this psalm, " He hath not dealt so with any nation0."
Let us consider,
I. The grounds here stated for praise to God —
We forbear to enter on the Jewish history for the elucidation of our text : intending rather to confine ourselves to the mercies which we are at this time called to commemorate.
Behold then what the Lord hath done for us ! Behold,
1 . The protection he hath afforded us from without —
[Not a country in Europe, except our own, but has suffered from the ravages of war : yet we, with our vast extent of coast, assailable from every port in Europe, and with every power in Europe at one time leagued against us, have been preserved from invasion ; notwithstanding we were, far beyond any other nation, the objects of envy and hatred to our most powerful foe; and notwithstanding the immense preparations that were made by him for our destruction. But God has truly " strengthened the bars of our gates," so that they could not be forced ; or rather " he himself has been a wall of fire round about us," so that not even any serious attempt has been made to invade our land. Other nations far less accessible than ours have been made scenes of most dreadful devastation d ; but with respect to us, such a restraint has been imposed on our enemies, that they could never carry into execution their cruel projects e.]
2. The blessings with which he has loaded us
"within" —
[He hath blessed us with increase, so that, notwithstand- ing the ravages of war, our population has greatly increased. With union of sentiment he hath blessed us to an extent almost unprecedented in our history. The whole nation have been fully convinced, that the war was both just and necessary, and that it was carried on, not for the gratifying of ambition, but for security and independence. With a patient endurance of all the burthens occasioned by the war, all ranks and orders amongst us have also been greatly blessed. It could never have been conceived that such contributions could have been raised with- out exciting the most grievous complaints : but they have been paid with liberality and cheerfulness from one end of the land even to the other. With a respect for religion also we have been blessed beyond any former period of our existence as a nation. The societies that have sprung up, in the very midst of war, for the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures throughout the
c ver. 20. d Russia, in 1812. e Ps. cxxiv. 1 — 8.