Reasonings from the Divine activity.
"Thy wondrous works declare." The thought of the restless activity of God is made by the psalmists, frequently, their ground of confidence. "He that keepeth thee will not slumber; behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep;" "Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders and the judgments of his mouth." As first introduced to us in the Word, God comes forth into activity as the Creator of the earth; busy for six continuous Divine periods in framing the world of material things to be the trial scene for man, and setting man in his sphere. And all the ages of human history have revealed God working in man's spheres, providing, correcting, guiding, restoring, delivering; man's model of unresting activity.
I. THE DIVINE ACTIVITY IMPRESSES ON US THE DIVINE NOBILITY. Contrast the unexpressive, passive faces of idol gods. There is no dignity in listlessness, no honour in doing nothing. He is miserable indeed who has nothing to do; but he is a thousandfold more miserable who wants to do nothing. Among men the workers are the true nobility. And God is exalted to our thought when the Lord Jesus says of him, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."
II. THE DIVINE ACTIVITY CONVINCES US OF THE DIVINE INTEREST. Thinking of God's wondrous works, the psalmist feels bow near God is to him and to his people—near in love and power, near in succour and blessing. How much more impressive this becomes if we apply it to immediate signs of Divine activity in the sudden overthrow of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35)! Hezekiah could confidently rest in the assurance that God was actively working for him, and the rest of his anxieties would surely be mastered, as this one had been. So we can in a general way assure our hearts by reading of what God has done for our fathers; but the impression of Divine interest comes home to us only when we have been the objects of some gracious deliverance and guidance; then we know God is working for us.
III. THE DIVINE ACTIVITY ASSURES US OF THE DIVINE EFFICIENCY. We can trace the way in which that activity has wrought through long ages; and we can see what it has accomplished. It is not only that "with God all things are possible;" it is that all things are wise, right, good. He can—that is true. "He doeth all things well"—that is even more true; and it is a more precious truth. The conviction that God is working, and that God is near, calls for the thanks which would fittingly express our trust in him.—R.T.