another complaint against them was, that, in their straits and difficulties, they were ever looking to Egypt and Assyria for help, instead of relying on the Lord their God, Now if, in respect of gross idolatry, the passage be thought more immediately applicable to them, it will nevertheless, as a charge of spiritual idolatry, be found to contain ample matter of accu- sation against ourselves.
Let us then consider,
I. The evils which God lays to our charge ;
II. The light in which they should be viewed.
I. The evils which God lays to our charge are, that we have forsaken him, and sought our happiness in the creature rather than in the Creator. He justly calls himself " the fountain of living waters :" for he is, and must be acknowledged to be, the only source of all good. What is there in the visible creation, that is not the product of his power, and the gift of his grace ? or what is there that can afford satis- faction to the souls of men, or to the bright intel- ligences of heaven, which does not emanate from his presence and love ? If it be replied, that many sources of consolation are opened for us in the contemplations of reason, or the gratifications of sense ; we answer, That the very capacity to communicate or receive pleasure is the fruit of his bounty ; and that the crea- ture can be no more to us than what he is pleased to make it.
What then does he require of us ? He calls us to regard him as the one source of happiness to our- selves ; to acknowledge him in all that we have ; and to trust in him for all that we stand in need of. He calls us to resemble our first parents in their primitive state ; yea, to resemble the very angels around his throne ; and to delight ourselves in him, as our Friend, our Portion, " our eternal great Reward." By sin, indeed, we are become incapable of fulfilling these duties, or of experiencing these enjoyments, to the extent we oiiffht : but still God desires to restore us to the felicity which we have lost, and to communicate