would never have forsaken him as they did in the hour of his deepest trial. But, if you do not watch and be sober, depend upon it that Satan will prevail against you, and " sift you as wheat." " Be sober then, and vigilant." Give not way to drowsiness in your spiritual calling : but " give all dihgence to make your calling sure." And, seeing that ye look for a period when God shall come to judge the world, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blame- less. And " what I say unto one, I say unto all, Watch."]
Prov. vii. 1 — 4. My son, keep my tvords, ayid lay up my com-
mandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live ;
and my law as the ajiple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy
fingers; ivrite them upon the table of thine heart. Say unto
Wisdom, Thou art my sister ; and call Understanding thy
kinswoman.
THROUGHOUT the book of Proverbs, we are strongly reminded of that expression of Paul to Philemon, " Though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee." There is an exquisite tenderness in the exhortations of Solomon, addressed as they are by a father to a son. Not that we are to suppose that they were intended only for Rehoboam: they were intended for the Church of God, in all ages : and to us, no less than to Rehoboam himself, is the affectionate language of our text addressed. But indeed a greater than Solomon is here. Con- descending as the expressions are, they are addressed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is Wis- dom itself incarnate* ; and his are the counsels which we are so earnestly entreated to treasure up in our minds.
In discoursing on the words before us, we will shew,
I. The respect which we should pay to the counsels of Divine Wisdom —
By comparing our text with similar language in the New Testament, we see, that by the terms here used we have to understand, not the Decalogue only,
» See Prov. viii. 22 — 32.