1. -- '80807 Oxford, 24 May, '74.
2. --
3. --

"For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people." Ps. 149:4.
The Divine Nature is elevated so far above human conception,
that we can in no wise conceive, much less
represent its various operations. We have to be sure,
that the Great God is not "altogether such as one as
ourselves;" and yet in other parts of the Scriptures
He is set forth as a Being possessed of a varied
class of powers and qualities such as correspond
to the same qualities in human Beings. The emotional
part of our constitution, for example, is spoken
of as belonging to God, when He is said to possess the
passions of Love and hatred; grief & joy; anger and
complacency. "God is Love" "do not this abominable thing
that I hate;" God is grieved when men sin, he rejoices
when they turn to Him, "God is angry with the wicked
every day;" He "rests in His love," and is "pacified

toward us when we come to Him in humble penitence,
"Fury is not in Him;" and His "anger endureth
but for a moment."
We may not pause here to demonstrate what you
all doubtless fully understand -- that these are figurative
representations of an immutable Being -- and
designed merely to aid us in forming some faint
conception of a nature which is otherwise incomprehensible.
But the correct view of God is that these apparent
changes in His manifestations arise from changes in
us; that God is always eternally the same, and that
He "abideth ever." Provision is made in His nature for
that peculiar effect to be wrought upon us, His
creatures, which is wrought whenever we change
our relative position towards Him in a moral

point of view; if we are righteous & holy, & obedient
& affectionate, and devoted to God we are
always passing under the light of His countenance
of favor, and love; if we rebel and violate His
law, and walk in the way of iniquity, we
have passed [under] away from the [dark] bright side of His nature;
no such [conduct] manifestations on our heart ever conduct[s] us
to the brighter regions of His loving Kindness,
but so dark and dismal is the atmosphere
engendered and enveloping such creatures
that we can neither see God ourselves, nor
will He shine upon us from His Holy
habitation.
I may best illustrate this position by a
reference to an arrangement of God; material
world. We say that the Sun gives us light

at one time by rising and [pu???ing] His radiant way
across the heavens, and that He causes darkness
by sitting and passing out of sight. These expressions
are sufficiently accurate for all practical uses,
but they are scientifically incorrect, since the
Sun does not rise, nor does it set; but this
really seems to us to be the case, because our
earth revolving upon its own axis daily, and
constantly changing its position relative to the
Sun is for half the time and in half of its surface in Light, and for the
other half in darkness. The Central Orb however
so far as its daily relation to us is concerned, remains
in its place unchanged & unmoved.
As The Sun then in Light always -- so God is Love;
and as we are in darkness because we
pass out of the light, so when we say God loves us

at one time and frowns upon us at another time
we should bear in mind that in the first case
we are by our virtuous conduct dwelling in the light
of His nature, and in the second, it is because
by our sinful thoughts and wicked ways
we have passed away from God's Light &
love which is shining on forever & forever.
"God is light and in Him is no darkness
at all." But man loving darkness is often
made to feel the sad consequences by
passing into the dark & frozen regions
of sorrow & suffering where God's changeless
light & warmth never come.
But here let us guard against an error
which may be indulged;-- that men have
the native power unaided to bring themselves into such

favor with God as is thus represented. On the contrary,
there is but one thing they have full power
to do, and that is to keep themselves forever
in the darkness of His displeasure; and as the
Earth but for that mysterious power of attraction which
is inherent in the Sun, called gravitation
would rush far away to a returnless distance
from the Sun, and perish with all
its inhabitants and all its glories, in the [dark] chill
[and] & frozen regions of darkness, [and] so man, but for
the incomprehensible attraction of God's Infinite
love, would wander away forever from his
place, and never return again to light and
life. So also it is that he has the power
& the tendency naturally to go away, but
whensoever he is at all the object of God's

love it is from no power or inclination of his that he
becomes so, but because of the powerful drawing
of God's Holy Spirit, whereby the natural tendency
of the human heart to depart from the
living God is overcome, and the soul is thus
made to gravitate towards the great approximate
Center of its rectified affections.
I do not see then, how any inference can be
justly drawn from all this, except this one great
and fundamental truth, that for all the
good that we receive we are indebted solely
to the [???] grace and rich mercy of God
alone; -- that whatever of evil there is to be
found in our lot in life comes from our
own native tendency to depart from God,
and, combined with that, the resistance we

are constantly offering to the powerful attractions of
God's infinite Love." This being the case there must
be some extraordinary reason for the declaration
of the text:- "The Lord taketh pleasure in His
people." --- It is to the wonderful fact itself which
is here asserted, and to an investigation of the
grounds upon which it rests, that our attention
will be this morning invited.
1. The fact "The Lord taketh pleasure in His People." -- " In
nothing but His own Infinite nature does God take such
pleasure as in His people." -- All through His word
you find utterances of this much: -- It is expressed
1. In His Providential care of them. "The very hairs of yr.
head are always numbered;" - 'Give and this day," tc. Accordingly
(Is. 33:15-16) 457 P.s. "No evil tc." He keepeth them
so that none of their bones shall be broken" "Health and Life very precious

"His eyes are upon them for good;" - "His ears are open to their cry;"
"Shield - Rock - Pavilion' - Strong [rock] tower where unto JC.
"He is a munition of rocks;"-- "Hollow of hand"-- "under shadow
of wing;" "Where luncheth them apple" tc. "[???] & Shield
Grace & Glory -- no good thing etc."
2. In His plan for their salvation;- calls them applies
Xt's blood; saves them from guilt of Sin. none of
which things can they do for themselves --- Justification --
3. In His method of dealing with them for their sanctification;--
brings them into His family, bestows on
them all the privileges -- throws around them
all the restraints -- Keeps them by His mighty
power;- sends His chastisements for the purpose
of weaning them from world;- all His people
share in this;-- "no cross no crown;"
4. In his ceaseless and everlasting union with

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His people. It begins with Eternity itself -- a purpose -- a
part of his nature to bring them into this union --
their lives are his with Xt in Him;-- it is a secret
mystical union;-- it never wavers in its reality
tho clouds sometimes shut out -- "as the father
hath loved me;--" said Xt,: "even so I have loved
you;"--