When
El-Roi sees His people, it's out of a sense of caring.
"If God is for us, who is against
us?" (Ro 8:31-note)
Our enemy, Satan, is out to destroy us, but God is for us. And "if God is
for us, who can be against us?" Knowing
that God sees all things may leave you in moment-to-moment fear that He will
going to strike you down for your sinful ways! How can any of us stand
under the careful scrutiny of a holy God? But the revelation of God as
El-Roi, the Mighty One who Sees, is intended to be a great comfort
to those who love Him, not to strike terror in our hearts.
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F B Meyer (Our Daily Walk) -- GOD'S
THOUGHT OF ME
"Thou art a God that seeth me."--Gen. 16:13 (R.V. marg.).
"How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God."--Ps. 139:17.
HAGAR WAS an Egyptian slave-girl, who had been brought up amid the
idolatries of Egypt, and had no sort of idea that the gods had any
personal interest in so insignificant a human atom as she was. Probably in
Abraham's encampment she had heard of Jehovah, but would doubtless think
of Him as being equally outside the limits of her little life. What care
should the God of her master and mistress have for her, as she fled from
the harsh treatment of Sarah, and was in danger of perishing in the lonely
desert! Then, suddenly, in her despair, she heard the voice of the
Angel-Jehovah speaking to her, and she called Him "The Living One who
seeth me".
To her the thought was an inspiration and comfort, enabling her to return
and submit herself to Sarah. But to many these words have been a note of
fear and judgment. They have thought of God as spying upon their evil
ways, and have shrunk from the thought of His eye seeing them. That
thought, however, is not the significance of these inspiring words, but
that we can never wander into the far country, or take one weary step in
loneliness without the tender notice of God our Father, who notices even
the sparrow that falls to the ground.
The Psalmist had the same thought when he wrote the 139th Psalm. When he
says that God knows his downsitting and uprising, that his thoughts and
ways are all open to His Almighty Friend, it is in a tone of rapturous
gladness. It is the prerogative of friendship to love the presence and
thought of a friend, and the crowning characteristic of Christianity is
that we are admitted into personal friendship with our Lord. He knows our
thoughts afar off. With an instant sympathy He enters into our anxieties
and discouragements. Wherever we go He precedes and brings up the rear; we
are beset by His care behind and before. Let every reader open the door to
this great Friend, remembering that His one test is obedience: "Ye are My
friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." Thus you will find His
presence the delight of your life (Rev. 3:20).
PRAYER- We thank Thee, O God, that Thou hast been about our path,
considering all our ways, and encompassing us with blessing. Thine eye has
been upon us to deliver our soul from death, and to be our help and
shield. For all Thy gracious care we thank Thee. AMEN.
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F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily Genesis
16:9.
POOR Hagar! No wonder that she fled. Her proud Arab independence and the
sense of coming motherhood made her rebel against Sarah's hard dealings.
We have often meditated flight, if we have not actually fled from
intolerable conditions. Of course, when God opens the door out of a
dungeon we need not hesitate, as Peter did, to rise and follow. But this
is very different to flight from the post of duty.
Our Cross.--For Hagar, Sarah; for Hannah, Penninah; for David,
Joab; for Jesus, Judas; for Paul, Alexander the coppersmith. Life assumes
hard and forbidding aspects. Sometimes the cross is not a person, but a
trial, the pressure of a slow and lingering disease; the demand for
grinding and persistent toil; the weight of overmastering anxiety for
those dearer than life, who have no knowledge of God.
Our Demeanor.--Return and submit. We are apt to suppose that we
shall get rest and peace elsewhere. It is not so, however. Nowhere else
shall we find the path less rugged, or the pillow less hard. To evade the
yoke will not give us heartsease. The Master's advice is that we shall
take His yoke, and bear it as He did; remain where God has put us, till He
shows us another place; and bear what He ordains and permits, even though
it comes through the means of others.
Our Faith.--We cannot patiently submit to our lot unless we believe
that what God permits is as much His will as what He appoints. Behind
Sarah's hard dealings we must behold His permissive providence. Through
all the discipline of life we must believe that God has a purpose of
unfailing love and wisdom. Then our submission is not stoicism, but loving
acquiescence in our Father's will.
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Our Daily Bread devotion - Thou
God Seest Me (Ge 16:13)
The following comforting comments were
found in a clipping sent to us by an interested reader: "A child in Burma
was permitted by his parents to go to a mission school in order that he
might learn to read. By and by they found he was losing faith in the
idols. This made them feel very sad. So the father took the lad to one of
the gayest of the temples where the fragrance of incense filled the air.
There he showed him the glittering images covered with gold and silver
ornaments and surrounded by flowers and candles.
"Here," said the father, "is a god you
can see! The Christians cannot show you their God."`
"Yes,' said the child, `we can see your
god, but he cannot see us. We cannot see the Christian's God, but He sees
us all the time!'
Was not this child wise in choosing the
God from whom even the thoughts of the heart cannot be hidden?"
How reassuring the truth that "the eyes of the Lord are over the
righteous" so that we can say with Hagar, "Thou God seest me" (Ge 16:13).
How precious the teaching of the Bible about the eyes of the Lord.
Psalm 32:8-note
tells us,
"I will instruct thee and teach thee in
the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye."
And we read in Psalm 33:18-note,
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon
those who fear him, upon those who hope in his mercy."
1Peter 3:12-note
tells us that
" the eyes of the Lord are over the
righteous"
Child of God, perhaps unnoticed, or
even forgotten and neglected by others, remember, you too can say with
assurance, "Thou God seest me!" His eyes are not only upon you, but
His ears are open unto your cry (cp He 2:18-note).
With the little child in Burma we as Christians can rejoice that although
we are not able to see our God, we do know and have this assurance that He
sees us all the time!
Sweet thought! We have a Friend above,
Our weary, faltering steps to guide,
He follows with His eye of love
The precious ones for whom He died. —Anon.
It is comforting to know that He who
"guides us with His eye" sees tomorrow clearer than we see today!—Bosch
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God Sees You
Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, was being
treated unkindly by Sarah, so she fled into the wilderness. As Hagar stood
beside a spring in that desolate and lonely place, the Angel of the Lord
visited her. He assured her that God Himself was aware of her situation.
Hagar responded, "You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees" (Genesis 16:13). She found
great comfort in knowing that the Lord God saw her and knew about her
distress.
You and I can have that same confidence in God's watchcare. We can be sure
that the Lord God is with us wherever we go, and He knows everything that
happens to us. As the all-powerful One, He is able to solve every problem,
no matter how overwhelming or perplexing it may be. We are never alone,
never forgotten, and never beyond hope.
Whatever your troubling circumstances are, whether you're afflicted by
illness or injury, brokenhearted over the loss of a loved one, or
disillusioned because your dearest friend has betrayed or rejected you,
God knows and cares. You may be deeply depressed, or perhaps you're
plagued by loneliness and discouragement. But you can be confident that
you are under God's watchful eye. Yes, like Hagar, you can know that God
sees you. — Richard De Haan
Beneath His watchful eye
His saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears all nature up
Shall guard His children well. —Doddridge
We need not fear the perils around us
because the eye of the Lord is always upon us.
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Oswald Chambers...
Whenever God gives a vision to a saint,
He puts him, as it were, in the shadow of His hand, and the saint’s duty
is to be still and listen. There is a darkness which comes from excess of
light, and then is the time to listen. Genesis 16 is an illustration of
listening to good advice when it is dark instead of waiting for God to
send the light. When God gives a vision and darkness follows, wait. God
will make you in accordance with the vision He has given if you will wait
His time. Never try and help God fulfil His word. (Excerpted from My
Utmost for His Highest)
In writing about El-Roi
in "The Character of God," R. C. Sproul said:
"There are many things in my life that I do not want to put under the gaze
of Christ. Yet I know there is nothing hidden from Him. He knows me better
than my wife knows me. And yet He loves me. This is the most amazing thing
of all about God's grace. It would be one thing for Him to love us if we
could fool Him into thinking that we were better than we actually are. But
He knows better. He knows all there is to know about us, including those
things that could destroy our reputation. He is minutely and acutely aware
of every skeleton in every closet. And He loves us."
God sees and He knows if what has occurred in our lives involves injustices
against us. Yes, God is sovereign and in total control and there is nothing
that comes into our life that God has not allowed but at the same time He is one who sees all that we have had
to deal with. He knows all that we have had to go through in our lives. He
knows the times we have been mistreated in our lives. He knows those
situations that have involved physical or verbal abuse. He knows that even
in all of these afflictions there is the potential to bring Him glory. Remember that because God is
sovereign, if what occurred in our lives (or is occurring right now) did
not have the potential to conform us to the image of His Son, then He
would not have allowed it to occur but He would have intervened. This
should give you great peace in the midst of the storm, an inner
peace that comes from the fact that He is the God Who sees and that He has not missed any of the events in our lives…the peace is that He
knows.
As has been repeatedly emphasized in this study of El Roi, one of the most
messages that this name conveys is that there is nowhere we can flee from His presence – He is there. There is a peace that comes from knowing He is there. There is a peace that comes by knowing that He has seen
the sins others may have committed against us. It is His responsibility to
vindicate us – it is not our responsibility. A genuine understanding of El
Roi has the potential of giving you the grace of forgiveness if you are
harboring ill will toward someone because of past events.
He is
Elohim, the Creator – He created us for His glory. He El Elyon, the
Sovereign God – He is in control and whatever events have been allowed in our
lives have been allowed by a God of perfect justice and love who filters all
things through His hands of love. Knowing
the truth that GOD SEES, we can run to Him and hide ourselves in His
sufficiency. El Roi is the great name of God to remember when you are
going through trials - El Roi sees. You may not see him but he sees you. He knows what you are going through.
Can you identify with
Hagar,
in great distress, in a crisis of belief? Have you been unfairly abused or
mistreated? Have you been unjustifiably
used by another person? Have you been fired without justification? Have
you been rejected by family members? Are you thinking that there's
no one who knows what you're going through? No one who cares? Well, you're wrong. El-Roi,
the mighty One who sees, knows everything about you. And, even if you've brought
some of this trouble upon yourself through your foolish decisions, He
still cares! He knows your name ("Hagar"), where
you have come from and where you are going and He wants to bless you with the
assurance that He is in control of the beginning and the end because He is
the God Who sees. He watches over you, seeing
and knowing all that happens and He comes to your aid.
Torrey's Topic
Protection of God
God is able to afford -1 Peter 1:5;
Jude 1:24
God is faithful to afford -1 Thessalonians 5:23,24; 2Th 3:3
OF GOD IS
Indispensable -Psalms 127:1
Seasonable -Psalms 46:1
Unfailing -Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5
Effectual -John 10:28, 29, 30; 2 Corinthians 12:9
Uninterrupted -Psalms 121:3
Encouraging -Isaiah 41:10; 50:7
Perpetual -Psalms 121:8
Often afforded through means inadequate in themselves -Jdg 7:7; 1Sa 17:45,50; 2Chr 14:11
IS AFFORDED TO
Those who hearken to God -Proverbs 1:33
Returning sinners -Job 22:23,25
The perfect in heart -2 Chronicles 16:9
The poor -Psalms 14:6; 72:12, 13, 14
The oppressed -Psalms 9:9
The Church -Psalms 48:3; Zechariah 2:4,5
IS VOUCHSAFED TO SAINTS IN
Preserving them -Psalms 145:20
Strengthening them -2 Timothy 4:17
Upholding them -Psalms 37:17,24; 63:8
Keeping their feet -1 Samuel 2:9; Proverbs 3:26
Keeping them from evil -2 Thessalonians 3:3
Keeping them from falling -Jude 1:24
Keeping them in the way -Exodus 23:20
Keeping them from temptation -Revelation 3:10
Providing a refuge for them -Proverbs 14:26; Isaiah 4:6; 32:2
Defending them against their enemies -Deut 20:1, 2, 3, 4; 33:27; Isa
59:19
Defeating the counsels of enemies -Isaiah 8:10
Temptation -1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Peter 2:9
Persecution -Luke 21:18
Calamities -Psalms 57:1; 59:16
All dangers -Psalms 91:3, 4, 5, 6, 7
All places -Genesis 28:15; 2 Chronicles 16:9
Sleep -Psalms 3:5; 4:8; Proverbs 3:24
Death -Psalms 23:4
SAINTS
Acknowledge God as their -Psalms 18:2; 62:2; 89:18
Pray for -Psalms 17:5,8; Isaiah 51:9
Praise God for -Psalms 5:11
WITHDRAWN FROM THE
Disobedient -Leviticus 26:14, 15, 16, 17
Backsliding -Joshua 23:12,13; Judges 10:13
Presumptuous -Numbers 14:40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45
Unbelieving -Isaiah 7:9
Obstinately impenitent -Matthew 23:38
NOT TO BE FOUND IN
Idols -Deuteronomy 32:37-39; Isaiah 46:7
Man -Psalms 146:3; Isaiah 30:7
Riches -Proverbs 11:4,28; Zephaniah 1:18
Hosts -Joshua 11:4, 5, 6, 7, 8; Psalms 33:16
Horses -Psalms 33:17; Proverbs 21:31
Illustrated -Deut 32:11; Ps 125:1,2; Pr 18:10;
Isa 25:4; 31:5; Lk 13:34
Exemplified
Abraham -Genesis 15:1
Jacob -Genesis 48:16
Joseph -Genesis 49:23-25
Israel -Joshua 24:17
David -Psalms 18:1,2
Shadrach &c -Daniel 3:28
Daniel -Daniel 6:22
Peter -Acts 12:4, 5, 6, 7
Paul -Acts 18:10; 26:17
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Omniscience
“You God see me.— Genesis 16:13
There are more eyes fixed on man than
he wots of: he sees not as he is seen. He thinks himself obscure and
unobserved, but let him remember that a cloud of witnesses hold him in
full survey. Wherever he is, at every instant, there are beings whose
attention is riveted by his doings, and whose gaze is constantly fixed by
his actions. Within this Hall, I doubt not, there are myriads of spirits
unseen to us—spirits good and spirits evil; upon us tonight the eyes of
angels rest: attentively those perfect spirits regard our order; they hear
our songs; they observe our prayers; it may be they fly to heaven to
convey to their companions news of any sinners who are born of God, for
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth. Millions of spiritual creatures walk this earth, both when we
wake and when we sleep; midnight is peopled with shadows unseen, and
daylight has its spirits too. The prince of the power of the air, attended
by his squadron of evil spirits, flits through the ether oft; evil spirits
watch our halting every instant, while good spirits, battling for the
salvation of God’s elect, keep us in all our ways and watch over our feet,
lest at any time we dash them against a stone. Hosts of invisible beings
attend on every one of us at different periods of our lives. We must
remember, also, that not only do the spirits of angels, elect or fallen,
look on us, but “the spirits of the just made perfect continually
observe our conversation. We are taught by the Apostle that the noble army
of martyrs, and the glorious company of confessors, are “witnesses of
our race to heaven, for he says, “seeing, then, that we are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight
and the sin which does so easily beset us. From yon blue heaven the eyes
of the glorified look down on us; there the children of God are sitting on
their starry thrones. observing whether we manfully uphold the banner
around which they fought; they behold our valour, or they detect our
cowardice; and they are intent to witness our valiant deeds of noble
daring, or our ignominious retreat in the day of battle.
Remember that, you sons of men, you are not unregarded; you do not pass
through this world in unseen obscurity. In darkest shades of night eye.
glare on you through the gloom. In the brightness of the day angels are
spectators of your labours. From heaven there look down upon you spirits
who see an that finite beings are capable of beholding. But if we think
that thought worth treasuring up, there is one which sums up that and
drowns it, even as a drop is lost in the ocean; it is the thought, “You
God see me. It is nought that angels see me, it is nought that devils
watch me, it is nought that the glorified spirits observe me, come pared
with the overwhelming truth, that you God at all times see me. Let us
dwell on that now, and may God the Spirit make use of it to our spiritual
profit!
In the first place, I shall notice the general doctrine, that God observes
all men. In the second place, I shall notice the particular doctrine,
“You God see me. And in the third place I shall draw from it some
practical and comforting inferences to different orders of persons now
assembled, each of whom may learn something from this short sentence.
I. In the first place, The General
Doctrine, that God sees us.
1. This may be easily proved, even from the nature of God.
It were hard to suppose a God who could not see his own creatures; it were
difficult in the extreme to imagine a divinity who could not behold the
actions of the works of his hands. The word which the Greeks applied to
God implied that he was a God who could see. They called him Theos, and
they derived that word, if I read rightly, from the root Theisthai, to
see, because they regarded God as being the all–seeing one, whose eye took
in the whole universe at a glance, and whose knowledge extended far beyond
that of mortals. God Almighty, from his very essence and nature, must be
an Omniscient God. Strike out the thought that he sees me, and you
extinguish Deity by a single stroke. There were no God if that God had no
eyes, for a blind God were no God at all. We could not conceive such an
one. Stupid as idolaters maybe, it were very hard to think that even they
had fashioned a blind god: even they have given eyes to their gods, though
they see not. Juggernaut has eyes stained with blood; and the gods of the
ancient Romans had eyes, and some of them were called far–seeing gods.
Even the heathen can scarce conceive of a god that has no eves to see, and
certainly we are not so mad as to imagine for a single second that there
can be a Deity without the knowledge of everything that is done by man
beneath the sun. I say it were as impossible to conceive of a God who did
not observe everything, as to conceive of a round square. When we say,
“You God, we do, in fact, comprise in the word “God the idea of a
God who sees everything, “You God see me.
2. Yet, further, we are sure that God must see us, for we are taught in
the Scriptures that God is everywhere, and if God be everywhere, what does
hinder him from seeing all that is done in every part of his universe?
God is here: I do not simply live near
him, but “in him I live, and move, and have my being.
There is not a particle of this mighty space which is not filled with God:
go forth into the pure air, and there is not a particle of it where God is
not. In every portion of this earth whereon I tread, and the spot whereon
I move, there is God.
“Within your circling power I stand;
On every side I find your hand:
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.
Take the wings of the morning and fly beyond the most distant star, but
God is there. God is not a being–confined to one place, but he is
everywhere; he is there, end there, and there; in the deepest mine man
ever bored; in the unfathomable caverns of the ocean; in the heights,
towering and lofty; in the gulfs that are deep, which fathom can never
reach, God is everywhere. I know from his own words that he is a God who
filleth immensity, the heavens are not wide enough for him, he graspeth
the sun with one hand and the moon with the other, he stretcheth himself
through the unnavigated ether, where the wing of seraph has never been
flapped, there is God; and where the solemnity of silence has never been
broken by the song of Cherub, there is God. God is everywhere. Conceive
space, and God and space are equal. Well, then, if God be everywhere, how
can I refrain from believing that God sees me wherever I am? He does not
look upon me from a distance: if he did, I might screen myself beneath the
shades of night; but he is here, close by my side, and not by me only, but
in me; within this heart; where these lungs beat; or where my blood gushes
through my veins; or where this pulse is beating, like a muffled drum, my
march to death, God is there: within this mouth, in this tongue, in these
eves; in each of you God dwells: he is within you. and around you: he is
beside you, and behind, and before. Is not such knowledge too wonderful
for you? Is it not high, and you cannot Attain Into it? I say, how can you
resist the doctrine, which comes upon you like a flash of lightning, that
if God be everywhere he must see everything, and that therefore it is a
truth, “You God see me.
3. But, lest any should suppose that God may be in a place, and yet
slumbering, let me remind him that in every spot to which he can travel,
there is, not simply God, but also God’s activity.
Wherever I go I shall find, not a slumbering God, but a God busy about the
affairs of this world. Take me to the green sward, and pleasant
pasture—why, every little blade of grass there has God’s hand in it,
making it grow; and every tiny daisy, which a child likes to pluck, looks
up with its little eye, and says, “God is in me, circulating my sap, and
opening my little flower. Go where you will through this London, where
vegetation is scarcely to be found, look up yonder and see those rolling
stars, God is active there: it is his hand that wheels along the stars,
and moves the moon in her nightly course. But if there be neither stars
nor moon, there are those clouds, heavy with darkness, like the ears of
night, who steers them across the sea of azure? Does not the breath of God
blowing upon them drive them along the heavens? God is everywhere. not as
a slumbering God, but as an active God. I am upon the sea; and there I see
God making the everlasting pulse of nature beat in constant ebbs and
flows. I am in the pathless desert, but above me screams the vulture, and
I see God winging the wild bird’s flight. I am shut up in a hermitage; but
an insect drops from its leaf, and I see in that insect, life which God
preserves and sustains; yea, shut me out from the animate creation, and
put me on the barren rock, where moss itself cannot find a footing, and I
shall there discern my God bearing up the pillars of the universe, and
sustaining that bare rock as a part of the colossal foundation whereon he
has built the world.
“Where’er we turn our gazing eyes,
Your radiant footsteps shine.
Ten thousand pleasing wonders rise,
And speak their source divine.
The living tribes of countless form
In earth, and sea, and air,
The meanest flies, the smallest worms,
Almighty power declare.
You shall see God everywhere: if you see him not around you, look within
you and is he not there? Is not your blood now flowing through every
portion of your body, to and fro your heart? And is not God there active?
Do you not know that every pulse you beat needs a volition of Deity as its
permit, and yet more, needs an exertion of Divine power as its cause? Do
you not know that every breath you breathe needs Deity for its inspiration
and expiration, and that you must die if God withdraw that power? If we
could look within us, there are mighty works going on in this mortal
fabric—the garment of the soul—which would astonish you, and make you see,
indeed, that God is not asleep, but that he is active and busy. There is a
working God everywhere, a God with his eyes open everywhere, a God with
his hands at work everywhere; a God doing something, Not a God slumbering,
but a God laboring. Oh! sirs, does not the conviction flash upon your mind
with a brightness, against which you cannot shut your eyes, that since God
is everywhere, and everywhere active, it follows, as a necessary and
unavoidable consequence, that he must see us, and know all our actions and
our deeds?
4. I have one more proof to offer which I think to be conclusive.
God, we may be sure, sees us, when we remember that he can see a thing
before it happens. If he beholds an event before it transpires, surely
reason dictates, he must see a thing that is happening now. Read those
ancient prophecies, read what God said should be the end of Babylon and of
Nineveh. just turn to the chapter where you read of Edom’s doom, or where
you are told that Tyre shall be desolate. then walk through the lands of
the East, and see Nineveh and Babylon cast to the ground, the cities
ruined; and then reply to this question—Is not God a God of
foreknowledge? Can he not see the things that are to come? Ay, there is
not a thing which shall transpire in the next cycle of a thousand years
which is not already past to the infinite mind of God; there is not a deed
which shall be transacted tomorrow, or the next day, or the next, through
eternity, if days can be eternal, but God knows it altogether. And if he
knows the future, does he not know the present. If his eyes look through
the dim haze which veils us from the things of futurity, can he not see
that which is standing in the brightness of the present? If he can see a
great distance, can he not see near at hand! Surely that Divine Being who
discerneth the end from the beginning, must know the things which occur
now; and it must be true that “You God see us, even the whole of us,
the entire race of man. So much for the general and universally
acknowledged doctrine.
II. Now, I come, in the
second place, to the special doctrine“You God see me.
Come now, there is a disadvantage in having so many hearers, as there is
always in speaking to more than one at a time, because persons are apt to
think, “he does not speak to me. Jesus Christ preached a very
successful sermon once when he had but one hearer, because he had the
woman sitting on the well, and she could not say that Christ was preaching
to her neighbor. He said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come
hither. There was something there which smote her heart; she could not
evade the confession of her guilt. But in regard to our congregations, the
old orator might soon see his prayer answered, “Friends, Romans,
countrymen, lend me your ears, for when the gospel is preached, we lend
our ears to everybody; we are accustomed to hear for our neighbours, and
not for ourselves. Now, I have no objection to your lending anything else
you like, but I have a strong objection to you lending your ears; I shall
be glad if you will keep them at home for a minute or two, for I want to
make you hear for yourselves this truth “You God see me.
Mark, God sees you—selecting any one out of this congregation—he sees you,
he sees you us much as if there were nobody else in the world for him to
look at. If I have as many people as there are here to look at, of course
my attention must be divided. but the infinite mind of God is able to
grasp a million objects at once, and yet to set itself as much upon one,
as if there were nothing else but that one; so that you, tonight, are
looked at by God as much as if throughout space there were not another
creature but yourself Can you conceive that? Suppose the stars blotted out
in darkness, suppose the angels dead; imagine the glorified spirits above
are all gone, and you are left alone, the last man, and there is God
looking at you. What an idea it would be for you to think of—that there
was only you to be looked all how steadily he could observe you I how well
he would discern you! But mark you, God does really look at you this night
as much, as entirely, as absolutely without division of sight, as if you
were the only being his hands had ever made. Can you grasp that? God sees
you with all his eyes, with the whole of his sight—you—you—you—you are the
particular object of his attention at this very moment. God’s eyes are
looking down upon you; remember that!
In the next place God sees you entirely. He does not merely note your
actions; he does not simply notice what is the appearance of your
countenance; he does not merely take into his eyesight what your posture
may be; but remember, God sees what you are thinking of; he looks within.
God has a window in every man’s heart, through which he looks; he does not
want you to tell him what you are thinking about—he can see that, he can
read right through you. Do you not know that God can read what is written
on the rocks at the bottom of the ocean, even though ten thousand fathoms
of dark water roll above? And I tell you he can read every word that is in
your breasts; he knows every thought, every imagination, every conception,
yea every unformed imagination, the thought scarce shot from the bow,
reserved in the quiver of the mind; he sees it all, every particle, every
atom of it.
“My thoughts, scarce struggling into births
Great God I are known to you:
Abroad, at home, still I’m enclosed
With your immensity.
“Behind I glance, and you art there
Before me, shines your name
And ’tis your strong almighty hand
Sustains my tender frame.
Can you appropriate that thought? From the crown of your head to the sole
of your foot, God is examining you now; his scalpel is in your heart, his
lancet in your breast. he is searching your heart and trying your reins;
he knows you behind and before. “You God see me; you see me entirely.
Note again, God sees you constantly. You are sometimes watched by man, and
then your conversation is tolerably correct; at other times you seek
retirement, and you indulge yourselves in things which you would not dare
to do before the gaze of your fellow creatures. But recollect, wherever
you are, God sees you; you may lay yourselves down by the side of the
hidden brook where the willows shelter you, where all is still, without a
sound—God is there looking at you I You may retire to your chamber, and
draw the curtains of your couch, and throw yourself down for repose in
midnight’s gloomiest shade—God sees you there! I remember going into a
castle sometime ago, down many a winding stair, round and round, and
round, and round, where light never penetrated; at last I came to a space,
very narrow. about the length of a man. “There, said the keeper,
such–and–such–a–one was shut up for so many years, a ray of light never
having penetrated: sometimes they tortured him, but his shrieks never
reached through the thickness of these walls, and never ascended that
winding staircase: here he died, and there, sir, he was buried, pointing
to the ground. But though that man had none on earth to see him, God saw
him. Yea, you may shut me up for ever, where ear shall never hear my
prayer, where eye shall never see my misery; but one eye shall look upon
me, and one countenance smile on me, if I suffer for righteousness’ sake.
If for Christ’s sake I am in prison, one hand shall be upon me, and one
voice shall say, “Fear not; I will help you—at all times, in all
places, in all your thoughts, in all your acts, in all your privacy, in an
your public doings, at every season, this is true, “You God see me
Yet once more, “You God see me, supremely. I can see myself, but not as
well as either my friends or foes. Men can see me better than I can see
myself, but man cannot see me as God sees me. A man skilled in the human
heart might interpret my deeds and translate their motives, but he could
not read my heart as God can read it. None can tell another as God can
tell us all: we do not know ourselves as God knows us: with all your self
knowledge, with all you have been told by others, God knows you more fully
than you know yourself: no eye can see you as God sees you—you may act in
daylight; you may not be ashamed of your actions? you may stand up before
men and say, “I am a public man, I wish to be observed and noticed: you
may have an your deeds chronicled, and all men may hear of them, but I wot
men will never know you as God will know you; and if you could be chained,
as Paul was, with a soldier at your arm; if he were with you night and
day, sleeping with you. rising with you; if he could hear all your
thoughts, he could not know you as God knows you, for God sees you
superlatively and supremely.
Let me now apply that to you: “You God see me. This is true of each of
you; try and think of it for a moment. Even as my eye rests on you, so, in
a far, far greater sense does God’s eye rest on you; standing, sitting,
wherever you are, this is tree, “You God see me. It is said that when
you heard Rowland Hill, it you were stuck in a window, or farther away at
the door, you always had the conviction that he was preaching at you. Oh I
I wish I could preach like that; if I could make you feel that I was
preaching at you in particular; that I singled you out, and shot every
word at you, then I should hope for some effect. Try and think, then,
“You God see me.
III. Now I come to different inferences for different persons, to
different purposes.
First, to the prayerful. Prayerful man, prayerful woman, here is a
consolation—God sees you: and if he can see you, surely he can hear you.
Why, we can often hear people, when we cannot see them. If God is so near
to us, and if his voice is like the thunder, sure his ears are as good as
his eyes, and he will be sure to answer us. Perhaps you cannot say a word
when you pray. Never mind; God does not want to hear; he can tell what you
mean even by seeing you. “There, says the Lord, “is a child of mine in
prayer. He says not a word; but do you see that tear rolling down his
cheek? do you hear that sigh? Oh! mighty God, you can see both tear and
sigh; you can read desire when desire has not clothed itself in words The
naked wish God can interpret, he needs us not to light the candle of our
desires with language; he can see the candle ere it is lit.
“He knows the words we mean to speak
When from our lips they cannot break,
by reason of the anguish of our spirit. He knows the desire, when words
stagger under the weight of it; he knows the wish when language fails to
express it. You God see me. Ah, God. when I cannot pray with words, I
will throw myself flat on my face, and I will groan my prayer and if I
cannot groan it I will sigh it; and if I cannot sigh it I will wish it:
and when these eye–strings break, and when death has sealed these lips, I
will enter heaven with a prayer, which you will not hear but which you
will see—the prayer of my inmost spirit, when my heart and my flesh fail
me, that God may be the strength of my life and portion for ever. There is
comfort for you, you praying ones, that God sees you. That is enough; if
you cannot speak he can see you.
I have given a word for the prayerful; now a word for the careful, Some
here are very full of care, and doubts, and anxieties, and fears “Oh!
sir, you say, “if you could come to my poor house, you would not wonder
that I should feel anxious. I have had to part with much of my little
furniture to provide myself with living; I am brought very low; I have not
a friend in London; I am alone, alone in the wide world. Stop, stop,
sir! you are not alone in the world; there is at least one eye regarding
you; there is one hand that is ready to relieve you. Don’t give up in
despair. If your case be ever so bad, God can see your care, your
troubles, and your anxieties. To a good man it is enough to see
destitution to relieve it; and for God it is enough to see the distresses
of his family at once to supply their wants. If you were lying wounded on
the battle–field, if you could not speak, you know right well your
comrades who are coming by with an abundance will pick you up, if they do
but see you; and that is enough for you. So if you are lying on the
battle–field of life, God sees you; let that cheer you: he will relieve
for he only needs to look at the woes of his children at once to relieve
them. Go on then; hope yet; in night’s darkest hour, hope for a brighter
morrow. God sees you, whatever you art doing;
“He knows your cares, your tears, your sighs;
He shall lift up your head.
And now a word to the slandered. There are some of us who come in tor a
very large share of slander. It is very seldom that the slander market is
much below par; it usually runs up at a very mighty rate; and there are
persons who will take shares to any amount. If men could dispose of
railway stock as they can of slander, those who happen to have any scrip
here would be rich enough by tomorrow at twelve o’clock. There are some
who have a superabundance of that matter; they are continually hearing
rumours of this, that, and the other; and there is one fool or another who
has not brains enough to write sense, nor honesty sufficient to keep him
to the truth, who, therefore, writes the most infamous libels upon some of
God’s servants, compared with whom he himself is nothing, and whom for
very envy he chooses to depreciate. Well, what matters it? Suppose you are
slandered; here is a comfort: “You God see me. They say that
such–and–such is your motive, but you need not answer them; you can say,
“God knows that matter You are charged with such–and–such a thing of
which you are innocent; your heart is right concerning the deed, you have
never done it: well, you have no need to battle for your reputation; you
need only point your finger to the sky, and say, “There is a witness
there who will right me at last—there is a Judge of all the earth, whose
decision I am content to wait; his answer will be a complete exoneration
of me, and I shall come out of the furnace, like gold seven times
purified. Young men, are you striving to do good, and do others impute
wrong motives to you? Do not be particular about answering them. Just go
straight on, and your life will be the best refutation of the calumny.
David’s brethren said that in his pride and the naughtiness of his heart
he had come to see the battle. “Ah! thought David, “I will answer you
by–and–bye. Off he went across the plain to fight Goliath; he cut off
his head, and then came back to his brethren with a glorious answer in his
conquering hand. If any man desires to reply to the false assertions of
his enemies, let him go and do good, and he needs not say accord—that will
be his answer. I am the subject of detraction, but I can point to hundreds
of souls that have been saved on earth by my feeble instrumentality, and
my reply to all my enemies is this, “You may say what you like; but
seeing these lame men are healed, can you say anything against them? You
may find fault with throttle or manner, but God saves souls, and we will
hold up that fact, like giant Goliath's head, to show you that although it
was nothing but a sling or stone, so much the better, for God has gotten
the victory. Go straight on and you will live down your slanderers; and
remember when you are most distressed, “You God see me.
Now, a sentence or two to some of you who are ungodly and know not Christ.
What shall I say to you but this,—how heinous are your sins when they are
put in the light of this doctrine! Remember, sinner, whenever you sinnest,
you sinnest in the teeth of God. It is bad enough to steal in darkness,
but he is a very thief who steals in daylight. It is vile, it is fearfully
vile to commit a sin which I desire to cover, but to do my sin when man is
looking at me shows much hardiness of heart. Ah! sinner, remember, you
sinnest with God’s eyes looking on you. How black must be your heart! how
awful your sin! for you sinnest in the very face of justice when God’s eye
is fixed on you. I was looking the other day at a glass bee–hive, and it
was very singular to observe the motions of the creatures inside. Well,
now, this world is nothing but a huge glass bee–hive. God looks down on
you, and he sees you all. You go into your little cells in the streets of
this huge city; you go to your business, your pleasure, your devotions,
and your sins, but remember, wherever you go, you are like the bees under
a great glass shade, you can never get away from God’s observation. When
children disobey before the eyes of their parents it shows that they are
hardened. If they do it behind their parents’ back, it proves that there
is some shame left. But you, sirs, sin when God is present with you; you
sin while God’s eyes are searching you through and through. Even now you
are thinking hard thoughts of God while God is hearing all those silent
utterances of your evil hearts. Does not that render your sin extremely
heinous? Therefore. I beseech you, think of it and repent of your
wickedness, that your sins may be blotted out through Jesus Christ.
And one more thought. If God sees you, O sinner, how easy it will be to
condemn you. In the late horrible ease of Palmer, witnesses were required,
and a jury was empanelled to try the accused. But if the judge could have
mounted the bench and have said, “I saw the man, myself, mix the poison;
I stood by and saw him administer it, I read his thoughts; I knew for what
purpose he did it; I read his heart; I was with him when he first
conceived the black design, and I have tracked him in all his evasions, in
all those acts by which he soughs to blindfold justice; and I can read in
his heart that he knows himself to be guilty now, the case then would
have been over; the trial would have been little more than a form. What
will you think, O sinner, when you art brought before God, and God shall
say, “You did so–and–so, and will mention what you did in the darkness
of the night when no eye was there? You will start back amazed, and say,
“Oh, heavens! how shall God know? is there knowledge in the Most High?
He will say, “Stop, sinner; have more to startle you yet; and he will
begin to unfold the records of the past: leaf after leaf he will read of
the diary he has kept of your existence. Oh! I can see you as he reads
page after page, your knees are knocking together, your hair is standing
on end, you blood is frozen in your veins, congealed for fright, and you
stand like a second Niobe, a rock bedewed with tears. You are thunder
struck to find your thoughts read out before the sun, while men and angels
hear. You are amazed beyond degree to hear your imaginations read, to see
your deeds photographed on the great white throne, and to hear a voice
saying, “Rebellion at such a time; uncleanness at such a time; evil
thoughts at such an hour. Sabbath breaking on such a day; blasphemy at
such a time; theft at such an hour; hard thoughts of God at such a period;
rejection of his grace on such a day, stiflings of conscience at another
time; and so on to the end of the chapter, and then the awful final
doom. “Sinner, depart accursed! I saw you sin; it needs no witnesses; I
heard your oath; I heard your blasphemy; I saw your theft; I read your
thought. Depart! depart! I am clear when I judge you; I am justified when
I condemn you: for you have done this evil in my sight.
Lastly, you ask me what you must do to be saved; and I will never let a
congregation go, I hope, till I have told them that. Hear, then, in a few
words, the way of salvation. It is this. Christ said to the Apostles,
“Preach the gospel to every creature: he that believeth and his baptized
shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. Or, to give
you Paul’s version, when he spoke to the jailer, “Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. You askest what you art to believe.
Why, this: that Christ died and rose again; that by his death he did bear
the punishment of all believers; and that by his resurrection he did wipe
out the faults of all his children. And if God give you faith, you will
believe that Christ died for you; and will be washed in his blood, and you
will trust his mercy and his love to be your everlasting redemption when
the world shall end.
