religion prevailed in so great a degree. Surely it may well be numbered among the most heinous sins of this favoured land.]
Having followed the sin of Israel, what can we expect but to participate in,
II. The judgment denounced against it —
To " fall " must certainly import some heavy judg- ment. This threatening was not fully accomplished but in the utter destruction of the Jewish nation. Nor can we hope to escape the displeasure of God while we harbour in our hearts an evil that is so offensive to him —
This must be said of us as a nation —
[We see at this moment the judgments executing upon other nations (France, Belgium, Poland, Russia) and can we hope that the cup shall not be put into our hands ? Who can tell what a storm is gathering over us, or what ruin may ensue from the acts of our Government this very week"? Yet how few are crying to God as the occasion requires !]
But whatever occurs to us as a nation, the proud individually shall surely be dealt with according to their deserts —
[They will most generally fall in this world. In their own conceit their mountain stands so strong as to bid defiance to every assault. They think that they shall never be moved0. But how irresistibly have the haughtiest monarchs been hurled from their throne p ! How speedily have even the most power- ful empires been brought to desolation"1 ! How instantaneously have God's judgments often marked the heinousness of this sin r ! If they be exalted for a time they are almost invariably brought low at lasts.
At all events they are absolutely certain to fall in the eternal world. If indeed they repented of their sin, they would find mercy with God. A broken and contrite heart he will never despise*. Though he will resist the proud, yet he will give grace unto the humble. He will look on him with pleasure and complacency11: but nothing can ever reconcile him to " a man that walketh in pride." He will surely abase the proud x. He has irreversibly decreed their utter destruction y. Nor
n June 19, 1831. ° Ps. xxx. 6, 7. p Dan. v. 20, 23.
'i Ezek. xxviii. 2, 6, 8. Isai. xiv. 12 — 15.
r 2 Chron. xxxii. 25. Acts xii. 23.
s Ps. lxxiii. 6, 9, 18, 20. * Ps. li. 17.
u Isai. lvii. 15. x Dan. iv. 37. * Mai. iv. 1.