been such as God could accept ! Enter distinctly into those three points , and then say what answer you can re- turn to that searching interrogation, " Did ye perform them to me, even unto me ? "]
2. To whom we have performed them — [Self was the spring of all their services in Babylon ; and self has been, for the most part, the true source of ours. With some they have been no more than a decent regard for the customs of the place wherein they live. With others, they have originated in pride, having been performed only to set a good example to others, or to gratify a self-complacent spirit in themselves. With others again, the observance of them has been prompted by self-righteousness, and a vain desire of esta- blishing a righteousness of their own before God. With some too, it is to be feared, their services have been debased by, if not founded in, hypocrisy, having been little else than an endeavour to preserve a fair appearance before men, and to get advantage for the promoting of their temporal interests.
In any of these points of view, what is the principle that actuates us ? Is it love for God, or zeal for his glory ? No : it is self and nothing but self; and inasmuch as we have per- formed religious services under any of these impressions, it must be said that we have done it " for ourselves," and not for God. Of Pharisaic hypocrisy we would fondly hope, that it is not a common principle amongst us : but formality, and pride, and self-righteousness operate to a vast extent. O let us
search and try ourselves in relation to these things
and we shall find abundant ground for humiliation, where perhaps we imagined there was cause for nothing but self- approbation and joy.]
That we may not perform our services in vain, I will proceed,
II. To shew what practice is necessary to the accept- ance of them before God —
The prophet appealed to the Jews, whether their attention ought not rather to be called to the com- mands of God, which in their more prosperous state they had neglected, and which even now they over- looked ?
This is the duty to which we are called —
[Under all circumstances, our first duty is to obey the commands of God : and to bring us to obedience is the end of all his dispensations towards us. If he gives prosperity, it is to encourage us to what is good ; and, if he send adversity, it is