gations to God for past mercies, and no expectation of future blessings from him, we very much doubt : nor are we aware that God any where requires us so to divest ourselves of all the feelings of humanity, for the sake of engaging more entirely in the con- templation of his perfections. Nor indeed can we consent to the idea, that gratitude is so low a virtue a. On the contrary, it seems to be the principle that animates all the hosts of the redeemed in heaven ; who are incessantly occupied in singing praises to Him who loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood. By this also all the most eminent saints on earth have been distinguished. In proof of this, we need go no further than to the psalm before us, wherein the man after God's own heart adores and magnifies his Benefactor, for some particular mercies recently vouchsafed unto him. To instil this principle into your minds, and to lead you to a measure of that devotion with which the sweet singer of Israel was inspired, we shall, I. State the grounds we have to praise God —
To enumerate all the benefits we have received from God, would be impossible. We must content ourselves with adverting to them in the peculiar view in which they are set before us in the text. We would call you then to consider,
1. The freeness and undeservedness of them — [It is this which gives a zest to every blessing we enjoy : in this view, the very food we eat, and the air we breathe, demand our most grateful acknowledgments. The Psalmist begins with speaking of himself as a guilty and corrupt creature, who, unless pardoned and renewed by the grace of God, must have been an everlasting monument of his righteous displeasure. The same thought also should be uppermost in our minds. We should contrast our state with that of the fallen angels, who never had a Saviour vouchsafed unto them ; and with that of the unbelieving world, who, in consequence of rejecting the Saviour, have perished in their sins. What claim had we, any more than the fallen angels ? and, if we had been dealt with according to our deserts, where would have been the difference between us and those who are gone beyond the reach of mercy ?
a Deut. xxviii. 47.