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Coupled with this testimony to the Lord's sovereignty
is that contained in
Psa. 115: 3:--
"But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased."
Look at the elements of sovereignty that have been brought before us in these
passages of Scripture.
The sovereignty of God is seen in the irresistible character of His will:--
"He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased" (Psa. 115: 3).
"He doeth according to His will" (Dan. 4: 35).
These but herald a number of references that declare most emphatically that the
purpose of the Lord must be accomplished:--
"My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure" (Isa. 46: 10).
"He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast" (Psa. 33: 9).
"Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the
potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to Him that fashioned it, What makest Thou?
or Thy work, He hath no hands?" (Isa. 45: 9).
"What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For He
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee,
and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath He mercy
on Whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto
me, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will?" (Rom. 9: 14-19).
Few commentators can resist the temptation to embark upon some attempt to justify
God in the matter of Pharaoh. Appeal is made to the fact that Pharaoh hardened his own
heart, or to the idea that Pharaoh is yet to be saved and blessed. If any living man could
have thus reasoned, surely it was the apostle Paul himself. He did not put out his hand,
however, to stay the ark of God. To all such attempts, whatever they may be, and by
whatever spirit they may be prompted, or with whatever doctrine they may be associated,
the apostle has but one reply, "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?"
(Rom. 9: 20). If God is sovereign, He cannot be brought to account by any creature.
True, absolute dominion in the hands of any but the Lord God would be terrible to
contemplate. But God is holy, righteous, good, true and wise, and it is for us so to
believe these revealed facts concerning Himself as gladly to recognize His sovereignty in
all things.
In an earlier paper we spoke of the name Elohim as being derived from the making of
an oath. The oath sworn by God, that is the goal of the ages, is one that suggests that
Satanic sin challenged His sovereignty, a fact that we gather from several passages of
Scripture:--