Divine Government—the Joy of Our World
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"The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be glad!" Psalm 97:1
Wise and good rulers are justly accounted an extensive blessing to their subjects. In a government where wisdom sits at the helm; and where justice, tempered with clemency, holds the balance of retribution; where liberty and property are secured; whereencroaching ambition is checked; where helpless innocence is protected; and where universal order is established—then, consequently, peace and happiness diffuse their streams through the land. In such a situation, every heart must rejoice, every countenance look cheerful, and every bosom glow with gratitude to the happy instruments of such extended beneficence.
But, on the other hand, "Woe to you, oh land, when your king is a child," Eccles. 10:16. That is—weak, injudicious, thoughtless and peevish. This is the denunciation of Solomon, a sage philosopher, and an opulent king, whose station, capacity, and inclination, conspired to give him the deepest skill in politics. This denunciation has been accomplished in every age. Empires have fallen, liberty has been fettered, property has been invaded, the lives of men have been arbitrarily taken away, and misery and desolation have broken in like a flood—when the government has been entrusted in the hands of tyranny, of luxury, or rashness! And the advantages of beneficial climate and soil, and all others which nature could bestow, have not been able to make the subjects happy under the baleful influence of such an administration!
It has frequently been the unhappy fate of nations to be enslaved to such rulers. But such is the unavoidable imperfection of all human governments, that when, like our own, they are managed by the best minds and hands, they are attended with many calamities, and cannot answer several valuable ends. And from both these considerations, we may infer the necessity of a divine government over the whole universe and particularly over the earth, in which we are more especially concerned. Without this supreme universal Monarch, the affairs of this world would fall into confusion; and the concerns of the next world could not be managed at all. The capacities of the wisest of men are scanty, and not equal to all the purposes of government; and hence many affairs of importance will be unavoidably misconducted; and dangerous plots and aggravated crimes may be undiscovered for lack of knowledge; or pass unpunished for lack of power.
A wise and good ruler may be diffusing among his subjects all that happiness which can result from the imperfect administration of mortals—but he may be tumbled from his throne, and his government thrown into the greatest disorder by a more powerful invader. So it is evident that even the best—ruler could not make his subjects lastingly happy, unless he were universal monarch of the globe (a province too great for any mortal) and above the reach of the ambitious power of others.
Further, human dominion cannot extend to the souls and consciences of men: civil rulers can neither know nor govern them; and yet souls and consciences must be governed and brought into subjection to the eternal laws of reason, otherwise tranquillity cannot exist on earth; and especially the great purposes of true religion, which regard a future state, cannot be answered. Men are placed here on earth—to be formed by a proper education for the eternal world—for another class, and other employments; but civil rulers cannot form them for these important ends, and therefore they must be under the government of one who has access to their hearts, and can manage them as he pleases.
Deeply impressed with these and other considerations, which shall be presently mentioned, the Psalmist is transported into this reflection, "The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be glad!" The Psalmist seems to have themediatorial empire of grace erected by Immanuel more immediately in view; and this indeed deserves our special notice. But no doubt he included the divine government in general, which is a just ground of universal joy; and in this latitude I shall consider the text.
People in a transport are apt to speak abruptly, and omit the particles of connection and inference usual in calm reasoning. Thus the Psalmist cries out, "The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be glad!" But if we reduce the passage into an argumentative form, it will stand thus, "The Lord reigns; therefore let the earth rejoice; and let the multitude of islands be glad upon this account." The earth may here signify by a usual metonymy, the rational inhabitants of the earth, who are especially concerned in the divine government. Or, by a beautiful figurative expression, it may signify the inanimate globe of the earth—and then it intimates that the divine government is so important a blessing, that even the inanimate and senseless creation would rejoice in it, were it capable of such passions.
The islands may likewise be taken figuratively for their inhabitants, particularly the Gentiles, who resided in them; or literally for tracts of land surrounded with water.
My present design is: To illustrate this glorious truth, that Jehovah's supreme government is a just cause of universal joy. For that end I shall consider the divine government in various views, as legislative, providential, mediatorial, and judicial; and show that in each of these views—the divine government is matter of universal joy.
1. The Lord reigns upon a throne of LEGISLATION. "Let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be glad!" He is the one supreme LAWGIVER, James 4:12, and is perfectly qualified for that important trust. Nothing tends more to the advantage of civil society—than to have good and just laws established, according to which mankind are to conduct themselves, and according to which their rulers will deal with them. Now the supreme and universal king has enacted and published the best laws for the government of the moral world, and of the human race in particular. Let the earth then rejoice that God has clearly revealed his will to us, and not left us in inextricable perplexities about our duty to him and mankind.
Human reason, or the light of nature, gives us some intimations of the duties of morality, even in our degenerate state; and for this information we should bless God; but alas! these discoveries are very imperfect, and we need supernatural revelation to makethe way of life known to us. Accordingly, the Lord has favoured us with the sacred Scriptures as a supplement to the feeble light of nature; and in them we are fully "taught what is good, and what the law requires of us."
And what cause of joy is this! How painful are the anxieties that attend uncertainty about matters of duty! How distressing is a doubtful, fluctuating mind, in an affair of such tremendous importance! This, no doubt, some of you who are conscientious have had the experience of, in particular cases, when you were at a loss to apply to them the general directions in sacred Scripture.
Again, "let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be glad," that these laws are suitably enforced with proper sanctions. The sanctions are such as befit a God of infinite wisdom, almighty power, inexorable justice, untainted holiness, and unbounded goodness and grace! And they are such as are agreeable to the nature of reasonable creatures formed for an immortal duration.
The REWARDS of obedience in the divine legislation are not such trifling toys—as posts of honour and profit, crowns and empires—which are the highest rewards that civil rulers can promise or bestow. In the divine government, the rewards of obedience are: rational peace and serenity of mind; undaunted bravery under the frowns of adversity; a cheerful confidence in the divine guardianship under all the calamities of life; and in the future world an entire exemption from all sorrow and from sin—which is the fruitful source of all our afflictions; the possession of every good, the enjoyment of the divine presence, of the society of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect. In short, the fruition of a happiness above our present wishes, and equal to our then mature and eternal faculties—and all this forever! These are the rewards of evangelical obedience, not indeed for its own sake—but upon account of the righteousness of the blessed Jesus! And if these fail to allure men to obedience, what can prevail? And how happy is it to live under a government, where virtue and true religion, which in their own nature tend to our happiness, are enforced with such resist-less arguments!
On the other hand, the PENALTY annexed by the divine Lawgiver to disobedience, is proportionally dreadful. To pine and languish under the secret curse of an incensed God, which, like a contagious poison, diffuses itself through all the enjoyments of the wicked, Malachi 2:2; to sweat under the agonies of a guilty conscience in this world; and in the future world to be banished from the beatific presence of God and all the joys of heaven; to feel the anguish and remorse of guilty reflections; to burn in unquenchable fire; to consume a miserable eternity in the horrid society of malignant demons; and all this without the least rational hope; nay, without so much as a deluded hope of deliverance, or the mitigation of torture, through the revolutions of endless ages—all this is a faint representation of the penalty annexed to disobedience! And it is a penalty worthy a God to inflict, and equal to the infinite malignity of sin.
"Let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be glad," on account not only for the rewards of obedience to the law—but also for this tremendous penalty; for it flows not only from justice—but from goodness, as well as its promise of rewards for obedience. The penalty annexed to the law, will not be executed from a malignant pleasure in the misery of the creature—but it is annexed from a regard to the happiness of mankind, and will be executed upon individuals for the extensive good of the whole—as well as for the honourable display of the divine purity and justice.
A penalty is primarily intended to deter men from disobedience. Now disobedience tends in its own nature, to make us miserable; it renders it impossible, in the nature of things, that we should be happy in the enjoyment of God and the employments of heaven, which are eternally and immutably contrary to sinful dispositions. Disobedience also fills us with those malignant and unruly passions which cannot but make us uneasy. Hence it follows, that, since the penalty tends to deter us from sin, and since sin naturally tends to make us miserable, therefore the penalty is a kind of gracious enclosure around the pit of misery, to keep us from falling into it! The penalty is a friendly warning not to drink poison! It is, in a word, a kind restraint upon us in our career to ruin!
Indeed—it is a blessing we could not spare; for we find, that, notwithstanding the terror of the threatening, that men will run on in sin! And with how much more horrid alacrity and infernal zeal would they continue their course—if there were no divine threatening to check and withhold them?
The earth may also rejoice for the execution of the penalty of the divine law against sin; for the conspicuous punishment of the disobedient may serve as a loud warning to all rational beings that now exist, or that may hereafter be created—not to offend against God. And thus it may be the means of preserving them in obedience, and so promote the general good. And it may be that the number of those that shall be punished, when compared to the number of reasonable beings that shall be confirmed in holiness and happiness by observing their doom—may bear no more proportion, than the number of criminals executed in a government, as public example does to all the subjects of it; and consequently such divine punishment may be vindicated on the same principles.
Farther, Justice is an amiable attribute in itself, and it appears so to all rational beings but criminals, whose interest it is, that it should not be displayed. And therefore the infliction of just punishment should be matter of general joy, since it is amiable in itself. So it is in human governments; while we are innocent—we approve of the conduct of our magistrates in inflicting capital punishment upon notorious malefactors, though the malefactors themselves view it with horror.
But to proceed: "Let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be glad," that the divine laws reach the inner man, and have power upon the hearts and consciences of men. Human laws can only regulate our external conduct at best—but the heart in the meantime may be disloyal and wicked! Now this defect is supplied by the laws of the King of heaven, which are spiritual. They require a complete uniformity and self-consistency in us—so that heart and life may agree: and therefore they are wisely framed to make us entirely good.
The divine laws have also an inimitable power upon the consciences of men. Should all the world acquit us—yet we cannot acquit ourselves, when we violate them. The consciousness of a crime has made many a hardy offender sweat and agonize with remorse, though no human eye could witness to his offence! Now what cause of joy is it that these divine laws are living and powerful, and that they are attended with almighty energy, which in some measure intimidates and restrains the most audacious, and inspires the conscientious with a pious fear of offending!
2. The Lord reigns by his PROVIDENCE. "Let the earth therefore rejoice; and the multitude of islands be glad." The Providence of God is well described in our shorter Catechism: "It is his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions." To particularize all the instances of providential government which may be matter of joy to the earth, would be endless; therefore I shall only mention the following: Let the earth rejoice; and the multitude of islands be glad, that the Lord reigns over the kingdoms of the earth, and manages all their affairs according to his sovereign and wise pleasure!
We sometimes hear of wars, and rumours of wars, of thrones tottering, and kingdoms falling, of the nations tumultuously raging and dashing in angry conflict, like the waves of the boisterous ocean. In such a juncture we may say, "The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, O LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea—the LORD on high is mighty. Your statutes stand firm, O LORD!" Psalm 93:1-5
Sometimes the ambition of foreign power, or the encroachments of domestic tyranny, may threaten our liberties, and persecution may seem ready to discharge its artillery against the church of God; while every pious heart trembles for the ark, lest it should be carried into the land of its enemies. But the Lord reigns! let the earth, let the church rejoice! "The eternal God is her refuge, and underneath her are the everlasting arms!" Deuteronomy 33. 27. He will overrule the various revolutions of the world for her good; and the united powers of earth and hell shall not prevail against her! Though the frame of nature should be unhinged, we may find refuge in our God.
Yet it must be owned, that the Lord for the chastisement of his people—may allow their enemies to break in upon them, and may cast them into the furnace of affliction. But let the earth rejoice, let the church be glad that the Lord reigns over her most powerful enemies, and that they are but executing his will even when they have no regard to it—but are gratifying their own ambition. They are but a rod in the hand of a tender father, who corrects—only to amend! And when he has used the rod for this gracious purpose—he will then lay it aside.
In this language the Almighty speaks of the haughty Assyrian monarch who had pushed his conquest so far and wide. Isaiah 10:5-7: "Oh Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets!" That is, "I will give him my commission, and send him against the Jews, my favourite people; because they are degenerated into a hypocritical nation, and he shall execute my orders."
"But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind." That is, it is far from his heart to obey my will in this expedition; but his only design is to aggrandize himself, "his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations." And when thisinstrument of the divine vengeance arrogates to himself the honour of his own successes, with what just insult and disdain does the King of kings speak of him! "When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say—I will punish the king of Assyria for the wilful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. For he says: By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings!" "Does the ax raise itself above him who swings it, or the saw boast against him who uses it?"
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