Almighty. We see how dependent a little infant is on its mother ; and such must we be in the arms of God. We must undertake nothing in our own strength : in no circumstances whatever may we lean to our own understanding: whatever is devised, or whatever is done, the creature must be nothing ; but God must be all in all.]
2. To whom alone to give the glory of all that is done —
[We must not "sacrifice to our own net, or burn incense to our own drag1." God is a jealous God, and will not give his glory to another. When Herod was pleased with the adulation of his courtiers, and took honour to himself, instead of giving it to the Lord, he was smitten and eaten up with worms s. And we also shall be made monuments of his dis- pleasure, if we ascribe not to Him the glory due unto his name. Whereinsoever our success has been, whether in temporal or spiritual concerns, this must be our invariable acknowledgment, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name, be the praise1. J
3. In what light to view the very beginnings of grace —
[Were we left to accomplish any thing by our own might or power, we might well despond. But when we recollect that "all is of God," and that " He is a Being that changeth not," we may take comfort in the slightest expressions of his love, and in the smallest tokens of his grace. This is a very particular lesson to be learned from our text. We are " not to despise the day of small things":" but to believe, that "He who has laid the foundation of good within us will also finish itx." And, if any enemy vaunt himself as sure to prevail against us, we should address him in that triumphant lan- guage, " Who art thou, O great mountain ? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plaint." The communication between the olives and the lamps could not be intercepted by mortal man ; nor can the effectual aids of the Holy Spirit be kept from us. These lessons, ivell learned, are worth a vision: for in the practice of them shall all imaginable good flow down unto us, and God eternally be glorified.]
r Hab. i. 16. s Acts xii. 21 — 23. l Ps. cxv. 1.
u ver. 10. x ver. 9. y ver. 7.