neglect the preparation; or how shall we come to Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, if we refuse the guidance which God has offered, or despise the testimony which He has given us of his Son?

Of a subject, general as this is, it seems difficult to make any close or particular application. We have been contemplating the deep things of God; the mighty scheme by which the spiritual world is carried on, things which angels desire to look into. It is not easy to pass from the contemplation of the universe to that of individuals; nor is it expedient to draw rules for private conduct from that which is obscure in the ways of God's providence. But each subject has its appropriate feeling; and if it can but be made to produce that, it is not contemplated in vain. While we turn to other parts of the sacred record, then, to awaken the feelings of love, of fear, of godly sorrow, or godly diligence; let us derive from this, which we have now been contemplating, wonder and awe. Wonder, at the gracious purposes of God towards ourselves; awe, at the eminence to which we seem raised in consequence; and gratitude to Him for the persevering patience with which his purpose has been accomplished.

Nor let us imagine that wonder and awe are barren, unproductive sentiments, and unfitted to

vacancy.

produce any salutary effect upon our hearts. The wonder of the world, I grant, is no better than a plea for Awe may be the effect of weakness, and an effect which perpetuates its cause. But he who is led to wonder at the mysteries of God's providence; he who is made to feel awe in contemplating his purposes; he who is led to cry out, "Oh the depth of the riches, both of the goodness and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out;" -this man has gained a feeling which it is well worth his while to secure. This man shall return from such holy and absorbing contemplations, like one who has been admitted into communion with God. His countenance shall shine, like that of Moses, with the light which he has caught from his interview with the Father of spirits. He shall come back to the discharge of ordinary duties, raised above the ordinary causes of disturbance. He shall see clouds resting on the surface, and yet fear no evil: shall see the world heaving with revolutions, and feel no disquietude in himself; but convinced that all things are in the hand of God, and that all things shall work together for good to them that love God, he shall view the face of society agitated by change, and name this as the cause of his composure: "Who shall separate me from the love

G

of Christ?" Nay, he will add, as the ground of his security," In all these things we are more than conquerors. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor angels, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

But finally, while we gaze with awe on this mighty and mysterious scheme; transfer some portion of those feelings with which you contemplate the scheme, to those who have been the agents employed in its development; to the Jewish people, to the Israel of God. Think of the language in which they are themselves addressed, and learn the reverence due to them from the events in which they were concerned. "Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire as thou hast heard, and live?" Or hath “God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, and by signs, and by wonders, and by a mighty and a stretched-out arm? Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, there is none else beside him."

Think then of this people, wonderful in their original, wonderful in their elevation, and more wonderful still in their preservation; and learn to

trace in them the wonderful purposes of God towards ourselves. Rise, through the Jewish nation, to the knowledge of the God of Judah-of that great Jehovah, the great I AM, whose glory it is that He changeth not. In these records, see the depth of the foundation on which your faith is built, and rejoice in the multitude of witnesses by whom you are surrounded.

But let the gratitude which you must thus feel to God, descend on those whom God has employed in this work. Venerate the hands by which this record has been written, and preserved, and testified. Let God be honoured in those whom he has chosen. Let the ancient glory of Israel be reflected on their posterity, and let them be beloved for the fathers' sake. "Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thine excellency! and thine ene mies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places." (Deut. xxxiii. 29.)