The Almighty

Lincoln declares “The Almighty has His own purposes.” While not a direct quote from the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments are replete with this teaching. One example is God’s words through Paul in ROMANS 9:15-17, quoting EXODUS 33:19 and EXODUS 9:16, respectively: “For He [God] says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’” Responding to compliments from Thurlow Weed on the speech, Lincoln replied, “… I believe it is not immediately popular. Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them.”