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this purpose to look beyond the mere circumstances which are visible, to the hand which is invisible. And does it not follow therefore, that the more we are brought by the true spirit of devotion to acquaint ourselves with God, the more firm will be our reliance upon Him? What we learn in this devotional way does not appeal merely to the understanding; it goes to the heart; it reaches the very springs of.. thought; it forms and matures, and is interwoven with, our principles; and by the aid of that grace without which we can do nothing, but which works by means, it gradually leads us to repose with unshaken trust upon the Rock of our salvation. In this spirit the whole of the latter part of the psalm is composed, as a natural deduction from the right employment of the Sabbath; and if we follow the example of the psalmist in his offerings of praise, why shall we not be blessed like him with a holy and abiding conviction that God will still manifest His loving-kindness to us, and fulfil in our behalf His promises of grace?

It is a good thing, because it assists to keep alive our feelings of gratitude and love.

Where is the Christian who has not experienced on many occasions the pernicious effect

of worldly cares and worldly communications; in weakening the energy of his religious affections, and sensibly taking away from that fervour of gratitude, with which, in happier times, he looked up to the Father of mercies ? A cold notion of religious truth, so far as it regards the intellect alone, may easily be preserved; it will often remain in the same way with any other truth which has once been admitted on satisfactory evidence; but the af fections of the soul require to be cultivated; they can flourish only in use and exercise; to leave them to themselves, is in fact to destroy their power, to rob them of all their energy; in order to support them in their full vigour, it is necessary that we should avail ourselves of every opportunity which may fix them upon their proper object. We find accordingly, that those persons who have been the most remarkable for their overflowing love to God and man, who have felt most deeply the obligation under which they are laid by the mercies of providence and grace, are precisely the men who have been most remarkable for the spirit of devotion. At the sacred altar of their Lord they kindled again their dying graces; and while the incense of their thanksgiving went

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up to heaven, thither also their affections ascended, and caught new life and energy from that blessed communion. Such is ever the progress of that real and spiritual religion which lives in the hearts of all true believers; it leads them with fervent adoration to shew forth the loving-kindness of the Lord in the morning, and His faithfulness every night; and by the hearty performance of this duty, it adds still more largely to the warmth of their gratitude, the vigour of their faith, the fervour of their love.

Hence it is a good thing to be thus employed, by reason of the security which it affords against the habits and maxims, and examples of an evil world.

There is no man so little likely to be overcome by these things, as the person who is frequently holding intercourse with God in the exercise of devotion. While impressed with a sense of his obligation to the Author of all grace, for the great things which He has already wrought on his behalf, and the greater things which He has promised, how opposite to his inclinations will be the allurements and temptations of the world! What things might otherwise seem gain to him, all these he is more

ready to count loss for Christ; he feels more and more deeply the value of eternal things, and every additional view which he takes of the loving kindness and truth of the Lord, as seen especially in the face of Jesus Christ, serves only to confirm him in the determination to do nothing which may throw despite upon His mercy, or indicate distrust of His great and precious promises. With love in his heart, and heaven in his contemplation, he passes through the world as a stranger and pilgrim upon earth, viewing with holy indifference the temptations which it can present to him, or fighting courageously the battles of his faith.

Well therefore may we say, with the psalmist, it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High! But let us not be contented with the mere form of devotion; let us cultivate the spirit of it, seeking to worship God in spirit and in truth; and as we possess a corrupt nature, and are but too apt to grow weary in well-doing, let us avail ourselves of every help and assistance to kindle the flame of gratitude where it exists not, and to increase it where it is. Contemplate, especially with this view, the exceeding love of your Redeemer; view Him in His glory

and His humiliation; follow Him into the place of His agony; stand by and behold Him on the cross; see His body broken and His blood shed for you; listen to Him, still speaking by His word, His providences, His ministers, His sacraments, and then ask whether any but a soul which is dead in trespasses and sins-dead to the accents of mercy, dead to the influence of love, dead to all the motives by which it might be expected that a rational being should be persuaded-can continue insensible and unmoved?

Is not this, my brethren, a fair test by which the religion of every one of us may be tried? "How am I affected by the loving kindness and faithfulness of my God and Saviour? What are my emotions of gratitude for all the benefits which I daily receive? With what feelings do I bend the knee, or approach the table of the Lord? Is there nothing of pure devotion, nothing within my heart which excites me to blessing, adoration, and praise? What, then, is my religion? What interest have I in this Saviour? What sense or perception have I of these great and abundant blessings, which have flowed in so many streams from the Fountain of mercy?" May it please God to take away

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