-602 ON EXCITING THE DEVOUT AFFECTIONS. in you a holy fear of his majesty, and you will dread the thoughts of sinning against him, since it can never be concealed from his notice ; and while you think on his omnipresente, you may rejoice in him as your guardian anddefence through all times and places where or whensoever it is possible for danger to attend you. Meditate on his boundless goodness : Our God is love, and all, nature is filled with the blessings of his bounty. He has over- spread the skies with light, and covered the earth with food for man and beast. Of what a vast and surprising extent is the whole family of creatures which are maintained out of the stores of God ! What a transcendent veneration should we have of that goodness, which satisfies the craving appetites of millions daily and hourly ! Besides these general effects of the divine goodness, it is proper .to have the memory furnished with particular instances of protections,,deliverances, escapes from danger,rich and unmerited blessings,which we ourselves have enjoyed, that we may awaken our gratitude, re-kindle our dying love, and exalt our hearts and our voiees in praise. Nor is it less useful to meditate sometimes on the sins and follies of mankind, that we may admire the pa- tience of a God so affronted and so abused : Nor is it less needful to recollect our own follies, and our guilt, that we may keep holy repentance in its lively exercises : for the spring of godly sorrow should never be dried up while we dwell in these regions of sin and defilement. Then the astonishing designs of divine mercy towards guilty creatures, call for a due share of our meditations : Designs of mercy in the heart of God, counsels of peace trans- acted withhis Son Jesus Christ before the world began, in order to rescue mankind from the ruins of nature, and to raise up a chosen seed for his own glory out of the rebellious race of Adam. Here the thoughts of a Christian should spread themselves abroad, and give a loose to holycontemplation and wonder. Let us run back to ancient ages, and view Jesus the Son of God, the brightness of his lather's glory in his pre-existent state of light and happiness, before he visited us in flesh ; Heb. i. 3. There he dwelt in the bosom of the lather, before he made our world,, or appeared in it : We should trace his various appearances to the patriarchs, and his conduct of the church through many ages, under the name of the angel of God's presence, under the cha- racter of tite king of Israel: We should meditate on his won= drous condescension to become incarnate, to dwell in such feeble flesh and blood as ours is, to be compassed about with infirmities, to sustain perpetual labours and sorrows, fatigues and reproaches through the course of a mortal life, to bear those unknown agonies in the garden, and on the cross, which were the price of our pardon, and the means of his atonement for our guilt. What amazing love is this ! How divine ! How unsearchable ! It
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