wearied with His journey on the well of Samaria* is the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who fainteth not, neither is weary.' Wonder, O my soul, and adore! He emptied Himself, that thou mightest be filled ; He impoverished Himself, that thou mightest be enriched; He became weary, that thou mightest be refreshed. He giveth power to the faint, and to him that hath no might He increaseth 'strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary; and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary : and they shall walk, and not faint.'|| The virtue of his atonement cleanses from all sin the merit of His righteousness justifies the ungodly: the prevalency of His intercession preserves His redeemed from danger, and secures acceptance to their persons and prayers. The might' of His : arm is all-sufficient to defend them from all ́dangers ghostly and bodily, to support and uphold them even to the end. For the Lord's portion is His people: Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness:' and with respect to each of them, He leads him about, He instructs him, * John iv. 6. + Isai. xl. 28: Isai. xl. 29, 30, 31% He keeps him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttering over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone leads, defends, and saves those, who ⚫ trust in His defence, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.'* So that each individual of His little flock may adopt the Apostle's triumphant exclamation, and say, who shall lay 6 any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is • God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who 6 * Deut. xxxii. 9---12. How striking is the image of God's tender care, which is here used by the sacred historian; ' He 'kept him as the apple of His eye;' which, being a most valuable part of the body, and liable to injury from the slightest accident, the wisdom of Divine Providence has placed deep in the head, and secured in a most remarkable manner by various means, which like the several parts of a fortification, prevent the enemy's approach. Pupilla oculi est inquam illud in tunica oculi cor• nea, per quod instar fenestræ species rerum intromittuntur, & ad mentem deferuntur; estque adeo id in oculo, quod corruptum 'visum tollit vel minuit. Cum autem inter sensus omnes visus 'homini maxime sit utilis et necessarius: pupilla oculi censetur 'res omnium carissima, cui conservandæ quisque summo studio 'invigilat: quæ causa est, quod ubi cura tenerrimi amoris, quo 'Deus populum suum prosequitur, et studium ejus protegendi ac 'præservandi, Scriptura hac utatur phrasi, qua hoc in loco Moses, 'Psa. xvii. 8, Zach. ii. 8.' Vitringæ Commentarius ad Canticum Mosis. shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall • tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay • in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor • principalities, 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, which is in Christ Jesus ' our Lord.'* Rom. viii. 33---39. ESSAY VIII. ON THE THIRD COLLECT AT MORNING SERVICE, FOR Grace. VARIOUS are the acceptations of the word GRACE in the sacred pages. In its primary and general sense it signifies the favour of God. This is the perennial fountain, or rather the boundless ocean, from which every stream of blessedness flows, whether to angels and saints made perfect in heaven, or to sinners on earth. Sometimes the various traits of the Christian character are intended by this term. such as faith, hope, love, and patience; because these are rivulets flowing from the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. In other places we must thereby understand that ability, which God communicates to His believing people for the performance of the several functions of the Divine life. Our life springs from the grace of God, and every act of that spiritual life proceeds from a continual communication' of power from Him, so that our works can only be 6 spiritual in their rise, progress, and accomplishment, so far they are begun, continued and • ended in Him." In this latter sense our church uses this important word in the rubric that precedes the third collect at morning service; wherein she teaches us to pray for supplies of grace in the following excellent words. O Lord our Heavenly Father, Almighty, Everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day; defend us in the same with Thy mighty power, and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings being ordered by Thy governance may be righteous in Thy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.'* The persons, who address these admirable words to God in prayer, are evidently supposed to be true believers; those, whom the Apostle Peter describes, as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,' appointed to shew forth the praises of Him, who hath called them out of darkness into His marvellous light, and to offer up spiritual sacrifices, • acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.' For, The third Collects, both at morning and evening service, are 'framed out of the Greek Euchologion.' WHEATLY. |