only Being who could succour or protect them; and "turn to the Lord their God," confessing their forgetfulness of his bounty, and desertion of his altar.

Their conduct, indeed, was an aggravated instance of insensibility to the admonitions of Divine Providence; since they had been instructed to regard tribulation as the punishment of actual transgressions, and had been warned to avert it by a faithful adherence to the worship and service of the true God; yet, notwithstanding, they were repeatedly seduced into idolatry, and its endless abominations; and were consequently visited by palpable and appalling tokens of divine displeasure, enormous and overwhelming calamities famine, pestilence, and the sword. As Christians, we have not so learned to interpret the afflictive dispensations of the Almighty: we are neither taught, nor otherwise warranted, to regard the signal distresses of nations or individuals as the penalty of heinous sin. The punishments and rewards held out to us in the Christian revelation are the evil and the good of a future and eternal state. But, while we reject the notion that the afflictions of this life are tokens of divine retribution, yet we acknowledge, and have the utmost reason to

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be thankful, that they are most admonitory in their nature, and especially designed for our spiritual correction and improvement. The troubles which embitter human life in general, and the uncertainty which, in consequence, overshadows the prospect of every individual, confessedly forewarn us to establish our happiness on a firmer basis than is supplied in the safest and proudest conditions of humanity to seek our well-being and satisfaction in the Father of our spirits, the sense of his merciful approbation, and the assurance of his unchangeable friendship. Yet, notwithstanding we thus speak and are persuaded, our affections are often so engrossed by the objects of this world, our judgment so beguiled and infatuated-the prospective light of our understanding so obscured and darkened, that it is altogether doubtful whether our conviction of that uncertainty which clouds our destiny in this life, and may be charged with we know not what elements of wretchedness, will affect us religiously, will fix our thoughts on God and a future state; while the time present affords us an average share of the world's happiness, or even an exemption from poignant suffering, from severe distress. That conviction, there is cause to fear, will

lie in the mind as though it were an idle and barren speculation, or a portion of useless knowledge, till the precariousness of all that we value and cherish shall be evidenced to the senses;till not only those pleasures which we too accurately describe as working enchantment and fascination in the soul, shall be dissipated, but even the needful comforts of our life shall fail us-nay, the solace of adversity, the alleviation of sorrows, the scant provision spared, it may be, from a succession of losses, or the surviving friend that saves the heart from utter desolation.

As Christians, we are well assured that to love God, to obey him as he is revealed to us in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is "the one thing needful:" that thereby we obtain a deliverance from the just punishment of our sins, and lay up, in its stead, a treasure for ourselves above all comparison with the rewards of our labour here, and the prizes of a merely human ambition. Yet, in numerous instances, it is not till the hollow emptiness of this world is laid open by a stroke of sickness or calamity, or the rent of some strong affection, not till the soul is forced from its hold of terrestrial things, and cast upon religion as the last resource of hope

and consolation, compelled to cling to it as to a solitary plank on the infinite abyss,it is not till such a moment that we are awakened to the wants and exigency of our spiritual nature; feel the pressure of our eternal concerns; cast an anxious eye into an endless futurity and crave a sympathy larger and more effectual than can be shown us by a fellow-mortal. Then, indeed, we often "turn unto the Lord our God" in earnest supplications for his mercy; in ardent resolutions to fulfil his will; and in deep, protracted meditation on his word and providence. Then we feel as though our spiritual nature were inspired with unaccustomed energy;—for as the powers of reflection are strengthened by seclusion from external objects, and thought becomes more vigorous and excursive in the inaction of the senses, in darkness and silence, it seems that our spiritual and immortal being acquires unusual power in the gloom which overcasts this world, and the blank vacuity of its joys and hopes. We take a larger comprehension of our inalienable duties, and enduring interests, we feel more impatiently the chain of the flesh and its corruptions,we spurn the seductive pleasures of the senses, we pant for "a new heart," and "a

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right spirit," we aspire to the divine nature, we clasp the promise of an immortal life, and cherish the hope which it enkindles. Happy if a solicitude so rational and propitious prove, in the main, abiding! Happy if it survive the occasion of its excitement, surmount the force of recurring temptations, and effectually free the sufferer from the bondage of the passions! so that the succeeding tenor of his life may entitle him, when appealing to the Searcher of all heartswho, merciful to the weakness of our resolutions, and passing by our manifold trespasses and imperfections, is ever ready to accept the upright purpose of his servantsto adopt the words of the Psalmist :-" Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I have kept thy word."

As the history of the Jews is recorded for our instruction, the text is a most encouraging exhortation to those who are in tribulation, and who, like the refractory Israelite, or the Psalmist whose confession we have just cited, have "gone astray" from the path of divine ordinances. It calls upon them to consider and acquiesce in the gracious design of the Almighty towards them; to regard him as at length convincing them, by their own expe