there was something particular in this case of David, namely, that the prophet of thè Lord had assured him that the child should die, yet, as he well knew that God might, if he pleased, revoke any of his threats before they were executed; especially as there was generally a tacit proviso annexed to them, that those against whom they were denounced did not repent, (as in the case of Hezekiah; the city of Nineveh, &c.) so he humbly hoped, that his prayers and tears might turn away the wrath of the Almighty, and prevail on him to spare that life, which he had threatened to take away. And, thus likewise, we may very lawfully pray to God, to free us from any evil or calamity, from which he has often been pleased to deliver the sons of men? Or, again, we may deprecate any judg ment which he has threatened to our sins; provided we use at the same time all the proper means which God has appointed, and do all in our power to free ourselves from the evil we groan under, or to avert the judgment we dread,

But, on the other hand, to beg of God to work a miracle for us, such as the bringing our dead friends to life again, or any thing else, which is as much out of the course of nature; or, for example, to desire him to relieve us, either in sickness, or in poverty, whilst we refuse to use that temperance which is necessary to preserve our health, or that diligence and industry, which are the natural methods of supplying our wants: Or lastly, to pray that God would not inflict upon us any of those judgments, which he has denounced against our sins, without our repenting of and forsaking them; in all these cases, our prayers are only vanity and folly, and in most of them, they be come an abomination to the Lord, and will be charged to the account of our sins.

Such are the reflections we may draw from David's conduct, under the general afflictions of human life. Let us now see what instructions we can derive from it, under circumstances more immediately similar to his own.

1st. Then

1st. Then, Do we fear to lose a beloved child, or any other near and dear friend? We may, like David, without offence fast and weep, and earnestly beseech God, that he would mercifully spare them, and continue them a longer blessing and comfort to us. But here it may be proper to observe, that if the tears we shed be occa sioned solely by the grief and anxiety we are under on account of our child or friend, though there be nothing displeasing to God in them, whilst they are moderated by reason, as being the natural expres sions of those tender passions which he has implanted in us, yet there is nothing meritorious, nothing of God or religion in them, and therefore nothing can be expected from them. They may give a vent to our sorrow, but can do nothing to wards removing the cause of it, nothing towards procuring the favour of the Almighty. The tears, which will move him to help us, are those alone, which are shed for our sins. We must, with David, not only weep, but we must also fast and pray. We must weep for our iniquities a we must confess and bewail' our wicked

ness, and acknowledge ourselves to be dealt with much better than we have deserved. It is from such a godly sorrow only, that we are to expect any success to our prayers; it is from this only, we can have any hope, that God will be gracious unto us, and that our child, or our friend, may live.

2dly. We may learn from David's example, how we ought to behave under the still more trying circumstances of the ac、 tual loss of a beloved child, or any other person, who is very near and dear to us.

With regard to the particular case of David, it may be observed, that though the loss of children is a loss which is often born the hardest of any, yet, if rightly considered, there is no just reason why it should be so; because there are so many grounds of comfort to alleviate it: such as, that they are taken from the evil to come, in a state of innocence: that if they had done well in the world, the pleasure we should have received from them would have been more than balanced by

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the thousand anxieties we should have felt for them; but that if they had done ill, they would have brought down our grey hairs with sorrow to the grave: and above all, that God has provided for them so much better than ever we could have done. We may presume that David reasoned in this manner in the case before us: For we read, that as soon as he knew the child was dead, he arose from the earth, and washed and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord and worshipped: "then " he came into his own house, and when "he required, they set bread before him, "and he did eat:" plainly shewing by all these signs, that he had now put an end to his grief, recovered his usual frame of mind, and fully resigned himself to God's holy will and pleasure. And in the same manner should we act in the like circumstances, drying up our tears, betaking ourselves to the duties of our respective stations, and submitting to the present dispensation of Providence with meekness and patience; knowing full well into whose hands we are fallen, and how

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