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delight to do their Father's will. They account the enjoyment of his favour to be their highest happiness.]

They serve God

[Their religion does not consist in mere inefficacious feelings. They make it appear to the world that they are God's servants. They perform even their civil and social duties with a reference to him. They do every thing with a view to his glory'.]

They are despised indeed by the world, but approved by their God

This will appear while we,

II. Declare the peculiar honour conferred upon them—

God has testified, in the strongest terms, his approbation of the godly. He has moreover " set them apart," as distinct from those that perish

This he did secretly in his eternal purpose

[His regard for them did not commence after they became godly. Their godliness is the fruit and not the cause of his love. He loved them, and set his heart upon them, from eternity'.]

He did it also openly, when he called them by his grace

[These two periods of their separation are mentioned by St. Paulm. In conversion, God sets apart sinners for himself. He inclines and enables them to come out from the world". He causes them to devote themselves entirely to his service°.]

He has set them apart too " for himself”—

[He makes their souls his own habitation P. He sheds abroad his love in their hearts by his Holy Spirit. He preserves them as living monuments of his power and grace. He regards them as his own peculiar treasure.]

This being a point wherein all are deeply interested, we shall,

III. Commend the subject to your solemn attention— This is not a matter of doubtful disputation

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[In every period of the world, God has had a peculiar people. They have been distinguished with special tokens of his love'; and though they were not set apart for their holiness, they have invariably been made holy; moreover, when they were holy, God delighted in them as holy.]

Nor is it a matter of trifling concern

[The Psalmist evidently speaks of it as deserving deep attention; and if it related only to this present state, it were worthy of notice. But the present separation of God's people for himself is a pledge and earnest of a future separation: in the day of judgment, God will complete what he here began. What distinguished honour will he then confer upon the godly"! Then he will be their joy, and they his glory, for ever*.]

1

Let the ungodly therefore know this to their

shame

[The Psalmist suggests the thought peculiarly in this view; and well may they be ashamed who despise what God loves. In vain do any hope to be God's hereafter, who are not his now. Let the ungodly therefore be ashamed of their false confidences. Let them set themselves apart for God, if they would have God set them apart for himself. Let them learn to live the life of the righteous, if they would die his death.]

But let the godly know it, to their unspeakable

consolation

[They who are beloved of God, have little reason to regard the contempt of men. God would have them assured of his superintending care. He would have them know their security, who take him for their God. Let the godly then rejoice in the honour conferred upon them. Let them look forward with joy to the final completion of God's gracious purposes towards them, and let them devote themselves more than ever to his service.]

Abel, Gen. iv. 4. Enoch, Noah, &c. Heb. xi. 5, 7. Paul, Acts ix. 15. u Mal. iii. 17.

$ 1 Pet. iii. 4. * Rev. xxii. 3, 4.

t Matt. xxv. 32, 33.
y Rom. viii. 31.

CCCCXCVIII.

A PRACTICAL EXHORTATION.

Ps. iv. 4, 5. Stand in awe, and sin not: own heart upon your bed, and be still. of righteousness: and put your trust in

commune with your Offer the sacrifices the Lord.

IN the Psalms of David there is a great diversity; some being expressive of his own experience, and abounding in petitions or thanksgivings, as the occasion required; others being simply historical, for the information of the Church; others prophetic of Christ and his kingdom in the world; and others again being merely instructive, for the benefit of mankind. Of this last kind is the psalm before us; in which, after declaring the comfort he had found in God, and offering a petition for the continuance of it (v. 1.), he reproves those who derided religion, and sought happiness in the world (v. 2.). He assures them, that God is the friend and portion of all who seek him (v. 3.); and recommends them to seek him in a becoming manner (v. 4, 5.); and from his own experience attests, that no increase of worldly prosperity can ever afford them so rich a recompence as His presence (v. 6, 7.), in which all who enjoy it find perfect rest (v. 8.).

As there is no certainty respecting the occasion on which it was written, we may take the text in a general view, and found upon it a general exhortation. Nor will there be any occasion for an artificial arrangement of it, because the different parts of the exhortation lie in an easy and natural order, and may be most profitably noticed as they arise in

the text.

Beware, then, of sin; or, as the text expresses it, "Stand in awe, and sin not"-

[The words "Stand in awe" are, in the Septuagint Translation, rendered, "Be ye angry:" and it seems that the Apostle Paul referred to them, when he said, "Be ye angry, and sin not." The original imports a violent commotion of the mind; and Bishop Horne translates it, "tremble." Certainly sin ought to be an object of extreme fear and dread: we can never "stand in awe" of it too much. See what it has done in the world, how it has deformed the whole face of nature, and more especially the soul of man, which was originally made in the image of God himself! See what was necessary for the expiation of it! Could nothing but the blood of God's co-equal, co-eternal Son make an atonement for it, and shall it appear

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a light matter in our eyes? Go, take a view of the Saviour in Gethsemane and on the cross; and then say, whether sin be not a formidable evil: or go down to those regions where myriads of our unhappy fellow-creatures are suffering the penalty due to it, and then announce to us your sentiments respecting it. One glimpse of it, in its true character, would be abundantly sufficient to convince you, that death, in its most terrific shapes, has no terror in comparison of sin.

How, then, should you "stand in awe of it," even when presented to you in its most flattering dress! What if men tell you that it is harmless, and will bring with it no painful consequences? Will you listen to their delusions? Will you, through fear of their derision, or from a hope of their favour, give way to sin, and subject yourselves thereby to the wrath of an offended God? O! sin not, either in a way of commission, or of omission: and if a fiery furnace, or a den of lions, be set before you as the only alternative with sin, hesitate not to choose death in its most tremendous forms, rather than accept deliverance on the condition of committing any wilful transgression.]

That you may not be unwittingly offending God, be careful to live in habits of daily self-examination—

["Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still." Persons, at the moment that they are acting, are not always able to form a correct estimate of their conduct: they are blinded by self-love, and deceived by a partial view of the things in which they are engaged: and often find, on reflection, that they have reason to be ashamed of actions which, at the time of doing them, they conceived to be right. Not only did Paul, in his unconverted state, err, when "he thought he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus," but all the Apostles of our Lord erred in matters which, at the time, appeared to them to be highly commendable. Who can doubt but that Peter, when he dissuaded his Lord from submitting to his approaching sufferings, and when he cut off the ear of Malchus, took to himself credit for his zeal and love? and that afterwards, when accommodating himself to the wishes of his Jewish brethren, in requiring from the Gentiles the observance of the Law, he supposed himself to be actuated by a condescending regard to the prejudices of his less-instructed brethren? Yet, on all these occasions he acted a part most displeasing to God, and was no other than an agent of the devil himself. In like manner, when James and John would have called fire from heaven, to consume a Samaritan village, they "little knew what spirit they were of." And all the Apostles, when they joined with Judas in condemning the extravagance of her who poured a box of

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ointment on their Master's feet, imagined that their regard for the poor was highly seasonable and praise-worthy. And it is probable that Thomas, too, considered his pertinacity, in requiring more substantial proofs of his Lord's resurrection, far preferable to the less cautious credulity of his fellow Apostles. Thus it is, more or less, with all of us: we need reflection; we need instruction; we need to have the film removed from before our eyes: we need a more thorough knowledge of the motives and principles by which we are actuated. Things may be substantially right, yet wrong in the time and manner in which they are carried into effect: or they may be essentially wrong, and yet, through the blindness of our minds, appear to us highly commendable. This is particularly the case with many who spend their time in prosecuting offices which do not belong to them, whilst they overlook and neglect the duties which are proper to their calling. We are not to set one table of the Law against the other; or to trample upon acknowledged duties for the purpose of augmenting what we may fancy to be our religious advantages. Doubtless, where unreasonable men reduce us to the alternative of offending God or man, we must make our stand against the usurped authority, and be content to bear the consequences: but if we were more willing to exercise self-denial for the Lord's sake, we should find that the path of duty would in many instances be more clear, and that we should on many occasions have less ground for self-reproach.

Let us, then, at the close of every day, review with candour the events in which we have been engaged, and the dispositions we have exercised: and, not content with examining ourselves, let us beg of God to search and try us, and to shew us whatever there has been in our conduct that was sinful, or erroneous, or defective; that so we may be humbled for the past, and be more observant of our duty for the future.]

Yet must we not so lean to the side of contemplation as to become remiss in action

[We are to "offer," and that with ever-increasing diligence," the sacrifices of righteousness." We are all "a holy priesthood, who are to offer up spiritual sacrifices, which are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Under the Law, there was a great variety of sacrifices; some for humiliation and others for thanksgiving. But, under the Gospel, every thing becomes a sacrifice, when it is done for God, and presented to him in the name of his dear Son. Doubtless the first offering which we are to present to God is our own heart. Without that, no other can come up with acceptance

b2 Cor. viii. 5.

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