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host by number (He calleth them all by their names) by the greatness of his might; for that he is strong in power, no one faileth. If we look beneath, we see him year after year replenishing the earth with his treasures: "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth, and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which stengtheneth man's heart." Though he has contrived all his works with infinite skill, he has not so made them that they should continue without his constant care. The Psalmist David beautifully describes this never ceasing dependence of all things upon him." These," that is every living thing, the inhabitants of the air, of the earth, and of the waters,

these all wait upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good; thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust; thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the face of the earth." Especially is his providential care visible with respect to mankind. He describes himself in his word as looking down from heaven to behold all that concerns them; as numbering the very hairs of their head, Thou know est," said David, my downsitting and mine uprising; thou understandest my thoughts afar off; thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. Nor is he a mere spec tator, but an active disposer and agent in our affairs. It is he that maketh poor and maketh rich: he appoints our stations in life; he allots to us our portion of health, and strength, and the ordinary bounties of his providence He promised the Patriarch Abraham that his posterity should enjoy the land of Canaan, and he accomplish

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ed his promise, though at that time no event appeared less probable. He taught Jacob to acknowledge, with heartfelt gratitude, that all his prosperity was derived from the same infinite source: "O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which said unto me, Return unto thy coun try, and unto thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee; I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou has shewed unto thy servant." David, in like manner, in his thanksgiving, when the people had offered willingly of their substance to build the temple, said, "Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and the earth is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all." We might bring forward almost innumerable other passages of Scripture, of the same nature, all shewing the strong sense which devout men in every age, and, above all, the sacred writers, have entertained of the presence and dominion of God.

But, most of all, he reigns in his kingdom of grace; and to this the Psalmist appears particularly to refer in the text, the whole Psalm being considered to be a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, and the spiritual dominion of the promised Messiah. The knowledge of the one true God, and of salvation through the sacrifice and death of Christ, which had hitherto been confined to the Jewish people, was to be at length diffused throughout "the multitude of isles:" the "isles were to wait for his law :" "the Sun of Righteousness was to rise with healing in his wings," and "the Gentiles were to come to his light, and kings' to the brightness of his rising." The Messiah was to reign CHRIST. OBServ. No. 274.

King of kings and Lord of lords, and of his dominion there was to be no end. In this view of the subject, the Creator reigns in the souls of men, in a new and peculiar manner. The throne of the human heart had been yielded to an usurper; for Satan is described as the god of this world, reigning without opposition in the children of disobedience. His evil domi

nion is marked by whatever is unholy and unlike God, whether in word, or thought, or action. But it was the office of Christ, as a conqueror, to expel this enemy of souls, and to re-assume the reins of government in the hearts of men : he died to purify to himself a people zealous of good works. His kingdom is love, and joy, and peace, and holiness. He dwells in us by faith, and shews the efficacy of his dominion, by causing us to abound in the fruits of repentance, and in every good word and work, to his praise and glory. He inclines us by his Holy Spirit willingly to submit to him as our rightful Sovereign, and to banish from our hearts whatever opposes his hallowed sway. He reigns, subduing our evil passions, calming our unchristian tempers, conquering pride, self-will, and worldliness, and exciting in us love to God and to our neighbour, and whatever is lovely and of good report. Nothing can more strikingly prove the presence and power God, than such a change of character effected in a fallen and guilty creature like mankind. Not more certainly did he reign in his providence, when he made the stars in their courses to fight against Sisera, or when he discomfited the Philistines, or put to flight the army of the Assyrians, or levelled the walls of Jericho, or caused the sun to stand still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, than he does in his spiritual kingdom, when he thus regenerates and sanctifies a human soul, and builds up his church, a spiritual dominion, rescued from the midst of apostacy

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and impending destruction. And this spiritual kingdom is but the beginning of that universal domi nion, which he will one day assume, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever, all enemies being subdued, and the whole universe acknowledging his rightful supremacy.

But our text, in the second place, speaks of the dominion of God over his creation, and especially in the affairs of his church, as a subject of gladness and rejoicing. He has not left us to our own skill or wisdom, or made us dependent upon our own frail and feeble energies. He has not consigned us to the dominion of chance; or, what would be still worse, to the wayward passions and desires which sin has introduced into a fallen world. He exerts a constant providential government for our advantage; and it is only in proportion as we voluntarily withdraw ourselves from his sway, and seek for other lords to rule over us, that he suffers us to feel how sinful and wretched we are, destitute of his guidance and protection.

We shall perceive abundant cause to rejoice in the government of God, if we consider the character of those over whom he reigns, and the nature of his dominion.

1. Over whom and what does he reign? He exerts an organizing and disposing power over all the elements of nature, without which constant vigilance, the universe would become a wreck, and no animated being could continue in existence. But it is his moral government which we are particularly called upon to consider; and this extends to angels, to devils, and to men. In heaven and in hell his government is of an unmixed character in the former, it is infinite love and beneficence; in the latter, unmitigated justice and severity. Upon earth he reigns with a mingled sway; exhibiting, on the

one hand, a sceptre of mercy and forbearance, and, on the other, of righteous judgment and rebuke. In these various departments of his creation, he adapts the form of his goverment to the character of those whom he governs; but in all with an unfailing consistency with his own Divine perfections, which never vary amidst all the changes and exigencies of his creation. Now, with regard to our own world, viewing the fallen character of mankind, we may judge what a scene of evil and inextricable confusion would ensue were there not an all-wise and all-powerful Disposer, who sits, as it were, at the helm, and guides the vessel amidst the storms and contentions of human life. Were it not that he mercifully restrains the evil passions of mankind, the world would be one vast field of misery and every evil work, without any abatement or mitigation. Looking then no farther than this, we have cause to rejoice that the Lord reigneth, that he turneth the hearts of men as the rivers of water, and maketh even their wrath eventually to praise him. Happy is it for us that we are under a better guidance and protection than our own; and that a sinful and rebellious world is not at once consigned to a state of justly merited banishment from the care of its offended Creator.

2. The character also of God's government is a just cause of rejoicing. He rules not feebly, or ignorantly, or

unjustly, or unmercifully. Human governments are a blessing to communities in proportion to the excellence of their laws and the justice of their administration. But the laws of God are perfect; like their Author, they are holy, just, and good; and in keeping them there is great reward. They are also administered as perfectly as they are planned. God governs omnipotently; there is no event that he cannot control; nothing can impede his designs; he makes all things work together after the good pleasure of his will. He governs also with infinite wis

dom. All his plans are marked by unerring judgment: he can bring good out of evil; he "disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise; he taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong." "With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his." Every part of his creation displays this wisdom, and especially the human frame so "fearfully and wonderfully made.". His providentialgovernment,as described and illustrated by numerous examples in his word, exhibits this wisdom still more strikingly; and most of all, the affairs of his spiritual kingdom, his wonderful provision for the redemption of lost mankind, and his restoration of his degraded and sinful creatures to his own image in righteousness and true holiness. He governs also with infinite justice. He has no designs but what are as equitable as they are wise. We cannot understand the reason of all his proceedings; his government often appears, to our feeble conceptions, to be in volved in much obscurity; but of this we may ever rest assured that "the Judge of all the earth will do right." The future world will clear up all doubts, and will shew that, though "clouds and darkness are often round about him," yet that "righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne." He rules also with boundless goodness. His infinite wisdom and power are not exerted for the injury, but for the benefit of his creatures. To cease to be under his dominion would be their greatest calamity. "The Lord is good to all; his tender mercies are over all his works:" "the earth is full of his goodness." His very threatenings and punishments are intended in

mercy: they are designed, like the warning given to the Ninevites, to bring us to repentance, that we may live and not die. He" pardoneth iniquity, transgression, and

sin;" he is the "rewarder of them that diligently seek him:" though he is "the Lord strong and mighty," and is "provoked every day," he yet bears with a sinful and apostate world; he is willing, even at the eleventh hour, to receive the returning prodigal; he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live.

And is it not a subject for rejoicing that we live under the sway of a Being such as this? Could we choose so well for ourselves as he can choose for us? Could we in any way be so happy for time or for eternity, as by submitting to his wise and good and righteous dominion? But, then, the important question arises, Have we really done so? Are we by choice and self-dedication his obedient subjects? Let us examine our hearts in this particular, for his government is not to be trifled with. It is not a subject of indifference whether we are classed among the number of his friends or his enemies; among those who shall reign with him in endless glory in heaven, or those who shall be cast out from his presence into the blackness of darkness for ever. Let me then address you on behalf of your Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor. Do you acknowledge him as such, and this practically as well as in words? Do you cherish towards him a reverent spirit, submitting to his dispensations and humbling yourself under his mighty hand? Do you adore him; do you fear him; and do you desire and endeavour to love him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength? Do you shew an eagerness to serve him; do you account his service perfect freedom; do you avoid whatever interferes with your obedience to his laws, and do you make it the great study of your life to know and to do his will? Do you acknowledge his mercies, and does an habitual sense of them bind your heart in grateful affection to him?

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Do you view with admiration the long-continued lenity of his govern ment towards you that he has not cut you off in your sins, but has given you a space for hope and repentance? Do you feel o deeply thankful for his infinite mercy in Christ Jesus; by which he permits, yea solicits, you to return to your obedience, and promises pardon and grace to all, who accept his gracious invitation? Do you seek the aid of his Holy Spirit, without whom you can do nothing, in order that you may henceforth live to his glory, as a willing subject of his spiritual kingdom? Do you lament your past disobedience, and pray for strength to resist every temptation to wander from him in future? By such inquiries may you ascertain how you stand affected towards him. Submit then to his authority; wield no longer the arms of a feeble and impious rebellion; but "kiss the Son, lest he be angry;" live constantly under the dominion of his golden sceptre of mercy, and then, come what may, for life or death, for time or eternity, you shall be safe beneath the shadow of his almighty protection,

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I AM tempted to request admittance for a few additional remarks, by way of appendix to the short article in your Number for June, on a circumstance connected with the cure performed by our Lord on the blind man (John ix.), and the deaf and dumb person (Mark vii. 33), &c.; chiefly for the purpose of introducing an apposite extract from Blunt's Vestiges of Ancient Manners in Italy. The subject may not seem of great moment; but, as connected with the sacred narrative, it deserves its share of consideration, especially as such circumstances have been... made a very unfair use of by sceptics and infidels, with a view to infidels, with a view to bring the Scriptures into disesteem and contempt. donnier De

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Some scholars have supposed, that the popular ascription of miraculous properties to human saliva originated in its adoption as a connecting sign by our Saviour; but there appears no reason why Christ should specially select for this purpose a thing so repugnant to our ideas at least of delicacy and further I should scarcely imagine, that the superstitious heathen would borrow a practice from one whom they regarded with detestation and horrror as the enemy of those very gods, through whose blessing their charms were to work. But waving these considerations, we may by direct reference prove at once the existtence and the prevalence of the belief in question, at a period previous to our Gospel narrative. Varro, who flourished several years before. the Christian era, informs us*, that amongst the Hellespontines saliva had long been employed as an antidote against the bite of serpents. From Persius +, who was born about the close of our Lord's ministry, we incidentally learn, that the lustrales saliva had, from generation to generation, been decreed highly efficacious in counteracting the noxious influences of fascinations, &c. Pliny t, the naturalist, his contemporary, states at length the various virtues, which, from time immemorial, had been ascribed to this singular specific; and amongst them he particularly notices its frequent application in disorders of the eye. It is evident, then, that our

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Apud Plin. Nat. Hist. vii. 2. " + Sat. ii. 31-34. x. 52. xxviii. 4. For these references I am indebted to Mr. Blunt, who employs them to prove a somewhat different point. To them may be added the frequent notices of another superstitious custom amongst the ancients, that of spitting into the bosom, by way of averting any harm that might arise from the sight of a bad omen, the utterance of an unlucky word, the glance of an evil eye, &c. See Theophrast. Char.”xvi. ; Theoer. v. 39, xx. 12; Lucian Apolog. de Merced. Conduct Petron pa 181; Casaub. Lect. Theocr. 8., and Heins 2.

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