Paul himself was constrained to say, " By the grace of God I am what I am"":" and if any of you confide for one moment in your own strength, you will fall^ On the other hand, if you trust in the liOrd Jesus Christ, you are assured, in this very Song, that your " strength shall be according to your day'." " Be strong, then, in the Lord, and in the power of his might":" and then let the Psalmist's resolution be yours, and his song be yours ; " My mouth shall shew forth thy righteous- ness and thy salvation all the day ; for I know not the numbers thereof. / loillgo in the strength of the Lord God : I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only"."]
r 1 Cor. XV. 10. ^ Prov. xxviii. 2G.
t Compare ver. 3, 4. with Jude, ver. 24. " Eph. vi. 10. X Ps. Ixxi. 15, 16.
Isai. xxvi. 20, 21. Come, my people, enter thou into thy cham- bers, and shut thy doors about thee : hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold, the Loi'd cometh out of his place to punish the inha- bitants of the earth for their iniquity.
GOD has been pleased to manifest at all times such a tender concern for the welfare of his people, that he has scarcely ever done any thing of importance, which he has not revealed to them beforehand by his servants the prophets ^ Did he determine to destroy the earth with a flood ? he instructed Noah first to build an ark for the preservation of himself and his family''. Was he about to rain fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrha ? he could not execute his vengeance till righteous Lot had retired to a place of safety''. Had he decreed to bring on Jerusalem such judgments as the world had never before seen ? he warns his people to escape from it, and provides them a retreat in the neighbouring mountains'*. Thus he had decreed the destruction of Babylon ; and the preceding part of the chapter contains a hymn of triumph, which should be sung by his people on that occasion. But, as there would be great danger of
a Amosiii. 7. *» Gen. vi. 13, 14.
<= Gen. xix. 22. d Luke xxi. 21, 22.