'The things which are so indispensable to our happiness, thou hast of thine own mercy decreed to give. Though we have so provoked thee to anger by our unparalleled iniquities, yet "wilt thou turn again, and have compassion upon us;" subduing for us the sins which have led us captive, and "cast- ing into the very depths of the sea" the sins which have sub- jected us to thy displeasure. Once we saw our enemies subdued, and dead upon the sea-shore : and our sins, which are infinitely more formidable enemies, wilt thou treat in the same way, making us happy monuments of thine unbounded power and grace. O Lord, I look forward to that blissful period with eager expectation, and adore thee from my inmost soul, that thou hast such blessings in reserve for us.
'Then shall all thy promises to our nation be fulfilled in their utmost extent. To Abraham they were the fruits of " mercy," of free, unmerited mercy altogether : but to Jacob they were memorials of thy " truth ;" seeing that thou hadst made them over to Abraham and his seed, by covenant and by oath. Then shall all that thou hast "sworn" receive its full accomplishment. Then shall the seed of Abraham possess, to
a far greater extent than they have ever yet done, their pro- mised inheritance ; and, at the same time, " in him shall also all the nations of the earth be blessed." When I look forward to these glorious events, I am altogether lost in wonder, love, and praise.']
But, as we also are interested in this salvation, let us also contemplate God's perfections as displayed in it —
[Here we may see distinctly marked, yea, written as with a sun-beam, his mercy and loving-kindness, his poiver and grace, his truth and faithfulness.
How greatly have we provoked him to anger, times without number! Yet "will he not retain his anger against us," but "will pass by our transgressions," yea, and "pardon them," and "blot them out as a morning cloud;" and solely "because he delighteth in mercy." It shall be in him altogether an act of sovereign love. Nothing have we ever done to merit it; nor :s it possible for us, by any thing that we ever can do, to merit it : but the motives which he cannot derive from us, he will find within his own bosom : "he will have mercy, because he will have mercy; and will have compassion, because he will have compassion."
And what is there that he will not do for us ? Verily, there is no limit either to his power or grace. Has the guilt of sin subjected us to his heavy displeasure ? and is it like a millstone around our necks, ready to sink us into the bottomless abyss of hell ? He will cancel it; and "put it away from us, as far as the east is from the west;" yea, " and cast it behind him irre- coverably into the very depths of the sea;" so that to us, no less than unto the Jews, shall that gracious promise be fulfilled, " The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found : for I will pardon them whom I reserve11." Nor is this all. He well knows that sin, if suffered to retain its power over us, would still be, as it were, a hell within us, and infallibly plunge us into everlasting perdition: he therefore takes to him his mighty power, and, by the effectual operation of his grace, subdues it in us ; so that we are renewed in the spirit of our minds, and are " transformed into his image in righteousness and true holiness." Thus, whilst he delivers us from hell, "he makes us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light."
And where is the person who ever laid hold on his covenant, and has not had it fulfilled to him in all its parts ? No, verily : God has said, " I will never leave thee ; never, never forsake thee :" and he is faithful to his word ; nor has one jot or tittle