he covets ; or some Mordecai, who wounds him by refusing to pay him the homage he demands ]
Nor is it to be found in any religious services which are performed with a self-righteous view —
[Doubtless a self-righteous man may be gratified for a season with the notion that he has established a ground of con- fidence before God : but at times there will arise in his mind such thoughts as these : " Have I done enough to secure for me the forgiveness of my sins, and to purchase moreover the blessedness of heaven ? " And, after all his labour, he will feel some secret misgivings that all is not right. He has not a standard whereby to measure his attainments, except indeed the holy Law of God : and that altogether condemns him. In this state of uncertainty he cannot contemplate death and judgment without a degree of alarm, which casts a gloom over his prospect of the eternal world, and to a certain degree em- bitters also his enjoyments in this present world.]
That which alone can afford solid satisfaction to the soul, is, the having obtained " mercy" of the Lord —
[Every man is conscious that he has sinned, and must give an account of himself to the Judge of quick and dead. But, if he have fled for refuge to Christ, and embraced the sal- vation offered him in the Gospel, he is ready to go into the presence of his God. He knows " in whom he has believed"1;" and has no doubt but that through the Redeemer's righteous- ness he shall find acceptance with God. He will be able to say, " I know that when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, I have an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens e." In Christ he sees all that he can need : and, being " in Christ," he is assured that " there is no condemnation to himf" either now or at the bar of judgment. " Believing in Christ, he has peace with God," and rejoices before him " with joy unspeakable and glorified6."]
This point being ascertained, let us direct our atten- tion to, II. The blessedness of those who seek it there —
Mercy, once obtained from the Lord, is the richest balm of life —
1. It constitutes the chief felicity in youth —
[Who is there that has sought the Lord in early life, and
did not experience the benefit of that blessed employment
beyond his most sanguine expectations ? Nay, I will ask, Who
ever spent one hour in penitential exercises, and in crying to
d 2 Tim. i. 12. e 2 Cor. v. 1. f Rom. viii. 1. el Pet. i. 8.