Say, Is not this a sufficient ground for trusting in him ? What greater encouragement can we have ? ]
2. From what he is engaged to do for us —
[" He will bless us." We need not fear it : for it is a work in which he greatly delights.
" He will bless the House of Israel." They are " his pecu- liar people," " his household," " his sons and daughters k :" Will he forget them ? " They are graven upon the palms of his hands:" and sooner may "a mother forget her sucking child, than he forget" to minister to them whatsoever they may stand in need of1. His word is pledged to them : and " sooner shall heaven and earth pass away, than one jot or tittle of his word shall failm."
" He will bless the House of Aaron " too, and give to them such communications of grace and peace as the world have no conception of, " clothing them with salvation, and making them to shout aloud for joy11." The priest, when offering incense, may give us some idea of what the Lord imparts to his faithful servants, whilst occupied in his service. His incense no other person was privileged to smell unto, nor he himself on any other occasion than that: but then, whilst honouring God with it, he was richly regaled with its odours. Such is the privi- lege of all God's faithful servants, in the midst of their labo- rious duties. Their face often shines with radiance from God upon the holy mount ; though, by reason of the veil they wear, it is not discerned in their intercourse with the world.
" He will indeed bless all who fear the Lord, both small and great." They may be overlooked by men ; but they are known to God ; and his eye is over them for good. It matters not whether they be great or small. The great are not so great, but that they need his blessing: nor are the small so insigni- ficant, that they shall be deemed unworthy of his notice. If they be as beggars on a dunghill, even there will he visit them ; and from thence will he take them, " to set them among the princes, and to make them inherit a throne of glory0."
To all of them, without exception, will he give occasion for that devout acknowledgment, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ!"]
Address —
1. Those who are ignorant of God —
[This is the state of all who are not living in the habitual performance of the duty here enjoined: for, " if they knew God's name, they would put their trust in himp." Let me then ask of
k 2 Cor. vi. 18. ' Isai. xlix. 15, 16. m Tsai# liv. 9, 10.
n Ps. cxxxii. 16. ° 1 Sam. ii. 8. p Ps. ix. 10.