A Serious Inquiry # 1

A Serious Inquiry # 1

"Lord, what is man that you should notice us, mere mortal that you should care for us?" (Psalm 144:3).

"Lord, what is man!" Thus the psalmist exclaimed, when reviewing the Lord's goodness to him, and recounting the gracious characters in which the Lord stood to him. Great trials and brought him great mercies. Great difficulties had given him a great experience of the Lord's goodness. He rejoices in God as his strength and instructor, the source of his mercy, his fortress, his high tower and his deliverer, his shield and the object of his trust. God had been to him - all that his circumstances required, so that notwithstanding his many fears and numerous foes - he had persevered and prevailed. Looking back upon the past - he felt constrained to look up, and looking up he was led to contrast God's goodness to him - with his own insignificance and unworthiness, and almost involuntarily cried out, "Lord, what is man!"

It is the language of surprise! He was struck with wonder and amazement at the conduct of his God, and full of admiration, he gives vent to his overpowering feelings in this brief exclamation.

It is the language of humility! He felt crushed under a sense of God's amazing kindness to one so sinful, to one so vile; the sense of God's undeserved grace laid him very low; and from the dust of self-abasement, he expressed his wonder at the Divine dealings with him.

It is the language of gratitude! His heart was full, it was overflowing with grateful praise. Surprised, humble, and grateful - he was prepared to glorify his good and gracious God. And this will be the case with us, when we take a retrospect of the past from the right point; when we look at ourselves - and then at our God; at our righteous deserts - and His merciful dealings. We will now briefly look at the question with a view to our own edification.

What is man PHYSICALLY? He is fearful and wonderfully made. He is the chief of the works of God. What a wonderful structure is the body! What wisdom is displayed in devising, arranging, and adapting the different parts - to form the one simple, yet complicated machine! The bones, the muscles, the blood vessels, the nerves, the brain, the flesh, the skin; the different organs of sight, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling. What a beautiful and yet suitable dwelling theyform for the immortal soul.

Yet when we think of what man is, and then of what man was - how great the contrast. When we look at man in youth, in health, and in full vigor - and then at what man is when aged, or diseased, or dead; we cannot but feel ready to exclaim, "What is man!"

But when we direct our thoughts to God - to His greatness, glory, holiness, and immutability - we feel a still stronger impulse inducing us to cry, "What is man?" Man so little, so sinful, so sickly, so changeable, so transitory! "What is man - that You should magnify him? and that you should set your heart upon him? That you should visit him every morning, and try him every moment?"

What is man MORALLY? This is the worst part of the picture! It is bad enough to see man diseased, suffering, dying, moldering to dust; but when we come to inquire into the cause of all this - it is fearful indeed!

Man is dreadfully depraved. He has fallen from the state in which his good and glorious Creator placed him. He is now totally depraved. He is God's enemy, His heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. His carnal mind is enmity against God. He is full of evil principles and evil passions. He has become, not only unprofitable - but abominable! No part of God's creation presents such a hideous sight to His pure and holy eyes - as man does, for in him heart and mind are alike depraved, and set in opposition to Himself.

Man is wicked - but he is not only wicked, he is weak. Sin has become a fearful disease within him. He has no will to do good. He has no power to do good - if he had the will. Hence the apostle when partially renewed, speaking of himself, said, "To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not."

Man is perverse, he closes his eyes, his ears, and his heart against God! It is only for God to require something - and man determines not to do it; or for God to prohibit something - and man immediately desires it. His will is as much opposed to God as it can be. He slights His mercy, dares His justice, and defies His power. He perseveres in sin, unless the Lord by His invincible grace prevents him. He has sunk lower than the beasts which perish, hence the Lord complains, "The ox know his owner, and the donkey his master's crib - but Israel does not know, My people do not consider!"

~James Smith~

(continued with # 2)