The secret of God from the night
watches by John Macduff. The secret of the Lord is with
those who fear him and he will show them his covenant. Psalm
25 verse 14. Believer, your God has some mighty
secret to confide to you. What is this which a mystery
to the world is to be conveyed in whispers into the ears of
his people? He will show them His covenant.
Listen this night to this blessed secret. You have pondered it
often before, but its wonders never diminish by repetition. The author of it is God, the
Eternal Father. He framed its articles before
the foundation of the world. It's wrong to represent the atonement
as the cause of God's love. God's love was rather the originating
cause of the atonement. God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only son. How runs the covenant charter?
Everything belongs to you. The whole world and life and
death. The present and the future. Everything
belongs to you. And you belong to Christ and
Christ belongs to God. At the initiative, the first
overture of covenant mercy was with him. It was the insulted
sovereign who first dreamt of mercy towards the rebels. It
was the injured father, first thought of his ungrateful children. Wondrous secret, that from all
eternity, the heart of God was all love to us. Think of the
surety of the covenant. It was the adorable son of the
Father. He voluntarily accepted the covenant stipulations. Lo,
I come to delight to do your will, O my God. He seized not. Until all the terms being fulfilled,
he could claim his stipulated reward. I have glorified you
on the earth. I have finished the work which
you gave me to do. and still He lives and reigns
and intercedes under the blessed title of Mediator of the Everlasting
Covenant. Think of the Almighty Dispenser
of Blessings of the Covenant. It is the Spirit of All Grace,
the third person in the ever-blessed co-equal Trinity. Think of the
Heirs of the Covenant. They are all who by simple faith
are willing to appropriate its inestimable blessings. Think
of the security of the covenant. There is much uncertainty in
all earthly agreements, but all is certainty in the covenant.
I will be your God, and you shall be my people. This unfailing
covenant has the rock of Christ's deity to rest upon, and a triune
God pledge to make good all its provisions. My covenant I will
not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my mouth.
Think of the perpetuity of the covenant. I will betroth you
unto me forever. And think of the rich inheritance
of the covenant. Oh, here is the mighty secret
of unfathomable love. If we are his children, then
heirs, heirs of God, heirs of God. Our inheritance is all within
the scope of omnipotence to bestow. He puts his hand to a blank check,
that his people may write under it whatever they please, which
is for their good. My soul, are you an heir of God? Can you look upwards to the throne
of that great I am and say, this God is my God? Happier words
or more glorious assurance cannot thrill on an archangel's tongue.
With such a portion as this, surely I need no other. Let that amazing secret form
the last thought of this day. And as the Almighty is even now
whispering it in my ears, I may close my eyes repeating. I will
both lie down and sleep in peace. For you alone, O Lord, make me
live in safety. Psalm 4 verse 8.