Matt. ii. IG, 18. Then Herod, ivhen he saw that he ivas mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that ivere in Bethlehem, and iti all the coasts thereof , from tivo years old and under, according to the time which he had diligejitly inquired of the loise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama ivas there a voice heard, lamentatioti, and
weeping, and great mourning ; Rachel iveeping for her chil- dren, and would not he comforted, because they are not. WHILST ungodly men are perpetrating every species of wickedness, the language of their hearts, as interpreted by God himself, is this : " The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earths" A similar thought is apt to arise in the heart, when our trials are multiplied, and rehef is not speedily afforded us. It was in this way that the Israelites at Massah, when destitute of water, vented their murmurs : this was their atheistical inquiry ; " Is the Lord amongst us or not^?" Even godly persons, under violent temptation, are sometimes ready to ask, " Hath God forgotten to be gracious ? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies'"?" But a diligent attention to the Scriptures will fortify us against any such absurd conclusions. From them we shall learn, that however inattentive God may appear to be to the concerns of men, he directs, limits, and overrules all their actions, for the promotion of his own glory. Scarcely on any occasion should we have expected his interposition, more than for the ])revention of tliat murderous edict, whereby all the infants of Bethle- hem and the adjacent country were destroyed. Yet God saw fit to permit it ; and interfered no further than was necessary for the fulfilling of his own word, and the accomplishing of his own eternal purpose.
Let us contemplate, I. The fact recorded —
A more strange occurrence can scarcely be con- ceived. We wonder that any human being should be invested with such power, as to cause, by his own arbitrary mandate, the slaughter of so many innocent persons. We wonder still more, that, supposing this authority to be delegated to any one, there should be found agents to carry such an inhuman edict into execution. But most of all do we wonder, that a creature endued with reason should be capable of issuing such an order as Herod did on this occasion. But let us trace this action to its source : let us inquire
« Ezek. viii. 12. and ix. 9. t Exod. vii. 7. ' Ps. Ixxvii. <J.