his judgments might well be expected, not only on account of the peculiar protection which has been afforded us, but on account of the transcendant advantages which we enjoy in the knowledge of God's word, and the ministration of his Gospel b And now, I ask, was not this expectation reason- able? and is not that complaint which God made against his people of old, in the fullest and strictest sense applicable to usc? ]
Alas ! We have reason to blush and be confounded, when we reflect,
II. How we have disappointed his expectations —
Hear the accusation of God against us ; " They rose early, and corrupted all their doings" —
[There is no sin, in the commission of which we are not as eager as ever. It should almost seem that " the goodness, and long-suffering, and forbearance of God, which should have led us to repentance," have produced rather the contrary effect, of lulling us to sleep in our sins. The accusation is more fully stated in a preceding verse d : let us consider it more minutely : let us make use of it as a light by which to search and try our
ways Is it not true ? and is not our guilt in this view
exceeding heinous ?]
And is not the accusation applicable to all ranks and orders amongst us, even as it was against the Jews of old ?
[We do not in general wish to speak of others : but in a view of national iniquities we are constrained to do so, espe- cially where the prophets lead the way. Behold then what the prophet speaks respecting the princes, the judges, the prophets, and the priests of his daye: we will not say that precisely the same iniquities prevail amongst those different orders in our land; but we appeal to you, whether any material change has taken place amongst the higher ranks ; or whether those, whose duty it is to instruct and reform the world, have increased in activity and zeal, by any means to the extent that the occasion has called for? Alas! if we consult the records of the New Testament, and see what the Apostles preached, and how they lived, and then compare it with the lives and ministrations of the sacred order amongst us, we shall see cause to wonder that God has not already removed his candlestick from us, and left us in utter darkness
b Here shew particularly wherein that improvement should have consisted ; and our additional obligation to it, arising from our reli- gious privileges : ver. 5.
c Isai. v. 3, 4. d ver. 2. e ver. 3, 4.