them as he does not unto the world'*:" and the more diligent he sees them in doing his will, the more richly will he impart to them the tokens of his love, and the more abundantly com- municate to them the blessings of grace and peace'.]
His prospects, moreover, of the eternal world shall be more bright and glorious —
[To many does God vouchsafe, as to Moses from Mount Pisgah, delightful prospects of the heavenly Canaan. He draws aside the veil, and suffers them to enter into the holy of holies, that they may behold his glory, and receive a foretaste of the blessedness which they shall one day enjoy in his presence. But on whom are these special favours bestowed ? on the slothful, the careless, the inconstant? No. It is " the faithful man that shall abound with these blessings ;" it is " him that rejoiceth in working righteousness, that the Lord will meet" in this intimate and endearing manner'^.]
Infer —
1. How mucb more ready is God to shew mercy than to execute his judgments !
[Had God been extreme to mark what is done amiss, who is there amongst us, whom he would not often have abandoned in an hour of secret declension ? But he is full of compassion ; and " judgment is his strange work," to which he is greatly averse. At this very moment does he follow the backslider with the most earnest invitations, and most gracious promises, saying, " Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings, and love you freely^." Let us thankfully acknow- ledge his long-suffering and forbearance; and seek that happi- ness in the service of our God, which we shall in vain look for in any deviations from the path of duty.]
2. What need have we to watch over our own hearts !
[We are bidden to " keep our hearts with all diligence, because out of them are the issues of life and death™:" and indeed we have need to guard them well, because they are so " bent to backslide from God." It will be rarely, if ever, found, that the watchful Christian is left to fall into any gross sin. Men decline from God in secret, before he withdraws from them his restraining grace : they have chosen some evil " way of their own," and deliberately followed it in their hearts, before God leaves them to be " filled with it." If then we would not be swept away with a deluge of iniquity, let us be careful to
ii John xiv. 21 — 23. Rev. ill. 20. ^ Isai, xxxii. 17.
^ Prov. xxviii. 20. Isai. xxxiii. 14 — 17. and Ixiv. 5.
1 Jer. ill. 22. Hos. xiv. 4. ^ Prov. iv. 23.