can be imagined^' and therefore we may be assured
that for his own name and honour sake " he will keep his people by his own power through faith unto salvation 5':" as it was said by Samuel, " The Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it hath pleased him to make
'1 Isai. liii. 10.
■■ John xvii. 9—
-15.
s John xvii. 24.
t Phil. i. 6.
u Ps. Ixxvii. 7-
-9.
X Ps. lxxxix.28
y 1 Pet. i. 5.
5G3.] god's continued cake implored. 293
you his peopled" " He is a God that changeth not; and therefore we neither are, nor shall be, consumed •\" We shall be living witnesses for him to all eternity, that " his gifts and calling are without repentance^."]
Application —
1. Seek to answer to the character here described —
[If you " know not God," you can have no claim upon him : nor, " unless you be upright in heart," have you any reason to hope that he will ever look upon you with satisfac- tion. You must " have your hearts right with God," if ever you would be approved of God. Seek, then, to know God as
reconciled to you in Christ Jesus and beg of him so to
" put truth in your inward parts," that he may acknowledge and commend you as " Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile."]
2. Implore of God the blessing you so greatly
need —
[You need it, all of you, and wiU need it to your dying hour. It is from God that you have received all that you possess. Never would you have known him, if he had not opened the eyes of your understanding, and revealed himself to you'=. And never would your heart have been upright before him, if he, of his own sovereign grace, had not " given you a new heart, and renewed a right spirit within you." It is to Him, then, you must look to carry on the work within you. " No hands but His, who laid the foundation of his spiri- tual temple within you, can ever finish if^." " He alone who has been the author of your faith, can ever complete it''."]
3. Whilst you seek this blessing for yourselves, implore it earnestly for others also —
[So did David, under all his trials ; and so should you. It is our privilege and our duty to intercede one for another ; parents for their children, and children for their parents; ministers for their people, and people for their ministers. And, O ! what happiness should we enjoy in our respective families, and in the Church of God, if we were all partakers of these blessings ! It is said, in the very words before my text, " With thee is the fountain of life ; and in Thy light shall we see light:" and no doubt, in proportion as the blessings of salvation flow down into our souls, we shall be blessed in our- selves, and blessings to all around us.]
^ 1 Sam. xii. 22. ^ Mai. ill. 6. ^ Rom. xi. 29.
<" Compare Gal. iv. 9. with Phil, iii. 12. ^ Zech. iv. 9.
e Heb. xii. 2.