felicity of heaven, we must renounce all self-dependence, and look for our help in Christ alone a.]
2. Those who are desponding on account of it —
[When men begin to see their perishing condition, and to feel a consciousness that they have been the authors of their own ruin, they often distress themselves with apprehen- sions that their state is irremediable. Now the text affords a complete antidote to all desponding fears : in it God addresses himself immediately to the self-ruined sinner, and says to him, " I am thy help." Whatever guilt therefore any one may have contracted, and whatever cause he may have to reproach himself, let him only consider who it is that says to him, " In me is thy help," and he may instantly dismiss his fears. Let him " be strong in faith, giving glory to God;" and he shall find that, " before Zerubbabel the mountains will become a plain11."]
a Rom. ix. 30 — 33. b Isai. xl. 27—31. Zech. iv. 7.
Hos. xiv. 1 — 3. O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God ; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord : say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously : so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us : we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our Gods: for in Thee the fatherless Jindeth mercy.
FOR the encouragement of all who feel the bur- then of their sins, God has declared, yea has sworn, that " he has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live :" and the whole Scriptures bear testimony to that blessed truth. But, lest any should be dis- couraged by the idea that they know not how to approach him acceptably, it has pleased God to pre- scribe the very " words " whereby he would have them address him. And assuredly, if he had con- sulted all the weary and heavy-laden sinners in the universe, and had permitted them, or any individual among them, to dictate to him what expressions he should prescribe, the whole world could never have