Foareth he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them. when his voice is heard. God thundereth marvellously with his voice: great things doth he which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength. He sealeth up the hand of every man, that all men may know his work. Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of the north. By the breath of God frost is given; and the breadth of the waters is straitened. Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud; he scattereth his bright cloud, And it is turned round about by his counsels; that they might do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy. Hearken unto this, O Job; stand still and consider the wondrous works of God." By such instruments does God work wonders, intending that principalities and powers in heavenly places should be taught by them his manifold wisdom; that he knows how to make all things work together for good to the church, and to place his people in the best possible situation, not only to behold his glory, but also to unite their influence with all other beings to promote it. The whole creation has, as it were, from the beginning, been travailing together to bring forth praise to God. Though one

part has seemed to be at war with another; and the whole body in a state of general commotion; yet, being in the all-disposing hand of God, and under the guidance of his unerring wisdom, deformity has been continually verging towards beauty, war towards peace, and confusion towards order; or, in other words, the greatest jars and tumults in nature have had their use to make known the perfections of Deity, and have been paving the way for such glory to appear on the face of the divine character, as no other course of things could have been made to exhibit. No creature can claim the right of being a minister of God, to the exclusion of others. All have their share, a part alloted them, in the great drama. The very same things appear, on different occasions, to perform directly contrary offices. That, which ministers life, at one time, at another, is used as an instrument of death. But this is no proof, that all things are not regulated by the counsels of God; or that they are not, in all cases, the instruments of his providence. The earth which receiveth the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for him, by whom it is dressed, or tilled, is the Lord's, subserving his will, neither more nor less, than if it bear briers and thorns. The same natural agents, for any thing that we see, are concerned in producing fruits, both the noxious and the salutary. And the things, which grow out of the same soil, under the beams of the same sun,

and from thesameseed, communicate health to one and disease to another. But this does not argue against their ministry, or usefulness, in the kingdom of God. Instruments of evil have their value in the hand of God, as well as instruments of good, since occasions for them do actually occur, as when "He cast upon them (the Egyptians) the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trou ble, by sending evil angels among them." Those things may be termed evil angels, or messengers, which the hand of God uses as instruments in the inflicting of evil.

Such

are many things, which, upon other occasions, are immediately subservient to great good. The rain of heaven, which, for hunareds of years, imparted fruitful fulness to the earth, so that man and beast were regularly and bountifully supplied with sustenance: from the productions of the ground, God was, afterwards, pleased to use for the purpose of destroying both man and beast, even by causing a flood of waters to prevail and cover the face of the globe, so that all flesh died. Also, that fire from heaven, which is of known use to clarify a sultry and pestiferous atmosphere, and to purge it of its baleful and sickly vapours, for the preservation. of life and health, was used, by an angry God, against Sodom and Gomorrah to punish them for their wickedness,and consume them from the earth. And in Egypt, when a monument of divine power was to be raised up, and a striking testimony to be given of the

superiority of the God of Israel to all other gods, all the engines of nature seemed to be called into action, to make a strong impres sion upon the universe, that the Lord is God, that he is mighty to avenge the oppressed, to deliver them, and to subdue their oppressors. The scene is finely depicted in the CV. Psalm. "He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. They shewed his signs among them, and wonders. in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also and their fig trees and brake the trees of their coasts. He spake and the locusts came, and caterpillars and that without number, And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.” In these several administrations of providence, we see the use which God made of natural things, of the elements, and of things animate and inanimate, to bring to pass his, determina tions against the enemies of his church, in fulfilment of a prediction to Abraham, some hundreds of years before, as in these words, "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four

hundred years. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward they shall come out with great substance." In all these changes, sometimes prosperous, and sometimes adverse, to the church, and as often affecting their enemies in the same way, God wrought by sensible means, and by such means as ordinarily affect the well being of mankind, in the present world. The same hand, which had interposed to lay a check on the pride and haughtiness of Egypt, and to arm the whole world of nature against them, appeared, on the other hand, with the same kind of instruments, engaged. to build up and support the cause of his own people. "He brought them forth also with silver and gold; and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed; for the fear of them fell upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night. The people asked and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. And he brought forth. his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness And gave them the lands of the heathen and they inherited the labour of the people; That they might observe his statutes and keep his laws." If God will get glory to himself by alternately dealing out to mankind his mercies and his judg