on Israel to use strangers kindly, is, to rcnioniber they were once so, Dent, xxiii. 'I. Hast thou, after h)ng lying in the (lungeon of spiritual darkness and trouhles of. conscience, had thy head lifted up with the comforts of the Spirit, and received into the presence of God, as Pharaoh's hutler was to his prince's coiu-t ? How canst thou think thyself thankful, while thou forgettest others that lie in the same prison, under as sad fears and terrors as once thyself did? ' Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness ; he is gracious and full of com- passion,' Psa. cxii. 4. Surely this will hold in (his case. Hath God raised thee to an estate? Dost thou now shew the kindness of God to his poor mem- bers; as David, who inquired if there were any of the house of Saul. O, how unlike are we to the saints of old ! They considered the poor, how they might relieve them, yea, they ' devised liberal things ;' but we consider and contrive how we may save our purse : they were willing to part with all in an extremitv, while we are imwilling to part with a little from our superfluity, laying that, through pride, on our backs, which should cover the poor members of Christ.
Suction III. — Fourthly, When it produceth a stronger confidence on God. Who will say that man is tliankful to his friend for a past kindness, who nom-ishes an ill opinion of him for the future ? This was all that imgrateful Israel returned to God, for his miraculous broaching the rock to quench their thirst, ' Behold, he smote the rock, — can he give bread also ?' Psa. Ixxviii. 20. Tliis, indeed, was their trade all the time they were in the wilderness. Where- fore, God gives them their character, not by what they seemed to be while his mercies wei-e before them ; then they could say, God was their rock, and the High God their Redeemer ; but by their temper and carriage in straits ; when the cloth was drawn, and the feast taken out of their sight, what opinion then had they of God? Could they sanctify his name so far as to trust him for their dinner to-morrow, who had feasted them yesterday? Truly no, as soon as they feel their hunger return, like froward children, they are crying, as if God meant to starve them. Wherefore, God rejects their praises, and owns not their hypocritical acknowledgments, but sets their ingratitude upon record; they forgot his works, and waited not for his counsel. O how sad is this, that after Ciod hath entertained a soul at his table with choice mercies and deliverances, these should be so ill husbanded, that not a bit of them should be left to give faith a meal, to keep the heart from fainting, when God comes not so fast to deliver as we desire ! He is the most thankful man that treasures up the mercies of God in his memory, and can feed his faith with what God lialh done for him, so as to walk in the strength thereof in present straits. When Job was on the dunghill, he forgot not God's old kindnesses, but durst trust him, with a knife at his throat, — ' Though he kill me, yet will I trust in him.' He that distrusts God after former experience, is like the foolish builder. Matt. vii. 26, he rears his monument for past mercies on the sand, which the next tide of affliction washeth away. Lastly, Thou must not only praise God thyself, but endeavour to transmit the memorial of his goodness to posterity. The Psalmist saith, ' We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,' Psa. Ixxviii. 4. Children are their parents' heirs ; it were unnatural for a father before he dies to bury up his treasure in the earth, where his children should not find or enjoy it; now the mercies of God are not the least part of his treasure, nor the least of his children's inheritance, being both helps to their faith, matter for tlieir praise, and spurs to their obedience. ' Our fathers have told us what works thou hast done in their days, how thou did«t drive out the heathen,' &c., Psa. xliv. 1,2; from this they ground their confidence, ver. 4, 'Thou art my King, O (iod ; command deliverances for Jacob ;' and excite their thankfulness, ver. 8, ' In (iod we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever.' Indeed, as children are their parents' heirs, so they become injustice liable to pay their parents' debts ; now the great debt which the saint at death stands charged with, is that which he owes to (rod for his meixies, and, therefore, it is but reason he should tie his posterity to the payment thereof. Thus mayest thou be praising God in heaven and earth at the same time.
YJ.Q WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION.
CHAPTER LXI.
A KEPUOOF TO THE UNGRATEFUL WORLD.