V.

ROMANS. IV. 18.

WHO, AGAINST HOPE, BELIEVED IN HOPE.

To the unrenewed mind, this fact will appear a paradox; to the believer, renewed in the spirit of his mind, it will appear, as it is in truth, a spring of joy and consolation, having its virtues attested by clouds of witnesses; and herein we discover the difference which exists between these characters, when the day of trial and visitation comes upon them; to the one, hope never comes, but unbelief, disquietude, and misery; to the other, hope is the stay and anchor of the soul; the one will not hope, nor will he believe; the other, even against hope, will believe and rejoice in hope; of the one, Satan is the Father; the other is numbered amongst the sons of Abraham, the Father of the faithful;* and lastly, the former will, and must indeed, of necessity, yield to despair, or seek refuge in his own devices, trusting to the arm of man; the latter, like his

*Rom. iv. 11. 16.

believing Father, "will not stagger at the promise of God, through unbelief, but be strong in faith, giving glory to God,"*

Reader, to which of these characters do you belong? Judge by your present trial; consider it as sent to try your faith, as Abraham's was; but how great was the faith required of him, how trifling is yours in comparison: hope was against him, probability was against him, the course of nature was against him, but not the Word of God, not the oath and promise of God, not the Covenant, which Jehovah had made with him; therefore he was "not weak in faith" but was "fully persuaded, that what He had promised, He was able also to perform."+ Now are any of these things against you, as they were against Abraham? I believe, not one! whatever your situation be, whatever your affliction, how severe soever your suffering, and how great the trial of your faith, it cannot equal that of the faithful Patriarch: what then hinders but that your faith should equal his? your promises are the same, the same God of mercy and of grace, a God in Covenant with you, if you be Christ's, still waits to be as merciful and gracious unto you; be not then faithless, but believing; hope, yea trust, confidently trust, that the God of mercy will yet open a way for the advancement of your best interests, though that way to you shall seem clouded and obscure. When all shall appear

* Rom. iv. 20.

Rom. iv. 19. 21.

I at first wrote "wishes:" I recall the word on the au

dark and forbidding, discern with the eye of faith (for to the child of God is this privilege given) a ray of light gradually dawning, enlivening, animating, reviving. Go then your way; by God's Grace, against hope, still believe in hope: may He grant you power to glory and rejoice in your tribulation, "knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience hope; and hope maketh not ashamed."* "Be patient under the means by which your Heavenly Father sees needful to break your bonds to earth: submit to the correction of what may yet remain too human and earthly in your affections in order that your love may become thoroughly purified: you will love God more undividedly."+

The following extract from Luther is an excellent commentary on our subject, and will form an appropriate conclusion. The Wisdom of God is to be adored, who, when He is about to accomplish something great and surpassing our hopes, first

thority of the Scriptures, which teach me, that God's way is not our way, nor His thoughts our thoughts: and that that which appears in our idea a crown of happiness, might, if granted us, prove a crown of thorns! A good man,' says Charnock, shall have what he needs, though not always what he thinks he needs. Providence intends the supply of our necessities, not of our desires; He will satisfy our wants, not our wantonness. When a thing is not needful, a man cannot, properly, be said to want it; when it is needful, a good man shall not be without it.'

*Rom. v. 3. 5.

† Memoirs of Port Royal, Vol. 1, p. 346. 4th. edition.

seems to annihilate all expectation, and to reduce us to despair, as it is written, "He bringeth down to the grave, (ad inferos) and bringeth up again." He does this, to teach us the exercise of faith, hope, and love towards Him; and that we may learn to esteem things not seen above those which do appear, and against hope, to believe in hope, and to depend on Him, who "calleth things which are not, as though they were." Then, while He takes away from us all His most pleasant gifts, and exhibits Himself to us, as if His kindness and His loveliness had come utterly to an end, at that very time He is thinking most especially, and I might almost say, anxiously, the thoughts of Love towards us.'

* Letter to Prince George of Anhalt, on the death of Heldus. See Scott's Continuation of Milner's Church History.

VI.

PSALM LXII. 5.

MY SOUL, WAIT THOU ONLY UPON GOD: FOR MY EXPECTATION IS FROM HIM.

We have here the Psalmist expressing his entire confidence in God, and declaring his reason for it. Can we have a better resource pointed out, or a more persuasive argument for enforcing our application to the same? The soul is the seat of perception; it partakes of the pains of the body, but it has also to bear its own griefs, which are infinitely more acute than those of the body: the power of man cannot control the diseases of the body, the power of the Spirit of God can cause to cease the burdens of a wearied soul: the body may languish through the inefficiency of the means applied; the soul, if directed right, shall never fail of cure, nor seek consolation in vain. This direction David gives us, by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him." Hear how, in another Psalm,