nly those who do God's
will as far as they know it, who will know concerning any doctrine
whether it be true or false; in one word, whether it be of God.

And now bear in mind secondly, that this law is the law of the Lord. You
cannot have a law without a lawgiver who makes the law, and also without
a judge who enforces the law; and the lawgiver and the judge of the law
of the Lord is the Lord Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remembering Him, and that He is King, we can understand the fervour of
indignation and pity, with which the writer of the 2nd Psalm bursts
out--"Why do the heathen rage, and why do the people imagine a vain
thing? The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed--

"Let us break their bonds asunder and cast away their cords from us."

For the great majority of mankind, in every age and country, will not
believe that there is a Law of the Lord, to which they must conform
themselves. Kings, and governments, and peoples, are too often all alike
in that. They must needs have their own way. Their will is to be law.
Their voice is to be the voice of God. They are they who ought to speak;
who is Lord over them? And because the Lord is patient and
long-suffering, and does not punish their presumption on the spot by
lightning or earthquake, they fancy that He takes no notice of them, and
of their crimes and follies; and say--"Tush, shall God perceive it? Is
there knowledge in the most High?" But sooner or later, either by sudden
and terrible catastrophes, or by slow decay, brought on sometimes by
their own blind presumption, sometimes by their own luxury, they find out
their mistake when it is too late. And then--

"He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn. The Lord shall
have them in derision. For He has set His King upon the throne" of all
the universe.

Yes, Christ the Lord rules, and knows that He rules; whether we know it
or not. Christ's law still hangs over our head, ready to lead us to
light and life and peace and wealth, or ready to fall on us and grind us
to powder, whether we choose to look up and see it or not. The Lord
liveth; though we may be too dead to feel Him. The Lord sees us; though
we may be too blind to see Him. Man can abolish many things; and does
both--wisely and unwisely--in these restless days of change. But let him
try as long as he will--for he has often tried, and will try again--