is the soul, then, created by an immediate act of God? He is the grand sum and substance of the Psalms. The child of circumstance, yet endowed with freedom of moral choice, and weighted with the responsibility which that freedom brings. WHEN WE PASS FROM MAN'S OUTWARD NATURE TO HIS INTELLECTUAL, HIS SUPERIORITY IS MORE FULLY SEEN. Man can comprehend many of the mighty laws which are ever operating in the vast realms of matter and of mind. behold, heaven …. Lift up yourselves, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in"? But why should we object? It is God's house; it is man's house; God-given for man's use and man's supremacy. I am conscious of my own identity and of my utter separateness from all besides. Man is a member of the kingdom of spirits. He did not come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. M. Gallaher, D. D.At times the thought comes to all thinking men that it is presumption to think that God cares for us. IV. Has the issue of it been, "that the invisible things of God are more clearly seen." And we are not told that we are the only persons concerned in the work of redemption. His knowledge here indeed is but partial, but it contains within itself a prophecy of future perfection. But the naturalist will tell us that all attempts at classification with a view to separating man off by a broad line from the lower creation fail signally.II. Maintain communion. He can think the material universe out of being, and we believe that once it did not exist; but moral ideas — truth, right, goodness — these are eternal both in faith and thought. This is much more the case when we bring within our survey the moral element. There is absolutely nothing besides.5. It is this fact in our history which it is so needful to remember, and yet so easy to forget, amid the din and strain of our daily life. We look upon the earth, these rivers, these mountains, this ocean, we look back historically upon the tremendous forces which have pushed these continents up, and are pushing them, so that it is estimated that within the last five years Scandinavia has been pushed up over three hundred feet into the air from the ocean bed; we look upon the starry firmament with these immensities of space, and it will be very strange if we are not inclined to say, "What are we? He must have understood that man finds his true and proper life, his human heritage — even as God does — in the thoughts which visit his mind, in the choices which proceed from his will, in the feelings which glow within his heart, in moral activities and spiritual enjoyment.2. This is the first teaching of Scripture, and it is also the last. Yet, while the future remains a dim, unknown quantity to our reason, and shadows flit across the canvas of our daily life, it is hard to believe that God stands within the shadow keeping watch over His own. Whence, then, came the soul? Now all this should lead men to adore and give thanks to God for His grace and favour. See how God visited Adam, Noah, Abraham, and others. He needs it so much, but knows not the way of life. Harrison. )Science humiliating manW. Lord, that Thou visitest him!"1. The glory of the astronomer who can measure the courses of the heavenly bodies and calculate the forces of the universe is really only another witness to the glory of the Creator, for He who framed the heavens framed also the understanding of the philosophic man, by which he was enabled to ascertain the laws regulating their motions. Thus is all nature alive and vocal, when the prophets describe it. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Nor is the natural language in which God reveals His attributes limited to external symbols. And no philosopher can still those longings and forebodings. We find in the animals a consciousness of feeling, but not a consciousness of self. Some say, "We cannot tell; the dead return not." It is indeed wonderful that the Son of God should be born of a virgin, and suffer and die for our redemption. Is it begotten by the parents? A layman also may be at liberty to note that natural science does not speak with unanimous voice either on the facts or the speculative theories of the origin of man. But God is not as we are. And what is man, by nature, fallen, renewed?4. Genesis 1 - Setting The Stage Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Nov 9, 2018 | 1,955 views. There could be no greater folly than for men or women to treat themselves as though the physical life, which needs to have clothing of more or less fashionable cut, and food that may please the palate or nourish the body, were the real man or woman whose comfort is to indicate the decisions of life. I am not absolutely bound by the chains of necessity in my moral life. It may be objected that this is a low and selfish view to take of the matter. Man does not need it. The pure heart sees, and knows, and welcomes God. Look on to the eternal future. Though separated by the abyss of the ocean, nations bind themselves to the exchange of mutual obligations. ON THE WONDERS OF DIVINE GRACE IN THE HEIGHTS ABOVE. Astronomy has shown that this planet is not the centre of any system at all. It is in no sense self-sustained. Through reason man is able to distinguish between his immortal soul and his perishable body. Scripture: Psalms 8:4. Man is capable of wonderful growth. "Visit him." Please enter your email address associated with your Salem All-Pass account, then click Continue. They throw light upon His works of grace in the heights above. Why then should not the Being of whom we are the image feel an immeasurable bliss in gratifying His desire to manifest, in the view of others, what He enjoys Himself? But the believer is constrained to add, "Lord, that Thou art mindful of him! Let us, then, hasten on, that in the infinite we may see the Father, to consider —II. Moody. He descries the mysterious movements of the Almighty, guiding the heavenly bodies on their way, prescribing to them where they shall shine, and when they shall disappear. Whenever mail singles out one of his fellow creatures with peculiar regard, it is on account of some amiable or useful quality he supposes him to possess; his powers to entertain and communicate pleasure, his benevolence of disposition, his strict integrity, or his ability to grant protection and to confer benefits. He might, in a merely artificial language, indicate His benevolence; but He prefers to address us in our own joys and hopes, which rehearse His loving kindness. These facts should not oppress us, but lead us, by God's hell), to make our lives the best answer to the text. The scale of space and time. This cannot be entertained. Little subjects will make little men; gossip will dethrone an Aristotle. There is much taught us in this brief expression. Thus they set aside the whole government of God, and turn the world into a desolate wilderness, and make the human race orphans, with no Father to guide, to help, to save. True, there is a sense in which science gives back to us with its left hand what it has taken away with its right. And the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest," etc. But are not the perverse principles which result in the overthrow of all social order, of all human well-being, taught and propagated by a reason degenerate? Psalms 8:4. 2. THE. 1. )The contradictions in human natureF. What are these pleas worth?1. Biology cannot claim a monopoly and exclusive privilege in the discussion of the great problems of anthropology, psychology, and theology; history and philosophy are entitled to be heard. The truth in it David had a glimpse or: But instead of yielding to the grovelling fear, David triumphed over it, turning with exulting confidence to his assurance that, after all, God is mindful of us, that God doth visit us. (3)Excite the highest hopes regarding human destiny. Endeavour to form a conception of the whole of this infinite system of suns and worlds, and then raise thy mind to Him who made and preserves them all. )Man's kinship to GodArchbishop Thompson.The Psalmist reminds us that, although little in himself, he is Divine in his origin, and though weak and frail in his present life, he is capable of a glorious future, and that future God has in store for him. The scale of space and time. How monstrous, then, the thought that God has left the world to shift for itself, that He is far off and takes no notice of us.4. The fact of a thinking mind in man puts him above sun and moon and stars. When sordid ambition has spent its life; when the hand has gripped its last possession, then memory awakes either as a mocking spectre or as an angel of peace. There prevails in him not merely a darkness with respect to spiritual things, but a dislike to them. We may heap figure upon figure to express our physical insignificance, and we shall not find the level of our nothingness. "Visit him." Obliterate distinctions, frame general laws as we will, there is one distinction which stands out marked and prominent as the basis of all philosophy and all religion, a distinction which neither philosophy nor religion can set aside without destroying themselves at the same time: the' distinction between mind and its objects, between moral and physical law, between liberty and necessity, in one word, between person and things. He is so always, from the earliest hour of our infancy.2. A great and noble army of God's champions, who not only overcome their forbidden tendency to evil, but who also sacrifice time's noble things for something nobler: things seen, and even life itself, for things not seen, and who, by freeing themselves from all things earthly, have discovered to the world a freedom like that of God, to whom all things are subject. We find in the animals a consciousness of feeling, but not a consciousness of self. Now this reasoning is plausible; it does justice to the wisdom of God, and no injustice to man. Consider a Being who, full and complete in Himself, needs no addition, and feels no want, a Being who knows all things, embraces the past, the present, the future, in one comprehensive glance. I do not here set before you the intellectual meanness of man, or the scanty and limited nature of his powers and faculties; though these might seem an insurmountable obstacle to union. Little or nothing could be lacking to man were not this power abruptly checked; or, which is still worse, were it not frightfully abused. Banks, D. D.)That Thou art mindful of him.God mindful of manH. The song of the Psalmist falls on the ears of Christians now with a fuller cadence, swelled with the experience of nearly thirty centuries, and prolonged into the hopes of eternity. 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