us up lest at any time we dash our foot against a stone, and to minister to us in all that our necessities may require.
All this too is offered to us as a free act of mercy on the part of our great Deliverer. It was one of the most extraor- dinary parts of the Jews' deliverance from Babylon, that Cyrus should liberate them without any remuneration : but how does it exalt beyond all estimate the value of our redemption, that it is offered to us freely, " without money and without price!"]
2. The effects produced by it —
[When first a soul that has been sinking under a load of sin and guilt is made to hear the tidings of a free and full deli- verance, they seem to him " as an idle tale :" he can scarcely believe it possible that such mercy should be vouchsafed to him, and that one who has been all his days a willing captive should be delivered : and, when the joys of this salvation burst upon his soul, he appears to himself to be, as it were, in a dream ; so far does the deliverance exceed all that he could previously have conceived. Then his mouth, which was but lately filled with lamentations and complaints, is " filled with laughter, and
his tongue with singingf" Nor is the surprise confined
to him alone : his friends and neighbours behold with astonish- ment the change that has taken place in him : they now see the whole course of his life changed : they behold the chains with which he was tied and bound, now loosed ; the sins that once had dominion over him, now mortified ; and the griefs, which they interpreted as symptoms or forerunners of derange- ment, now turned to joy, and " thanksgiving and the voice of melody." So great is the change in their eyes, that though they love it not, they are constrained to admire it, and to ac- knowledge the hand of God in it ; "The Lord hath done great things for them : " and, though they may deride it in public, they envy in their hearts the lot which they affect to despise. As for those who experience the happy change, they thankfully adore their heavenly Benefactor ; " The Lord hath done great
things for us, whereof we are glad ! " They take their
harps that have been so long suspended on the willows, and sing with inexpressible delight the songs of Zion.
But the more they have experienced, the more they desire to possess all the fulness of the blessings prepared for them. Gladly would they, if it were possible, have all the remains of sin purged out from their hearts, and all conflicts with it for ever terminated. They pant for the full attainment of the Divine image ; and cry with fervour to their God, " Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south ! " Still however, not discouraged by the length of their journey, or the difficul- ties to be surmounted, or the toils which they must undergo,
f Isai. xxxv. 10.