February 6

"He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure; for this is all my salvation, and all my desire." — 2 Samuel 23:6.

THOUGH David's house was "not so with God," as he could have wished, and his domestic trials were numerous and severe, yet he rejoiced in the personal interest he possessed in the Divine favor. The subject for our contemplation in this exercise is God's everlasting covenant. Note

ITS CONTENTS. What does God promise and engage to do for his people?

To protect them by his power. In the midst of dangers, cares, anxieties, and changing scenes, how cheering and delightful the fact of a special and overruling providence?

To supply them with his grace. There is a constant communication kept up between the believer and God. He imparts grace for duty, trials and temptations; for living and dying.

To admit them to glory. Divine choice, effectual calling, grace, and glory, are four links of a golden chain, which can never be broken, because they are united by an omnipotent hand.

ITS PROPERTIES. Three things are stated concerning it. Its duration. An "everlasting covenant." It was drawn up, its arrangements made, and its blessings inserted, from eternity; and it is everlasting in its continuance. Its completeness. "Ordered in all things." In agreements between man and man, the greatest care must be taken to insert every necessary particular. In this covenant every blessing is included, from the first glimmer of hope before the cross, to the full blaze of glory before the throne. Its security. "Sure." It is sure in the principles on which it is founded, the blessings it contains, the promises it gives, and in its conveyance to all believers. It is secured by the oath of God, the blood of Christ, and the seal of the Spirit.

ITS VALUE. This will appear because

It is the ground of all our hopes. "All my salvation." The law will serve as a rule of life, but not as a covenant for salvation. The blood of Christ alone can speak peace to the troubled conscience.

It is the consummation of all our wishes. "All my desire."

It is to the covenant God has made with us, we refer, as that which is connected with our highest ambition, and which forms the source of our comfort under every trial. Is this secret of the Lord with you, and has he shown you his covenant?