of Heaven Hence he prayed that God would " not
cast him off in his old age, nor forsake him when his strength failed him."]
Such is the import of the passage. Let us now, II. Accommodate it to the circumstances of this day —
Well may we at this time acknowledge the mer- cies of God to us —
[Our king may truly be said to be " a wonder unto many," whether we consider the length, or the prosperity, of his reign. Twice only, within the space of a thousand years, has any monarch of ours reigned so long as to see a jubilee kept on his account. And if we consider the state of the world, it is truly wonderful, that, after so many difficulties as we have encountered, we should stand so eminent among the nations. Some indeed are fond of representing us as in a distressed and fallen state. But let such persons compare us with all the other nations of Europe, and they will see, that, whilst all of them have fallen a sacrifice to the politics or arms of France,
we are as rich and potent as at any period of our history. That we have burthens to bear, is certain : but it is very unfair to ascribe them to our governors. They have arisen out of the circumstances of the world around us ; in which we were of necessity involved ; and from which we could no more disengage ourselves, than we could exempt our nation from the physical motion of the globe.]
We should also make a similar improvement of them —
[Many are the grounds which toe have for praise and thanksgiving : and our mouths may well " be hlled with God's praise all the day." On this day especially we are called to manifest our gratitude both in a way of spiritual, and, if I may so speak, of carnal joy. Some, in their zeal for spiritual joy, forget that we consist of body as well as of a spiritual part ; and that in the Scriptures we have numerous instances of national gratitude expressed by the combined exercise of spiri- tual and carnal joy. Such was that holy feast which David himself, together with his people, kept, not long after he had written this psalm''. And it is truly gratifying to think, that, through the benevolence of the rich, all the poorer classes of society are enabled to participate, in a more than ordinary mea- sure, the bounties of Providence, and to share in the general joy.
Yet have ive also peculiar need of prayer. — At this moment our enemy is disengaged from other contests, and enabled to direct all his force against us. Our own government also is un- happily disunited, and our aged king begins to find "his strength fail him." What, in such a state, shall we do, if God forsake us? "We have need to pray unto him " not to cast us off." Our prosperity hitherto has doubtless been in a great measure owing to this, that we " have made God our refuge." Both king and people, when compared with other nations, have been exemplary in this. Let us continue to seek Him more and more : and then, whatever be our state on earth, we shall keep an eternal jubilee in heaven.]
I' 1 Chron. xxix. 20—22.