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from infinite wisdom, the very variety of created things would produce hopeless and
inextricable confusion. But the wisdom of the Lord has adjusted each part.
Again, see the perfect fitness of each created thing. Observe how wonderfully it is
adapted to its environment. The colouring of birds, beasts and insects is a study in itself.
The stripes on the tiger, the spots on the leopard, all serve their purpose. The whole of
Psa. 104: should be studied with this in mind. The recurring seasons, as well as the
alternation of day and night, are all perfectly adapted to their purpose; and if we but
examine ourselves, the body that is so fearfully and wonderfully made, the senses, the
intellect, the marvels of speech, memory, ratiocination (logical reasoning), what a witness
to the only wise God we should discover.
Perhaps one of the reasons why the wisdom of God is stressed in connection with His
secret purposes, is that the enemy of God and man is also wise. His symbol is the
serpent; his bait in the garden of Eden was that the forbidden fruit would make "wise"
and "like God". He himself as the anointed Cherub had been "full of wisdom", but had
"corrupted his wisdom by reason of his brightness" (Exek. 28: 12-19). However wise
the god of this age may be, his wisdom is but folly in the presence of "the only wise
God". Let us rejoice that "this God is our God".
#14.
"His understanding is infinite" (Psa. 147: 5).
pp. 45 - 47
In this Psalm the speaker calls upon his hearers to praise the Lord, as he views with
prophetic vision the re-gathering of scattered Israel and the re-establishing of their
kingdom:--
"The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He
healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the
stars; He calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power; His
understanding is infinite" (Psa. 147: 2-5).
Lest any of the outcasts of Israel should feel that restoration was impossible, that God
would forget, or that He would not have the necessary power, the Psalmist turns from the
subject of Israel's restoration to the fact that the number and names of all the stars are
known to the Lord. The number of stars that can be seen with the naked eye is about
6,000. By the aid of powerful telescopes and photography some hundreds of millions
become visible. Astronomers, when speaking of the Milky Way, tell us that it is made up
of "innumerable" stars. Innumerable they are to man; but we are assured that He Who
made the stars know both their number and their names. No wonder the Psalmist says,
"His understanding is infinite". It is interesting to note that the word "infinite" in verse 5
is en mispar, "without number". Infinite indeed is the understanding and knowledge of
the only wise God. Another statement to the same effect is found in Isa. 40: 28: "There