desires, his purposes, being altogether changed He has
the heart of stone taken from him, and a heart of flesh sub- stituted in its place. He has been *' made a partaker of the divine nature," and " been renewed after God's image ; and that, not in knowledge only, but in righteousness also and true holiness." He is brought altogether into a new state, having been " translated from the kingdom of darkness into the king- dom of God's dear Son," and been made " an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ." In a word, he is " begotten to an inheritance which is incorruptible and un defiled and never- fading, reserved in heaven for him ; " and for the full possession of which he also is reserved by the power of God, tln-ough the
simple exercise of faith® All this he has wrought for
them " before the sons of men." They are evidently " a seed which the Lord has blessed : " they are " lights in a dark world," *' epistles of Christ, known and read of all men" ]
But in the latter part of our text, we are called to consider the goodness of God towards his people,
II. With a particular reference to their intercourse with the ungodly world —
Exceeding bitter are those pains which men inflict on each other by calumnies and reproaches —
[To speak good one of another affords no particular plea- sure; but to hear and circulate some evil report affords to the carnal mind the highest gratification: and in such employment all the corruptions of our fallen nature find ample scope for exercise and indulgence. Who can estimate the evils arising from " pride," and " the strife of tongues?" Some little idea may be formed from the description given of the tongue by an inspired Apostle: " Behold," says he, " how great a matter a little fire kindleth! The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue amongst our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature ; and it is set on fire of hell*^." How exceedingly strong are these terms! Yet it is by no means an exaggerated statement of the evils proceeding from calumny in the world at large : but as rejjre- senting the virulence and malignity with which men calumniate the people of God, they come yet nearer to the truth. In the
« 2 Pet. i. 4. f Jam. ill. 5, 6.
216 . PSALMS, XXXI. 19, aO. [545.
very words preceding my text, David faintly portrays the con- duct of the ungodly in relation to this matter: " Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous." In another psalm he speaks in far stronger terms: " My soul," says he, " is among lions : and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword ^." The truth is, that men can inflict, and often do inflict, far deeper wounds with their tongue than they could with the most powerful weapon. With a sword they can only wound the body : but with bitter and cruel words they wound the inmost soul. Under the former we may easily sup- port ourselves; but " a wounded spirit who can bear?"]
But against these does God provide for his people an effectual antidote —
[Though more exposed than others to the venomous assaults of slander, they have a refuge which the worldling knows not of. They carry their trials to the Lord, and spread them before him ; and from him they receive such supports and consolations as more than counterbalance the evils they sustain. " In the secret of God's presence they are hid." When nigh to him in prayer, they are hid as in a pavilion, or a royal tent, protected by armed hosts, and furnished with the richest viands^. But the full import of these terms cannot adequately be expressed. Who shall say what is implied in those words, " The secret of God's presence?" who shall declare what a fulness of joy is there possessed by the beheving suppliant ? How powerless are the fiery darts which are hurled at him by the most envenomed foes, whilst God himself is a wall of fire round about him, and the glory of God irradiates his soul, inspiring it with a foretaste of heaven itself! Some little idea of his enjoyment may be formed from the history of Hezekiah at the time of Sennacherib's invasion. It w^as " a day of trouble, and of rebuke and blasphemy;" and the feelings excited in the bosom of Hezekiah were most distressing : but scarcely had he spread before the Lord the letter which the blaspheming Rabshakeh had sent him, than he was encou- raged by God to return this triumphant answer ; " The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee'." Thus, like one who saw " the heavens filled with horses of fire and chariots of fire" for his protection, he set at nought the vain boasts of his enemies, and anticipated a cer- tain triumph. Thus, how malignant soever the believer's enemies may be, he is hid from them as in an impregnable