Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-22
Sunday School Lesson
BY
DR.. Hugh T. Stevenson.

! preserving His anger and sending us TO
destruction, He will recognize the peni-
tence of His people and turn to save
them when they call upon Him In sin
! treated" He is long-sudering and not
, willing that any should perish. When
men seek His forgiveness He always
exercises His mercy.
Limits of Divine Grace.
The psalmist sets forth by series
of comparisons and illustrations the
limits OF divine grace. There are few
passages that equal this psalm In Its
revelation of Gods mercy and grace.
The psalmist turns to the heavens
above us for an illustration of the
Lords mercy, that is according to the
height of heaven above the earth" No
one has ever been able to compute the
height of the heaven over the earth,
yet the psalmist suggests this as an
evidence of Gods grace. The flrma-
ment above us is so great that only a
few of the nearer stars are seen by the
human eye. In other words there Is
no limit to Gods grace. The heavens
illustrate not merely the extent of the
unmerited favor that Jehovah has be-
slowed upon sinful men, but they also
suggest something of the grandeur, SUBJ
Unity and glory of His grace.
III pbdiIIllSt
calls for us to exercise our Imagination
in another way, for he tells us that
"as far as the east is from the west, so
far hath He removed our transgressions
from us" In other words God puts
between the forgiven sinner and his sin
a remoteness that would take more than
all eternity to reach. In other words
it means that the forgiven persons sins
have been utterly blotted out and sepa-
rated from him forever. All eternity
would not be suficient time for them
to be returned to the forgiven soul.
In other words the sins that have been
forgiven have vanished and disappeared
forever.
Our Lord came to reveal God to men
as their Father. The psalmist had dis
covered that Gods patience. kindness
and forgiveness were similar to the pity
that a father bestowed upon child.
The psalmist had learned that God was
nearer and more willing to forgive than
any earthly father would be to his
own child His love for his child gave
the father an understanding of his
child's weakness. The psalmist informs
us that mans weakness makes a sure
appeal to Gods heart. It Is because Of
Gods greatness and mans httlenesS
that we ought to praise the Lord.
Let Us Praise Him.
The psalmist called upon the universe
to join In a chorus of thanksgiving.
because of Gods boundless love, mercy
and grace. He claimed that Gods grace
was a fixed fact In the sovereignty of
Jehovah. It is seen In the heavens and
extends over the whole universe, which
is the work of His hands. He affirms
that grace is a principle of Gods uni
versal government. He summons the
angels to join In this chorus Of praise
with the whole company of His hosts,
including those ministers of His that
do His pleasure. He closes the psalm
by calling upon all the inanimate works
Of God throughout the universe to unite
with the angelic hosts In praising God.
The psalm ends, as 1t commenced,
with an outburst Of praise and graft
tude. full of thanksgiving: Bless the
Lord, O my Soul!' Let us, who have
been forgiven. renewed In the inner
man. redeemed from destruction, made
heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ, whose lives have been crowned
with loving kindness and tender mercy,
heed the psalmist's call and praise the
Lord. Let us join the chorus and sing
with all of our soul the story of Gods
redeening love and saving grace, so
that some soul. who has not been saved,
may hear our song and be saved
through Gods gift Of grace and life.