Sermon Tone Analysis

Psalm.

76:10 (KJV)

Surely the Wrath of Man shall praise thee; the remainder of Wrath shalt thou restrain.

Modified reenactment of Reverend Doctor John Witherspoon’s sermon on May 17, 1776:

“THERE is not a greater evidence either of the reality or the power of religion, than a firm belief of God's universal presence, and a constant attention to the influence and operation of his providence.

It is by this means that the Christian may be said, in the emphatical scripture language, to walk with God, and to endure as seeing him who is invisible.

“THIS psalm was evidently composed as a song of praise for some signal victory obtained, which was at the same time a remarkable deliverance from threatening danger.

The author was one or other of the later prophets, and the occasion probably the unsuccessful assault of Jerusalem, by the army of Sena-cherib king of Assyria, in the days of Hezekiah.

Great was the insolence and boasting of his generals and servants against the city of the living God, as may be seen in the thirty-sixth chapter of Isaiah.

Yet it pleased God to destroy their enemies, and, by his own immediate interposition, to grant them deliverance.

Therefore, the Psalmist says in the fifth and sixth verses of this psalm, The stout-hearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep.

None of the men of might have found their hands.

At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob! both the chariot and the horse are call into a deep sleep.

After a few more remarks to the same purpose, he draws the inference, or makes the reflection in the text, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee; the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain: which may be paraphrased thus, The fury and injustice of oppressors, shall bring in a tribute of praise to thee; the influence of thy righteous providence shall be clearly discerned; the countenance and support thou wilt give to thine own people shall be gloriously illustrated; thou shalt set the bounds which the boldest cannot pass.

“THE truth, then, asserted in this text, which I propose to illustrate is,—That all the disorderly passions of men, whether exposing the innocent to private injury, or whether they are the arrows of divine judgment in public calamity, shall, in the end, be to the praise of God.

“IN discoursing of this subject, it is my intention, through the assistance of divine grace,

1st: To point out to you in some particulars, how the wrath of man praises God.

2nd: To apply these principles to our present situation, by inferences of truth for your instruction and comfort, and by suitable exhortations to duty in the important crisis.

First:

“IN the first place, I am to point out to you in some particulars, how the wrath of man praises God.

I say in some instances, because it is far from being in my power, either to mention or explain the whole.

There is an unsearchable depth in the divine counsels, which it is impossible for us to penetrate.

It is the duty of every good man to place the most unlimited confidence in divine wisdom, and to believe that those measures of providence that are most unintelligible to him, are yet planned with the same skill, and directed to the same great purposes as others, the reason and tendency of which he can explain in the clearest manner.

But where revelation and experience enables us to discover the wisdom, equity, or mercy of divine providence, nothing can be more delightful or profitable to a serious mind, and therefore I beg your attention to the following remarks.

“IN the first place, the wrath of man praises God, as it is an example and illustration of divine truth, and clearly points out the corruption of our nature, which is the foundation stone of the doctrine of redemption.

Nothing can be more absolutely necessary to true religion, than a clear and full conviction of the sinfulness of our nature and state.

Without this there can be neither repentance in the sinner, nor humility in the believer.

Without this all that is said in scripture of the wisdom and mercy of God, in providing a Savior, is without force and without meaning.

Justly does our Savior say, the whole have no need of a physician, but those that are sick.

I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Those who are not sensible that they are sinners, will treat every exhortation to repentance, and every offer of mercy, with disdain or defiance.

“BUT where can we have a more affecting view of the corruption of our nature, than in the wrath of man, when exerting itself in oppression, cruelty, and blood.

It must be owned, indeed, that this truth is abundantly manifest in times of the greatest tranquility.

Others may, if they please, treat the corruption of our nature as a chimera; for my part, I see it everywhere, and I feel it every day.

All the disorders in human society, and the greatest part even of the unhappiness we are exposed to, arises from the envy, malice, covetousness, and other lusts of man.

If we and all about us were just what we ought to be in all respects, we should not need to go any further for heaven, for it would be upon earth.

But war and violence present a spectacle, still more awful.

How affecting is it to think, that the lust of domination should be so violent and universal?

That men should so rarely be satisfied with their own possessions and acquisitions, or even with the benefit that would arise from mutual service but should look upon the happiness and tranquility of others, as an obstruction to their own.

“BUT what I mean at this time to prove by the preceding reflections, and wish to impress on your minds, is the depravity of our nature.

Men of lax and corrupt principles, take great delight in speaking to the praise of human nature, and extolling its dignity, without distinguishing what it was, at its first creation, from what it is in its present fallen state.

“THE prophet Isaiah says, Yea in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee, —for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

He considers it as the most powerful mean of alarming the secure and subduing the obstinate.

Lord when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see, but they shall see and be ashamed for their envy at the people, yea the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.

It is also sometimes represented as a symptom of a hopeless and irrecoverable state, when public judgments have no effect.

Thus says the prophet Jeremiah, O Lord are not thine eyes upon the truth?

thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: They have made their faces harder than a rock, they have refused to return.

We can easily see in the history of the children of Israel, how severe strokes brought them to submission and penitence.

When he slew them then they sought him, and they returned and enquired early after God, and they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.

Both nations in general, and private persons are apt to grow remiss and lax in a time of prosperity and seeming security, but when their earthly comforts are endangered or withdrawn, it lays them under a kind of necessity to seek for something better in their place.

Men must have comfort from one quarter or another.

When earthly things are in a pleasing and promising condition, too many are apt to find their rest, and be satisfied with them as their only portion.

“I MUST also take leave to observe, and I hope no pious humble sufferer will be unwilling to make the application, that there is often a discernible mixture of sovereignty and righteousness in providential dispensations.

It is the prerogative of God to do what he will with his own, but he often displays his justice itself, by throwing into the furnace those, who, though they may not be visibly worse than, others, may yet have more to answer for, as having been favored with more distinguished privileges, both civil and sacred.

It is impossible for us to make a just and full comparison of the character either of persons or nations, and it would be extremely foolish for any to attempt it, either for increasing their own security, or impeaching the justice of the Supreme Ruler.

Let us therefore neither forget the truth, nor go beyond it.

His mercy fills the earth.

“THERE is no part of divine providence in which a greater beauty and majesty appears, than when the Almighty Ruler turns the councils of wicked men into confusion and makes them militate against themselves.

If the psalmist may be thought to have had a view in this text to the truths illustrated in the two former observations, there is no doubt at all that he had a particular view to this, as he says in the latter part of the verse, the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.

The scripture abounds with instances, in which the designs of oppressors were either wholly disappointed, or in execution fell far short of the malice of their intention, and in some they turned out to the honor and happiness of the persons or the people, whom they were intended to destroy.

We have an instance of the first of these in the history to which my text relates.

Second:

“I PROCEED now to the second general head, which was to apply the principles illustrated above to our present situation, by inferences of truth for your instruction and comfort, and by suitable exhortations to duty in this important crisis.

And,

“WHEREFORE my beloved hearers, as the ministry of reconciliation is committed to me, I beseech you in the most earnest manner, to attend to the things that belong to your peace, before they are hid from your eyes.

How soon and in what manner a seal shall be set upon the character and state of every person here present, it is impossible to know, for he who only can know does not think proper to reveal it.

But you may rest assured that there is no time more suitable, and there is none so safe as that which is present, since it is wholly uncertain whether any other shall be yours.

Those who shall first fall in battle, have not many more warnings to receive.

There are some few daring and hardened sinners who despise eternity itself, and set their maker at defiance, but the far greater number by staving off their convictions to a more convenient season, have been taken unprepared and thus eternally lost.

I would therefore earnestly press the apostles exhortation, We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also, that ye receive not the grace of God in vain: For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

“THE truth is, I believe, the remark may be applied universally, and we may say, that thro' the whole frame of nature, and the whole system of human life, that which promises most, performs the least.

The flowers of finest color seldom have the sweetest fragrance.

The trees of quickest growth or fairest form are seldom of the greatest value or duration.

Deep waters move with least noise.

Men who think most are seldom talkative.

And I think it holds as much in war as in any thing, that every boaster is a coward.

“FROM what has been said you may learn what encouragement you have to put your trust in God and hope for his assistance in the present important conflict.

He is the Lord of hosts, great in might, and strong in battle.

Whoever hath his countenance and approbation, shall have the best at last.

I do not mean to speak prophetically, but agreeably to the analogy of faith, and the principles of God's moral government.

Some have observed that true religion, and in her train dominion, riches, literature, and arts, have taken their course in a slow and gradual manner, from east to west since the earth was settled after the flood, and from thence forbode the future glory of America.

I leave this as a matter rather of conjecture than certainty, but observe, that if your cause is just, —if your principles are pure, —and if your conduct is prudent, you need not fear the multitude of opposing hosts.

“IF your cause is just—you may look with confidence to the Lord and intreat him to plead it as his own.

You are all my witnesses, that this is the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit.

At this season however, it is not only lawful but necessary, and I willingly embrace the opportunity of declaring my opinion without any hesitation.

So far as we have hitherto proceeded, has not been the effect of pride, resentment, or sedition, but of a deep and general conviction, that our civil and religious liberties, and consequently in a great measure the temporal and eternal happiness of us and our posterity depended on the issue.

The knowledge of God and his truths have from the beginning of the world been chiefly, if not entirely confined to these parts of the earth, where some degree of liberty and political justice were to be seen, and great were the difficulties with which they had to struggle from the imperfection of human society, and the unjust decisions of usurped authority.

There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire.

If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage.

“I HAVE said, if your principles are pure —The meaning of this is, if your present opposition to the claims of the [ government ] does not arise from a seditious and turbulent spirit, or a wanton contempt of legal authority; from a blind and factious attachment to particular persons or parties; or from a selfish rapacious disposition, and a desire to turn public confusion to private profit—but from a concern for the interest of your country, and the safety of yourselves and your posterity.

“ONCE more, if to the justice of your cause, and the purity of your principles you add prudence in your conduct, there will be the greatest reason to hope, by the blessing of God, for prosperity and success.

By prudence in conducting this important struggle, I have chiefly in view union, firmness, and patience.

Everybody must perceive the absolute necessity of union.

It is indeed in every body's mouth, and therefore instead of attempting to convince you of its importance, I will only caution you against the usual causes of division.

If persons of every rank, instead of implicitly complying with the orders of those whom they themselves have chosen to direct, will needs judge every measure over again, when it comes to be put in execution.

“THE sum of the whole is, that the blessing of God is only to be looked for by those who are not wanting in the discharge of their own duty.

I would neither have you to trust in an arm of flesh, nor sit with folded hands and expect that miracles should be wrought in your defense.

—This is a sin which is in scripture styled tempting God.

In opposition to it, I would exhort you as Joab did the host of Israel, who though he does not appear to have had a spotless character throughout, certainly in this instance spoke like a prudent general and a pious man.

Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people and for the cities of our God, and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight.