[" Then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed :" yea, " I will establish with thee my covenant, that thou may est (what ? be lifted up with pride ? No : that thou mayest) re- member, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God." Here is the true state of every pardoned soul : the mercy of God towards him humbles him in the dust, and makes him to abhor himself in dust and ashes.
It would be thought by the generality, that the spirit of a loving, faithful and obedient wife would be proper for the spouse of Christ : and so it would if that spouse had never violated her nuptial vows. But we are all like this adulterous woman : and, as an adulteress, who had been precisely circum- stanced like her in the chapter before us, would, after being- restored to the favour of her husband, never forgive herself, however freely he may have forgiven her, so will a gracious soul when restored to the Divine favour : yea, the very favour of God, in proportion as it is exercised towards him, will only create in the soul a deeper self-abhorrence for ever having sinned against so gracious a God. An admiration of God's goodness, and a lothing of its own vileness, will never cease to occupy the soul that has been thus restored.]
We call you then, in conclusion, to remember,
1. Your covenant mercies —
[How unspeakable are these! The very vilest of the human race may become the spouse of Christ, and be invested with all the honours and privileges of that relation. Will any of you be indifferent towards your God and Saviour, and reject the overtures which he now sends you by me ? O remember, that as man and wife are one flesh, so " he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him." Let all of you seek to be partakers of this honour. It is by faith in Christ that you become one with him ; and by the exercise of the same faith shall all the blessings of the everlasting covenant flow down into your souls ]
2. Your covenant engagements —
[You all know what engagements a wife enters into, when she is taking upon her the vows of the marriage-covenant. She is thenceforward to live altogether for him with whom she has contracted this solemn bond. O let every Believer know what he has undertaken, and consider what is to be his con- stant aim. You must not be contented with some few services; you must be aspiring after such measures of love and purity, as may render you more lovely in the eyes of your blessed