We become unconscious of everything by long use. The Lord will make all things complete for me: O Lord, your mercy is eternal; do not give up the works of your hands. 19-22).3. 1, 2. Hear my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my petition. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? 18 " Ep., cxxx. the regular habit of reading the Bible at a fixed time, the occasional reminders of ourselves that God is looking on, these are our chief means of learning to remember His presence.
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me(Psalm 138:8 - YouTube For he who is required by the necessity of his position to speak the highest things is compelled by the same necessity to exhibit the highest things. He professes his confidence in GodDictionary of Bible ThemesPsalm 138:86708predestination8125guidance, promise8441goalsPsalm 138:7-81265hand of GodLibraryFaith in PerfectionIn the opening, I must remark that this is not the heritage of all mankind. The Coming Andrew MurrayThe Ministry of IntercessionForasmuch as Each Man is a Part of the Human Race1. Ps. That of a prayerful seeking of the Divine guidance (ver. 23, 24). "I dwell with him that is of a humble and contrite heart, to revive the heart of the contrite ones."--ISA. How great is the gratitude that is due to God from His saints, how innumerable are His blessings, how vast His mercy, how rich His grace and lovingkindness. xviii. iii. We become unconscious of everything by long use. Being rich he becomes richer; being already high born, of still nobler lineage; being illustrious, he gains greater renown; and--what is more than all--once a sinner he is now a saint. "I dwell with him that is of a humble and contrite heart, to revive the heart of the contrite ones."--ISA. The right state of mind plainly is to have the thought of God's presence so perpetually at hand that it shall always start before us whenever it is wanted. In the day when I cried Charles KingsleyOut of the DeepWherefore a Few Witnesses, which the Lord Deigns to Suggest to My Mind32. Through Baptism God puts his name on us. He compasseth man's path, and his lying down, and is acquainted with all his ways. That of a prayerful seeking of the Divine guidance (ver. Nay, more, this process of self-inspection may go on indefinitely, and the man grow more and more thoughtful, and obtain an everlastingly augmenting knowledge of what he is and what he does, so that it shall seem to him that he is penetrating so deeply into those dim and shadowy regions of consciousness where the external life takes its very first start, and then he may be sure that God understands the thought that is afar off, and deep down, and that at this lowest range and plane in his experience he besets him behind and before. But in almost every case the dazzling rays of a searchlight frustrated the attempt, and the fugitives' vessel was captured by the Americans. S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. It is perfectly plain from the elevated central point of view where we now stand, and in the focal light in which we now see, that no man can be justified before God upon the ground of personal character; for that character, when subjected to God's exhaustive scrutiny, withers and shrinks away. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration St. vi. G. T. Shedd, D. D.: One of the most remark. [2105] And these without all controversy we take to be humble. 13-16).4. Lord this seventh month of the year, let Your hand of perfection rest mightily on me. We cannot live long with men without catching something of their manner, of their mode of thought, of their character, of their government of themselves. He prophesies that the kings of the earth shall praise God7. Chapter i. All that concerns present safety and future glory are thus secured. Why should not we have like confidence? And here let us look upon the bright as well as the dark side of this subject. (2)Unseen world.(3)Everywhere. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius, The Saints' Final Perseverance Secured by the Mercy of God, The saints' final perseverance secured by the mercy of God, David praises God for the truth of his word, He prophesies that the kings of the earth shall praise God. 10But the angel said . (Admonition 23.) The thought will flash across us that God sees us. 2. St. Hilary of Poitiers is one of the greatest, yet least studied, of the Fathers of the Western Church. His omnipotence (vers. He compasseth man's path, and his lying down, and is acquainted with all his ways. I will ask you three questions suggested by the words themselves, and according to your answer to these three questions, shall be Charles Haddon SpurgeonSpurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859Question of the Contemplative LifeI. The ruler should always be chief in action, that by his living he may point out the way of life to those that are put under him, and that the flock, which follows the voice and manners of the shepherd, may learn how to walk better through example than through words. It is perfectly plain from the elevated central point of view where we now stand, and in the focal light in which we now see, that no man can be justified before God upon the ground of personal character; for that character, when subjected to God's exhaustive scrutiny, withers and shrinks away. If that Being has gone down into these depths of human depravity, and seen it with a more abhorring glance than could ever shoot from a finite eye, and yet has returned with a cordial offer to forgive it all, and a hearty proffer to cleanse it all away, then we can lift up the eye in adoration and in hope. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers. The brilliant searchlight sweeping the broad ocean and revealing even the smallest craft on its surface is but a faint type of the Eternal Light from which no sinner can hide his sin. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration St. So that whenever we are on the point of doing or saying anything cowardly, or mean, or false, or impure, or proud, or conceited, or unkind, the remembrance that God is looking on shall instantly flash across us and help us to beat down our enemy. Take heed unto me and hear me; how I mourn in my prayer and am vexed.--Psalm iv. v. 14), the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised (cf. 19-22).3. At best we can only see the outside of a thing, the curve, the angle, the colour. You are listening to the voice of Bill Johnson from a sermon given some years ago, and Johnson is poisoning his flock with the heretical doctrine of kenosis. Then is the moment to choose whether or not we will live in the presence of God; then when the finger of conscience is pointing to Him and saying, "He is looking at you. Therefore the first natural bond of human society is man and wife. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. He professes his confidence in GodDictionary of Bible ThemesPsalm 138:86708predestination8125guidance, promise8441goalsPsalm 138:7-81265hand of GodLibraryFaith in PerfectionIn the opening, I must remark that this is not the heritage of all mankind. G. T. Shedd, D. D.: One of the most remark. xviii. You are anxiously asking Him, shall I persevere to the end? But while all held their peace, the Son [441] said, AthanasiusSelect Works and Letters or AthanasiusCovenant Duties. 6. And this perpetual though not always conscious sense of God's presence would, no doubt, if we would let it have its perfect work, gradually act on our characters just as the presence of our fellow-men does. ", 2. 18 " Ep., cxxx. 13-18). Those who live much in a court acquire courtly manners. But if that knowledge whereby man knows himself is mysterious, then certainly that whereby God knows him is far more so. 19 III. For which of us has a flawless record of submission to the Divine purpose? Forasmuch as each man is a part of the human race, and human nature is something social, and hath for a great and natural good, the power also of friendship; on this account God willed to create all men out of one, in order that they might be held in their society not only by likeness of kind, but also by bond of kindred. 5, 6. He is present everywhere, in the entirety of Himself. The faith of that Centurion He on this account chiefly praised, and said St. xlix.
The Lord Will Perfect - biblehub.com lxxxv. The Lord Will Perfect All That Concerns Me Is a Declaration of Faith When David said the Lord will perfect that which concerns me, he was making a declaration of faith. (Weekly Pulpit. 7. III. Like the air we breathe, like the light we see, it involves a mystery that no man has ever solved. Said Milton, speaking of his travels abroad when a young man: "I again take God to witness that in all places where so many things are considered lawful, I lived sound and untouched from all profligacy and vice, having this thought perpetually with me, that though I might escape the eyes of men, I certainly could not the eyes of God."4. Do as the man did with the bad banknote, throw it down on the highway or into a ditch, and run away from it. Hence Paul Leo the GreatWritings of Leo the GreatSense in Which, and End for which all Things were Delivered to the Incarnate Son. GOD ACCURATELY AND EXHAUSTIVELY KNOWS ALL THAT MAN KNOWS OF HIMSELF. And this will generally be just when we are tempted to do wrong, or perhaps just when we are actually beginning to do it: some secret sin of which no one knows or dreams perhaps, some self-indulgence, which we dare not deny that God condemns. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. OURSELVES. His discourse, the first which He delivered to His disciples at greater length, began from this. 18 " Ep., cxxx. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thy right hand shall save me."--PS. It is a simple question of time; a simple question whether it shall come here in this world, where the blood of Christ "freely" flows, or in the future world, where "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin."(W. He must be prepared for the Kingdom that has been prepared for him Saint Bernard of ClairvauxSome Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, That the Ruler Should be Always Chief in Action. (Isa. "O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years."--HAB. 12), while the devil was exulting against us;--then God, in His loving-kindness, not willing man made in His own image to perish, said, Whom shall I send, and who will go?' And lest the presence of God should be too much for us, Christ has taken human nature on Him, and has provided that He will be always with us as long as the world shall last. His discourse, the first which He delivered to His disciples at greater length, began from this. Nor are they few or slight, but amount to a vast sum, more numerous than the sands of the sea. AugustineOn the Good of MarriagePrayer Out of the Deep. This is the communion with Him, and with Christ, which unquestionably helps the struggling, the penitent, the praying, more than anything else. But He sees all, His eye takes in the immeasurable universe. For those that are at variance are to be admonished to know most certainly that, in whatever virtues they may abound, they can by no means become spiritual if they neglect becoming united to their neighbours by concord. Though the transgressor is ignorant of much of his sin, because, at the time of its commission, he sins blindly as well as wilfully, and unreflectingly as well as freely; and though the transgressor has forgotten much of that small amount of sin, of which he was conscious, and by which he was pained, at the time of its perpetration; though, on the side of man, the powers of self-inspection and memory have accomplished so little towards this preservation of man's sin, yet God knows it all, and remembers it all.