Hos. ii. 6, 7. Behold, 1 will hedge up thy way tvith thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them ; then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better tvith me than now.
THE generality of mankind are very incompetent judges of the dispensations of Providence. Indeed, for the most part, they quite mistake their nature and tendency; and draw conclusions from them which the Scripture will by no means justify. They suppose that prosperity is a token of Divine love and approbation ; and that affliction, on the contrary, is a mark of God's displeasure. But an inspired writer assures us, that " we cannot know good or evil by all that is before us." Considering, however, that we are prone to forget God in our abundance, and that the rod of correction is the means whereby thousands are turned to God, we have reason rather to esteem affliction, at least as the more needful, if not the richer, blessing of the two. Cer- tain it is that there are multitudes now in heaven, who owed their first serious impressions to some heavy chastisement ; and who must for ever say with the Psalmist, " It is good for me that I have been afflicted." Nor can we doubt but that the good of mankind is one principal end for which God puts the cup of sorrow into their hands. vol. x. b