proclaim His might, who for the space of forty years fed them with bread from heaven, and with water out of the stony rock, and caused their garments never to decay. Be it so then, that our difficulties are great, yea, insuperable by human power : then will God magnify towards us his power so much the more, and shew, that still, as in former times, he " makes the depths of the sea (not a place for his people to be drowned in, but) a way for the ransomed to pass over11."]
2. How rich his mercy!
[Truly it was " not for their righteousness that he brought them out; for they were a stiff-necked people" from the very beginning : and " many a time would he have consumed them for their iniquities, but for his own name's sake, that it should not be dishonoured among the heathen." See their mur- murings, their idolatries, their innumerable provocations, and then say, whether God's grace be not sovereign, and his mercy infinite ? And, if such surmises as those suggested in our text arise in our minds respecting him, let us remember, that he is the same God now as in former ages, and that now, as well as in former times, the very chief of sinners, if truly penitent, shall be accepted of him ; and that " where sin has abounded, his grace shall much more abound*."]
3. How mysterious his ways!
[In the space of a few months God had brought his people to the borders of Canaan ; and yet for their murmuring and unbelief he turned them back into the wilderness, and caused them to wander there forty years, till all that generation, excepting two persons, were swept away. This was most mysterious : yet are we told on infallible authority, that " He led them by the right way." In truth, that dispensation has afforded the richest instruction to the Church from that period to the present hour, and will continue to do so to the end of time : and it will be found that his darkest dispensations towards us also are the most replete with instruction to our souls. It is usually those who are most exercised with trials, that know most of themselves, and most of God. Whenever therefore his dealings with us appear strange and inexplicable, let us compose our minds with the reflection suggested toward the close of this psalm, " Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not knowny."]
4. How sure his promises!
[He had pledged himself to Abraham, that he would bring his posterity into the full possession of the Promised Land : and, though for their iniquities he caused all who came out of
u Isai. li. 10. x Rom. v. 20. y Isai. li. 10.