God’s Providence

God's Providence

(No. 3114)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1908.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.

"Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth
by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the
wheels and their work was like unto the color of a beryl: and they four
had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was, as it were,
a wheel in the middle of a wheel. Where they went, they went upon their
four sides: and they turned not when they went As for their rims, they
were so high that they were dreadful; and their rims were full of eyes
round about them four And when the living creatures went, the wheels
went by them, and when the living creatures were lifted up from the
earth, the wheels were lifted up." Ezekiel 1:15-19.

IN my preaching, I am constantly talking about Providence, so I thought
it would be well to devote a whole sermon to explaining what I believe
are God's great wonder-working processes which we call, "Providence."
In looking for a suitable text, I found this one. These "wheels"
signify Divine Providence and I trust, while explaining them, I may be
so assisted by God's Spirit that I may say many things to you
concerning God's Government which may lift up any who are despondent
and lift up the souls of many who are distressed.

I. Going at once to my divisions, my first remark will be that
PROVIDENCE IS HERE COMPARED TO A "WHEEL."

When the Prophet had "beheld the living creatures," which I take it
were angels, he opened his eyes again and he saw a wonderful
illustration of Divine Providence–and this exhibition was in the
figure of a wheel. You must know that this is not the only place where
this comparison is to be found, for the Romans and Greeks were
accustomed to compare the wondrous working of God in Providence to the
revolutions of a wheel. The story goes that a certain king, being taken
prisoner, was bound in chains and dragged along at the chariot wheels
of his conqueror. As he went along, he kept looking at the wheel and
shedding tears, and then looking at the wheel, again, and lifting up
his eyes and smiling. The conqueror turned and said, "Why are you
looking at that wheel?" He said, "I was thinking, such is the lot of
man–just now I was here, now I am there–but soon I may be here again
at the top of the wheel, and you may be grinding the dust." This was
well for a heathen. The Prophet had the very same idea–he was
permitted by God to see that the wheel is a very beautiful figure of
Divine Providence. Let me show you that it is so.

I have just hinted at one reason why Providence is like a
wheel–because sometimes one part of the wheel is at the top and then
it is at the bottom. Sometimes this part is exalted and soon it sinks
down to the dust. Then it is lifted into the air and then again, by a
single revolution, it is brought down again to the earth. So is it with
our life. Sometimes we are in humble poverty and hardly know what we
shall do for bread. Soon the wheel revolves and we are brought into the
comfort of wealth–our feet stand in a spacious room, we are fed with
corn and wine–we drink of a cup overflowing its brim. Again we are
brought low through affliction and famine. A little while and another
page is turned–and we are exalted to the heavens and can sing and
rejoice in the Lord our God! I have no doubt many of you here have
experienced a far more checkered life than I have and, therefore, you
can feel that your life has been as a "wheel." Ah, Man! You are strong,
great and rich! You may now stand at the uppermost part of it, but it
is a wheel and you may yet be brought low. And you poor who are
depressed and downcast–who are weeping because you know not where you
shall lay your heads–that wheel may revolve and you may be lifted up!
Our own experience is never a stale thing. It is always changing,
always turning round. The fly that sits now on the edge of the wheel
may be crushed by its next revolution. The world may cry, "Hosanna," to
its minister, today, and the next day may say, "Crucify him, crucify
him." Such is the state of man. Providence is like a wheel!

You know that in a wheel there is one portion that never turns round
and that is the axle. So, in God's Providence, there is an axle which
never moves. Christian, here is a sweet thought for you! Your state is
always changing–sometimes you are exalted and sometimes depressed–yet
there is an unmoving point in your state. What is this axle? What is
the pivot upon which all the machinery revolves? It is the axle of
God's everlasting love towards His covenant people. The exterior of the
wheel is changing, but the center stands forever fixed. Other things
may move, but God's love never moves–it is the axle of the wheel! This
is another reason why Providence should be compared to a wheel.

Yet more. You observe when the wheel moves very rapidly, you can
discern nothing but the exterior circle. So, if you look back to
history and read the story of a thousand years, you set the wheel of
Providence revolving rapidly and you lose sight of all the little
things that are within the circle. You see only one great thing and
that is that God is working out in the world His everlasting purposes.
You sit down and take a book of history–say the History of
England–and you will say of one event, "Now that seems to be out of
place." You say of another, "That seems to be out of time." Another,
"That seems to be adverse to the cause of liberty." But look through a
thousand years and those things which seemed as if they would crush
liberty in her germ–those things which seemed as if they would destroy
this, our commonwealth, in our very rising, have been those which have
caused the sturdy oak of liberty to take deeper root! Take the whole
together, instead of taking the events one by one–look at a thousand
years and you will see nothing but one round ring of symmetry teaching
you that God is wise and God is just. So let it be with you in your
lives. Here you are fretting about troubles today. Think also of the
past–put all your troubles together and they are not troubles at all!
You will see that one counteracts the other. If you take your life–not
today, alone, but look back on 40 years of it– you will be obliged,
instead of lamenting and mourning, to bless God for His mercies towards
you. Let the wheel go round and you will see nothing but a ring of
everlasting wisdom revolving!

I trust I have made the first part of my subject intelligible–that the
Providence of God is here compared to a wheel.

II. My second thought is that THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IS, IN SOME
MYSTERIOUS WAY, CONNECTED

WITH ANGELS.

Look at verse 15. "Now as I beheld the living creatures." Then turn to
the 19th verse. "And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by
them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the
wheels were lifted up." These living creatures I believe to be angels.
And the text teaches us that there is a connection between Providence
and angelic agency. I do not know how to explain it. I cannot tell how
it is, but I believe angels have a great deal to do with the affairs of
this world. An angel cut off the hosts of Sennacherib and it is still
my firm belief that angels are sent forth, somehow or other, to
accomplish the everlasting purpose of God. The great wheel of
Providence is still turned by an angel. When there is some trouble
which seems to stop that wheel, some mighty cherub puts his shoulder to
it and hurls it round–and makes the chariot of God's Providence go on
still. Angels have much more to do with us than we imagine. I do not
know but that spirits sometimes come down and whisper thoughts into our
ears. I have strange thoughts, sometimes, that seem to come from a land
of dreams–and fiery visions that make my soul hot within me. Sometimes
I have thoughts which I know come from God's Spirit–some which are
glorious and some that are not so good, but still holy thoughts–and I
often attribute them to angels. I have sometimes a thought which cheers
me in distress–and was not an angel sent to strengthen Christ in the
Garden of Gethsemane? How do you think the angel strengthened Him? Why,
by putting thoughts into Christ's mind! He could not do it in any other
way–he could not strengthen Him by a plaster, or by any physical
means, but by injecting holy thoughts! So is it with us. There was a
temptation which might have led you astray, but God said, "Gabriel,
fly! There is one of My people in peril–go and put such a thought into
his soul that when the danger comes, he will say, 'Get you behind me,
Satan, I will have nothing to do with sin.'"

We have, each of us, a guardian angel to attend us. The meaning of the
passage, "In Heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father
which is in Heaven," surely is that every Christian has a guardian
angel who flies about him and holds the shield of God over his brow,
keeps his feet lest he should dash them against a stone, guards him,
controls him, manages him, injects thoughts into his mind, restrains
his evil desires and is the minister and servant of the Holy Spirit to
keep him from sin and lead him to righteousness. Whether I am right or
wrong, I leave you to judge, but perhaps I have more angelology in me
than most people have. I know my imagination has sometimes been so
powerful that when I have been alone at night, I could almost fancy
that I saw an angel fly by me when I have been out preaching the Word.
However, I take it that the text teaches us that angels have very much
to do with God's Providence, for it says,

"And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them, and when
the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were
lifted up." Let us bless God that He has made angels ministering
spirits to minister unto them that are heirs of salvation!

III. My third remark shall be that PROVIDENCE IS UNIVERSAL.

That you will see by the text. "Behold one wheel upon the earth by the
living creatures, with his four faces." The wheel had "four faces." I
think that means one face to the North, another to the South, another
to the East and another to the West–there is a face to every
quarter–teaching us that Providence is universal, looking to every
quarter of the globe. Have you ever been in a house where there was an
old picture hanging? I have sometimes stood in a picture gallery and
there has been a painting of some old warrior–and he has looked
straight at me. If I have gone to the other end of the room, he has
still looked at me. Wherever you are in the room, a well-painted
portrait will be looking at you. Such is the Providence of
God–wherever you are, the eyes of God will be upon you–as much upon
you as if there were not another person in the whole world! If there
were only one, you may imagine how much God would look upon that one,
but He looks on each one of us as if there were no other created being
and nothing else in the whole world! His eyes are fixed upon us at
every hour and at every moment. Wherever we may be, we shall have one
face of the wheel turned upon us.

You cannot banish me from my Lord. Send me to the snows of Siberia or
Lapland, I shall have the eyes of God there. Send me to Australia and
let me toil at the gold diggings, there will He visit me. If you send
me to the utmost verge of the round globe, I shall still have the eyes
of God upon me. Put me in the desert where there is not one single
blade of grass growing and His Presence shall cheer me. Or let me go to
sea, amidst the howls of the tempest and the shrieking of the wind
where the mad waves lift up their hands to the skies as if they would
pluck the stars from their cloudy thrones–and I shall have the eyes of
God upon me there! Let me sink and let my gurgling voice be heard among
the waves–let my body lie down in the caverns of the sea and the eyes
of God shall be on every bone! And in the day of the Resurrection shall
my every atom be tracked in its wanderings! Yes, the eyes of God are
everywhere–Providence is universal.

There may be some persons here who have friends far away–let me
comfort them. The eyes of God are looking on them. There may be some
here who are about to part with loved ones who are going to distant
countries. Wherever they are, they will be as much in the keeping of
God as though they were here. If one part of the world is not as near
to the sun's light as another, yet they are all equally near the eyes
of our God. Transport me where you please, wherever the cloudy pillar
of Providence shall guide me–and I shall have God with me! That
thought comforted the great traveler, Mungo Park, when he was in the
desert of Sahara. He had been robbed and stripped of everything and was
left naked. He suddenly saw a little piece of moss and, taking it up,
he saw how beautiful it was. He said, "Then the hand of God is here,
for here is one of His works! Though I call loudly, no man can hear me,
for there is nothing but the prowling lion and the howling jackal–yet
God is here." That thought comforted him and wherever you may be,
whatever may be your case, God will be with you! Whatever period of
your life you may now be in, God is with you! His eyes are at the
bridal and at the funeral, at the cradle and at the grave. In the
battle, God's eyes are looking through the smoke. In the rebellion,
there are God's hands managing the masses of men who have broken loose
from their rulers. In the earthquake, there is Jehovah manifest. In the
tempest, there are God's hands tossing the boat, dashing it against the
rocks, or saving it from the boisterous waves. In all seasons, at all
times, in all dangers and in all climes, there are the hands of God!

IV. My next remark is that PROVIDENCE IS UNIFORM.

It is only one Providence and always one. "Now as I beheld the living
creatures, behold one wheel was on the earth by the living creatures,
with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was
like unto the color of a beryl: and they four had one likeness." There
were four wheels and four faces, yet one likeness. There was but one
piece of machinery and thus we are taught that Providence is all one.
Sometimes Providences seem to cross each other. One thing that God does
seems to contradict another thing that He does–but it never really
does so.

It is a great Truth of God, though hard for us to grasp, that
Providence is one. Just look at the case of Joseph. God has it in His
mind that Joseph shall be governor over all the land of Egypt. How is
that to be accomplished? The first thing to be done is that Joseph's
brothers must hate him. "Oh," you say, "that is a step backward." Next,
Joseph's brothers must put him in the pit. "That is another step
backward," you say. No, it is not. Wait a little while. Joseph's
brothers must sell him–that is another step backward, is it not? Oh,
no! Providence is one and you must not look at its separate parts. He
is sold–he becomes a favorite. So far, so good. That is a step onward!
Soon he is put in a dungeon. Wait and see the end–all the different
parts of the machinery are one. They appear to clash, but they never
do. Put them all together. If Joseph had not been put in the pit, he
never would have been the servant of Potiphar. If he had never been put
in the prison, he would never have interpreted his fellow prisoners'
dreams. And if the king had never dreamed, he would not have been
called to go to the palace. There were a thousand "chances," as the
world has it, working together to produce the exaltation of Joseph!
Providence is one–it never clashes.

"Oh," says one, "I cannot understand that. Providence seems to be very
adverse to me." I think it is Mrs. Hannah More who says that she went
into a place where they were manufacturing a carpet. See said, "There
is no beauty there." The man said, "It is one of the most beautiful
carpets you ever saw." "Why, here is a piece hanging out and it is all
in disorder." "Do you know why, Ma'am? You are looking at the wrong
side of the carpet." So it is very often with us. You and I think
Providence is adverse to us because we are looking at the wrong side!
We look at the wrong side while we are here, but when we get to Heaven,
we shall see the right side of God's dealings–and when we do, we shall
say, "O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have You made them
all." You have sometimes been puzzled to think why that friend was
brought into the grave, or you have said, "Why was I made sick at
such-and-such a time? Why did that trouble and that calamity fall upon
me?" That is no business of yours–you are to believe that all things
work together for one great purpose and that one thing never crosses
another! But you must not expect to see it so just yet. Here, on earth,
the machine appears broken to pieces and we can only see it in
confusion. But in Heaven we shall see it all put together. Suppose I go
into a place where some great engineer is manufacturing a machine and
say to him, "Do you mean to tell me that this is a machine?" "Yes, and
an exquisite one it will be." "It does not look like it. I could not
put it together." "Oh, no, Sir, you could not, but I can! Come and see
it when I have put it together and you shall see that each part fits
into its proper place, that each cog on the wheel will work on the cog
of another wheel, and all the spokes will move together when I adjust
them. Do not find fault with it and say, 'One is too small, and another
too large,' because you know nothing at all about it." So, dear
Friends, you and I can never see more than parts of God's ways. We only
see here a wheel, and there a wheel–we must wait till we get to
Heaven–then we shall see the right side of the carpet and then we
shall see that it was one piece of machinery, with one end, one aim and
one objective!

V. My next thought is that, in this text PROVIDENCE IS COMPARED TO THE
SEA.

Look at the 16th verse. "The appearance of the wheels and their work
was like unto the color of a beryl." The word "beryl" is commonly used
in Scripture to denote the ocean, because the beryl bears the greatest
likeness to that deep green you sometimes see in the ocean and, at
other times the blue appearance of the sea. Let us transport ourselves
for a moment to the top of some high cliff and look down on the noisy
ocean. It has been the theme of a thousand songs. It has borne myriads
of fleets on its mighty breast yet there it is, still rolling on! If
you begin to think about the ocean, though it is one of the minor parts
of God's works compared with the constellations in the heavens, and the
globes which He has hung on high, you begin to be lost in the vastness
of your conceptions concerning the greatness of God's works. And so it
is with Providence!

It is like the ocean for another reason. The sea is never still–both
day and night it is always moving. In the day, when the sun shines upon
it, its waves march up in marshaled order as if about to capture the
whole land and drown all the solid earth. Then again they march back as
if each one is reluctant to yield up its prey. It is always moving–the
moon shines upon it and the stars light it up–still it moves. Or
darkness falls so that nothing can be seen–still it moves. By night
and day the restless billows chant a boisterous hymn of glory, or
murmur the solemn dirge of mariners wrecked far out in the depths. Such
is Providence–by night and by day Providence is always going on. The
farmer sleeps, but his wheat is growing. The mariner on the sea sleeps,
but the wind and the waves are carrying on his boat. Providence, you
never stop! Your mighty wheels never stay their everlasting circles! As
the blue ocean has rolled on impetuously for ages, so shall Providence
roll on until He who first set it in motion, shall bid it stop–and
then its wheel shall cease, forever fixed by the eternal decree of the
Almighty God!

Again, you will see another reason why the sea is like Providence. Man
cannot manage it Who can rule or govern the sea? Men cannot. Xerxes
made chains for the Hellespont and lashed the sea with whips because it
washed away his boats, but what cared the sea about that? It laughed at
him and if he had not been too great a coward to put himself on its
bosom, it might have swallowed him. Canute put his chair on the beach
and bade the waves retire. What cared they for

him? They came and would have washed him and his chair away if he had
not moved backward. The sea is not to be governed by man! A whole fleet
sails over it and it is only like a feather blown by the wind across
the surface of a brook! All we ever put on the sea is as nothing. It
can never be restrained, nor chained, nor managed by man. Greedy man
has carved the land, but the sea has no landmark. It is impetuous! It
follows its own will. So does Providence. It will not be managed by
man. Napoleon once heard it said that man proposes and God disposes.
"Ah," said Napoleon, "but I propose and dispose, too." How do you think
he proposed and disposed? He proposed to go and take Russia. He
proposed to destroy that power–but how did he come back again? He came
back solitary and alone, his mighty army perished and wasted, having
well-near eaten and devoured one another through hunger! Man proposes
and God disposes. Providence, like the sea, cannot be directed by
man–it can only be controlled by God. Let man try to stand against
God's Providence and Providence will grind and crush him!

VI. Again, GOD'S PROVIDENCE IS INTRICATE.

That you will also find in the text–"The appearance of the wheels and
their work was like unto the color of a beryl: and they four had one
likeness: and their appearance and their work was, as it were, a wheel
in the middle of a wheel." I have just said that Providence is
intricate. When Joseph brought his two sons up to Jacob's deathbed and
Jacob was about to bless them, Jacob guided his hands wittingly–and he
put his right hand on the head of the younger son, and his left hand on
the head of the elder one. Joseph said, "Not so, my Father, for this is
the firstborn." And Jacob said, "I know it, my son, I know it"–and he
would not give the blessing in any other way but with his hands
crossed–and God usually blesses His children by crossing His hands. We
say, "Do not deal so with me," but God says, "It must be even so, My
child. There is a blessing on your head. Do not say, 'Uncross Your
hands,' for that is the way to bless you most of all. I wish to put the
greatest blessing upon you and, therefore, I have crossed My hands."
Providence is wonderfully intricate! You want always to see through
Providence, do you not? You never will, I can assure you! You have not
eyes good enough. You want to see what good that affliction was to you?
You must believe it! You want to see how it can bring good to the soul?
You may be enabled to do so in a little time, but you cannot see it
now–you must believe it! Honor God by trusting Him! God has many
Gordian knots which wicked men may cut and which righteous men may try
to unravel, but which God alone can untie! We see the wicked prosper.
They flourish and great is their power, while the righteous are cast
down. We say, "Why is this?" There are wheels within wheels. Do not
fret yourselves because evildoers are more prosperous than the godly.
There may be a nation that seems to have right on its side–that nation
may be crushed and another nation, which is tyrannical, may get the
victory. Do not ask, "Why is this?" You shall know the reason when you
get up yonder! Do not attempt to do what Gabriel never dares to do–to
ask the reason why, for God will never give it.

VII. Next, PROVIDENCE IS ALWAYS CORRECT.

I shall not detain you long on this point. The Prophet saw the wheels
and he well said, "they turned not when they went." They always went
straight–they never turned to the right or to the left. Such is God's
Providence. Man marks out plans. He says, "I shall build this tower."
He gets it half up and he finds he has not enough to finish it with–he
has to pull it down, lay a smaller foundation, and build again. God
never does so–He has a plan when He begins and He carries that plan
out. He lays the foundation and He also lays the tombstone. There are
some persons who talk about God changing His purpose–such people do
not know what God is at all. How could God change!? God must either
change from a better to a worse, or from a worse to a better. If He
could change from a worse to a better, He is not perfect now. And if He
could change from what He is to something worse, He would not be
perfect then–and He would not be God! He cannot change. It is not
possible that God should ever change or shift in any of His purposes.
Can He change because He has not power? Why, Sirs, He could girdle this
globe with mountains, or move the hills into the sea! Can He change
because He has not patience enough? What? He who from His purpose never
swerves? Shall He change because He has made a mistake? Shall the Most
High Jehovah ever harbor an error in His Almighty Mind? "To err is
human." With the Divine Being, the whole plan goes on to completion and
what He has ordained shall be! On the iron rock of Destiny it is
written and it cannot be altered. God moves the wheel and the wheel
goes on–and though a thousand armies stand in the way to stop it, it
still goes on. "They turned not when they went."

I cannot make out what some of you do with your comfortless
Gospel–believing that God loves you today and hates you tomorrow. That
you are a child of God one day, and a child of the devil the next. I
could not believe a Gospel like that! If I were a heathen, I could
believe it at once because I could manufacture a god of mud that I
could alter with my fingers, and change to any fashion. But if I once
believe in the God who "Was and Is, and is to come," I know that He
cannot change and I feel a constancy of faith and a firmness of hope
which the cares and trials of this mortal life cannot destroy. He will
not cast off His people whom He has chosen.

VIII. Another thought is, that PROVIDENCE IS AMAZING.

I shall not dwell on this point, but just remind you that the text says
it is so. "As for their rims, they were so high that they were
dreadful; and their rims were full of eyes round about them four." Even
the man who knows that every wave that dashes against the ship is
washing him nearer home–that every breath of wind that rises comes to
his sail and fills it and sends it to the white cliffs of his native
Albion–even the man who feels that everything is working for him–
even hemust say that Providence is amazing! Oh, that thought–it
staggers thought! It is an idea that overwhelms me– that God is
working in all that happens! The sins of man, the wickedness of our
race, the crimes of nations, the iniquities of kings, the cruelties of
wars, the terrific scourge of pestilence–all these things are, in some
mysterious way, working the will of God! I cannot explain this. I
cannot tell you where human will and free agency unite with God's
Sovereignty and with His unfailing decrees. This has been the place
where intellectual gladiators have fought with each other since the
time of Adam. Some have said, "Man does as he likes" and others have
said, "God does as He pleases." In one sense they are both true, but
there is no man who has brains or understanding enough to show where
they meet. We cannot tell how it is that I do just as I please as to
which street I shall go home by and yet I cannot go home except through
a certain road. John Newton used to say that there were two streets by
which he could go to St. Mary Woolnoth–but Providence directed him as
to which he should use. Last Sabbath I came down a certain street–I do
not know why–and there was a young man who wished to speak to me. I
say that was God's Providence that I might meet that young man. Here
was Providence, and yet there was my choice–how, I cannot tell. I
cannot comprehend it. I believe that every particle of dust that dances
in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes–that
every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit
as well as the sun in the heavens–that the chaff from the hand of the
winnower is steered as surely as the stars in their courses–that the
chirping of an aphid over a rosebud is as much fixed as the march of
the devastating pestilence, and the fall of sere leaves from the poplar
is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche. He who believes
in God must believe this Truth of His. There is no standing point
between this and atheism. There is no half way between an almighty God
who works all things according to the good pleasure of His own will and
no god at all. A god who cannot do as He pleases–a god whose will is
frustrated–is not a God and cannot be a God! I could not believe in
such a god as that.

IX. My closing idea is that PROVIDENCE IS FULL OF WISDOM.

You will see this by the last part of the 18th verse. "And their rims
were full of eyes round about them four." You will say, this morning,
"Our minister is a fatalist." Your minister is no such thing! Some will
say, "Ah, he believes in fate." He does not believe in fate at all!
What is fate? Fate is this– Whatever is must be. But there is a
difference between that and Providence. Providence says, Whatever God
ordains must be. But the wisdom of God never ordains anything without a
purpose. Everything in this world is working for some one great end.
Fate does not say that. Fate simply says that the thing must be.
Providence says that God moves the wheels along and there they are. If
anything would go wrong, God puts it right and if there is anything
that would move awry, He puts forth His hand and alters it. It comes to
the same thing–but there is a difference as to the objective. There is
all the difference between fate and Providence that there is between a
man with good eyes and a blind man. Fate is a blind thing–it is the
avalanche crushing the villages down below the mountain and destroying
thousands of lives. Providence is not an avalanche, it is a rolling
river, rippling at the first like a rill down the sides of the
mountain, followed by minor streams, then it rolls in the broad ocean
of everlasting love, working for the good of the human race. The
Doctrine of Providence is not that what is, must be– but that, what
is, works together for the good of our race and especially for the good
of the chosen people of God. The wheels were full of eyes–they were
not blind wheels!

Let us close with the thought that there is the greatest wisdom in the
workings of Providence. You were recently in great distress and you
could not see why it was so with you. The next time you are in
distress, you must say, "The wheels of Providence are full of eyes–I
have but two eyes, but God's wheels are full of eyes. God can see
everything. I can only see one thing at a time. I see it looks good for
me now. I do not know what it will be tomorrow. I see what the plant is

now. I do not know what it will be tomorrow. I know not what kind of
flower that herb will yield. This affliction is a cassava root, full of
poison and would soon destroy me, but God can put that in the oven so
that all the poison shall evaporate and it shall become food for me to
live upon. This trouble of mine seems to me to be destructive, but God
can take all the destroying power out of it and so it shall be made
into food for my soul." Now, you tried one, groaning down in the
valley, up with your heart! Away with your tears! Put your hand on your
breast and make your heart stop its hard beating. Poor Soul, dash the
cup of misery from your hand–you are not condemned–you are a pardoned
Christian! Remember that God has said, "All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to
His purpose." Oh, how I would like to make your hearts like flint and
steel against trouble! We cannot bear the winds of trouble–we are soon
cast down and brokenhearted. When we are in prosperity, we are
giants–we think we can do like Samson did–that we can take hold of
the two pillars of trouble and distress and pull them down! But once
tell us that the Philistines are upon us and we have no power.

He who has faith is better than the stoic. The stoical philosopher bore
trial because he believed it must be. The Christian bears it because he
believes it is working for his good. The next time that trouble comes,
or disease comes, or pestilence comes, smile at it and say–

"He that has made his refuge God

Shall find a most secure abode,

Shall walk all day beneath His shade

And there at night shall rest his head." Let this be your shield to
keep off the thrusts of distress and this be your high rock against all
the winds of sorrow! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM103.

Verse 1. Bless the LORD, O my Soul: and all that is within me, bless
His holy name. [See Sermons #1077, Volume 18–the

LORD BLESSING HIS SAINTS; #1078, Volume 18–THE SAINTS BLESSING THE
LORD and #2121, Volume 36–THE KEYNOTE OF THE YEAR] Come, my Heart, be
down in the dumps no longer! Take your harp from the willows, tune its
strings and begin to pour forth its music to the praise of Divine Love!

2-4. Bless the LORD, O my Soul, and forget not all His benefits: who
forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems
your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and
tender mercies. This is a better crown than any emperor ever wore,
unless he, also, was a child of God. Priceless and rare gems and jewels
adorn this wondrous coronet–"who crowns you with loving kindness and
tender mercies."

5-9. Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is
renewed like the eagle's. The LORD executes righteousness and judgment
for all that are oppressed. He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts
unto the children ofIsrael. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to
anger, andplenteous in mercy. He willnot always chide. [See Sermon

#1171, Volume 20–THE LORD CHIDING HIS PEOPLE] Are you suffering His

chiding just now? They are good for you, but they will not last
forever. "He will not always chide."

9, 10. Neither will He keep His anger forever He has not dealt with us
after our sins. It is all of the Lord's mercies that we are not
consumed. "He has not dealt with us after our sins."

10-12. Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the Heaven
is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear
Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us[See Sermon

#1108, Volume 19–PLENARY ABSOLUTION] Then surely He will also

remove our troubles from us! But if not, as He has removed our
transgressions so far away that they can never be brought back again,
we have real cause for joy whatever happens to us here.

13. Like as a fatherpities his children, so the LORDpities them that
fear Him. [See Sermons #941, Volume 16–the tender

PITY OF THE LORD; #1650, Volume 28–GOD'S FATHERLY PITY and #2639,
Volume 45–OUR HEAVENLY FATHER'S PITY] The very best of them are only
objects of pity. Though they are the best, they need that He should
look down upon them with Infinite Compassion.

14-19. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for
man, his days are asgrass: as a flower ofthe field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof
shall know it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to
everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto
children's children; to such as keep His Covenant, and to those that
remember His Commandments to do them. The LORD has prepared His Throne
in the Heavens and His Kingdom rules over all. What a comfort this is
for us! Over the great as well as over the little, over all parts of
the earth, as well where war rages as where peace reigns, "His Kingdom
rules over all." Nothing happens without His permission! Even the
little things of life are ordered by Him! The foreknown station of a
rush by the riverside is as fixed as the place of a king–and the chaff
from the hand of the winnower is steered as surely as the stars in
their courses, for to God nothing is little and nothing is great.

20, 21. Bless the LORD, you His angels that excel in strength, that do
His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word. Bless you the
LORD, all you His hosts. "Let all the armies of Heaven break forth into
one song– "Bless you the LORD, all you His hosts."

21, 22. You ministers of His, that do His pleasure. Bless the LORD, all
His works in all places of His dominion: bless the LORD, O my Soul.