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النشر الإلكتروني

in the universe.

Occurrences may be accidental and contingent with regard to us, who are not acquainted with the plan to be executed and developed; but they are not so with regard to him who sees the end from the beginning, and worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. What takes place without him? "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things." And he strikes no random blows. "He performeth the thing that is appointed for us ;" and the appointment is made by one who has not only a right to ordain, but who cannot pervert justice; who is too wise to err; and who loved us so as not to spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. We are allowed, we are required to cast all our care on him, with the assurance that he careth for us. And is not his attention, his solicitude (how condescending is God in his language!)-sufficient to relieve our minds? How delightful is it to sit at the feet of the great Teacher, and hear him discourse on the doctrine of Providence! Here we have nothing of the language of infidel philosophy. He does not represent the Supreme Being as occupied with worlds and whole systems; but overlooking individuals, and minute concerns-He did not suppose the Supreme Being capable of perplexity and fatigue-He did not think any thing too hard for Infinite Wisdom and Power-He did not think it beneath God to govern what was not beneath him to create. Among men, an attention to little things prevents an attention to great things; and an attention to great things prevents an attention to little ones; and no one can equally regard all the

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claims of the province of government he fills, however limited it may be. But, says Jesus, "He maketh his sun to rise:" and, he "sends forth his angels ;" and, "a sparrow falls not to the ground without your heavenly Father; and the hairs of your head are all numbered." "Are you not of more value than many sparrows?" "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?"

Exclude this doctrine, and God is a God afar off; there is no foundation for confidence; there is no excitement to devotion in the darkness of my perplexities and difficulties I group around, and can feel nothing to support me. But by realizing his superintending agency, I bring him near, and by his presence fill what otherwise would be an awful and irk

some void. He hears prayer. His interposition is attainable. By being connected with God, every place is rendered holy, every object interesting; every comfort is enriched; and every trial is softened. This principle I take with me into every allotment, every circumstance; and say, "the cup which my Father giveth me, shall I not drink it? It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. I will

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cry unto God most high, unto God who performeth all things for me."

Thirdly, Consider that they are not penal. When the Israelites came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters, for they were bitter. "And Moses cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet." If this was not designed to be a type, it yields us a striking allusion.

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If the burden of sin be removed, whatever else is

laid on us will be felt to be light.

And surely he

hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Hence though his sufferings do not secure us from suffering, they change the nature and design of our afflictions: so that, instead of their being punishments, they are corrections; and are inflicted not by the sword of the Judge, but by the rod of a Father. The believer may sometimes misapprehend them, and fearful of their being the messengers of justice, may say unto God, Do not

condemn me. But the apprehension is groundless. We are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. For there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. He has redeemed them from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for them. And being now justified by his blood, they shall be saved from wrath through him. This is the rest wherewith we are to cause the uneasy to rest; and this is the refreshing. was angry with us, but his anger is turned away: and

he comforteth us. through our Lord

He

And not only so, but we also joy
Jesus Christ, by whom we have

now received the atonement.

Fourthly, Consider that they are not unalloyed. The Apostle seems to enjoin too much when he says, "In every thing give thanks." But there is a reason for it. Take your condition, however trying. Has it no alleviations? Let candour, let gratitude, let truth examine the circumstances of the case. Is there nothing in the time, nothing in the place, nothing in the manner, nothing in the subject of affliction, that serves to soften its pressure? Do you believe that it might not have been worse? "Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him? In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it. He stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind." Take your case and lay it by the side of your desert. What would you have suffered had he dealt with you after your sins, or rewarded you according to your iniquities?-Place it by the side of the condition of others. You have lost much of your substance; but they have nothing left. You have buried one of your children: the

You

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grave has written them childless in the earth. walk upon crutches: they are bed ridden. have months of vanity; but they have wearisome nights, and the multitude of their bones is filled with strong pain.-But O think of the Saviour. Think of his dignity, of his preceding state, of his innocency!-We suffer justly, for we suffer the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss. Yet see him. You suffer partially; he suffered in every part that was capable of passion. You suffer occasionally; and for hours and days of pain, you have weeks and months of ease and pleasure his sufferings reached from the manger to the cross: "He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Your sufferings are unforeseen; his were known from the beginning; and he bore them in prospect before he endured them in reality. And whose tongue can express, whose imagination can conceive, what he endured when he began to be sore amazed and very heavy? when his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death? when his sweat was as it were great drops of blood, falling to the ground? when he exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

"Now let our pains be all forgot,

"Our hearts no more repine;

"Our sufferings are not worth a thought,
"When, Lord, compared with thine."

Fifthly, Consider that you are not to bear them alone. For he hath said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." This is a general promise, and necessarily includes every particular case. But knowing the anxieties and forebodings of the heart,

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