Yet, in order to lead us more effectually to cultivate, and to reap the benefit of, this heavenly frame of mind, let us now consider the bearing of the apostolic charge in the text, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” Here we may discover powerful reasons intimated, why we should bring ourselves into a state of entire submission to the divine will, and rest satisfied and resigned under every dispensation. The hand of God is mighty: He is the sovereign Lord of all; has an absolute right to dispose of His creatures, according to His good pleasure; and is alone able both to know and to do, what their several necessities require. They, therefore, who profess themselves His people, are bound, by that very profession, unreservedly to submit to His sovereign disposal: “Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, what makest thou? O Lord, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.” [158] He who created, He who redeemed us, He to whom alone we can look for sanctification and life, should and will maintain the dominion over us: He that gave us our being, must be able, and cannot be unwilling, to “give us all things needful both for our souls and bodies.” We understand not how He formed us from the dust of the earth; so neither can we understand the methods of His providence; but, as “the life is more than meat,” so may we trust His goodness and His power, to preserve, in the best and wisest manner, the being of those, who seek His protection and submit to His government. A wise son yields to an affectionate father, even in points where he cannot comprehend the entire wisdom of his discipline and correction; yields, not only because experience has taught him the benefit of subjection, but also for the sake of obedience to a father, who is entrusted with the guidance of him, and has a right to be obeyed; much more should we, the adopted children of the Most High, bow with meekness and reverence before an Almighty and heavenly Father, though we altogether comprehend not the purpose of the trials, which He bringeth upon us: they are chastisements of mercy, of whatever kind they be, and moreover are ordained by Him, who has the entire undisputed right of dominion over us.
Another consideration here suggested is, that all resistance is vain; “the mighty hand of God” is uncontrollable. Utterly weak and fruitless were all the assembled powers of the universe, combined against His wall: what can a frail creature do, child of the dust, akin to the worm? If God strikes, who shall stay or avoid the blow? Whatever visitation He is pleased to send, to a family or to an individual—of sickness, of calamity, of death—there is no keeping it out of the dwelling; it may be softened by resignation, it may be removed, and even blessed, by prayer; but we cannot hinder the accomplishment of God’s will. In the language of the pious Hannah, “The Lord killeth and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up—He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.” [161a]
Yes truly; the afflicting hand of God is mighty in operation, both to the wicked and the good; the former are constrained to feel, though they will not heartily or practically acknowledge, that there is no dependence to be placed on the schemes or exertions of man; no trusting, that “to-morrow will be as this day and much more abundant.” [161b] When “riches shall have made themselves wings and have flown away;” [161c] when the favourite or the friend have been cut off; when the bodily frame is under the influence of alarming disease; then the sinner, if he be not spiritually humbled, will, at least be made sensible, that there is a power which can lay him low; the conviction is forced on his mind, though he may refuse to act upon it; his conscience is smitten, though he will not obey its emotions; it assures him of the vanity of human devices, of human dependencies and strength, though it fail to incline him to his God.
How blessedly different the effect of the mighty hand of God upon the sincere Christian! Even the heaviest affliction, the most untoward or adverse occurrence, produces, when he comes to reflect, a salutary influence on his mind and heart. Perceiving that it is the natural tendency of a smooth uninterrupted course, to make him rest satisfied with earthly enjoyments, and draw aside his attention from the sublimer delights and the more substantial interest of heavenly things, he acknowledges, not only with acquiescence, but with gratitude, the severer dispensations of providence; he knows, that his faith must be tried and his patience made perfect; it is the very object for which he is placed in this transitory state of existence; he therefore implores his gracious Father, to sanctify to him the crosses and disappointments below, and make them minister to the completion of his happiness above; whatever they are, they are less than his transgressions deserve; whatever they are, they are “of God’s sending,” to lead him to reflection and repentance; and very efficacious are they for the fulfilment of this merciful purpose; perhaps the only means by which he could have been preserved from falling, amidst the snares and temptations that surround him. The Christian is ready to confess, and many we have heard with thankfulness confessing, that of all the mercies received from the hands of God, the most distinguished, because the most effectual for his salvation, are the vicissitudes and troubles of life: how many a sincere believer, by the discomfiture of his earthly prospects, has been led to fix his heart more intently and stedfastly, upon the unchangeable felicity of heaven; how many, at the death of a friend, have sought more earnestly and experienced more abundantly, “the power of the spirit of consolation;” and have thereby been led to transfer their affections to that blessed world, where christian friends shall meet, and never separate again. How many, by the infirmities of the body, have been admonished and persuaded to make a better provision for the health and well-being of the soul! The hand of God has been mightily laid upon them, to rescue them from the tyranny of sin and Satan, to place them in the enjoyment of “the perfect law of liberty,” manifested in the gospel; to save their souls alive.
Let us not regard the various calamities that befal us, of whatever nature they may be, as the mere result of human design or contingency; for whether they be occasioned by our own imprudence and neglect, or by the instrumentality of an evil world, they are permitted and ordained by a wise and merciful God, to draw us nearer to Himself; to teach us the utter insufficiency of all earthly interests and possessions; and to raise our thoughts to the glory of an eternal kingdom. And if we receive them in a christian spirit, they will never fail to answer their high and holy purpose. Let us therefore watch and pray, that we may duly consider every calamitous day as a sacred opportunity, as a season of grace, as the rod of our Almighty Father to chastise us from sin: let it call us to deep meditation and contrition, to serious examination of heart; for it is only by the religious and spiritual observance of such seasons, that we can ever hope to derive from them improvement and comfort.
Remark and remember the language of the text, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God;” it is not enough that we be humbled, in a worldly sense, by the stroke of misfortune; that is a consequence, which may of necessity ensue: the loss of possession may drive us into needy solitude; the loss of health destroy our energy and activity; the loss of reputation bring us to shame; the loss of friends oblige us to mourn, from the very feelings of nature; but all this while, there may be no humility of heart, no self-abasement, no voluntary humiliation under “any of the dispensations of heaven:” the “hand of God hath touched us;” but we may not, nevertheless, be vitally touched ourselves, with a proper sense of the trials, which He has called us to endure: we must fall low before His footstool; we must bend our knees in humble fervent prayer; we must implore the aid of His Holy Spirit, to open our understandings, that we may perceive the graciousness of His dealings with us; and to enlarge our hearts, that we may take the full benefit of His “loving correction;” we must unfeignedly and fully confess, on our own part, that unworthiness and iniquity, which excited God’s displeasure, and required His afflicting visitation; and that mercy, on God’s part, which seeketh to reclaim us from error; to “purge our conscience from dead works;” to make us more alive to the “things which belong unto our peace;” to lead us from the vanities of time to the momentous realities of eternity.
If we thus improve the sorrowful events that await us, we shall find a happy deliverance from them all; and it is the only possible means, by which we can be happily delivered: this the text implies; “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you;” that you may thus be rendered meet to partake of His mercy; that He may visit and comfort you in your low estate; and make it instrumental to your spiritual exaltation. If you murmur or complain, or do but naturally mourn; if you manifest only the frettings of a worldly disposition and temper, your case thereby becomes still more grievous and intolerable; the heart is vexed by its vain and rebellious strivings; “the sorrow of the world worketh misery and death.” You are thus preventing the benediction of heaven from descending upon you; you are closing up the avenues, through which the grace of God may find its way into the heart; you are neglecting that remedy, by which alone the stricken soul can be healed, by which your trouble may be converted into a blessing. Embrace the proffered means; humble yourself beneath the burden, with “a godly sorrow,” for the sin that has brought it; bend yourself beneath the storm of heaven, and the Sun of righteousness will soon shine forth, and cheer you with His brightest beam; “the God of consolation,” your Redeemer, your unchangeable friend, “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,” will turn your darkness into light; your “weeping will endure but for a night, and joy will come in the morning.” [168]
Or, if it be not literally so; if deliverance come not so speedily as you desire or expect, it will assuredly come in God’s “due time;” He may wait, to try the strength of your patience and your faith; may seem for a season, as though He heareth not your prayer; but rest assured, He does hear, and the answer is preparing: the wise and benevolent author of four blessings knows best when to bestow them; depend upon His mercy, and trust Him for the time: the delay will be nothing, as compared with the comfort when it arrives: the very delay will minister to the fulness of your joy: you will perceive the truth of the divine character, as drawn by the pencil of the prophet; you may apply the prophetic description to yourself; “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.” [169]
God will exalt every humble and faithful servant, in due time, even in this world; not perhaps to earthly greatness and honour; but, what is infinitely more important, to the height of His own blessed favour; to the delight of a peaceful reconciliation with Himself; to the happiness of an approving conscience; to a “hope full of immortality:” and, after death, He will crown that hope with a glorious consummation; will exalt that servant to the skies; far beyond the reach of change, of trouble, or of fear. The Christian, like the Captain of his Salvation, “will be made perfect through sufferings;” like Him, when the combat is over, will receive the crown of glory, and sit down for ever at the right hand of his Father and his God.
He will then more fully see and admire the gracious dealings of his merciful God and Saviour; will see, what reason he had to be thankful for the chastisements of heaven; how they have trained and prepared his soul for the happiness of the blest; how wonderfully they have ministered to the fulness of his joy. Bear then patiently; bear, I ought to say, thankfully, what the Lord layeth upon thee; it is His hand that “worketh all in all,” His hand of might and mercy. Thou canst not always trace His designs and operations; if thou couldst, where would be the exercise of thy faith? But if thou wilt believe and trust Him, if thou wilt bow and submit, He will thus exalt thee in due time, when thou art ready, when thy trial is completed, when thy appointed work is done. This is the seed-time; sow, and thou shalt see it spring up; labour, and wait for the harvest; “they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” [171]