and certainly not even the greatest of his mercies astonishes us more than the continuance of them to us. Let us but reflect, how numerous our provocations have been, and what ungrateful returns we have made to God for all his loving- kindness, and we shall stand amazed at his patience, and long- suffering, and forbearance : we shall be surprised that he has not long since shut up his tender mercies in displeasure, and " sworn, in his wrath, that we should not enter into his rest." We shall then understand (what else is quite inexplicable) why David, in a psalm of only twenty-six verses, repeats no less than twenty-six times that " God's mercy endureth for everf :" we shall see that to this, and to this alone, we owe it, that we have not been consumed long agog.]
Let us proceed to consider,
II. In what manner, and for what ends, we should notice it — And, 1. As to the manner —
[A mere speculative view of this subject is by no means that which becomes us. We should consider it with the pro- foundest admiration, and the liveliest gratitude.
One might as well expect a person to speak in a light man- ner of sin, as of the mercies of his God. There is something so vast and incomprehensible in the loving-kindness of God, that the very thought of it should utterly overwhelm us. The exclamation of St. Paul, when contemplating the decrees of Providence respecting the calling of the Gentiles, and the restoration of the Jews, is that which suits us in reference to the subject before us ; " O the depth ! O the depth ! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding outh !" Even a Heathen, when restored to the exercise of his understanding, was so amazed at the goodness of Jehovah, that he exclaimed, " How great are his signs, and how mighty are his wonders1 ! " How much more then ought ive to be im- pressed with it, to whom it is revealed in the stupendous work of redemption ! Surely the meditation of the prophet should be ever on our mind, and his words upon our lips ; " How great is his goodness, how great is his beauty M"
Yet, as the angels, who veil their faces and their feet before the Deity from a sense of their unworthiness to behold or serve him, do yet exert themselves to the utmost to exalt his name ; so we, however incapable of comprehending fully the mercies of our God, should do our utmost to praise and
f Ps. cxxxvi. s Lam. hi. 22. h Rom. xi. 33.
' Dan. iv. 2, 3. k Zech. ix. 17.