[Earthly blessings may come alone : but the favour of God brings along with it every other blessing that God can bestow. Even earthly things, as far as they are needful, " are added to those who seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness : " and we need scarcely say what peace, and joy, and love, and hohness in all its branches, are brought into the soul in com- munion with a reconciled God. We may confidently say with Paul, " All things are yours, if ye are Christ's"^."]
4. It will never cloy —
[There is no earthly gratification which may not be enjoyed to satiety : but who was ever weary of the Divine presence ? In whom did a sense of God's pardoning love ever excite dis- gust ? A man " in a fulness of earthly sufficiency may be in straits^:" and it not unfrequently happens, that the rich have less comfort in their abundance than the poor in their meaner and more scanty pittance. But " the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it^:" the man who
a Ps. xxi. 1—6.
* Ps. cxliv. ; in the close of which, David corrects, as it were, virhat he had said in the two preceding verses.
<= 2 Cor. vi. 10. ^ 1 Cor. iii. 21—23.
e Job XX. 22. Prov. xiv. 13. ^ Prov. x. 22.
possesses it has not his enjoyment lessened by repetition or repletion ; but, on the contrary, has his capacities enlarged, in proportion as the communications of God's favour are enlarged towards him.]
5. It will never end —
[Whatever we possess here, we must soon bid farewell to it : whether our enjoyment be intellectual or corporeal, it must soon come to an end. But the favour of God will last for ever, and will then be enjoyed in all its inconceivable fulness, when death shall have deprived us of every other enjoyment. " In God's presence there is a fulness of joy ; and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore^."]
Address —
1. Those who are seeking happiness in the things of time and sense —
[We ask the votaries of this world. Whether they have ever found that permanent satisfaction in earthly things which they once hoped for ? Has not the creature proved itself to be " a broken cistern that can hold no water?" and is not Solomon's testimony confirmed by universal experience, that *' all is vanity and vexation of spirit ? " If this then be true, why will ye not avail yourselves of that information, and go for all your comforts to the fountain-head? "Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me ; and eat ye that which is good ; and let your soul delight itself in fatness^." O let the blessing which the priests of old were authorized to pronounce, be the one object of your desires M and we will venture beforehand to assure you, that you shall never seek for it in vain. After other things you may inquire, and labour in vain : but the man that looks to God, as reconciled to him in Christ Jesus, and desires above all things his favour, shall never be disapj)ointed of his hope.]
2. Those who are seeking their happiness in God —
[Professing, as you do, that God is a sufficient portion, the world will expect to find that you are superior to it ; and that you live as citizens and expectants of a better country. Thus it was that the saints of old lived ^ ; and thus must we live, even as our blessed Lord himself set us an example. If the world hear you inquiring. Who will shew me any good ? and see you seeking it in the vanities of time and sense, will they not say, that religion is an empty name, and that it can
g Ps. xvi. 11. h isai. Iv. 2.