Evening, August 13
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
Genesis 9:15
"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.