not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep ; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass overk?" Thus may you expect your greatest obstacles to be made the very means of your preservation. Only picture to yourselves the weary beast feeding or reclining in the fertile valley ; and there you have the perfect image of what shall be done for you, when once your appointed labours shall be ended: you shall then " rest for ever from your labours," and enjoy perfect peace in the bosom of your God.]
k Isai. li. 9, 10.
Tsai. lxiii. 15, 16. Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory : where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mer- cies towards me? Are they restrained? Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not : thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Re- deemer; thy name is from everlasting.
BEHOLD a suppliant in the presence of his God. Draw near, my Brethren ; and hear his pleadings at the throne of grace. Surely from this you may learn much of the condescension of your God, who suffers himself to be so addressed ; and much of your own exalted privileges, in that, in every time of need, you have such a God, before whom you can spread your wants, and from whom you can obtain whatsoever your necessities may require.
The words before us may be supposed to be uttered by a pious Jew, mourning over the desolation of his country during the Babylonish captivity, and plead- ing with God for a restoration of the blessings which it was once the high privilege of his nation to enjoy.
The whole of the Jews' captivity in Babylon, and of their redemption from it, was of a typical nature ; and may well be considered as prefiguring the trials and deliverances of God's people in all ages. St. Paul quotes a part of this prayer, in this very view ; and shews, that the things here implored were not con- fined to that particular occasion, but have their