ever before me! Would you then habitually feel that God casts all your sins behind his back? Place them continually before you, and before Him, in a spirit of humiliation and repentance.

XXXVIII. It is the Lord-enthron'd in light,

Whose claims are all divine;

Who has an undisputed right

To govern me and mine.

It is the Lord-should I distrust,
Or contradict his will,
Who cannot do but what is just,
And must be righteous still!

It is the Lord-who gives me all

My wealth, my friends, my ease;
And of his bounties may recal
Whatever part he please.

It is the Lord-who can sustain
Beneath the heaviest load :

From whom assistance I obtain
To tread the thorny road.

It is the Lord-whose matchless skill

Can, from afflictions raise

Matter, eternity to fill,

With ever-growing praise.

It is the Lord-my cov'nant God,

Thrice blessed be his name!

Whose gracious promise, seal'd with blood,
Must ever be the same.

And can my soul, with hopes like these,

Be sullen, or repine?

No, gracious God, take what thou please,
To thee, I all resign.

F

XXXIX. "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards." And so far are believers from being exempted, that scripture tells us, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." We shall not describe them, we shall only inquire after the temper with which they are to be borne. It is not necessary to be insensible. There is no virtue in bearing what we do not feel. Grace takes away the heart of stone, and patience does not bring it back. You may desire deliverance; but these desires will not be rash, insisting, unconditional; but always closed with, "Not as I will but as thou wilt." You may employ means to obtain freedom; but these means will be lawful ones. A suffering christian may see several ways of release, but he seeks only God's way. who confined me shall bring me forth; here will I stand to see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show me." He would rather endure the greatest calamity than commit the least sin: and while the affliction remains, there is no rebellious carriage, no foaming expressions, no hard thoughts of God, no charging him foolishly. He calming acquiesces in a condition, of the disadvantage of which he is fully sensible; his patience keeps him in the medium between presumption and despair-between despising "the chastening of the Lord, and fainting when rebuked of him"-between feeling too little and too much. "Affliction comes to exercise

"He

and illustrate our patience." "The trial of your faith worketh patience." It does so in consequence of the divine blessing, and by the natural operation of things; for use makes perfect; the yoke is rendered easy by being worn; and those parts of the body which are most in action, are the most solid and strong. And therefore, we are not to excuse improper dispositions under affliction, by saying, "It was so trying, who could

help it?" This is to justify impatience by the very means, which God employs on purpose to make you patient. Be assured the fault is not in the condition, but in the temper. Labour therefore to display this grace in whatever state you are, and however afflicted you may be. Impatience turns the rod into a scorpion. Till you wipe your eyes from this suffusion of tears, you cannot see what God is doing; and while the noisy passions are so clamorous, his voice cannot be heard. Suppose you were lying on a bed of pain, or walking in the field under some heavy affliction; suppose you were alone there, and heard a voice, which you knew to be the voice of God, say, "Do not imagine your case is singular. There has been sorrow like unto thy sorrow." Take the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. You have heard of the patience of Job. He was stripped-yet he said, "the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." "What! shall we receive good at the Lord's hands, and shall we not receive evil?" Consider the unparalleled sufferings of thy Saviour. But he said, "The cup which my Father giveth me to drink shall I not drink it?"Do not imagine these trials are fruits of my displeasure : -"as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." I design thy welfare; and I know how to advance it. You have often been mistaken; and sometimes you have been led to deprecate events, which you now see to have been your peculiar mercies. Trust me in this dispensation : reasons forbid my explaining things fully at present: "What I do thou knowest not Now, but thou shalt know hereafter." These troubles are as necessary for thy soul, as the furnace for gold-medicine for thy body, as the knife for the vine. Be not afraid of the affliction;

I have it completely under my management; when the end is answered I will remove it. I know how and when to deliver. Till then, "fear not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee: yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." O could I hear this; this would hush every rebellious sigh, this would check every murmuring thought. Is this then supposition? Has not God said all this? Does he not say all this in his word?

He hears

Patience too must be exercised under all delays. We as naturally pursue a desired good, as we shun an apprehended evil the want of such a good, is as grievous as the pressure of such an evil; and an ability to bear the one, is as needful a qualification, as the fortitude by which we endure the other. It therefore as much belongs to patience to wait, as to suffer. We read of "the patience of hope," for patience will be rendered necessary according to the degree of hope. "Hope deferred, maketh the heart sick." It is the office of patience to prevent this fainting: and God is perpetually calling for the exercise of it. He does not always immediately indulge you with an answer to prayer. indeed as soon as you knock, but he does not instantly open the door; and to stand there, resolved not to go without a blessing, requires patience, and patience cries, "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage; and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord." He does not appear to deliver us according to the time of our expectation; and in woe we number days and hours. The language of desire is, "O when wilt thou come unto me?" and of impatience, "Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?" but patience whispers, "It is good that a man should both hope, and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." To long for pardon, and

anchor off the fair haven,

to feel only an increased sense of guilt; to implore relief, and to be able only to say, "Without are fightings, and within are fears;" to journey in a weary land, and see the way stretching out immeasurably before us, lengthening as we go; to pursue blessings which seem to recede as we advance, or to spring from our grasp, as we are seizing them-all this requires "patient continuance in well doing." "We have also need of patience, that after we have done the will of God, we may receive the promises." See the christian waiting patiently year after year in a vale of tears for an infinite happiness! See the heir of such an inheritance resigned to abide so in indigence! Surely it is trying to be detained so many months at with the end of his voyage in view; to have all the glory of the unseen world laid open to the eye of faith; the trials of this life to urge, and the blessings of another to draw; to have earnests to ensure, and foretastes to endear. Surely there is enough to make him dissatisfied to tarry here. And it seems proper for the christian to be more willing to go. Should an Israelite fix on this side the promised land? Is he not commanded to arise and depart hence? Can he love God, unless he wishes to be with him? Does not the new nature tend towards its perfection? What wonder, therefore, if we should hear the believer sighing, "O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. I would hasten my escape from the stormy wind and tempest." Oh when shall I come and appear before God? Oh when shall I leave the dregs of society, and join the general assembly above? When will my dear connexions, gone before, receive me into everlasting habitations? O how I envy them? O the glories of yonder world! I seem indistinctly to see the