posed to lie under uncommon guilt; for the Scripture teaches otherwise: but, in general, afflictive evils are the fruit of sin; and therefore should put us upon serious reflection. "In the day of adver sity consider." "I spake unto thee in thy prosperity," says God; "and thou saidst, I will not hear." (Jer. xxii. 21.) The noise and bustle of successful business, or intoxicating pleasure, drown the voice of God and Conscience. At such a time, we live, as it were, constantly abroad, and are strangers to what passes at home. But when trouble or sickness comes, and shuts us up in our own houses, and we are obliged to spend many hours alone, we cannot help reflecting and then Conscience, that had winked at our faults before-or, at least, had not reproved us for them as it ought-now puts us in mind of this, and the other, and a multitude of sins, that we had committed in those days of thoughtless dissipation; and sets them home with such a re'proaching vehemence as fills us with shame and anguish. Joseph's brethren, when they were accused as spies, and threatened to be severely dealt with," said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us" (Gen. xlii. 21); though we do not find that they ever had one relenting thought before. So the widow mentioned in 1 Kings xvii. 18, when her son was seized with a sudden and fatal sickness," said to Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son ?" Under a smarting rod, guilt that had lain for weeks, perhaps for years, without giving the least disturbance, now starts up and strikes home.-Job, when his body was full of sores, was made to "possess the iniquities of his youth:" and David, in the midst of great outward affliction, makes this the heaviest part of his complaint; "For innumerable evils have compassed me about; mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up: they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart faileth me." (Ps. xl. 12.) But no sooner had he confessed his transgression to the Lord, and the Lord had forgiven the iniquity of his sin, than presently he seemed to be in another world; he was all peace and praise: "Thou art my hiding-place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. . . . Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart." (Ps. xxxii. 7, 11.)-Our Lord well knew the importance of pardon to a sick man; and therefore, when they brought to him one sick of the palsy (Matt. ix. 7,) the first thing he did for him was to say, "Thy sins be forgiven thee:" and if he had done no more, the man, though not made whole, would have been made happy, and have been content to continue a paralytic all his days: but Jesus, for the satisfaction of the people, completes the cure, by saying, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."-Bodily pain is easily borne, when all is peace within: "And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick :-the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity."— (Isai. xxxiii. 24.) 2. Because a sense of pardon will in great mea sure remove all distressing fears of death and judgment. But There is something awful in death, even when viewed at never so great a distance. The thoughts of quitting this world entirely ;-to be parted from all our dear relations and friends; to be stripped of all our beloved possessions and enjoyments; not to be permitted so much as to take our dear bodies along with us: and, thus unclothed, to be summoned to the bar of God, to give an account of every thing done in the body, and to receive according to what we have done, whether it be good or whether it be evil:-I say, the thoughts of this, to a person in full health, and when those important events are a great way off, fill the soul with an holy awe. much more so when sickness brings all those objects close home to us, and tells us it is high time to look about us. When we feel our flesh wasting, our strength decaying, and this earthly house of our tabernacle ready to tumble about us, it is natural to inquire indeed, one cannot help inquiring, with a trembling anxiety,- When I am turned out of this house, where shall I live next? And if then, under a conviction of our guilt, we have no evidence, perhaps no hope, of an interest in an atoning Saviourin such circumstances, the thoughts of dying must be terrible indeed.-But if the Lord have looked upon our affliction, and forgiven all our sin, we are afraid of nothing:-we can think of Death; we can look at Death; we can encounter Death; we can laugh at the shaking of his spear; and, with all the holy triumph of the Apostle, challenge him to do his worst: "O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. xv. 55.) Even in good men, there may sometimes be great uneasiness in the near views of death, for want of a clear evidence of their interest in the divine favour, or through a secret unwillingness to die so soon.→→→→ See how it was even with David: "Hear my prayer O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence and be no more." (Ps. xxxix. 12.) But if the Lord be pleased to look upon us, and assure us that all our debts are cancelled, and all our iniquities forgiven; that his arms are open to us; that his heart is open to us; that heaven is open to us; we plunge fearlessly into Jordan, and shout, "If sin be pardon'd, I'm secure; Death hath no sting beside: Improvement. 1. Let us adore the goodness of God, that one so great and glorious should bestow a favourable look upon any of our sinful race. The Psalmist, in a devout rapture of praise, tells us that God "humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven" (Ps. cxiii. 6:) but how much lower must he stoop to look upon such insignificant worms as we, and take any notice of what we do or what we suffer-especially considering how we have provoked him to turn away his face, and never look towards us more! But we have a thousand and a thousand proofs upon record, of his ever-watchful providence, in public deliverances and private mercies. What would have become of us many a time, if God had not kept a strict watch upon our enemies, so as not to suffer them to go too far; or if he had not found out a way to save us, when we ourselves were helpless, and hope was as the giving up of the ghost! We read, that, when the Egyptians were close at the heels of the flying Israelites, and imagined themselves sure of an entire and speedy conquest, "the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot-wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians." (Exod. xiv. 24.) And many and many a time, when we sat in darkness, the Lord hath been a light unto us when our distress was great, and our danger increasing; when deep called unto deep, as if all his waves and his billows would go over us ; and we expected nothing but to be swallowed up quickly; the Lord only looked through the cloud, and presently the proud waves of our trouble were stayed, the tide turned, our fears subsided, and we again found footing for faith and hope and joy. Such experiences should make us join with the Psalmist in singing, "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together." (Ps. xxxiv. 1--3.) |