a former resemblance of them; and so can infinitely exceed the largest scope of what in us seems most unlimited, even our thoughts and fancies, for he is able to do above what we are able to think. It requires no more power in God to work miracles than the most ordinary and common events that happen. Only, those are said to be miracles which are against or above the course of nature, and those to be natural events which are according to it; but to a considering mind both the one and the other do equally declare the almighty and infinite power of God. -HOPKINS. said it: in the humility of our obedience, we resign ourselves over unto thee. Behold the servants of the Lord; be it unto us according to thy word!-HALL. PSALM CXVI. What shall I render to my God For all his kindness shown? My songs address thy throne. Among the saints that fill thine house, How happy all thy servants are! § CLIV. CHAP. I. 39-56. WATTS. The prophecy of Elisabeth, and of Mary, concerning Christ. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. The answer was not so full but that a thousand difficulties might arise out of the particulars of so strange a message; yet after the angel's solution, we hear of no more objections, no more interrogations. The faithful heart, when once it understands the good pleasure of God, argues no more, but surely rests itself in a quiet expectation. "Behold the servant of the Lord; be it to me according to thy word." There is not a more noble proof of our faith than to captivate all the powers of our understanding and will to our creator, and without curious inquiries to go blindfold whither he will lead us. All disputations with God, after his known will, arise from infidelity. “Great is the mystery of godliness," and if we will give nature leave to cavil, we cannot be Christians. O | tation of Mary, the babe leaped God, thou art faithful, thou art pow- in her womb; and Elisabeth 39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, 'into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salu erful; it is enough that thou hast was filled with the Holy Ghost: 45 And blessed is she that believed for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 8 Josh. xxi. 9, 10, 11.-r ver. 28. Judges v. 24.-1 Or, which believed that there- 1 Sam. ii. 1. Psalm xxxiv. xxxvii. 6. Mal, iii. 12; ch. xi. 27.-20_Ps. Ixxi. 19; 2, 3; & xxxv. 9. Hab. iii. 18.- I Sam. i. II. Psalm & cxxvi. 2, 3.- Ps. cxi. 9.-y Gen. xxii. 7. Ex. xx. 6. Ps. ciii. 17, 18.-z Ps. xcviii. 1 ; & exviii. 15. !s. xl 10; & li. 9; & ii. 10.-a Ps. xxxiii. 10. 1 Pet. v. 5.-6 1 Sam. ii. 6, &c. Job v. 11. Ps. cxiii. 6.-c 1 Sam. ii. 5. Ps. Ps. cxxxii. 11. Rom. xi. 28. Gai. iii. 16. 46 And Mary said, My soul xxxiv. 10.-d Ps. xcviii. 3. Jer. xxxi. 3, 20.-e Gen. xvii. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 19. READER.-And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country, &c. Grief grows greater by concealing; joy by expression. The holy Virgin had understood by the angel how her cousin Elisabeth was no less of kin to her in condition. Happiness communicated doubles itself. Here is no straining of courtesy. The had more fitted for the journey, blessed maid, whom vigour of age hastens her way into the hill country, to visit that gracious nation whom God had made a sign of her miraculous conception. Only the meeting of saints in heaven can parallel the meeting of these two cousins. When we have Christ spiritually conceived in us, we caned our joy. Elisabeth, that holy not be quiet till we have impartmatron, did no sooner welcome her blessed cousin, than her babe wel comes his Saviour. How should our hearts leap within us, when the Son of God vouchsafes to come into the secret of our souls, not to visit us, but to dwell with us, to dwell in us! -HALL. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord; and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.-Let us rejoice in the Lord our Saviour, "the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe," 1 Tim. iv. 10; the strength, the God of our salvation; our salvation itself: for "the Lord is my strength and my song, and is become my salvation," Psalm cxviii. 14. The very naming of this is enough to fill our hearts with joy and gladness, as much and more than they are able to hold: that the Almighty Creator, Preserver, and Governor, of the whole world in general, should in a particular and wonderful manner, become the Saviour, yea, the salvation, of mankind :—that he for that purpose should be conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of a woman, so as to be both "perfect God, and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting:" that having thus taken our nature upon him, he in that should perform exact obedience to his own laws, and then offer it up as a sacrifice for our transgressions of them; that as he was delivered for our offences, he was raised again for our justification that he was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him: that being raised from the dead, he went up into heaven, and was there set at : the right hand of God the Father: that the man Christ Jesus is there exalted above all the creatures in the world, angels, principalities, and powers being made subject to him that he is now there appearing in the presence of God for us, the Mediator between God and us, our Advocate with the Father, ever living to make intercession for us that we have such a glorious, such an Almighty, Saviour in heaven, continually taking care of all things necessary to bring us thither: that he is therefore making such effectual intercession for us, by virtue of the death he suffered for our sins, that they are all forgiven for his name's sake: that he is there exalted by the right hand of God, to be a Prince as well as a Saviour, to give repentance also, as well as forgiveness of sins: that nothing can happen in the world by the general Providence of God, but he is there ready to bless it to us, and make it turn to our advantage; that by him we have access to God the Father, and can truly call him our God and our Father too: that whatever we ask in his name, we are sure to have it, so far as it is good for us: that he from thence supplies us with all things necessary both for life and godliness, that we may never want anything that can contribute to our sanctification and salvation by him: that he from thence sends down his Holy Spirit upon us, and so by it is always present with us, to direct us what to do, and to assist us in the doing of it: that his grace is always sufficient for us, and his strength made perfect in our weakness, so that "we can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth us :" that | Psalm cxlvii. 11. And therefore, as he also, as the Sun of righteousness the wise man observes, "In the fear in heaven, reflects such a lustre of the Lord is strong confidence," upon what we do, that although we be imperfect in ourselves, yet we are accepted as righteous through him:-in short, that he is now in heaven preparing a place for us, that we may live with him there, and rejoice in him for ever. Can we hear all this, and our hearts not burn within us? What greater joy can there be than this, that we have such a Saviour who is "able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him ?" How well then may we say, with the blessed Virgin, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour !"; and with the prophet, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness!" Isaiah lxi. 10; and with the psalmist, "O come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms," Psalm xcv. 1, 2; and with the Apostle, "Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, rejoice."-BEVERIDGE. His mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.-We have his own word for it that "his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation;" and that he taketh pleasure in them that fear him, "in those that hope in his mercy," Prov. xiv. 26. For the more we fear "When thou passest be hurt by either of them he may bring them into trouble, but he will preserve them from the evil of it, and make it really good for them; and all, because he is still with them in it. Thus he was with Noah in the ark, with Joseph in prison, with Israel in the midst of the sea, with Job upon the dunghill, with David upon the mountains, with the three children in the fiery furnace, with Daniel in the lions' den, with Jeremiah in the dungeon, with Jonah in the whale's belly, and with the Apostles in the common prison and being always with them, how wonderfully did he preserve them, altering often the very course of nature, rather than any thing should hurt them who set him always before them!-Beveridge. It He hath scattered the proud, &c. is undoubtedly the secret pride and selfishness of our hearts that obstruct much of the bounty of God's hand in the measure of our graces, and the sweet embraces of his love, which we should otherwise find. The more we let go of ourselves, still the more should we receive of himself. O foolish we, who refuse so blessed an exchange! Of all the evils of our corrupt nature, there is none more connatural or universal than pride, the grand wickedness, self-exalting in our own and others' opinion. Though I will not contest what was the first step in that complicated first sin, yet certainly this of pride was one, and a main ingredient in it; that which unbelief going before, and disobedience following after, were both servantsto; and ever since it cleaves closely to our nature. Augustin says truly, "That which first overcame man, is the last thing he overcomes." Some sins, comparatively, may die before us; but this hath life in it sensibly as long as we. It is as the heart of all, the first living and the last dying; and it hath this advantage, that whereas other sins are fomented by one another, this feeds even on virtues and graces as a moth that breeds in them and consumes them, even in the finest of them, if it be not carefully looked to. This hydra, as one head of it is cut off, another rises up. It will secretly cleave to the best actions, and prey upon them. And therefore is there so much need that we continually watch, and fight, and pray against it, and be restless in the pursuit of real and deep humiliation, daily seeking to advance further in it; to be nothing, and to desire to be nothing; not only to bear, but to love, our own abasement, and the things that procure and help it, to take pleasure in them, so far as may be without sin: yea, even in respect of our sinful feelings, when they are discovered, to love the bringing low of ourselves by them, while we hate and grieve for the sin of them. And, above all, it is requisite to watch ourselves in our best things, that self get not in, or, if it break in or steal in at any time, that it be presently found out and cast out again; to have that established within us, to do all for God, to intend him and his glory in all, and to be willing to advance his glory were it by our own disgrace; not to make raising or pleasing thyself the rule of exercising thy |