glory'-"]
2. " Your soul shall dwell at ease " — [It may be that your former iniquities have been great and manifold ; so that, unless G od interposed in a more than ordi- nary way to support your soul, you would sink into despair. But " where sin has abounded, his grace shall much more abound : " and he will say to you, as to the woman of old, " Thy sins are forgiven thee." " Being justified by faith, you shall have peace with God;" and in your own conscience, even that " peace of God which passeth all understanding." It is possible, also, that you may be exposed to many trials and temptations, even such as without divine aid would utterly overwhelm you. But you shall " know in whom you have believed ; and feel assured that He is able to keep that which you have committed to himV' and that " He will preserve you imto his heavenly kingdom." Thus, as Peter, the very night before his intended execution, though bound with chains, and doomed to a cruel death, was sleeping as serenely as if no such
^ Isai. XXXV. 8. '^ Col. ii. 6, 7. *" John vi. 45.
^ Isai. XXX. 21. e Ps. Ixxiii. 24. f 2 Tmi. i. 12.
event had awaited him, so shall " your soul dwell at ease," yea, " it shall be kept in perfect peace s;" for, " if God giveth quiet- ness, who then can make trouble ? " ^
But, in the margin of our Bibles the sense of the original is more fully and literally expressed thus : " His soul shall lodge in goodness." What a rich and glorious idea is this! The Scriptures abound in expressions of this kind: Isaiah, com- mending the truths of the Gospel to us, says, " Eat ye that which is good, and let yoiir soul delight itself in fatness :" and David says, " My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, whilst my mouth praise th thee with joyful lips." So, in my text he tells us that the Believer's soul shall *' lodge i?i goodness." Yes, verily, " God himself is the habitation" of them that fear him: his bosom is the place in which they are safely lodged, far beyond the reach of harm', and fondled with more than maternal tenderness'^; insomuch that God himself *' rejoices over them to do them good, and rests in his love, and joys over them with singing'."
Thus, my Brother (for I am speaking to that particular individual who feareth God), it shall be with thee in this world : and who shall describe thy lodging in the world above ? Oh ! the joys that await thee there! how passing all expression or conception ! The kingdom, the glory, the felicity of God himself shall be thine, even thy portion, and thine inheritance, for ever and ever.]
Application —
Now will I pause ; and, from addressing thee who fearest God, turn,
1. To the unhappy multitude, who fear him not —
[Painful it is to make this distinction : but this distinction must be made. We are commanded to " separate the precious from the vile™:" and if we forbear to do it, God will not: He will put " a difference between them that serve him and those who serve him not"." It cannot but be known to yo\i, that the generality, even of the Christian world, have not, in truth, " the fear of God before their eyes." Say, beloved, did not your own consciences attest, that, in many of you at least, the marks of holy fear did not exist, or, not in such a degree as to identify you with the character described in my text? Whilst we spoke of those who reverenced the authority of God, and trembled at his displeasure, and made it the one object of their lives to do his will, were not many of you constrained to say, " If this be the character of those who fear God, I am forced