SERMON XXXIX. THE OPERATIONS OF PROVIDENCE AND GRACE, CALCULATED TO INSPIRE CONFIDENCE AND GRATITUDE. PSALM XXXVI. 5-9. 5. "Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness unto the clouds. 6. "Thy righteousness is like the great mountains, 8: thy judgments are a great deep, na an: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast! 7. "How excellent thy loving-kindness, 77, O God! therefore the children of men, 77, put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. 8. " They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy plea house; .(the river of thy Eden) כחל (ערנן) עדניך,sures 9. "For with thee is the fountain of life (D" the vein of lives) in thy light shall we see light." Among the many subjects of the deepest interest and importance which the ministers of the sanctuary find it their duty to bring under the consideration of their congregations; there are two, especially, which on particular occasions, they deem it necessary to discuss: these are, gratitude and hope. The first generally refers to time past, and the circumstances of that time. The second refers to the future, and what may be necessary in that unknown period. Both respect God, and the operations of his hand, in reference to man, the subject of those operations: the former, to times and circumstances of prosperity; the latter, to circumstances of present or possible adversity. Gratitude refers to blessings already be necessary may bestowed; hope, to those which to supin times of distress. Gratitude has port and preserve the most obvious reasons to recommend it, because it arises from a consciousness of obligation; and obligation springs from a sense of favours already received. Hope or dependence has not this consciousness of obligation, for its objects are not yet in possession, and consequently cannot make such lively impressions as those of the other. But these two principles are generally referred to two grand dispensations of infinite wisdom employed in the economy of the salvation of man; the former to the grace, the latter to the providence, of God. Grace or mercy, communicates the blessings which demand and excite gratitude. Providence prepares those that refer to the continuity of life's progress, and its support: for those we hope, or rather we are said to trust, or confide in Providence. and It has already been hinted, that gratitude is concerned with benefits already bestowed. He hath loved us, given himself for us; we love him in return for his love; and hope, or trust in providence, is concerned with those which we know from past experience that we shall need, and that God has, and can dispense: and hence, there are particular times in which these two principles, graces, or duties, as they have been indifferently termed, have been called into especial exercise; in times of abundant blessings or outpouring of God's grace and spirit; and in. times of trial by long-continued severe weather, or in times of general scarcity, of famine and such like. We have had our times of refreshing and general plenty; and if we have not been grateful for such mercies, we are highly culpable. When the mouth is full of meat, it is natural to look for a thankful heart. But in times of general scarcity, arising from various causes; and of sharp suffering and want, through the severity of the weather, by a long-continued snow and intense frost, by which trade and commerce have been impeded, and the distresses of the poor multiplied, which is the case at the present time, and by which we are all less or more affected, trusting or confiding in God's providence, is both a duty and a relief; and it is truly a matter of astonishment that this duty is so rarely practised, and that it should still be a subject seldom inculcated in public teaching; and consequently, little understood by those who are so much interested in it. Indeed, a discourse upon providence scarcely occurs in a whole year's ministrations; and were all to be built according to the models we have, the scarcity need not be deplored; as they embroil the subject, render it more abstruse, and fill the mind with unprofitable reasonings. The whole of the science of providence, as far as it is necessary to know it, is unfolded in the Scriptures: but the saying of an eminent poet having taken the place of the divine discoveries of prophets and apostles, most people are afraid of examining the subject, as a proper understanding of it is hopeless; for thus saith the poet : "The ways of heaven are dark and intricate; Whatever truth there may be in this as far as God's counsels or determinations are concerned, the saying. should not be applied to the operations of Providence in reference to the preservation and salvation of men. But we shall meet the subject shortly, and endeavour to examine it in a nearer point of view. In the words of the Psalmist we find, I. A manifestation of God in those attributes of his nature, in which his intelligent offspring are more immediately concerned. II. The operations of his providence in their temporal support. III. The operations of his grace in their endless salvation. IV. The confidence they may possess, and the happiness they may feel in having this God for their portion. I. The Psalmist represents the Divine Being under those attributes in which his rational creatures are more especially concerned. He is merciful, faithful, righteous, and the God of judgment. This is the general view which David takes of this supreme Being, the Creator, preserver, and governor of all things, and on these views he founds his devotion, confidence, and gratitude. In order to worship God aright, these points must be carefully considered: The worship which God prescribes and requires, is not only a spiritual worship directed by truth, particularly suited to his own spiritual nature, John iv. 23, 24; but it is also a reasonable service, oyun λarpeia, as the apostle terms it, Rom. xii. 1, i. e., a service every way suitable to the perfect and excellent nature of him to whom it is offered; and expressive of the gratitude, homage, wants, and wishes of the worshipper. These are the principles on which the very essence of religion is founded, whether we call that religion natural or revealed. Every human being has a full conviction that his own wisdom is too imperfect to direct him; that his strength is not sufficient to protect him; and that happiness cannot be found where there is not wisdom and strength rationally excited to energetic operation, in order to produce and apply the means by which it can be produced and retained. On such a conviction, in the midst of dangers and deaths, which man's wisdom cannot foresee, nor his power protect him against, they have been led to look for foreign assistance; and as every man sees all his fellows nearly as weak and as ignorant as himself, and all thirsting for a happiness which they know not where to find, they have had a general idea of the possible existence of some spiritual nature, whose wisdom is infinite, and whose power is uncontrollable; whose influence and favour, could they but obtain, they might live free from dread, and acquire, under his guidance and support, all the means of defence and happiness. Ignorant and fallen as men are, God has not left them without some such ideas of his own Being, and some such convictions of their own weakness and dependent state. But as there was as yet no revelation, no directory for divine worship, men did not agree in what was to be the proper object of worship; nor could they tell with what rites or ceremonies this Being was to be worshipped; or, in other words, in what way or by what means they could interest his wisdom and power in their behalf. Who is God? They could not tell; but there must be some such Being. How is he to be worshipped? They could not conjecture; but a worship or religious service he must require. In such a state of mind, encompassed with thick darkness, imagination began to work, under the direction of caprice and folly; and the result must be as we find it: they had gods many, and lords many, and they worshipped them with the most foolish, absurd, extravagant, and often abominable and cruel rites, which instead of helping, sunk them into deeper degradation; so that |