ON HOSEA XIV.- VERSES 5 -7. 189 Acts ii. 41. v. 14. 16. vi. 7. ix. 31.42. xix. 20. Such is the grace and favour of God unto his people after their conversion ; unsearchable, it cannot be comprehended, or measured, nor brought under any number or account, Psa. lxxi. 15. cxxxix. 17, 18. Christ is compared unto manna, he was the bread that came down from heaven, John vi. 50, 51. and manna came in mighty abundance, so that there was enough for every one to gather, Exod. xvi. 16. It had dew under it, and dew over it, as we may conjecture by comparing Exod. xvi. 14. with Num. xi. 9. whereunto the Holy Ghost seemeth to allude when he speaks of the hidden manna, Rev. ii. 17. though that may likewise refer unto the pot of manna which was kept in the tabernacle, Exod. xvi. 32, 33. Heb. ix. 4. as our life is said to be hid with Christ now he is in heaven. Col. iii. 3. By this dew coming along with manna is intimated, that the mercies of God in Christ, his daily mercies, (which are said, with allusion, I suppose, unto this manna, to be renewed every morning, Lam. iii. 23.) and his hidden mercies, to wit, the inward comforts of his grace and Spirit, are all innumerable and past finding out. We may say of his mercies, as the psalmist of his commandments, I have found an end of all per- fection, but these are exceeding broad, more than eye hath seen or ear heard, or the heart itself is able to comprehend, 1 Cor. ii. 9. (4.) It is silent, slow, insensible; while it is falling you cannot say here it is : it deceives the eye, and is too subtle for that to see it : it deceives the ear, and is too silent for that to hear it : it deceives the face, and is too thin and spiritual for that to feel it. You see it when it is come, but you cannot observe how it comes. In this manner was God pleased to fill the world with the knowledge of his gospel, and with the
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