and fields in their fertility, the prospect of towers and cities, and the gladdening sight of men. His spirits revive, and he pursues his way with alacrity and joy. It is an emblem of our journey through this probationary world, in which God has subjected all things, whether natural or moral, to a variety of changes. It is his will, that from the trials he sends us, we should learn fortitude and discipline of soul : -to perform with fidelity and readiness the work that he gives us to do,-and to learn from experience and duty, that sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. If he appoints us an arduous service to perform, he will enable us to accomplish it by the same power that he enabled David to vanquish the Philistine. If we encounter, for his sake, any great and terrific danger, he will preserve us from it, as he did the prophet Daniel, in the lions' den. If we rely upon his power and goodness, "he will make a way for us to escape.'

Even in the last extremity, of our falling into some affliction of pain or sorrow, from which we cannot escape in this life, we should not grieve as men without hope, much less should we persuade ourselves that "God is pleased to destroy us." He has fixed a natural term to the duration of man's life; and in many cases, this natural term is shortened by disease, by accident, or by sorrow. Some men do not live out half their days, and those days may be embittered with continual griefs. Yet even this is no proof of God's displeasure. For we are to consider

the present life not as the termination, but as the beginning of our existence. It is our appointed state of trial, in which we are to give proof of our fidelity to God, and our reliance on the merits of our blessed Saviour. We are to view this life in connexion with the life to come,-and to regard the adversities and woes we suffer here, as intended to prepare us for the rewards that shall be given, and the glory that shall be revealed in us hereafter. "If we endure chastening, God dealeth with us as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not."-" If we are faithful unto death, He will give us a crown of life."

2d. We should, therefore, regard all God's dispensations as proofs or pledges of his love. "He doth not afflict willingly or grieve the children of men," so as to cast them off for ever; but he delights over them to do them good. That good, if withheld from them in this life, will be abundantly bestowed in the next. All things around us are evidences of his power, and, at the same time, they are evidences of his goodness. In the natural world, he has furnished us with all things for the support of our bodies,though the scene around us may sometimes be disturbed by frightful storms or other unfavourable appearances. The rain that watereth the earth, though less agreeable to our imagination, than a continuance of sunshine, is necessary to fertilize the fields. The tempest that walketh at noon-day, is serviceable in purifying the air. In the moral world, he has supplied every thing that tends to the benefit

of our souls,-though he sometimes visits us with afflictions and adversities. By these our hearts are softened and cleansed, as the gold is purified by the fire. He has given us the faculty of reason, the light of conscience, the laws of Scripture, the aids of grace, and the promise of eternal salvation through Christ. True it is, that if we sin against him,-if we persist in wickedness, and refuse to repent and to amend our lives, we shall offend his goodness, and provoke his wrath; for he will not suffer a wilful sinner to escape unpunished. When all his means of correction and admonition fail,-when we despise his counsel, disregard his rebukes, and contemn his authority, his spirit will not always strive with us ;he will shut up his tender mercies in displeasure. But if we assiduously obey him and walk by the light of truth which he has afforded us, we shall experience, to our comfort, that "God is love."

While, therefore, we serve him with purity of heart, we may cast off all gloomy apprehensions,— assured that, in the end, all things shall work together for our good. We should receive all his blessings as arguments of his love for us,-particularly those that are more remarkable than ordinary. We should make the same use of his afflictions and warnings, considering them in the light in which the prophets describe the reverses and sufferings of the ancient Israelites, as invitations to the amendment of our lives, but still as proofs of his love, with relation either to the present life, or to the life that is to come.

We should, accordingly, learn to trace his providence even in the minutest circumstances of good or evil that happen to us, and cultivate the fear and love of him; but especially the love,—as all his dispensations are for the good of our souls. We should serve him with fear, and rejoice with trembling; for thus we shall endeavour with the more earnestness to search out and correct all our faults, whether open or secret, and shall the more vigilantly guard against the incursions of any new sin. We may then, with tranquillity of soul, place a cheerful confidence in the God of our salvation. If we receive an injury from men, we may severally apply to them the words which Joseph addressed to his brethren ;-" As for you, ye think evil against me, but God meaneth it unto good." If our outward circumstances are unprosperous, and threaten us with grief and privation, we may adopt the language of the prophet-" Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour in the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will joy in the God of my salvation." If we are suffering under any disease or personal calamity, we may say with the Psalmist, "I know, O Lord that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." We may profess our confidence in him, in the language of his servant Job—“ Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."

66

66

ON

SERMON VII.

THE DESTRUCTION OF PHARAOH AND THE

EGYPTIANS.

EXODUS X. 29.

And Moses said, thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face

no more.

THE obstinacy of Pharaoh, in defiance of the many miracles which had been wrought by Moses, is one of the most remarkable circumstances that are recorded in the Old Testament. It could scarcely be imagined, much less could it, as a matter of fact, be believed, that any person, possessing a competent share of reason, could have resisted such evidences of divine power as were exhibited before his eyes. He had conceived a violent prejudice against the Israelites who were resident in his kingdom;-he was determined to oppress them, not only in the most tyrannical, but also in the most ingenious manner;—and if no supernatural check had presented itself, we should not have wondered at any excesses,