Ps. XXV. 9. The meek will he guide in judgment; and the meek he will teach his way.
THE necessity of a revelation is universally ac- knowledged : for no man could possibly know God's will, unless God himself should be pleased to com- municate information respecting it from above. But the necessity for any divine influence upon the soul, in order to a due improvement of a revelation already
given, is not generally admitted. But we are ex- pressly told, that " all God's children shall be taught of him:" and both the goodness and integrity of God are pledged for the performance of the promise ^ There are, however, certain qualifications which we must possess, before the proffered benefits can be extended to us : and what they are, it is my intention, in this present Discourse, to set before you. Let me then state,
I. What dispositions are necessary for a reception of divine truth — The term " meekness" is of very extensive import. But, instead of entering into the variety of senses in which the word is used, we shall find it more pro- fitable to confine ourselves to the precise view in which it is used in the passage before us. Men may be denominated " meek,"
1. When they are sensible of their own ignorance —
[Ignorant we are, whether we be sensible of it or not. The fall of man has proved no less injurious to his intellectual powers than to his heart. " His understanding is darkened:" "the god of this world has Winded his eyes:" and "he is alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in him, and because of the blindness of his heart."
But men are unconscious of this. They feel that their powers are strong for the investigation of human sciences ; and they see no reason why they should not be equally so for the comprehension of things relating to the soul. Any inti- mation to this effect they are ready to resent, as the Pharisees did of old : " Are we blind also?^"
Very different is their conduct, when they are become truly " meek." Then they perceive their want of spiritual discern- ment'^. They feel that no efforts of flesh and blood will suffice for the illumination of their minds'* ; and that they need " not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that they may know the things that are freely given to them of God^."]
2. When they are willing and desirous to be taught of God—
[As man by nature is not sensible of his own blindness, so has he no wish to obtain a spiritual insight into the things of
a ver. 8. ^ John ix. 40. •= 2 Cor. ii. 14.
d Matt. xvi. 17. M Cor. ii. 12.