"they have no helper. They came upon me as " a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolastion they rolled themselves upon me. Terrors s are turned upon me: they pursue my foul as ss the wind; and my welfare passes away as a s cloud. And now my foul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.$$

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In Pfalm i. 3. we have the pious man represented as " a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his feafon; whofe leaf fhall not withers but while a tree, a tree planted in a well-watered foil, a tree crowned with fruit in its feason, and flourishing in undecaying verdure, is the emblem of the good man, the wicked man is resembled in the next verfe to chaff which the wind drives away; to an empty, worthless hufk, that has no folidity of its own, nor any firm connexion with any thing else, to keep it in its place, and prevent it from becoming the fport of every blaft that sweeps through the heavens, or even of every breath that stirs in the uncertain atmosphere.

What a contraft is exhibited in Pfalm xvii. 13 ---15. between what are the characters and conditions of the men of this world, and the faints and citizens of heaven? " Arife, O LORD, disappoint him, caft him down: deliver my foul from the " wicked, which is thy fword; from men which

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are thine hand, O LORD, from men of the world, " which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou filleft with thine hid treasure. They

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" are full of children, and leave the reft of their fubftance to their babes. As for me, I fhail " behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be fa"tisfied, when I awake, with thy likenefs."

In Pfalm lxxiii. 18. and the following verses, the Psalmist, addressing his God, says concerning wicked men," Surely, thou didft set them in

slippery places; thou caftedft them down into "destruction. How are they brought into defo"lation as in a moment? they are utterly con" fumed with terrors. As a dream when one " awakes, fo, O LORD, when thou awakest, thou "fhalt despise their image." But as to a good man, how differently is his condition described? Verse 23. " Nevertheless I am continually with "thee; thou haft holden me by my right-hand : "Thou shalt guide me with thy counfel, and " afterwards receive me to glory. My flesh and $$ my heart fail; but God is the strength of my "heart, and my portion for ever."

In Lam. iv. 5. JEREMIAH tells us, that they "that did feed delicately are defolate in the "ftreets; and that they that were brought up " in scarlet, embrace dunghills." And verfe 7. Ss Her Nazarites (the Nazarites of Zion) adds he, " were purer than fnow, they were whiter than "milk; they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: their vi"fage is blacker than a coal; they are not known ss in the streets: their skin cleaves to their bones; "it is withered, it is become like a stick." "For behold," fays the Prophet MALACHI, chap. S 2

iv.

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iv. 1, 2. = the day comes that shall burn as an " oven; and all the proud, yea, and all they *that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day * that comes fhall burn them up, faith the " LORD of hofts, that it shall leave them nei#ther root nor branch." Here we have a fierce. and resistlefs conflagration described, as what fhall confume the wicked with swift and abfolute deftruction. But the state of the faints of God fhall be quite the reverse: " But unto you that * fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness " arise, with healing in his wings." Placid, pleafant, reviving, healing blefsings, fuch as the fun bestows when he goes forth in his strength, and fpreads his rays over a benighted and dreary. world, these shall be the portion of the people of God.

In 2 Cor. iv. 17. we have the present and future ftate of the faints of GOD defcribed, and compared with one another; in which the darknefs of the firft is all difsolved before the glories of the laft: "For our light affliction, which is ss but for a moment, works for us a far more ex"ceeding and eternal weight of glory." And in the beginning of the next chapter we meet with a moft beautiful contraft: Verfe 1. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were difsolved, we have a building of Gon, an houfe not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,"

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38

One more inftance of the Enantiofis shall close the examples from Scripture: 2 Cor. vi. 4, 8--10.

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iv. 1, 2. the day comes that shall burn as an " oven; and all the proud, yea, and all they " that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day "that comes fhall burn them up, faith the " LORD of hofts, that it fhall leave them neiss ther root nor branch." Here we have a fierce. and resistlefs conflagration defcribed, as what fhall confume the wicked with swift and abfolute deftruction. But the state of the faints of GoD fhall be quite the reverfe: "But unto you that "fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness "arife, with healing in his wings." Placid, pleafant, reviving, healing blessings, fuch as the fun bestows when he goes forth in his strength, and spreads his rays over a benighted and dreary. world, these shall be the portion of the people of God.

In 2 Cor. iv. 17. we have the present and future ftate of the faints of GOD defcribed, and compared with one another; in which the darknefs of the first is all difsolved before the glories of the laft: "For our light affliction, which is ss but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." And in the beginning of the next chapter we meet with a most beautiful contraft: Verse 1. SS For we

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" know that if our earthly house of this taberS nacle were dissolved, we have a building of

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GoD, an house not made with hands, eternal SS in the heavens.SS

One more inftance of the Enantiofis fhall clofe the examples from Scripture: 2 Cor. vi. 4, 8--10.

SS But