Jer. iv. 14. 0 Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved: how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
THE displeasure of God is never raised to such a height, but that he is willing to pardon his offending creatures, and longs for their repentance on purpose that he may exercise his mercy towards them. The denunciations of his wrath do indeed frequently ap- pear as if they could not be reversed : but they always, even when most positive, imply a condition, and leave room for hope. The approaching destruction of Ni- neveh was foretold by the prophet in terms which seemed to preclude a possibility of their escape : but their penitence averted the impending storm. Thus, in the chapter before us, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans is spoken of as hastening with the velocity of an eagle, insomuch that the prophet com- plains of it as already accomplished : " Woe unto us ! for we are spoiled : " yet in the very next words he introduces, as in a parenthesis, a brief and pathetic exhortation to repentance, as the sure and only means of staying the Divine judgments.
It should seem that, in the midst of all their wicked- ness, the Jews buoyed up themselves with expectations that the threatened calamities would never come. In reference to these vain hopes the prophet addresses them in the words which we have just read. In these words we see that God notices the " vain thoughts," as well as the sinful actions, of men ; and that he requires " the heart" to be purified from those, as well as the life from these.
We shall take occasion therefore from the text to shew,
I. What are those vain thoughts which are apt to lodge within us —
Of course it will not be possible to notice all the vain thoughts that rush into the minds of men ; (we