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With the outer world of nature and with our human nature and character before us, these words may somewhat surprise us; it is necessary to take a preliminary view of-

I. HUMAN ACTION UPON THE DIVINE.

1. There is a sense in which man has modified the Divine action according to the Divine purpose. God has given us the material, and he says to us, "Work with it and upon it; mould, fashion, transform, develop it as you will; make all possible use of it for bodily comfort, for mental enlargement, for social enjoyment, for spiritual growth." Man has made large use of this his opportunity, and, with the advance of knowledge and of science, he will make much more in the centuries to come. He cannot indeed "put to" or "take from" the substance with which God supplies him, but he can do much to change its form and to determine the service it shall render.

2. There is a sense in which man has temporarily thwarted the Divine idea. For is not all sin, and are not all the dire consequences of sin, a sad and serious departure from the purpose of the Holy One? Surely infidelity, blasphemy, vice, cruelty, crime; surely poverty, misery, starvation, death;-all this is not what the heavenly Father meant for his human children when he breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life. But the leading idea of the text is -

II. THE PERMANENCY OF THE DIVINE THOUGHT. This truth includes:

1. The fixedness of the Divine purpose. "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations" (Psalm 33:11). We believe that from the beginning God intended to work out the righteousness and the blessedness of the human race; and whatever has come between him and the realization of his gracious end will be cleared away. Man will one day be all that the Eternal One designed that he should become.

2. The constancy of the Divine Law. The same great moral laws, and the same physical laws also, which governed the action and the destiny of men in primeval times still prevail, and will always abide. Sin has meant suffering and sorrow, righteousness has worked out well-being and joy; diligence has been followed by fruitfulness, and idleness by destitution; generosity has been recompensed with love, and selfishness with leanness of soul, etc. As it was at the beginning, so will it be with the action of all Divine laws, even to the cud.

3. The permanency of the Divine attitude.

(1) What God always felt toward sin he feels today; it is the thing which he hates. In Jesus Christ, as fully and as emphatically as in the Law, his holy intolerance of sin is revealed, his Divine determination to conquer and to destroy it.

(2) What God always felt toward the sinner he feels today - a Divine grief and an infinite compassion; a readiness to forgive and to restore the penitent.

III. THE DIVINE DESIGN. "God doeth it, that men should fear before him." God's one unchanging desire is that his children should live a reverential, holy life before him. All the manifestations of his character that he gives us are intended to lead up to and issue in this. And surely the Divine constancy is calculated to promote this as nothing else would. It is God's desire and his design concerning us, because he knows

(1) that it is the only right relationship for us to sustain; and

(2) that it is the one condition of peace, purity, blessedness, life. - C.

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KJV: I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

WEB: I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.