forsake thee," might appear to belong to him only, as the individual to whom it was personally ad- dressed. Yet St. Paul applied it generally to the whole Church of God in all ages ; and authorized all saints, in every period of the world, to regard it as spoken equally to themselves, and to expect most assuredly its accomplishment in their own persons : " God hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man shall do unto meb." In like manner, we may interpret this blessing, which was primarily addressed to the tribe of Asher, as properly belonging to all the people of God ; so far, at least, as they may be in circumstances which call for similar support.
That we may enter the more fully into the mean- ing of this promise, I will point out distinctly,
I. What it supposes and implies —
It is here evidently supposed that the Lord's peo- ple will have seasons of trial, which will call for more than ordinary support.
And such seasons do sooner or later occur to all ; seasons,
1. Of temptation —
[Who is there that does not experience more or less the temptations of Satan? He is not an inactive adversary. At no time is he unobservant of our frame, or unprepared to gain an advantage over us: but there are some times which he selects for his attacks, when he promises himself a more easy victory, and when he puts fortli all his devices to draw us into sin. His wiles are unsearchable: innumerable also are the modes in which he makes his assaults upon us. Sometimes he assumes the appearance of an angel of light: at other times his own proper character is clearly marked in the blasphemies which he suggests to our minds : and, on all such occasions, if we were not succoured from on high, we should fall before him, as lambs before a devouring lion.
The world, too, presents its temptations on every side: it proposes to us its pleasures, its riches, its honours, as objects that may well stand in competition with Jehovah himself, and rival him in our affections.
» Heb. xiii. 5, 6.