If any hood, injuftice and theft. For olence-will wish them well, and the duties, which we owe imme-feek their present and future good. diately to God, are certainly as They will carefully avoid wrongbinding, as thofe we owe to man- ing and injuring others, and faithkind, and true benevolence, or re- fully perform the various duties ligion, will regard the moft High they owe their fellow-creatures. as its firft object. Did we fee For those that love God, will perfons indulging in knavery, keep his commands, and these falfehood, injuftice, and other fim- enjoin their duty toward man, as ilar vices, and yet flattering them- well as toward God. felves, that they were truly pious therefore are knavish, unjuft, opand benevolent, and in the way preffive, revengeful, contentious to heaven, because they punctual- or neglectful of the duties which ly observed the external forms refpect mankind; it is manifeft, and duties of religion towards that they have no true piety or God, fhould we not confider love to God, whatever may be them as very unreasonable and hy- their profeffion or fhew of religion. pocritical? But are they not quite as unreasonable and hypocritical, who live in neglect of daily prayer, public worship, ferious obfervance of the fabbath and other fimilar duties, and perhaps even make light of divine things, and yet pretend to real religion and benevolence; because they are moral and honeft in their dealings with mankind? The religion, which thus leads perfons to difregard God and the duties we owe him, and affects to regard our fellow creatures above our Creator, we may know, is not the religion of the Lord Jefus, who taught, that the firft and great command, is to love God with all the heart, and that except we love him above father, mother, wife, or children, we cannot be his difciples. And thofe, who And thofe, who embrace fuch a religion, cannot be far from total infidelity. Finally, let us all be excited to the exercife of fupreme love to Jehovah. It is the firft and higheft duty of each one of us. We are urged to it by the most weighty motives and obligations. God is infinitely glorious and lovely, and therefore deferving of our highest affection and regard. We are alfo under the highest obligations of gratitude to him for his innumerable favors, and ef pecially for his unspeakable gift of the Saviour. We live every moment-upon his goodness, and it is of his mere mercy, that we are out of hell. How vile then our ingratitude and wickednefs, if we have no love for our Almighty Benefactor, and live in Jifobedience to his righteous comm mands? We fhall justly deserve to be frowned from his glorious prefence into outer darknefs, where there will be weeping and gnashing of 3d. It may be obferved, that teeth. Yea, this cordial affection although true piety or benevo- and reconciliation to the divine lence will neceffarily flow out in character are abfolutely neceffary fupreme love to God as its first to our peace and happiness in the object; yet it will always be ac- prefent and future world. For companied with a benevolent re- God is the only fource of real gard to mankind. Thofe, who good. His prefence and fmiles love Jehovah, will alfo love all conftitute the felicity of heaven. mankind with the love of benev-Unless therefore we are cordially reconciled to him, and difpofed to rejoice in him as our portion, we can never be happy. For "there is no peace, faith the Lord, unto the wicked." If we continue impenitent and unreconciled to his holy character, we must be forever excluded from his blifsful prefence, and have our portion with hypocrites and unbelievers in the regions of woe and defpair. As therefore we regard our prefent or future good, let us choose God as our portion-acquaint ourselves with him, and be at peace with him, and thereby good, eternal good, will come unto us. H. E. On the imprecations of David, and other Saints, recorded in the ferip tures, against the enemies of the church. MPRECATIONS are prayers for evils to be inflicted upon thofe against whom they are made. There are many fuch prayers recorded in the holy fcriptures. David, the man after God's own heart, ufed them freely, on all occafions, when the fituation of the church, respecting its enemies, led him to apply unto God in its behalf. The fervency, importunity and perfeverance with which thefe imprecations are made, and the ftrong and unreferved language in which they are expreffed, renders it evident, that he was fincere in them, and earnest that they fhould be accomplished. "Let death feize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell; for wickedness is in their dwellings." And again, "Add iniquity to their iniquity; let them not come into thy righteoufnefs; let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous." Jeremiah made the fame interceffions against the wicked. "Pull them out like fheep for the flaughter, and prepare them for the day of flaughter." Paul ufed the fame prayers or imprecations against Alexander the coppersmith, faying, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works." The fcriptures abound with fuch. imprecations. We find them in the old teftament and the new, and particularly in the Pfalms. As an example of the whole, the reader is requested to stop here, and carefully read the whole of the 35th Pfalm. * * * barraffed in reading these paffages Many have been greatly emof the fcriptures, and could not fo understand them, as to recon. cile them with Chriftian benevolence, and cordially adopt the fentiments expreffed, and enter into them, as they do into the other prayers, which they find in the holy fcriptures. An attempt will now be made to remove thefe difficulties from the minds of ferious Chriftians. Should the wri ter fucceed, his fuccefs will be confidered as an abundant recompenfe. Two unfatisfactory me thods to relieve thefe difficulties will firft be mentioned.-Some of the learned tell us that the original language would have admitted that these imprecations fhould have been tranflated as prophecies, and instead of the expreffion, "Let deftruction come upon him at unawares, and let his net that he hath hid catch himself, into that very deftruction let him fall," as it is in the 8th verfe of the Pfalm noticed, it might have been rendered, Deftruction fhall come upon him at unawares, his net that he hath hid fhall catch him felf, into that very deftruction he fhall fall.' It is faid, that mere prophecies are, in the Hebrew original, often expreffed in the form of prayers, and that, if this had been so tranflated, it would have removed every difficulty.But it is conceived, that the men whom God in his providence has employed to tranflate the Bible, for the use of his church, have been fo far under the guidance of his fpirit, as to make no effential errors. If the tranflation may not be depended on as having been made under a special divine fuperintende ce, fo that no effential mistakes have been committed, how has God provided for his church? None but the learned, who can read the bible in the original languages, can have any rule for faith or practice. But the learned well know that our tranf lation has no fuch errors, and that these imprecations are rendered confiftent with the original. It is then very wrong to infinuate, that the difficulty cannot be removed but by a translation, which the Hebrew may indeed bear, but which is fo effentially different from ours, as to contain very oppofite fentiments. It tends to Thake the confidence of the unlearned in the only rule of direction which God has given them. But allowing that thefe paffages are only prophecies of evils which are coming on the wicked, it relieves us of no difficulty, for the Pfalmift evidently fpoke of them with approbation and pleafure, as the means of deliverance and bleffing to the church. This appears by the next words after the imprecation already quoted, "And my foul fhall be joyful in the Lord; it fhall rejoice in his falvation." That is, in the falvation effected by the deftruction which should come upon the wicked at unawares. And if we adopt the fame spirit in reading, as he did in writing it, we alfo fhall for the fame reafons rejoice in the deftruction which is coming on the wicked. This amounts to the fame thing, and is no lefs difficult, than to unite with the Pfalmist in praying against the wicked. It removes no embarraffment.-Befides, David uses the fame form of fpeech when praying against his enemies, as he does when praying for himself, and for those bleffings, for which he promises to givethanks, It therefore appears evident that these paffages are direct imprecations on the wicked, and that any other conftruction is unnatural and ftrained, and inconfiftent with the fimplicity of the scriptures, and if admitted, would relieve us of no difficulty. Others, fenfible that thefe are imprecations, and unwilling to fuppofe that they can be confift ently adopted by Christians, have inattentively conceived, that things of this nature were lawful under that difpenfation, which are contrary to the prefent. They may fuppofe that our Saviour had reference to this, when he said, "Ye have heard that it hath been faid, thou fhalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy; but I fay, unto you, love your enemies." But the direction, hate thine enemy,' is not in the law. It was a perverfe tradition or conftruction of the Pharifces. The old teftament, as well as the new, directs, "If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink."§ The religon of both difpenfations is effentially the the fame, they are by no means Prov. xxv. 21. opposite to each other. The fame, fpirit is required towards both friends and enemies, and the paffages in queftion may be adopted by the faints now, with the fame propriety as in ancient times. Therefore this expedient fails, and affords no relief. That all difficulties may be removed, it fhould be remarked, that these imprecations were not produced by revenge, malice or perfonal refentment. This appears from the strains of devotion with which they are intermixed, and from the fpirit which the Pfalmift manifefted in the 13th and 14th verfes. "But as for me, when they were fick, my clothing was fackcloth: I humbled my foul with fafting, and my prayer returned into my own bofom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother." His conduct towards Saul might alfo free him from any fuch imputation. Befides, fo good a man as David, could not have fo often, with fuch folemnity, with a revengeful fpirit, into the prefence of God. Nor would revengeful imprecations have been admitted into a book of hymns and fpiritual fongs, which God has given to direct and affift the devotions of his church, much lefs could any thing fo contrary to the commands of God, have been dictated by divine infpiration. Therefore these prayers are not the effufions of malice, but are confiftent with benevolence, and are well pleafing to God, and given for the ufe of the church. gone It should also be remarked, that God had made David the vifible leader of his church, and the enemies against whom he prayed, were his enemies on account of his piety, and because God had thus exalted him to feed his people. Their mifchievous devices were really aimed at the kingdom and glory of God. It was therefore a fervent regard to the kingdom and glory of God, which David expreffed, and it was his piety and benevolence, which led him to pray that these enemies fhould not fucceed in their wicked defigns; and that God fhould be glorified, and his church profpered, though it fhould take place by means of the deftruction of his enemies. Befides, it was only on the fuppofition that they would continue incorrigible, that he prayed for their deftruction; for he asked it only on account of the injury they were doing, and that the cause of Zion might not be hurt by them; and before he clofes the Pfalm, he prays, saying, "Let them fhout for joy and be glad, that favor my righteous caufe," which all but the incorrigible will do, and fo become the objects of his interceffions, inftead of imprecations. Further, it should be confidered that thefe imprecations coincide with the penalties of God's law, and with the predictions of his wrath upon the incorrigible enemies of his church, which he often mentions to his people for their encouragement and comfort, and are conformable to his actual dealings with the finally impenitent. Their deftruction is necef fary to the fupport of law and government, the glory of God, and the fafety and welfare of his kingdom. The wrath of God against the wicked does not proceed from malevolence, but is an expreffion of love to the universe, in the deftruction of its enemies. The friends of God are called to acquiefce in the juftice of God, from the fame benevolence of heart, and thefe imprecations are but the expreffions of the fame fpirit which God manifefts in his law and juftice, and of entire acquiefence in his government. Chrift himfelf fays, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou haft given me. An oppofite fpirit, in favor of incorrigible finners, which would defire that they might fucceed in their mifchief with impunity, would have been oppofing God. These prayers against the wicked, on the fuppofition that they were irreclaimable, which David had all reafon to believe was the cafe, fhows that he had a fpirit conformed to God, and felt interested in the fame cause. may be remarked, that thefe directions require the fame fpirit and conduct as David exercifed towards Saul. They do not require us to wish that the enemies of Chrift and his people should fucced in their attempts to ruin the church, or that we fhould be enemies to the juftice of God, and pray that final impenitents might be faved. The gofpel condemns them, no less than the law; Chrift himself pronounces them accurfed. But the directions of Chrift forbid all personal refentments, and require our prayers that his enemies may not remain incorrigible; but be converted over to his caufe. They do not oppose the imprecations of David, who himself prayed for his enemies, but require us to be benevolent to the enemies of Chrift and his people, while like David, we pray that God would interpofe for his own caufe, as he has told us he will, though it should be neceffary to do it, by the deftruction of his enemies. It is hoped that these observations will relieve the pious, from any difficulties which they may have had on this fubject, and enable them to enter most cordially Befides, the object which the Pfalmift had in view, was the profperity of the great caufe, which feems to have fo abforbed his mind with its magnitude and importance, that it became his fingle object, and the concerns of individuals did not at all come into view; and he regarded other perfons and things only as they appeared in favor, or oppofition to this caufe, and of course, moft heartily prayed for every thing in its favor, and against all oppofition to its profperity. It is pre-into the true fpirit of thofe pfalms, fumed, that no one can confiftent, and other portions of fcripture, ly object against such a spirit, as which God has given to direct and tho' it was contrary to the fpirit aid their devotions. They will of the Chriftian difpenfation, and teach us, that neither the benev that every Chriftian will find his olence of God, nor of his people, heart drawn forth in the fame de- are inconfiftent with the final defires, for the profperity of Zion, ftruction of his implacable enwhich dictated these prayers. emies, that God punishes the wicked, and the faints rejoice in it, from a spirit of real benevolence to the universe, which fhows that juftice is not malevolence, manifefts its glory, and extinguishes all grounds of hope in the cafe of fuch as remain in their fins; and these observations will show, that Should any one after all, be unable to reconcile thefe imprecations with the directions of Chrift, "Love your enemies, bless them that curíe you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that defpitefully ufe you and perfecute you;" it |