325 SERMON XII. ON THE HAPPINESS OF A M ND OPEN TO PROVERBS xxx. 7, 8, 9. Two things have I required of thee, deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies : give me neither poverty, nor riches: feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full, and deny thee, and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. XII. HOLY fcripture gives no account of Agur, SERM. the person to whom the inftructions, contained in the chapter where my text lies, are afcribed. He was probably a prophet, or, at least, a man of eminent wisdom who, having attentively observed human life, and the course of fublunary affairs, had delivered maxims of prudence, and precepts of X 3 morality XII. SERM. morality worthy of being handed down to fucceeding generations. He appears to have been a profeffed teacher; and Ithiel and Ucal, to whom this leffon is addreffed, to have been his difciples. The fhort collection of precepts and obfervations, here recorded, is termed a prophecy, although it contain no prediction, because this name was promifcuously given to all the writings of the prophets, the great inftructors of the Jewish people to their reproofs, admonitions, remonstrances, and threatenings, as well as to their prophecies, properly fo called. It fhould feem, that the maxims and obfervations, here delivered, were answers to queftions put to the inftructor, by his fcholars, Ithiel and Ucal, with refpect to the most momentous objects of human enquiry. Agur appears to have strongly felt the imperfection and infufficiency of reason for the difcovery of important truth; and the neceffity of divine instruction to lead man to any adequate information concerning his duty, his ftate, and his real felicity. From the X. the beginning of the chapter down to the SERM. verfes of the text, he inculcates, on his dif ciples, an humble opinion of human`attainments, however extenfive. He leads them to reflect how little we know of the works of God, which are continually before us, how small a portion of the univerfe, fo diverfified with wonders, fo adorned with beauty and magnificence, and fo admirably adapted to the purposes of infinite wisdom and goodness, is exposed to our view. He shows how extremely small our ability is to ascertain the causes that directly produce; the qualities that characterize; and the laws that govern the various parts of which it is compofed, and the boundless multiplicity of fubftances which it contains. He, thence, directs his difciples to the Supreme Being, as the only fource of true wisdom, which, copious and pure, muft fend forth fuch ftreams, as alone can quench that thirst of knowledge which burns in the foul of man. But, the fage was, at the fame time, convinced that, as curiosity is the main spring which impels to the acquifition of science; XII. SERM. fo, while conjecture is embraced for reality, probability for certainty, and opinion for truth, innumerable errors are derived from the fame principle. On this account, he inculcates acquiefcence in divine revelation, and the preservation of its doctrines from the corruption of human conceit. The perfuafion that, from God alone, all true and fubftantial knowledge proceeds, will neceffarily produce a devout defire of divine inftruction. Hence, Agur points out, in my text, which is expreffed in the form of a prayer, the grand objects of defire, and purfuit to every reasonable mind. In this respect, he resembles the greatest of the heathen philofophers, whom we find inftructing one of his difciples in those things for which he ought chiefly to pray, as affording a principal means both of virtue and of happiness. Two things, fays Agur, have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty, nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me; left I be full, and deny thee, and say who is the Lord? * Socrates. See Plato in the 2d Alcibiades. 0 or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name SERM, of my God in vain. In this short but comprehenfive prayer, every thing conducive to the perfection of the foul, to the support of the body, to our comfortable fubfiftence in this world, and to our preparation for a ftate of eternal felicity; every thing that should excite the defires, and employ the activity of a wife and good man, is contained. This prayer will, therefore, furnish rich matter of profitable reflection; and the illuftration of it muft contribute to fubftantial improvement. This I propose to attempt. But, as the prayer is evidently divifible into two principal petitions, one relating to the foul, the other to the body, I fhall confine myself at present to the former, namely, Remove far from me vanity and lies. The latter will afford fubjects for two separate discourses. The meaning and extent of the petition Remove far from me vanity and lies, is firft to be explained; and, fecondly, its propriety, as exhibiting a primary object of defire and purfuit, is to be illuftrated. XII. |