ings, and lightnings, and earthquakes, and the sound of the trumpet waxing louder and louder1; should we not tremble? should we not be ready to engage, as the Israelites did, " All that the Lord hath spoken will we do, and be obedient ?" Were we to hear him speaking to us in any of these ways, the word would not more certainly be his, than this word is which we now possess : and therefore whatever sentiments of fear or love or gratitude we should feel on account of such revelations of his will, we ought to feel in reference to that sacred volume which we have in our hands : whenever we look upon it, we should say, This is the word of Him who came down from heaven to instruct me ; of Him who died upon the cross to save me ; of Him who now sits enthroned in glory, and will hereafter fix my doom according to itk.]
Let us next inquire, II. In what manner it should be improved —
We should not merely regard it with pious venera- tion, but should make use of it,
1. For the furnishing of our minds —
[It is to little purpose to have the Scriptures in our houses, unless we read them diligently, and acquire a practical and experimental knowledge of them. As the tables of the law were deposited within the ark, so should the whole " word of God be hid within our hearts." It should " dwell in us ;" it should dwell in us " richly :" its precepts should be trea- sured up in our minds, that we may know what the will of the Lord is : its promises should be precious to us, that we may be able to plead them at the throne of grace, and obtain the accomplishment of them to our own souls : nor should its threatenings be overlooked, but rather be considered as kind and salutary admonitions which are given us for our good.
It will be said by many, that their memory is defective, and that they cannot retain the things which they read or hear : but if we made a practice of selecting daily some short portion of Scripture for our meditation throughout the day, the most ignorant amongst us would soon attain a knowledge which at present appears far beyond his reach.]
2. For the regulating of our conduct —
[Speculative knowledge, for the most part, administers only to pride and contention. That which alone is valuable to the Christian is practical. The Scriptures are designed to lead him to such wisdom and discretion as will be in vain
1 Heb. xii. 18, 10. k John xii. 48.