NATURE OF FORGIVENESS. 91 men come, with a sense of the guilt of sin, to have deep and serious thoughts of God, and they will find it no easy matter truly and thoroughly to apprehend this loving and gracious nature of God, in reference to par- don. Though men profess that God is gracious, yet their aversion to him and communion with him, abun- dantly manifests that they do not believe what they say : if they did, they could not but delight and trust in him, for. " they that know his name will put their trust in him." So the slothful servant in the Gospel said, " I knew that thou avast austere," and not for me to deal with; it may be he professed otherwise before, but that lay in his heart when it came to the trial. But this, I say, is necessary to those to whom this discovery is to be madeeven a spiritual apprehension of the gracious, loving heart and nature of God. This is the spring of all that follows ; and the fountain must be infinitely sweet fromwhich such streams do flow. He that con- siders the glorious fabric of heaven and earth, with the things contained in them, must conclude that they were the product of "infinite wisdom and power ;" and he that really considers forgiveness, and looks on it with a spiritual eye, must conclude that it comes from infinite goodness and grace. " Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive." Psalm 86 : 5. " Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness." Nehem. 9 : 17. " Who is a God like un- to thee, that pardoneth iniquity'ibecause he delighteth in mercy." Micah, 7 : 18. When a sinner is in good earnest seeking after forgiveness, there is nothing he is more solicitous about than the heart of God towards him; nothing that he more labors to discover; there is nothing that sin and Satan labor more to hide from him; this he rolls inhis mind, and exercises his thoughts abo:ut;. and if ever that voice of God, " Fury is not inme," sound in his heart, he is relieved from his great distresses. i 3
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