cannot alter the determination of
his will. The others make not the purposes of God the rule of duty, but
endeavouring to fulfil his revealed will, they are employed with honour
to execute his counsel. "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was
done; he commanded, and it stood fast." "The counsel of the Lord
standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed
is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen
for his own inheritance."[497]

And the covenant of God stands according to a sovereign decree. In
virtue of his high authority the Lord imposed the regulations of his
material and intelligent kingdoms, and the laws by which his moral
creatures are governed. Hence, terms strictly applicable only to the
government of the one, are metaphorically applied to the control of the
other. And his dispensations to some are employed as symbols of his
operations towards the rest. Thus, in language primarily used in
reference to the firmness or security of a building, his word, and,
consequently, his covenant, the arrangements of which it embodies, are
represented as decreed. "Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old
that thou hast founded them forever."[498] As ordained or decreed, to
the appointments of the material universe it is compared. "Thus saith
the Lord, If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the
night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then
may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not
have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests,
my ministers."--"Thus saith the Lord, If my covenant be not with day and
night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant."[499] And
especially is that true religion through which covenant engagements are
made and kept, according to God's decree. "Where shall wisdom be found?
and where is the place of understanding?"--"God understandeth the way
thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof." "When he made a decree for
the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; then did he see
it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto
man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart
from evil is understanding."[500] Were the rain, and the lightning,