Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2118
“He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?” Psalm 94:9
THE character of a man hinges upon his relation to God. You may know what manner of man he is and what are his communications, if you find out how he stands towards God. With many, God is a mere name—a word to be pronounced more or less reverently. But nothing more. He is not a force operating upon their daily lives. His Glory is no motive of action, no object of desire, no joy of their heart. “God is not in all their thoughts.” And in consequence their lives are not conformed to His holy Law. Blessed be the Most High, there are a few to whom God is everything—the First and Last, the Center and Circumference of their being.
To them the Lord is the great trust and treasure of their spirit. He is the rock of their confidence, the well-spring of their delight. Such men as they that delight in God, will seek after holiness and aim at perfection. God has shined upon them and their faces will be bright. God dwells within them, and as from a kindled lamp, light will stream forth.
Among the ungodly there are many whose lives prove that they know nothing about God. Indeed, their ignorance of God is their support in their present behavior. They comfort themselves with the notion, “The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.” To them God is out of the world as to observation or practical interference. They do not care whether He sees them or not. Their belief is that if He does see, He cares nothing what men may think or do. He is too far off to be concerned about human affairs. He will neither grow angry with the sin of the wicked, nor take pleasure in the holiness of the godly.
Of this practical atheism I am going to speak at this time, pleading against that frame of mind by the argument of the text. “He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?” May the Holy Spirit help me in my endeavor and may all my hearers believe in the living, hearing, seeing Jehovah!
I. Our first observation will be THE NOTION THAT GOD CANNOT HEAR OR SEE IS PERNICIOUS. In judging it, we will follow the line of the Psalm which now lies open before us.
We perceive that men who talked in this godless fashion were proud. Therefore the prayer, “Lift up Yourself, You Judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.” The man who thinks that God is not in the world, or is not at all concerned in its affairs, thinks that he is, himself, about the greatest person in existence. There may be some other poor creatures about, but he is, in many respects, the most deserving of esteem. He who thinks little of God, thinks much of himself. “Who is the Lord,” he says, “that I should obey His voice?”
Who talks like this but Pharaoh, the king, the potent one, accustomed to having his own will in everything? Those speak exceeding proud who have no knowledge of the Most High. Measuring themselves by others like themselves, they are not wise. The worm exalts itself above its meaner fellow worms and dreams not of the great Eternal One who fills all things. Pride is very apt to grow great when knowledge is small, and reverence is absent. Proud language usually goes with profane talk and blasphemous ideas. For it comes of the same kindred. “How long shall they utter and speak hard things? And all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?”
If there is no God, or no God to care about, then straightway men delight in uttering things which make the blood of the godly curdle. They render no praise to God, since they seek all glory for themselves. Because of their own conceit, they question His wisdom, cavil at His Word, doubt His justice, impugn the sentences of His bar and speak evil of Him even as they wish. Give a man of proud heart a fluent tongue and opportunity enough to speak of God, and then take
away from him the idea that God hears him—and there is no telling to what lengths of profanity he will hasten. His tongue is set on fire by Hell and it burns with an inconceivable fury.
If you have ever been forced to hear or read the expressions of renowned infidels, you can form some idea of how completely Satan works his will with godless men. Take God away and the brakes are taken off, and the train dashes down hill at terrific speed. “Their tongue walks through the earth,” says David. No bounds can be set to the evil perambulations of an atheistic tongue. Not even Heaven itself is free from the assaults of its pride—“They set their mouth against the heavens.” They slander God, Himself, because they imagine that He does not hear.
Nor is this the end of the mischief. When the fear of God is taken away from men, they frequently proceed to persecute His servants. The Prophet complains, “They break in pieces Your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage.” As they hate God, so they manifest their hate against His people. If they cannot get at the leader, if they cannot smite the shepherd, they will at least worry the flock. Read the long and cruel story of human malice against the Church of God— it mingles with the record of every nation—it is an awful history, written in tears and gore.