our mercies, they are very many: and we often lose both the relish of them, and the benefit of them, by not observing them. Those who are delivered from fickness, or the fear of it, in themselves, or their relations, ought to be sensible of

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the goodness of God, who maketh them to lye down and rise up in safety. - If any had rea

fon to fear confinement from ordinances, or from usefulness, they should say, with the Pfalmist, Pfal. exviii. 16,-19. The right hand of the Lord ⚫ is exalted; the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the • works of the Lord; the Lord hath chastened me fore; but he hath not given me over unto death. • Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go • into them, and I will praise the Lord.'-If any were oppressed with calumny and reproach, and God hath hidden them from the strife of tongues, hath pleaded their cause, or brought forth their 'judgment as • the light, and their righteousness as the noon-day." The Pfalmist says, Pfal. cxviii. 10,-14. 'All nati⚫ons compassed me about; but in the name of the • Lord will I destroy them. They compassed me a•bout, yea, they compassed me about; but, in the • name of the Lord, I will destroy them. They • compassed me about like bees; they are quenched • as the fire of thorns; for, in the name of the Lord, • I will destroy them. Thou hast thrust fore at me, that I might fall; but the Lord helped me: the • Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salva• tion.'-If any are delivered from the fear of want, and a reasonable prospect given them of competent

and suitable provision for themselves and families; if they can remember the time, whether lately or at a greater distance, when they seemed to be threatened with poverty and dependance, and all the shame, distress, and temptation that attends that enfnaring state; if, I say, they can remember this, and fee how God, by a gracious providence, has led them by the hand; has given them food to eat and raiment to put on, and even honoured them with the ability and the heart to stretch out their hands to the poor and needy, the fatherless and the widow; furely he hath dealt bountifully with them. They ought to say with the Pfalmist, Pfal. xxiii. 5. Thou • prepareft a table before me in the prefence of mine ' enemies: thou anointest my head with oil, my cup 'runneth over.' - If any have been burdened with a fense of guilt, the arrows of the Lord within them, and the poifon thereof drinking up their fouls, and God hath revealed himself to them, as pardoning iniquity, tranfgreffion, and fin; if they have been enabled to lay hold, with clearness and confidence, of the great atonement, they have furely tasted of his love: Or, if a spirit of bondage and slavish fear has given a forbidding aspect to the paths of piety; or hath brought a gloom and darkness upon the paths of providence, and it hath pleased God to fpeak peace to their fouls, by the Spirit of confola tion, they will fay with the Pfalmift, Pfal. ciii. Bless the Lord, O my foul, and all that is within • me, bless his holy name.' - Or, finally, if any hath complained of a dead, flothful, secure frame, refting too eafily in the form, and minding little of the powe

er of godliness, and it hath pleased God to touch their hearts and lips with a live-coal from off his altar; to command their attention by his word; to excite their affections in his worship, and to give a new strain of watchfulness and tenderness to the whole of their conversation; they have furely the greatest reason to say, 'Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.'

2. The Lord hath dealt bountifully with you, if you can observe a particular mark and signature of his providence in your mercies. It is one thing to receive the bounty of providence, and another to difcern and confess the hand that bestows it. Even with regard to the blessings that are, in a great meafure, common to every thing that lives, it is a matter of the highest moment, and of great influence in religion, to have a deep and serious conviction from whom they flow, to be sensible of the abfolute and constant dependance of every creature upon God: It places us immediately in our Maker's presence'; for, as the apostle Paul says, Acts xvii. 27. '-He ⚫ is not far from every one of us. For in him we • live, and move, and have our being.'

But though this is not to be neglected, I have fomething farther in view, viz. When we can observe the particular steps of providence, as well as the gracious intention of it, as the fruit of fpecial and diftinguishing love. The footsteps of providence are to be seen often in the means, -in the feafon, and in the nature of the mercy. 1st, When the means by which any mercy is brought about are extraor dinary, and far beyond the reach of human wisdom,

it ferves to shew that God himself hath been their help. Sometimes the children of God are left to prove the weakness of all created help, and to be urged in a manner to the brink of despair, that their deliverance may be the more signal, and may the more evidently point out the very finger of God. What a mercy is it, when the enemies of good men wait for their halting, and hope to overcome them, and yet they are remarkably delivered, and out of weakness are made strong? See how the Pfalmist prays, Pfal. Ixxxvi. 16. 17. O turn unto me, and ⚫ and have mercy upon me. Give thy strength unto ⚫thy servant, and save the fon of thine handmaid. • Shew me a token for good, that they which hate • me may see it, and be ashamed; because thou, Lord, * haft holpen me, and comforted me.'

2dly, Sometimes the providence of God is seen in the season of the mercy. It is bestowed when it is most needed, or when it may be of greatest use: When the faith of his people is beginning to fail, it frequently meets with unexpected and eminent fups port. Pfal. Ixxiii. 2. ' But as for me, my feet were • almost gone: my steps had well nigh flipt. v. ro. • Therefore his people return hither: and waters of • a full cup are wrung out to them. Pfal xciv. 16, 17, 18, 19. Who will rise up for me against the e • vil doers? or who will stand up for me against the • workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my • help, my foul had almost dwelt in filence. When I • said, my foot flippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held • me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my foul. When they

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have duties of importance before them, they have sometimes such supplies of grace and strength given them, as to carry them through with comfort and with credit. Sometimes, to prepare them for trials which may be before them, they have uncommon measures of confolation from above; and sometimes under or after trials, for their support and comfort, they meet with all in the Creator, and much more than they loft in the creature. And I hope, my brethren, many have cause to adore the wisdom, as well as the grace of God in publick ordinances, that directs his ministers, as well as his Spirit, to such in structions as may be most suitable, both to the wants and the defires of his faints. How excellent is found inftruction, at any rate! But what a new beauty and excellency does it acquire, in the eyes of that person, to whose inward complaints it is directly fuited? We may say of it as Solomon says, Prov. xv. 23. “ A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth; and a word • fpoken in due season, how good is it? - XXV..11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pic tures of filver. Ifa. 1. 4. The Lord God hath ' given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.

3dly, Once more: The signature of providence is fometimes seen in the nature of the mercy, when it is exactly fuited to the state and character of the perfon concerned. Our temper, station, duties, have in them a very great diversity; and there is frequent ly an opportunity to observe how God dispenses his gifts with wifdom and propriety. If he gives to the