Our nature is totally corrupted by fin, and every fenfe is the port of evil. The eye is an organ of exquifite workmanship, its mechanifm beyond meafure marvellous, its power amazingly extenfive!* O my God, that fo diftinguifhed a branch of thy creation fhould ever be perverted to purposes that debafe my nature! It was formed to furvey thy glorious works, and thence deduce the demonftration of thy infinite wifdom and goodness; but, ah, how foon was it proftituted to bafe and deftructive ufes. The firit fin, that fatal act of rebellion, which ruined us all, found admiffion to the heart of Eve by this organ. The interdicted tree was beautiful to the eye; the was captivated with its pleafing hue, and rafhly fnatched the poifonous fruit. The univerfal tragedy, the deluge of the world, owed its origin to the fame fource: the fons of God beheld the daughters of men, were finitten with their exterior beauty, and loft fight of their idolatrous deformity. Unhappy Achan too, perifhed in confequence of one unbridled glance of the eye. The renowned Achilles, it is faid, was invulnerable, fave in his heel. Of how many is the eye the only vulnerable member.† Here David, the wife, the valiant, the pious, received that wound, in the agony of which he vented the mournful groans of the fifty firft pfalm, and which, no doubt, made him go foftly all his days. O my foul! how many ftrong and good men have fallen down wounded, the miferable victims of one unguarded fally of the eye. High in the head, bright and conspicuous as a star in the brow of evening, is placed the eye. In this elevated situation, like a centinel posted in his watch tower, it commands the most enlarged prospect. Consisting only of simple fluids, inclosed in ̧ thin tunicles, it conveys to our apprehension all the graces of blooming nature, and all the glories of the visible heavens. How prodigiously wonderful, that an image of the hughest mountains, and a transcript of the most diversified landscapes should enter the small circlet of the pupil! ilow surprisingly artful, that the rays of light, like an inimitable pencil, should paint out the optic nerves; paint in an instant of time; paint in their truest colours, and exactest lineaments, every species of external objects !" Hervey's Dialogues. XII. 66 ma An excellent puritan writer, referring to the motto of Casar, veni, vidi, vici, I saw, I came, I overcame; observes that, ny will have cause to say, we came, we faw, we were ov❤come." The drunkard, the covetous, the adulterer, will all have occasion to adopt that motto. How prudent, then, to imitate the patriarch, and make a treaty with a power fo able to hurt us. I find a noble hea then prefenting us with an example. Scipio would not venture to behold his fair captive, but in the prefence of her mournful husband, to whom he honourably restored her. Even that rafh madman Alexander, called the Great, would not fee the beautiful daughters of Darius, left the conqueror 'of the world fhould be tempted by their charms. Zaleuchus, the Locrian legiflator, ordained that the crime of adultery fhould be punished with the lofs of the offender's eyes. But a greater than the fe has enjoined us to pluck out our own eye if it offend; that is, to refrain and mortify its finful lufts. Let a folemn treaty, then, be inftantly ratified; let my eyes, let every member of my body, be "holinefs unto the Lord." So fhall I, one holy day, fhut my eyes to all the vanities of this enfnaring world, and open them to behold the unveiled beauties of my glorious Redeemer; to whom, be univerfal and everlasting praife! ABSTINENTES OCULI. MEDITATIONS ON DIVINE PRESENCE. A powerful Antidote against Fear. what excefs in folly and diffipation would man run, diftrefs? and into what labyrinths of fear and anxiety would he involve himself, did not the joys of religion folace the heart, and the promife of God fhed forth fome rays of hope? Into what depths of diftrefs, O my foul, wouldst thou have been plunged, had not God faid, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not difmayed, for I am thy God; I will ftrengthen thee, yea, I will help thee with the right hand of my righteoufnefs?" This was the word that was my comfort in my trouble, and in my flraits I was revived by it. When ficknefs had laid my clay tabernacle low, threatened its diffolution, and made my nights wearifome, how comfortable to hear the voice of God faying, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee?" Now though earth and hell combine to lay a load of trouble on me, I will not fear, while the eternal God is my refuge, and underneath is his almighty arm." Confider, O my foul, that the promife of God is expreffed in language the most engaging and comfortable; and though waters of affliction fwell and rage, they shall not overwhelm you; "God is a prefent help in the time of trouble." And why fhould you fhrink, or be afraid in the profpect of trials to come? Shall not the deliverance from the houfe of bondage, and the paffage through the red sea, in the prefence of God, encourage you, that all the hardfhips of the wilderness, and the paffage through Jordan, will be light when God is with you? But when I look forward to old age, thofe evil days in which I fhall say I have no pleasure, how do I fear poverty and diftrefs? But why need I fear? for though I have not where to lay my head, yet, in having God I am richer, than if I had treasures at command; and who can be poor, when God over all blessed for ever is his portion? In having God with me I shall never want a friend. Who can be deftitute when the God of mercy and compaffion fuccours him? He is the best of friends; one who knows when and how to administer comfort; one who loved me before I loved him-who loved me with an everlasting love; one who loved me when I hated him; and who is more deeply concerned for my happinefs than I can be myself; and (oh how precious!) one who will never, never, never leave me nor forfake me; for though all fhould forfake me, the Lord will take me up." "The mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my loving kindnefs fhall not depart, neither fhall the covenant of my peace be removed, faith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." This fhall fupport me alfo, and whatever gloomy and diftreffed profpects open on my view as I advance towards the valley of the fhadow of death, I will not fear, for " When I walk through it, God will be with` me; he hath promifed, faying, "be not difmayed, for I am thy God, I will ftrengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righte oufnefs." How often have I been afraid to contend with principalities and powers, but my God faid, "I will ftrengthen thee, I will help thee;" I will now "be ftrong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. His righteoufnefs fhall be a fhield and buckler unto me," which all the weapons of earth and hell will never penetrate. When God is with me who can be against me? The moft formidable force which hell can mufter, is to his power like chaff to the wind, or dry ftubble to the flame. "The Lord is my light and falvation, whom fhall I fear? The Lord is the ftrength of my life, of whom fhall I be afraid? The Lord is my rock, and my fortrefs, and my deliverer; my God, my ftrength, in whom I will truft, my buckler, and the horn of my falvation, and my high tower." And ftronger is he that is in me than he that is in the world. Nay, I will not fear either the number, or the feverity of my trials; for let diftrefs be ever fo tedious or fevere, it cannot over-balance the happiness that is enjoyed in communion with God. There is no evil I can fear, or forrow that I can feel, that will fhut out divine comferts from my foul. God, the fountain of living waters, is always with me. Though Ifrael was in the wilderness of Sinai, when they could find no food to eat nor water to drink, they need not have been dffcouraged, their God was with them, his bountiful hand gave them bread from heaven to eat, and by his power he turned the flint into a water-fpring. When the three children were caft into the fiery furnace, God was with them, fo that the flames did not kindle upon them, neither did the fmell of fire pafs upon their garments. I will take comfort alfo, for the fame God fays to me, "When thou paffeft through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they fhall not overflow thee; when thou walkeft through the fire thou fhalt not be burnt, neither fhall the flame kindle upon thee." And is not God a faithful God? He will remember his covenant and will not fuffer his faithfulnefs to fail, He will not caft off his people, neither will he forfake his inheritance; the Lord taketh pleafure in them who hope in his mercy." All this encourages me against fear, for "God is not man, that he fhould lie, nor the fon of man that he fhould repent; hath he faid it, and will he not do it? hath be fpoken, and will he not make it good?" The Lord hath faid, "Fear not, for I am with thee, be not difmayed, for I am thy God." I will then rejoice that whatever I lofe, I can never lofe my portion. "I will fay of "the Lord he is my God; the Lord is my portion faith my "foul; happy is that people that is in fuch a cafe as this, yea, "happy is that people whofe God is the Lord." I will now fing, "Behold God is my falvation; I will truft and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my ftrength and my fong, "he alfo is become my falvation." I will go now trusting in his inviolable faithfulnefs and everlasting love. All that is worthy of enjoyment is to be found in God, and there is no evil I can fuffer, but my God can remove, and however much I may fuffer here, all will be more than overbalanced by that "exceeding and eternal weight of glory," which I hall have in his prefence above, where "there is no more "death, neither forrow, nor crying, nor any more pain." I will now go on finging, in the faith of their fulfilment, the following promises : "Fear not I am with thee, O be not difmay'd, I, I am thy God, and will ftill give thee aid; I'll ftrengthen thee, help thee, and caufe thee to ftand, When thro' the deep water I call thee to go, When thro' fi'ry trials thy pathway. fhall lie, The foul that on Jefus hath lean'd for repose, Rip. Coll. 128. D. A ON PUBLIC SINGING. ADDRESSED TO MINISTERS. S the conduct of public worship is a branch of minif terial duty, permit me, brethren, respectfully, to fubmit to your ferious confideration a few remarks, in reference to the performance of that part denominated singing. In fome congregations, the words to be fung are always given out in others, this cuftom is varied at the caprice of the clerk; which is, in my judgment, very reprehenfible, and inconfiftent with the defign of focial worship. That the end of public worship, with regard to man, is public benefit, is a pofition that needs no proof; and of this worship, praife, as well as prayer, is most uudoubtedly an important branch. But how, I would afk, is this de firable end to be accomplished, in reference to finging, if the words to be fung are not audibly expreffed? |