1 Sam. xii. 23, 24. I will teach you the good and the right
way : only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth loith all your heart : for consider hoiv great things he hath done for you.
A ZEAL for the honour of God, and a concern for the welfare of men's souls, are the most striking features of a spiritual mind ; and, when truly felt, will swallow up all selfish considerations, and take occasion, even from injuries received, to display their energy towards those who have injured us. This disposition was manifested in no small degree by the Prophet Samuel, who, having long been the teacher, the governor, and the deliverer of Israel, was deposed, though not by force, yet by the unanimous wishes of his nation, who desired to have a king after the manner of the surrounding nations. Instead of ex- pressing any resentment against them for this indig- nity, he only inquired of them whether they could charge him with any mal-administration, and then assured them of a continued interest in his prayers, and exhorted them to serve the Lord with their whole hearts.
His words will naturally lead us to consider,
I. The duty here inculcated —
All, who believe the existence of God, acknowledge
that he is worthy to be feared and served : but when our duty to him is practically enforced, too many cry out against it as the offspring of superstition and the parent of fanaticism.
Let us mark then with precision what our duty is —
[To fear God, is, to regulate our conduct by the unerring- standard of his word, avoiding carefully every thing which may displease him, and doing with diligence whatever is pleasing in his sight. But this must be done " in truth :" it is not a feigned obedience that will suffice : hypocritical services, how- ever specious, must be odious to God : " He requireth truth in our inward parts :" and though " he will not be extreme to mark" our unavoidable infirmities, he will fearfully resent every instance of dissimulation : " He cannot be deceived, and M'ill not be mocked :" to be accepted of him, we must be " Israelites indeed, and without guile." Moreover, our ser- vices must be, not like the constrained obedience of a slave, but the willing expressions of filial regard ; they must be done " with all our heart." If, like " Amaziah, we did that which was materially right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a perfect heart," it would be of no avail ^: we must, like Heze- kiah, "do it with all our heart" if we would "prosper^." Nothing must be deemed too hard to do, or too great to suifer, that God may be glorified. David's direction to Solomon to " serve the God of his father with a j^erfect heart and a loilling mind" completely expresses the nature of our duty as it is inculcated in the texf^.]
Let us next observe the importance of this duty —
[In the text it is said to be a right, and good, and neces- sary way ; and not only in comparison of other ways, but to the exclusion of all others. They indeed, who most faithfully enforce the practice of this duty, are often reproached as deceivers, that would impose upon weak minds, and lead astray the ignorant and unwary. The example of the world is urged in opposition to them as a better standard of right and wrong than the Holy Scriptures. Nevertheless we must insist with Samuel that this way is " right " " the broad road" of sin and self-indulgence leads men to destruction ; and " the nan-ow path alone of holiness and self-denial leadeth unto life''." Nor is this way merely despised, as erroneous; it is also reprobated, as pernicious ; and both they who teach it and they who follow it, are often deemed the very bane of society. While the drunkard and the whoremonger are respected, and