man's experience known to himself alone.
Prov. xiv. 10. The heart hnoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.
THE inward experience of men, any further than it is discovered by acts or other outward signs, must of necessity be known to themselves alone. St. Paul puts the question to us, " Who knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him''?" Whether a man be filled with sorrow or joy, he alone can be sensible of the measure and extent of his own feehngs.
The assertions in my text will be found true,
I. In reference to the concerns of this world —
[Great are the troubles of many, as arising from their
own unhappy tempers from their comiexions in life
or from circumstances of embarrassment in their
affairs And wlio but themselves can fully appreciate
their sorrows ? On the other hand, the comforts of
many are considerable, as flowing from the exercise of bene- volence and love from the endearments of domestic
life and from that success in their affairs which enables
them to supply with ease the wants of themselves and families
And of the satisfaction which they feel, a stranger
would form a very inadequate conception ]
II. In reference to the concerns of the soul —
[In matters relating to the soul, the feelings are still more acute. None but the person feeling it can tell " the bitterness" which is occasioned by a sense of sin, with all its aggravations
by the prospect of death and judgment, whilst the soul
is unprepared to meet its God and by temptations
to despondency, and perhaps to suicide itself Job's
friends could not at all appreciate his sorrows, as depicted by
himself* — Nor can any, but the man whose " heart
is thus broken," conceive fully what " a broken and contrite
spirit is"
On the other hand, there are in the heart of a true Christian " joys, with which a stranger intermeddleth not." The peace that is experienced by him, when God speaks peace to his soul,
" passeth all understanding <=" And " the joys" with
which he is transported, in the views of his Redeemer's glory, in
a 1 Cor. ii. 11. h Job vi. 2—4. = Phil. iv. 7.