does his goodness appear in the great mystery of redemption. Who can reflect on that stupendous act of mercy, the giving of his only-begotten Son to die for us, and to bear our sins in his own body on the tree ? Who can reflect on the sending of liis Holy Spirit to instruct and sanctify us, and on the pro- viding for his people an inheritance, incorruptible and unde- filed, and never-fading, reserved for them in heaven ? Who, I say, can take ever so slight a survey of these wonders, and not say with the Psalmist, " O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee ; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men^! ]
Let us, then, " taste and see how good the Lord
is"-
[A man who had been immured all his days in a dungeon would have no conception of the radiance of the sun, in com- parison of that which he would acquire by being subjected to the action of its meridian rays : nor will a person who has merely heard and read of God's goodness be able to form an estimate of it, in comparison of what he would after having had " the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost." In the one state he might say, " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear ; " but, on liis transition from it, he might add, " Now mine eye seeth thee." This is what I would wish respecting you: I would wish all " the goodness of God to pass before you," if not in visible splendour and in audible sounds, yet in a way perceptible to the organs of faith.
But how is this to be attained ? I answer, As Moses was put into the clift of the rock, that he might be capable of sus- taining the manifestations of God's glory'', so you must "be found in Christ;" and then you shall behold all " the glory of God shining forth in his face."]
That we may be stirred up to seek this experience, let us notice, IL The blessedness resulting from it —
A just view of God's goodness will lead us to trust
in him —
[" They that know thy name," says David, " will put their trust in thee." They will go to him with all their guilt to be pardoned, and all their corruptions to be mortified, and all their wants to be supplied. Those who know him not, are ever prone to limit either his power or his willingness to save : but those who have " tasted how gracious he is"," will commit
a Ps. xxxi. 19. " Exod. xxxiii. 18, 19. = 1 Pet. ii. 3.