not only have mere nominal Christians neglected them, but even the godly themselves have for the most part overlooked them, as much as if they were in no danger, or as if their con- version were an hopeless attempt. But we need not occupy your time in proving the danger of their state : for if they were not perishing, why did Christ and his Apostles make such efforts to save them ? Nor need we labour to prove their con- version practicable, when God has declared it to be certain. Let then our bowels of compassion yearn over them : let us grieve to see them perishing in the midst of mercy : let us unite our endeavours to draw their attention to the Holy Scriptures, and to the Messiah, whom they have so long continued to re- ject. Let vis constrain them to see what blessings they despise; what holiness and happiness we ourselves have derived from the Lord Jesus, and what they lose by not believing in him. In this way let us endeavour to provoke them to jealousy. Then may we hope to see the veil taken from their hearts, and to have them associated with us in adoring the once crucified Jesus, and in singing to all eternity " the song of Moses and the Lamb."]
Deut. xxxii. 1 — 4. Give ear, 0 ye heavens, and I will speak ; and hear, 0 earth, the xoords of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the shotvers upon the grass : because I ivill publish the name of the Lord : ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Hock, his work is perfect : for all his ways are judgment : a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
IN this chapter is contained the song which Moses wrote for the conviction of the Jews in all future ages, especially in that period when they should have provoked God to scatter them over the face of the whole earth. Its general contents have been before considered3. At present we shall confine ourselves only to its exordium, in which Moses addresses the zvhole creation, and then describes the character of the Creator. An invocation of " the heavens and the earth" is not uncommon in the Scriptures : it is used in order to impress men with a deeper sense of the
a See Discourse on Deut. xxxi. 19.