SERM. the protection of providence, and make VII. them a profperous and flourishing peo Ver. 24. ple. He, afterwards, denounces very fevere judgments against them, if they revolted from the fervice of the true God, and imitated the corruption and wickedness of idolatrous nations; judgments in which the divine power and vengeance would be remarkably vifible; fo exemplary and terrible, that all nations fhould enquire into the cause of them, and fay, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the beat of this great anger? To which it might be answered, that the reason why they were punished in fo fignal a manner was, that their iniquities were exceedingly aggravated; that they had finned against a clear revelation of the will of God, and renounced their allegiance and duty to him, notwithstanding they were favoured with extraordinary and peculiar privileges: They have forfaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the the land of Egypt. For they went and SERM. ferved other Gods, and worshipped them; VII. Gods whom they knew not.-And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curfes that are written in this book. And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and caft them into another land, as it is this day. But because it might be ask'd Ver. 15.-farther, why he interpos'd to bring fuch 25. grievous calamity and deftruction upon them while he fpared other very corrupt, idolatrous, and wicked nations, 'tis added in the words of the text, that we are not able, in innumerable cafes, to fix the precise reasons of the divine conduct, and therefore fhould not perplex and bewilder ourselves with fruitlefs enquiries of this kind; The fecret things belong unto the LORD our God, &c. M. Le A very learned commentator fuppofes, that there might be another queftion Clerc. ftarted (befides that mentioned in the 24th verfe) of which we have no particular account, viz. Whether the Ifraelites would ever, in fact, become thus SERM. degenerate, and bring themselves, by VII. their guilt, into fuch deplorable and dreadful circumstances; and that Mofes, in the text, checks this idle inquifitive humour, which makes men anxious about futurity, and to be acquainted with events that don't concern them. But these things are not of much importance; for if we fhould not be able to fix to what it immediately refers, the text has, in general, an eafy and obvious sense, and naturally fuggefts feveral useful things to be the subject of the ensuing discourse. As, I. That 'tis a vain and foolish curiofity to enquire into things that we can't comprehend, and with respect to which we have no light to direct us, either from reafon or revelation. II. That there are, properly speaking, no mysteries in religion. The fecret things belong unto the LORD our God, and only things reveal'd, things that are plain and intelligible, belong to us. III. That III. That the great end of revelation SERM. is practice, the practice of folid and VII. fubftantial virtue; that we may do all the words of this law. From whence IV. That no doctrines, which, in the Fifth and laft place, that the importance of the feveral doctrines of revelation I. 'Tis a vain and foolish curiofity to enquire into things that we can't comprehend, and with respect to which we have no light to direct us, either from reafon, or revelation. Of this kind are the fecret counfels and decrees of God, and future events in which we have no manner of concern. There are many truths that are neceffarily hid from us, and wrapp'd up in clofe impenetrable darkness. Such is the narrowness and limitation SERM. limitation of our prefent faculties, that VII. we are ignorant of the end and uses of innumerable things in the conftitution of nature; and particular events in the conduct of providence confound and puzzle us, because we have but very loofe and imperfect conceptions of its whole defign. And yet the pride of man would grafp at every thing. It sets itself to judge, or rather to make childish and groundless conjectures where it knows nothing; takes it amifs that the All-wife Creator has not condefcended to reveal to it all his fecrets; and can't perfuade itself to use and improve the knowledge it has, for the uneafiness it feels, and its impatient and eager defire after what it has not. Such a temper as this is very perverse and unreasonable. For 'tis certainly the true wifdom of mankind (as there are bounds fet to the human understanding, beyond which it cannot pafs) to pursue those truths which are within the reach of their faculties, and digeft and cultivate that useful knowledge which is of the highest importance to them; and to be thankful that their rational powers are of fo |