Exodus 33:18 And he said, I beseech you, show me your glory. I. Consider, first, His NATURAL attributes. 1. God is self-existent. All other beings are created, and created by Him. He is the great Parent of existence. 2. Reflect next upon His omnipresence. He fills heaven and earth. 3. Survey His power. He is almighty and can do everything. He can act without agents or instruments. All other beings, animate or inanimate, are but His instruments to fulfil His will. 4. View, lastly, the immeasurable extent of His bounty. All creatures in earth and heaven are replenished out of the storehouse of His beneficence. II. But the glory of God derived from what may be termed, by way of distinction, His natural attributes, is NOT THE HIGHEST DESCRIPTION OF HIS GLORY, or even that in which it properly consists. 1. His goodness. The goodness of God is that attribute by which all His other perfections are directed to the best possible end. It is that which renders His wisdom, power, and presence, not only not dangerous, but in a supreme degree beneficial, to the whole creation. 2. But the holiness of God forms another principal feature in His glory. He "will by no means clear the guilty." 3. But is justice also a modification of goodness? Justice towards some is the security of all. Were an indiscriminate mercy to be shown to all, sin would prevail, and soon prostrate the mercy of God, and efface from the universe every trace of His goodness. (J. Venn, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. |
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