burden upon the Lord, and looks to him for all she desires.

The dark cloud is gone from Sinai; the Sun of righteousness shines; the thunders are silent; the lightnings cease to blaze; the earth no longer trembles; the heart no longer quakes with terrour. A feeble hope that God is reconciled, a weak faith in Jesus Christ, faint evidence of salvation, shed tranquillity and peace on the soul. "Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." Well may such a soul say, "The Lord hath done great things, for which I am glad. Come all ye, who fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and has not put my soul to shame. I have sown in tears, I reap in joy." Is this reality, or am I like them, who dream? What shall I render to the Lord, for all his benefits? Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord forever and ever. Amen.

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SERMON XX.

PSALM xviii, 30.

As for God, his way is perfect.

PSALM xix, 7.

The law of the Lord is perfect.

THE "way" of God refers to his providence. To say that his way is perfect, is to justify his government, his providential dispensations.

The "law" of the Lord includes the system of revelation, the scheme of mercy, exhibited in the sacred oracles. This revelation is perfect. Nothing can be added, nothing taken away, without evident injury. Revelation and providence being perfect, they must harmonize, they must speak the same language. Doctrines and events must accord, else both would not be perfect. Both emanate from divine wisdom; both are salutary in their influence on mankind; both are. plain and evident, for all necessary or useful purposes. Yet both, in some respects, are deep, are mysterious, are inexplicable. The same incomprehensible wisdom

of God is manifest in the volume of providence and revelation.

The mystery of facts is less noticeable; because the facts are certain and familiar. The most luminous deductions of reason, and even the records of inspiration, do not generally make so decisive impressions on the mind, as the observation of facts. Facts, which strike the senses, we are compelled to admit, however mysterious and unaccountable, while speculative truths, which are not more mysterious, are met with doubt, with resistance, with disbelief.-The most unlearned believe that the sun and moon are eclipsed, though they know not how. The learned believe that showers of stones, and sometimes huge masses of stone, have fallen from the clouds, though this is to them an impenetrable mystery. So do the word and providence of God harmonize.

I proceed to show that some of the most important and difficult doctrines of revelation, are supported by the events of providence.

1. Revelation teaches the being of God; so do the events of providence. "I, I am God, and there is none else." "God created the heavens and the earth." Now look at the events of providence. Do they not, with ten thousand tongues, proclaim the existence of God? Do not the exact rising and setting of the sun, the regular return of summer and winter, demonstrate the existence of Deity? In one word, look at the marks of design, and wisdom, on the open face of creation, marks visible in every object, from the smalleşt atom, to the greatest globe of heaven, and then say if these are not preserved and directed by an almighty,

intelligent being. Here then the word and providence of God unite and support each other.

II. Revelation declares that man has rebelled against 'God, and is a sinful creature. "All have gone out of the way-none doeth good, no not one." If all had not sinned, why should Christ make propitiation for the sins of the world? Why should the gospel of mercy be addressed to all, if all had not sinned? Is not this doctrine supported by providence? Look at the events of providence. Are you not confirmed in the doctrine of human depravity? Whether you contemplate the treatment which man receives from his 3 Maker, or the conduct of men towards one another, you are equally convinced that sin universally prevails. Would the God of goodness let loose tempest, and earthquakes, pestilence, and death, on a race of innocent and holy beings? Do angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect, encounter these calamitous events? Why are the best disciplined countries furnished with jails and dungeons, terrified with penal laws, and punished by judges? Why do men delight in war, and cheerfully endure military burdens, and fight, and murder, till "the mountains are melted with blood?" The base lusts of men are the only solution of these terrible phenomena. So do the gospel and providence of God harmonize, and support each other.

But some may reply, "we object not to the doctrine of depravity; but to the doctrine of native depravity."

To some, possibly, this may seem an unreasonable, if not an impossible doctrine. But unless we adopt