cxcv.
Deut. vi. 10 — 12. It shall be, ivhen the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he swareunto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to lacob, to give thee goodly cities which thou buildedst not, and houses full of good things which thou filledst not, and ivells digged which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive-tree^ which thou plantedst not ; when thou shalt have eaten and be full ; then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Lgypt, from the house of bondage.
WE cannot but notice in this passage the confi- dence with which Moses assured the Israelites re- specting their ultimate success in reference to their occupation of the land of Canaan. They had not yet passed over Jordan ; yet does he speak to them as if they were in full possession of the land : so cer- tain was it that God would fulfil to them all the pro- mises which he had made unto their fathers. At the same time, we cannot but be struck with the intima- tion which is here given of man's proneness to ingra- titude, and of the tendency of prosperity to deaden all the finer feelings of the soul. The caution which he gives them will lead me to set before you,
I. The natural ingratitude of man —
This will be found uniformly operating,
1. In relation to all his temporal concerns —
[We are struck with the peculiar goodness of God to Israel, in putting them into possession of so many blessings, for which they had never laboured. But, in truth, this was only an example of what he has done for man from the beginning of the world. Adam, when formed in Paradise, found every
comfort prepared to his hand And thus it is with every
child that is born into the world. Every thing, according to his situation in life, is provided for his accommodation ; and he has the full benefit of the labours of others, to which, of course, he has never contributed in the smallest particular. And through the whole of our lives we enjoy the same advantages; God having so ordained, that every man, in seeking his own welfare, shall contribute to the welfare of those around him. One man "builds houses;" another "fills them with good things ; " another " digs wells ; " another plants trees of different