this then be the disposition of our minds, and the practice of our lives. Let us say, "Awake up, my glory, awake, lute and harp, I myself will awake right early:" "I will sing of his righteousness all the day long;" "I will praise his name while I have my being." Then, at whatever period we shall be summoned into his immediate presence, we shall change our place, but not our employment; for the song, which we began on earth, shall be continued by us to all eternity, To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God, and the Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

CLXXXIII. THE DEPTH OF OUR SAVIOUR'S

HUMILIATION.

Isai. lii. 14, 15. As many were astonished at thee; (his visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men!) So shall he sprinkle many nations.

OF all the subjects that ever engaged the attention of the human mind, there is none so important as that which the prophet is now opening: the scriptures both of the Old and New Testament are full of it; it was exhibited in the first promise that was given to man after his fall: it was continued from that period with increasing clearness in the prophecies: it was set before the eyes of men in the sacrifices that were offered: and memorials of it are yet preserved in all Christian churches in the sacrament of the Lord's supper. Our Lord himself frequently introduced it in his discourses: it was the one topic of conversation when he talked with Moses and Elias on the mount of transfiguration. The apostles in their sermons and epistles represent it, as the foundation of all their hopes. Paul found it to be such an irresistible weapon, and so mighty to destroy the strong holds of sin and satan, that he determined to know nothing among his people but Jesus Christ and him crucified. This is

a Should be "him." Bp. Lowth.

that mystery, in which are contained all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. It is so extensive a field for meditation, that, though we traverse it ever so often, we need never resume the same track: and it is such a marvellous fountain of blessedness to the soul, that, if we have ever drunk of its refreshing streams, we shall find none other so pleasant to our taste; or rather, we shall never wish to taste any other. To the consideration of this subject we are immediately led by the words before us, in which we may observe both our Lord's unparal leled humiliation, and the ends for which he submitted to it.

I. His unparalleled humilation

In order to mark this the more distinctly, we will briefly notice the different steps of it from his cradle to his grave. Notwithstanding he was the Creator of the universe, he had no fitter place for his reception than a stable, no better accommodation than a manger: nor had he long made his appearance in the world before his life was sought, and he was driven a fugitive from his native country. Till the age of thirty his occupation was that of a carpenter, at which business he worked with his reputed father. And during the four last years of his life, nothing could exceed the contempt and ignominy with which he was treated. He was called a deceiver, a gluttonous man, and a winebibber: he was said to be in league with satan himself: snd the people thought they spake well and properly concerning him, when they said, He hath a devil, and is mad: yea, they even called him Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. But, most of all, when the time of his crucifixion drew nigh, then all ranks of people seemed to vie with each other in insulting him. They arrayed him in mock majesty with a purple robe, a crown of thorns on his head, and a reed or cane in his hand for a sceptre. They spit on him, they smote him, they plucked off his beard, according to that prediction, "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face

from shame and spitting." Nor was this the conduct of a few only; for he was universally execrated; he was considered as "a worm and no man, the very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people:" he was "one, whom man despised, and whom the nation abhorred." Having loaded him with all manner of indignities, and " plowed up his back with scourges, so as to make long furrows" in it, they nailed him to the cross, and left him to hang there, till exhausted nature should sink under the torments inflicted on him.

But, as others of mankind have been called to endure many things, let us particularly notice wherein his sufferings were unparalleled; for it is certain that "his visage was marred more than any man's." And here we shall find that both in variety and intenseness, they infinitely surpassed all that ever were sustained by any human being. In his civil state, as a member of society, he was degraded so low, that even a murderer was preferred before him. In his natural state, as a man, he was eminently distinguished above all the human race as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." He suffered much in his body, from labours, watchings, fastings; from the want even of a place where to lay his head; from the wounds made in it from head to foot, by the thorns, the scourges, and the nails. We may judge of this by what is said of him in the Psalms; "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels: my strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death." The troubles of his soul were yet greater still. Of these he himself frequently complained: "Now is my soul troubled; my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death." To such a degree was he agitated by internal conflicts, that, before he was even apprehended by his enemies, he was in an agony, and sweat great drops of blood from every pore of his body. Moreover, as his sufferings were thus various, so did they also spring from a variety of sources, from men, from devils, and

from God himself. Men laboured to the utmost to torment him by calumnies and reproaches, by taunts and revilings, and by all the cruelties that the most inveterate malice could devise and execute. Satan assaulted him with fiery temptations in the wilderness; and all the powers of darkness conflicted with him at the close of life. His heavenly Father too hid his face from him in the hour of his greatest extremity, and "bruised him" for the iniquities of his people, and called forth the sword of vengeance to slay "the man that was his fellow."'f

Together with this variety of sufferings, let us take a view also of their intenseness. In drinking this bitter cup, he found nothing to mitigate his sorrows, but every thing to agravate them to the uttermost. If we except the sympathy of a few women, he met with nothing but scorn and contempt from all who beheld him. Not even his beloved disciples afforded him any comfort; on the contrary, he was betrayed by one, denied by another, and forsaken by all. All orders and degrees of men were alike inveterate and devoid of mercy. Of this he himself complains by the prophet," I looked for some to have pity on me, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none; they gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." When in the depth of his dereliction he cried, "Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" so far from pitying, they, with unexampled cruelty, played or punned, as it were, upon his words, and mocked him as idolatrously calling upon Elias, instead of upon God; and, when he complained of thirst, they gave him vinegar, to increase his anguish, instead of a draught calculated to assuage it. Nor did he receive consolation from God, any more than pity from men. On the contrary, his heavenly Father now hid his face from him, and thereby extorted from him that bitter complaint which we have just recited. The united efforts of men and devils could not shake his constancy: but the hidings of his Father's face seemed more than he could endure; so painful was it to find an estrangement

there, where he could alone look for comfort and support. There were many things also which concurred to aggravate his sufferings beyond measure. It is not improbable that the perfection of his nature rendered him more susceptible of pain than other men: but however this might be, certainly his zeal for God must have given a tenfold poignancy to all his anguish. Consider that immaculate Lamb tempted by satan to distrust his Father's care, and turn the stones into bread for his support; then to presume upon his Father's care and cast himself down from a pinnacle of the temple; and then to deny his Father altogether, and to worship the devil in preference to him; how horrible must such suggestions be to his holy soul! Peculiar stress is laid on this by the apostle, who says, "He suffered, being tempted:" and we are told, he was so distressed by the conflict, that an angel was sent from heaven to strengthen him. The dereliction also before mentioned, must have been afflictive in proportion to the regard which he bore towards his heavenly Father. His love for men must also have been a source of inconceivable trouble to his mind. If "Lot vexed his righteous soul from day to day;" and David had "rivers of waters running down his eyes;" and Isaiah exclaimed, "Look away from me, I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me;" and Jeremiah cried, "My bowels, my bowels, I am pained at my very heart," on account of the ungodliness they beheld, and the consequences they foresaw, what must Jesus have felt when he saw, not only the wickedness of men's actions, but all the enmity of their hearts against God, and knew the full extent of those judgments which were soon to come upon them? How must the pride of the Pharisees, the unbelief of the Sadducees, the cruelty of the Herodians, and the stupidity of his own disciples wound his soul! The foresight which he had of his own sufferings must have been a still further aggravation of them. In many instances the expectation of pain is even worse than the pain itself: what then must he have enduped, when, from the very beginning, he foresaw every thing that should come upon him! To complete the whole, the accumulation of all his sorrows at once must have added so greatly to their weight, that, if he