will grant to them whatsoever they can desire, provided it be really conducive to their good. "Even before they call, he will
answer; and while they are yet speaking, he will heare"
The very image which I have here used to illustrate his grace, is that which he himself has employed; saying, that he will give them, as it were, to " suck of the breasts of his consolations, and bear them on his side, and dandle them on his knees, and comfort them in their troubles, as a mother comforteth her helpless and afflicted child f."]
3. In administering to all their wants —
[All heaven, as it were, shall be at their command g. In the aid that he affords, God will exert himself effectually, even "with his whole heart and his whole soul11:" and in the bestow- ment of his blessings, will rejoice over the beloved object with such a complacency and delight as God alone can feel1.]
Are you, then, my Brethren, partakers of this cha- racter ?
[Consider who it is that " has brought you to this self- same thing k;" and endeavour to "render to him according to the benefits he has conferred on you." Say not, ' My attain- ments are so small, that they call for shame and sorrow, rather than for joy :' for " God does not despise the day of small things1;" neither must ye despise it. Me thinks the least that I can ask of you is this : If " God takes such pleasure" in you, take ye also pleasure in him. The more you " delight your- selves in him," the more assuredly shall you grow in every tiling that is good, till you have attained " the full measure of the stature of Christ."]
But is there one amongst you that is not of this character ?
[What pleasure can God ever take in you ? Can he look with complacency on a rebellious man that does not " fear him," or on a self-righteous man that does not " hope in his mercy ? " Impossible ; for you counteract all the designs of his grace, and run, as it were, upon the thick bosses of his buckler, in your opposition to him. In such a state as this, what can you be but objects of his wrathful indignation, left for a season to fill up the measure of your iniquities, and to perish under an accumulated weight of misery? Let me, then, entreat you to seek the graces which are here specified. Beg of God, for Christ's sake, to "put his fear in your hearts;" and cast yourselves upon his mercy in Christ Jesus, " hoping even
e Isai. lxv. 24. f Isai. lxvi. 10 — 13.
s Jer. xxxi. 20. with Ps. xxxiv. 10. h Jer. xxxii. 41.
! Zeph. hi. 17. k 2 Cor. v. 5. l Zech. iv. 10.