Amos iv. 11, 12. Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, 0 Israel : and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, 0 Israel. vol. x. p
THE various dispensations of providence are in- tended to awaken our concern for our best interests, and to bring us back to God. But the generality of mankind, satisfied with tracing events to second causes, neglect to make the improvement of them which God designs. Judgments and mercies in con- stant succession pass unheeded ; and, instead of pro- moting our spiritual welfare, too frequently enhance rather our eternal condemnation. It is certain that God notices the effects which his dealings produce upon us : and, if we continue incorrigible under all the means which he uses for our good, he will sooner or later call us to a severe account. To this effect he speaks in the passage before us ; where, having recapitulated the various methods by which he had sought to reclaim his people, he complains, after each, that "they had not returned unto him;" and then he bids them prepare to answer for it at his tribunal.
We may with too much reason apply to ourselves the words originally addressed to Israel, and consider from them,
I. The complaint alleged against us —
God has used various means to bring us to repent- ance—
[In the context he specifies several judgments which he had inflicted on his people Israel, intimating, at the same time, that in the midst of judgment he had remembered mercy. His judgments had been successive, and partial, not universal, or combined. We too must confess that he has visited us with
heavy calamitiesa But yet "he has staid his rough
wind in the day of his east wind," insomuch that we have been like "a brand plucked out of the fire!" War, famine, and pestilence have raged in different parts of the continent ; but we, though slightly affected by them all, have escaped without any material injury b.
For a long time also has God spared us from that awful pestilence which has raged both in Asia and Europe : but now
a Here may be mentioned any that have recently happened ; especially if among them can be enumerated scarcity, or drought, or mildew, or pestilence, or prejudicial lightnings.
b Written Feb. 1805.