rending cry, " My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" See the sun himself veiling his face in darkness, and the Lord of glory bowing his head in death : and then tell me, whether you feel much disposition for mirth and laughter ? or whether such a state of mind would become you? Methinks, I need add no more. Your own consciences will attest the justice of Solomon's remarks. But if there be an advocate for mirth yet unconvinced, then I put it to him to answer that significant question in my text, " What doeth it?"]
Application —
1. Are any disposed to complain that I make reli- gion gloomy?
[Remember, it is of carnal mirth that I have spoken ; and of that, not in its occasional sallies, from a buoyancy of spirit, and in combination with love, but of its being regarded as a source of happiness, and of its constituting, as it were, a portion of our daily employment. And if I wrest this from you, do I leave you a prey to melancholy ? Go to religion ; and see whe- ther that do not furnish you with mirth and laughter of a purer kind : with mirth that is not unprofitable, with laughter that is not mad ? The very end of the Gospel is, to " give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness :" and if you believe in Christ, it is not merely your privilege, but your duty to rejoice in him, yea, to " rejoice in him with joy unsjDeakable and glorified." If the Church, on account of temporal deliverances, could say, "Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with sing- ing ^ ;" much more may you, on account of the salvation which has been vouchsafed to you. Only, therefore, let the grounds of your joy be right, and we consent that "your mourning be turned into dancing, and that to the latest hour of your lives you put ofif your sackcloth and gird you with gladness s." Instead of pronouncing such mirth madness, we will declare it to be your truest wisdom.]
2. Are there those amongst you who accord with Solomon ?
[Remember, then, to seek those as your associates who are like-minded with you in this respect. Affect not the com- pany of those who delight in laughter, and in carnal mirth; for they will only draw you from God, and rob you of tlie happiness which you might otherwise enjoy. If they appear happy, remember that " their mirth is like the crackling of thorns under a pot '* :" it may make a blaze for a moment ; but it soon expires in spleen and melancholy. Be careful, too, to
f Ps. cxxvi. 1, 2. g Ps. XXX. 11. h Eccl. vii. 6.