Covenanting with God is the swearing of an oath of fidelity to him. It is the act of subjects engaging in the most solemn manner to be true to their king.
This was the import of the covenant entered into by the kingdom of Judah at the inauguration of Joash: 'And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord's people.' 2 Kings, 11:17.
God's right to men is not based on any conventional arrangement between him and them. It is original and absolute. 'All souls are mine.' 'It is he that made us, and not we ourselves, we are his people.'
It is however their indispensable duty, as rational and moral creatures, to recognise that relation which by a divine constitution they sustain to their Creator; and to give all the security which he requires, that they will be his true and faithful subjects.
It is perfectly reasonable—that intelligent beings governed by moral laws, should give their consent to that constitution under which Infinite Wisdom has placed them, and swear allegiance to the 'Lord of the whole earth,' by whom it is administered.
There is something analogous to this in the constitution of human governments. Nations usually require an oath of allegiance in order to citizenship.
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