for their removal. Thus we should " abide with God," per- forming diligently the work assigned us, till he shall be pleased to dismiss our souls in peace. Our week of life at all events is wearing fast away : but, whether its close be somewhat earlier, or later, than we expect, we should say, like Job, " All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." If there were no future state of existence, we might wish to have our present lives terminated or protracted, according as our sor- rows or joys abound : but as death will introduce us into the more immediate presence of our God, and into a more perfect union and communion with Christ, we may well be contented either to live or die. In some sense indeed we may rather " desire to depart ;" yea we may be " looking for, and hasting to, the coming of the day of Christ : " but as it respects impa- tience or discontent, we may well tarry the Lord's leisure, doing and suffering his holy will, till he shall take us hence, to " rest from our labours," and to " be for ever with the Lord " — ]
Lev. xxiv. 13 — 15. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, Whosoever cursed his God shall bear his sin.
SPIRITUAL subjects are generally most relished by a spiritual mind: and hence it is that in some places of worship they are exclusively brought for- ward for public discussion; and other subjects, which might be very instructive, are entirely overlooked. We consider it as one great advantage attending a course of sermons on the Holy Scriptures, that every subject must find a place in our discourses, and at some time or other be brought under the view of our hearers. The history before us would at first sight appear so ill calculated for general edification, that we should probably never fix upon it, if left to our- selves. But, occurring as it does in our present course, we shall turn your attention to it : and we trust, that, how unpromising soever it may seem, it will be found replete with very important instruction. There are two things in it which we seem particularly called to notice; namely,