Isai. xxxviii. 19. The Uving, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day : the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
THIS is a part of a most pathetic record, written by Hezekiah after his recovery from a sickness which he had expected to terminate in death. The descrip- tion which he gives of his feelings is certainly very different from what we should have expected from so good a man : but when we reflect on the particular situation in which he was placed, as a reformer of all his subjects; and the prospect that by his removal all his past efforts would be frustrated; we no longer wonder that he should express so great anxiety to live, and such a lively sense of his obligations to God, who, in answer to his prayers, and the prayers of the Prophet Isaiah, had promised to add fifteen years to his life. Indeed, under almost any circum- stances, the living have reason to bless their God for the prolongation of their days: and the words which I have read will afford me a fit occasion to shew the return which this mercy at all times calls for at our hands. It is the duty of every living man to glorify his God,
I. In a way of devout acknowledgment — Such a return is called for, 1. From those who are yet unprepared for death —
[Let them reflect a moment, where they would have now been, if they had been taken hence in their present state; let them consider how many have been removed, whilst they have been left ; and what the feelings are of those who have been so taken into the presence of their God — and methinks they will need no exhortation from me to praise their God, they will find their souls penetrated with the devoutest gratitude, and will be saying, " The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day." Tell me, ye who are here alive this day, have ye not reason to bless your God for the space which is yet given you for repentance; for the opportunities yet afforded you of access to God through Christ ; for the con- tinued influences of the Holy Spirit, who yet striveth with you