SERMON IV.

1 KINGS. XIX. 4.

And he requested for himself that he might die.

In my last discourse I held up the prophet Elijah to your view, surrounded with all the honours of a divine kind of triumph. In the presence of king Ahab and his courtiers, and before all Israel, God was graciously pleased to accept his sacrifice, and to afford him the most extraordinary manifestations of his presence and power. The prophet beheld his enemies silenced on every side. He saw the tribes of Israel prostrating themselves upon the earth under an overwhelming sense of the majesty of Jehovah, and heard them crying out, as with the voice of one man, The Lord, He is the God! the Lord, He is the God! Never before was there so complete a victory obtained over infidel profaneness and idolatrous prejudice.

The prophet was saluted by the whole

assembly as a faithful servant of the Most High God, while sacred wonder and reverential awe were every where manifested among them in the most striking forms. But, alas, how variable and uncertain is the state of man! Surely man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain. Descend, O man, into the secret chambers of thine own spirit: there sit, and observe the state of things around thee, and thou wilt doubtless be constrained to exclaimCan I comprehend myself! can I tell into what form my will may grow up; under what new shapes I may appear; or through what strange circumstances I may pass !

Of all the mysteries which can occupy the thoughts of man, surely he himself is the most perplexing. Even in his best estate he is altogether vanity. Take him at his highest pitch of excellence, in all his primitive perfection, and clothed with the freshest rays of divinity among the crea tures-even in this glorious state, he was a mere shadow, a fleeting fancy, an airy bubble; and hence it was that he so suddenly vanished, and became like a dream when one awaketh.

And thus it was with this honoured servant of God. On the very day succeeding his public triumph, we behold him deserting his post, giving way to the most disheartening fears, and precipitately flying from the fury of an enraged woman. So striking an instance of human mutability was undoubtedly recorded for the twofold purpose of humbling and encouraging the children of the kingdom in all their generations. It may justly humble us to observe, that if God do but hide his face, our graces suffer an immediate eclipse; while, at the same time, it may reasonably encourage us under all the weakness and insufficiency we occasionally manifest, to recollect that thus it was with the most eminent of our brethren in every period of the Church. What I have to offer on this occasion, will relate to the cause of Elijah's alarm--the immediate effects produced by that alarm-and the consolations that followed.

And First, As to the cause of Elijah's alarm.

We are informed that, from Mount Carmel, the invigorated prophet accompanied Ahab to Jezreel, where at that time the

court was stationed: and it may readily be supposed, that the king and the prophet made their entrance into the city amid the loud and general salutations of its inhabitants.

It may also easily be conceived, that the interval of Ahab's absence from the court had been a season of painful anxiety to the queen no wonder, therefore, that her extreme impatience to be made acquainted with the events of the day, constrained her, immediately on his return, to request a private interview with the king. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done; and, withal, how he had slain all the prophets of Baal with the sword. We are not informed in what terms the king reported the supernatural appearance that had taken place upon Mount Carmel; though it may well be imagined, that he would feel a strong inclination to recount at large what had made so powerful an impression both upon himself and his people. But neither the solemn interference of Israel's God, nor the universal suffrage of the nation, could produce any change in the determination of the queen. She was obstinately bent upon ex

alting Baal, and perversely resolved to promote the sottish idolatries of her native country among the sons of Jacob. The results of the grand national assembly, which had been called in compliance with Elijah's request, very grievously disappointed her hopes. She had pleased herself with the expectation of hearing, that the zeal and influence of her four hundred prophets were not to be resisted, that all opposition was speedily borne down before the energy of their ministrations, and that Mount Carmel, through all its towering heights and shadowy dells, had been taught to resound the name of Baal. But, on the contrary, when she discovered that her prophets had been slaughtered, at the instigations of Elijah, with the concurrence of the king, and amid the applauding shouts of the people; she became exasperated to the highest pitch of frenzy. The desire of revenge now wholly possessed her soul: and, in this state of mind, disregarding the convictions of her husband, and setting at nought the awful exhibitions of Jehovah's power, she determined to adopt the strongest possible measures for the purpose of silencing every op