The duty of thankfulness for the bounty of God in nature.
The people of Israel were being led by the Lord their God to a land beautiful, luxuriant, fruitful. (For an account of the productions of Palestine, of the fertility of its soil, and of the treasures hidden in its hills, see works by Kitto, Stanley, Wilson, Thomson, and others; as well as Bible dictionaries and Cyclopedias, under the several headings.) Evidently, at the time Moses uttered the words before us, the people had not reached that land; though they were expecting shortly to do so. In view thereof, Moses bids them (Deuteronomy 8:10) bless the Lord their God for the good land he had given them. Hence our subject: "the duty of recognizing the hand of God in the bounties of nature, and of thankfulness for the use of them."
I. THERE IS A MARVELLOUS ADAPTATION IN EXTERNAL NATURE TO THE CONSTITUTION AND WARTS OF MAN. (Each of the varied terms used in Deuteronomy 8:7-9 will afford vast scope for the expansion of this thought. And the wider the range of knowledge, the greater delight will such expansion afford to one who longs to make others see the variety of the Divine goodness.) What a vast and prolonged preparation must there have been to fit this world for the use of those who should hereafter dwell upon it! And then, when all is ready, man, the crown of God's earthly creation, comes last upon the scene, with "all things put under his feet."
II. ALL THE WEALTH OF EARTH IS A GIFT TO MAN. "The good land which he hath given thee" (Deuteronomy 8:10). It is but reasonable that we look at the profusion of riches upon and within the earth as a "gift." "What have we that we have not received?' Where were we when "the foundations of the earth' were laid? Yet some would have us adopt a "religion of humanity," as if humanity were to be praised for the physical basis of its own existence! A Power not in man nor of man hath given us all.
III. THE GIFT COMETH FROM A PERSONAL BEING. "The Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee." The Power from which nature's wealth cometh, is not a blind non-intelligent force. For man's own intelligence has to be accounted for; and even if impersonal forces could have wrought out matter, it is axiomatically certain that impersonality could not produce personality. So far natural religion can go. But our text takes us further.
IV. NATURE'S WEALTH COMETH FROM THE LORD OUR GOD. "Our God." He is not an "Unknown." We may not set up an altar, ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ. We know him as a redeeming God, as One who delights to exercise loving-kindness, righteousness, and judgment in the earth. And since God is revealed to us in Christ, we learn thereby that the long preparations of earth have been going on with a view of setting up on it the new creations of redeeming grace. This is "the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world, unto our glory." Oh, the boundless meaning of the expression, "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world!"
V. ALL THIS SHOULD CALL FORTH SPECIAL THANKFULNESS FROM OUR HEARTS AND LIPS. "Thou shalt bless," etc. We may go very far beyond the merely personal consideration which Moses suggests here. We know more clearly, therefore we should praise more intelligently, devoutly, and warmly. Israel might include some, we should take in all, the following considerations, to stimulate to intense thankfulness.
1. We were nothing, had nothing, and yet we have all given to us "richly to enjoy."
2. We are sinful, and have forfeited thereby even our natural claim. Yet all is continued to us, in unwearying kindness and unabated faithfulness.
3. We have not only the actual possessions of earth's wealth, but are put in possession of the mind and purpose of the Great Framer of all, that ours may be the praise of understanding hearts.
4. We read that God wills to have on this globe a ransomed people, ours, therefore, may well be the jubilant praise of redeemed men.
5. We are not here merely to enjoy this world and then to know no other, but to enjoy this world as a stepping-stone to another. Hence ours should be the triumphant shout of men with a glorious destiny ahead, and of those who use this world so as to help them to a better. Finally:
6. The present form of earth is destined to fall away. God will "make all things new" (Psalms 102:26; Hebrews 1:12; 2 Peter 3:13). We for whom this world was made, will then be rejoicing in God, and will be enraptured to see what ever-advancing forms of beauty "he hath prepared for them that love him" Thus ours should be the praise of men on whom even the too oft-repeated dirge, "passing away," leaves no trace of gloom or of regret. If we are the redeemed of the Lord, our life may be a song of thanksgiving, and our death a shout of victory!