II. Of disquietude —
[The ungodly man, whatever be his pursuit, finds nothing in which his soul can rest. Possess what he may, " in the midst of his sufiiciency he is in straits^." There is always a secret something unpossessed ; some object which he thinks would make him happy, but which, even when in appearance almost attained, eludes his grasp : and after he has " hewn out to himself a cistern with great labour, he finds it only a broken cistern, that can hold no water^" His continual disappoint- ments fill him with vexation ; so that he finds even the objects of his fondest hope prove, in the issue, to be " vanity and vexation of spirit." Not being devoted to his God, he wants
^ Rom. vii. 21. b Hos. v. 11. = 2 Pet. ii. 19.
•1 Rom. vi. 16. e Rom. vi. 17. ^ Eph. ii. 2.
g 2 Tim. ii. 26. h Luke iv. 18. i John viii. 36.
^ Job XX. 22. 1 Jer. ii. 13.
126 PROVERBS, XIII. 15. [iSl.
those enjoyments and those prospects which alone can afford
consolation to him under his trials To his other pains
are added those of a self-condemning conscience. He tries indeed to stifle the voice of conscience ; and betakes himself to business, and pleasures, and company, in order to get rid of its remonstrances : but there are times when it will speak, espe- cially a time of sickness and approaching dissolution ; and at those seasons he feels regret that he has so long and so entirely disregarded his eternal interests. Gladly at such a season would he consent to have his miserable life protracted to an indefinite period, yea, or to suffer annihilation ; not because he could contemplate either the one or the other with pleasure, but because he dreads the judgment for which he has neglected to prepare.
Say, Brethren, whether such a way be not hard and pain- ful ? Yet I appeal to the conscience of every man, whether that declaration be not verified in his own experience ; " The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked™." Yes, verily, this testimony is incontrovertible; and it proves beyond all doubt the truth in my text, that " the way of transgressors is hard."
But all this is heightened by the consideration of the trans- gressors' way as a state,]
III. Of danger —
[In some respect it may be said of every man, that he is exposed to danger, and that " we know* not what a day or an hour may bring forth." But, if we be servants of Christ, we have nothing to fear ; since He is pledged to preserve us from every thing that shall be really evil, and to make " all things work together for our good "." Even death itself is a blessing to the pious man, who is privileged to count it amongst his richest treasures °. Far different from this, however, is the state of the ungodly man : he knows not but that the next moment may precipitate him into the bottomless abyss of hell. Death waits but for its commission from on high, and it will in an instant transmit his soul to the bar of jvidgment, and to the presence of his offended God, What a fearful thought ! With what terror would it inspire the unconverted man, if it were contemplated aright ! Could we but conceive a trans- gressor hurried to the tribunal of his Judge, to give up his great account, and to receive his final doom, wdiat a view should we have of the folly of his ways ! Oh ! the anguish to which he is now subjected under the wrath of an avenging God ?
»ii Tsai, Ivii. 20, 21. " Rom. viii. 28. « 1 Cor. iii. 22.