Morning “The cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted.” / Psalm 104:16

Lebanon’s cedars are emblematic of the Christian, in that they owe their
planting entirely to the Lord. This is quite true of every child of God. He is
not man-planted, nor self-planted, but God-planted. The mysterious hand of the
divine Spirit dropped the living seed into a heart which he had himself
prepared for its reception. Every true heir of heaven owns the great
Husbandman as his planter. Moreover, the cedars of Lebanon are not dependent
upon man for their watering; they stand on the lofty rock, unmoistened by
human irrigation; and yet our heavenly Father supplieth them. Thus it is with
the Christian who has learned to live by faith. He is independent of man, even
in temporal things; for his continued maintenance he looks to the Lord his
God, and to him alone. The dew of heaven is his portion, and the God of heaven
is his fountain. Again, the cedars of Lebanon are not protected by any mortal
power. They owe nothing to man for their preservation from stormy wind and
tempest. They are God’s trees, kept and preserved by him, and by him alone. It
is precisely the same with the Christian. He is not a hot-house plant,
sheltered from temptation; he stands in the most exposed position; he has no
shelter, no protection, except this, that the broad wings of the eternal God
always cover the cedars which he himself has planted. Like cedars, believers
are full of sap, having vitality enough to be ever green, even amid winter’s
snows. Lastly, the flourishing and majestic condition of the cedar is to the
praise of God only. The Lord, even the Lord alone hath been everything unto
the cedars, and, therefore David very sweetly puts it in one of the psalms,
“Praise ye the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars.” In the believer there is
nothing that can magnify man; he is planted, nourished, and protected by the
Lord’s own hand, and to him let all the glory be ascribed.

Evening “And I will remember my covenant.” / Genesis 9:15

Mark the form of the promise. God does not say, “And when ye shall look upon
the bow, and ye shall remember my covenant, then I will not destroy the
earth,” but it is gloriously put, not upon our memory, which is fickle and
frail, but upon God’s memory, which is infinite and immutable. “The bow shall
be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting
covenant.” Oh! it is not my remembering God, it is God’s remembering me which
is the ground of my safety; it is not my laying hold of his covenant, but his
covenant’s laying hold on me. Glory be to God! the whole of the bulwarks of
salvation are secured by divine power, and even the minor towers, which we may
imagine might have been left to man, are guarded by almighty strength. Even
the remembrance of the covenant is not left to our memories, for we might
forget, but our Lord cannot forget the saints whom he has graven on the palms
of his hands. It is with us as with Israel in Egypt; the blood was upon the
lintel and the two side-posts, but the Lord did not say, “When you see the
blood I will pass over you,” but “When I see the blood I will pass over you.”
My looking to Jesus brings me joy and peace, but it is God’s looking to Jesus
which secures my salvation and that of all his elect, since it is impossible
for our God to look at Christ, our bleeding Surety, and then to be angry with
us for sins already punished in him. No, it is not left with us even to be
saved by remembering the covenant. There is no linsey-wolsey here–not a
single thread of the creature mars the fabric. It is not of man, neither by
man, but of the Lord alone. We should remember the covenant, and we shall do
it, through divine grace; but the hinge of our safety does not hang there–it
is God’s remembering us, not our remembering him; and hence the covenant is an
everlasting covenant.