descriptions ; and all, in following their respective occupations, provide accommodations for others, which it would have been impossible for them ever to have enjoyed, but for this ordina- tion of God, who has made private interest the means of advancing the public welfare. The only difference between the Israelites and us, in this respect, is, that what they gained by a bloody extermination of the inhabitants, we enjoy in a sweet and peaceful participation with the lawful owners.
Now, of course, it may well be expected that we should trace all these blessings to their proper source, and be filled with thankfulness to God, as the author and giver of them all. But the evil against which the Israelites were cautioned, is realized amongst us, to a great extent: we rest in the gift, and forget the Giver. In as far as we have any thing to do in providing these things for ourselves, we run into the very same error against winch they were cautioned ; ascribing the attain- ment of them to our own skill or prowess, instead of regarding them altogether as the gift of Goda. In this we do not merely resemble the beasts, but actually degrade ourselves below them: for " the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his mas- ter's crib; whilst we neither know, nor consider," nor regard, our adorable Benefactorb.]
2. In relation even to the concerns of his soul —
[The deliverance of Israel from Egypt was typical of our deliverance from a far sorer bondage. But is it possible that we should ever be unmindful of that? Suppose it possible for man's ingratitude to extend to all that Israel experienced in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in Canaan ; is it possible that his depravity should be so great as to render him forgetful of all the blessings of redemption 1 Can it be, that man should forget what his incarnate God has done for him, in relin- quishing all the glory of heaven, and assuming our fallen nature, and bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, that he might deliver us from the bondage of corruption, and bring us to the everlasting possession of an heavenly inheritance ? Yes : it is not only possible, but certain, that men are as un- mindful of this as they are of their obligations for temporal blessings : yea, it is a fact, that many are far more thankful for their temporal mercies, than for this, which infinitely exceeds them all. And to what shall we compare their guilt in this respect ? It has been seen that their ingratitude for temporal blessings reduces them below the beasts : and I am not sure that their ingratitude for spiritual benefits does not reduce them below the fallen angels themselves : for, whatever the guilt of those unhappy spirits may be, -this we know at least,
a Deut. viii. 17, 18. b Isai. i. 2, 3. with Jer. h. 32.