The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1901-10-18
TOWN TOPICS.
TRINITY CHURCH..
SERMON BY REV G. A. ROBSON OF
BRIDGEPORT.

Rev G. A. Robson, who has supplied
acceptably at Trinity church for two
Sundays, spoke Sunday morning from
the text, Psalm 81 10: 90 how great
is thy goodness, which Thou hast laid
up for them that fear Thee; Which
Thou hast wrought for them that
trust Thee before the sons of men,"
The preacher said in substance: The
heart of man cannot fathom the depths
of God. "The finite cannot compre-
bend the Infinite" This explains
why, though we have the desire to
love God and to live devoted lives, we
cannot do these things of our own will.
The moving power lies not with us, it
is of God. When, therefore, we grasp
the hidden meaning of the text, and
realize that goodness of God in which
his servant rejoiceS, we see face to
face the secret of saintliness and de-
votion. If we would have grace to
love God more, 1T is available to every
one in whom is the will to seek that he
may know the twofold goodness of God.
We may roughly classify the bounties
of God as extraordinary; the goodness
He has laid up for them that fear Him,
and His special acts which in the text
are called the goodness which God has
wrought. The earth is stored with
the goodness of God. Our needs in
warmth, light, energy; how fully have
they been met with gifts from our
Fathers bounteous hand. At first the
wood fire and the hill stream, then the
product of the great coal measures,
and steam; again the magnetic and
electric forces of nature, and now it
seems as if the source of energy itself,
the sun, were about to be harnessed.
AS these resources are developed we
give this utterance to our gratitude,
"How great is Thy goodness which
Thou hast laid up" ''The goodness
that God hath wrought" History,
sacred and secular, general and per-
sonal give abundant illustration of
Gods special acts of goodness toward
them that trust in Him. The delivery
of Israel from Egypt by plaques, their
escape at the Red Sea, the parting of
Jordan for them, their rescues from the
Philistines at the battle of EbeneZer,
these bear witness to the goodness of
God toward those who depend on him.
While it is true that "the Lord is low
ing unto every man" it is pre-eminent-
ly true that the faithful receive more
highly, enjoy more fully, and accept
more gratefully of His bounty. The
effect of the receiving by the soul, of
the truth of the text is found, as al
ready suggested, in the stirring sense
of gratitude which is one secret of de-
votion. Again, as the governor of a
stationary engine regulates and
steadies the movement of the whole
machine, so does this faith regulate
and steady our conduct. We may at
times suffer unjustly, it is natural at
such times to give rein to the hasty
word and the un-Christlike act, but it
is of faith that we check our tempers
and control tongue and hand, assured
that God will turn the victory of
wrong into triumph for them that
trust in Him as at the Red Sea and at
Ebenezer. While the Fathers good
ness is bestowed upon us all, just and
unjust, some who receive it are blind
and Indifferent to the love which is be-
hind the gift, but as our eyes are
opened as by a miracle, then is awak-
ened the spirit of devotion and wor-
ship, for then "we love God because
He first loved u.s.