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of St. Mary's at Paris, and sixty-four feet narrower ; and if so, it must have been longer than St. Paul's than that church is high in the inside, and fifty-four Church, in London, from west to east, and broader feet of our measure in height. Dr Arbuthnot computes it to have been eighty-one thousand and sixty

two tons.

Finally, We say to all of both sexes, " Cleanse | it was one hundred and ten feet longer than the church your ways." Consider them and take heed to them according to God's Word. "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes: but the Lord weigheth the spirits." Seek to have your minds deeply imbued with the Gospel. "And ye are clean, through the word which I have spoken unto you," says Christ. There is not one whose ways are perfectly pure. Who can say, I have made my heart clean? Who can understand his errors ?" Let us pray, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." Let us, then, walk on in the of purity. "The righteous shall hold on his way; and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger." And, at length, our journey done, we shall arrive at the land of perfect purity and perfect joy.

DILUVIAN ANTIQUITIES.

ways

BY THE LATE REV. JAMES KIDD, D.D.,
Professor of Oriental Languages in Marischal College, and
Minister of Gilcomston Parish, Aberdeen.
No. I.

NOAH'S ARK.

NOAH's Ark was a floating vessel, built by Noah, at the command of God, for the preservation of himself, his family, and the several species of animals, during the deluge. This Ark has afforded several topics of inquiry among critics, architects, and antiquaries, relating to its form, capacity, materials, and the like.

The wood of which the ark was built, is called in the Hebrew gopher-wood, and in the Septuagint, square timbers. Some translate the original, cedar, others pine, others box. Pelletier prefers cedar on account of its incorruptibility, and the great abundance of it in Asia; whence Herodotus and Theophrastus relate, that the kings of Egypt and Syria built whole fleets of it instead of fir.

The learned Fuller, in his Miscellanies, has observed, that the wood of which the ark was built, was nothing but that which the Greeks cal! the cypress tree; this observation the great Bochart has confirmed, and shown very plainly that no country abounds so much with this wood as that part of Assyria which lies about Babylon. In what place Noah built and finished his Ark, is no less made a matter of disputation. But the most probable opinion is, that it was built in Chaldea, in the territories of Babylon, where there was so great a quantity of cypress in the groves and gardens in the time of Alexander the Great, that that prince built a whole fleet out of it for want of other timber. And this conjecture is confirmed by the Chaldean tradition, which makes Xisuthrus, (another name for Noah,) set sail from that country.

The dimensions of the Ark, as given by Moses, are three hundred cubits in length, fifty in breadth, and thirty in height, which some have thought too scanty, considering the number of things which it was to contain; and from this supposition an argument has been drawn against the authority of revelation. To solve this difficulty, many of the ancient fathers and the modern critics have been put to very miserable shifts: bur Kircher has proved geometrically, that taking the common cubit of a foot and a half, the Ark was abundantly sufficient for all the animals supposed to be lodged in it. Snellius computes the ark to have been above half an acre in area. Father Lamy shows, that

The things contained in it were, besides eight persons of Noah's family, one pair of every species of unclean animals, and seven pair of every species of clean animals, with provisions for them all during the whole year. The former appears, at first view, almost innumerable; but if we come to a calculation, the number of species of animals will be found much less than is generally imagined; and if such animals be excepted as can live in the water, Bishop Wilkins shows, that only seventy-two of the quadruped kind needed a place in

the ark.

By the description Moses gives of the Ark, it appears to have been divided into three stories, each ten cubits, or fifteen feet high; and it is agreed on, as most probable, that the lowest story was for the beasts, the middle for the food, and the upper for the birds, with Noah and his family; each story being subdivided into different apartments, stalls, and the like; though Josephus, Philo, and other commentators, add a kind of fourth story under all the rest, being, as it were, the hold of the vessel, to contain the ballast, and receive the ordure of so many animals; but Calmet thinks, that what is here reckoned a story, was no more than what is called the keel of ships, and served only for a conservatory of fresh water. Drevelius makes three hundred apartments; Fournier three hundred and thirtythree; the anonymous author of the questions on Genesis, four hundred; Buteo, Temporarius, Arius Montanus, Wilkins, Lamy, and others, suppose as many partitions as there were different sorts of animals. Pelletier makes only seventy-two, namely, thirty-six for the birds, and as many for the beasts. His reason is, that if we suppose a greater number, as three hundred and thirty-three, or four hundred, each of the eight persons in the Ark must have had thirty-seven, or forty-one, or sixty stalls to attend and cleanse daily, which he thinks impossible to have been done. But it is observed, that there is not much in this. To diminish the number of stalls, without the diminution of animals, is in vain; it being, perhaps, more difficult to take care of three hundred animals in seventy-two stalls than in three hundred. As to the number of animals contained in the Ark, Buteo computes that it would not be equal to five hundred horses; he even reduces the whole to the dimensions of fifty-six pair of oxen. Father Lamy enlarges it to sixty-four pair, or one hundred and twenty-eight oxen, so that supposing one ox equal to two horses, if the Ark had room for two hundred and fifty-six horses, there must have been room for all the animals. But the same author demonstrates, that one floor of it would suffice for five hundred horses, allowing nine square feet to a horse.

As to the food in the second story, it is observed by Buteo from Columella, that thirty or forty pounds of hay ordinarily suffices for an ox a day; and that a solid cubit of hay, as usually pressed down in our hay ricks, weighs about forty pounds, so that a square cubit of hay is more than enough for an ox in one day. Now it appears, that the second story contained one hundred and fifty thousand solid cubits, which, divided between two hundred and six oxen, will afford each more hay, by two-thirds, than he can eat in a year. Bishop Wilkins computes all the carnivorous animals equivalent as to the bulk of their bodies, all their foals to seventeen wolves, and all the rest to two hundred and eighty beeves. For the former he allows one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five sheep, and for the latter onę

hundred and nine thousand five hundred cubits of hay, all which will be easily contained in the two first stories, and yet there will be much room to spare. As to the third story, nobody doubts of it being sufficient for the fowls, with Noah, his sons and daughters. Upon the whole, the learned Bishop remarks, that of the two, it appears much more difficult to assign a number and bulk of necessary things to answer the capacity of the Ark, than to find sufficient room for the several species of animals already known to have been there. This he attributes to the imperfection of our list of animals, especially to those of the unknown parts of the earth, adding, that the most expert mathematician of this day could not assign the proportion of a vessel better accommodated to the purpose than is here done; and hence, he finally concludes, that the capacity of the Ark, which had been an objection against Scripture, ought to be esteemed a confirmation of its divine authority, since in those ruder ages, men, being less versed in arts and philosophy, were more obnoxious to vulgar prejudices than now; so that had it been a human invention, it would have been contrived, according to those wild apprehensions which arise from a confused and general view of things, as much too large as it had been represented to be too little. But it must be observed, that besides the places requisite for beasts and birds, and their provisions, there was room required for Noah to lock up household utensils, the instruments of husbandry, grains and seeds to sow the earth after the deluge; for which purpose, it is thought that he might spare room in the third story for thirty-six cabins, besides a kitchen, a hall, four chambers, and a space about forty-eight cubits to walk in.

INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE NATURAL

HISTORY OF THE BIBLE.

BY THE LATE REV. DAVID SCOT, M. D., Professor of Oriental Languages in the University of St. Andrews. No. III.

THE BEAR, OR DUB OF THE HEBREWS.

THERE are various species of bear, but those most worthy of notice are the brown, the black, the grizzly, and the white. The white bear belongs to the Polar Regions, and lives a great deal on the ice-bergs, that float on the Polar Seas. The grizzly bear infests the higher latitudes of North West America, and is excessively dangerous. The black bear is peculiar to cold climates, and for some part of its life, at least, does not feed on animals, but on roots and fruits. The brown or red bear seems to be addicted to the same kind of food as the black; and to be more diffused over the globe than the other species of bears. Certainly, it is found in countries more to the south, than the black bear.

Travellers dispute, whether the bear be an African animal. Shaw says that it is found in East Barbary; but Jackson, in his History of Morocco,' says, that it does not exist in West Barbary; though he admits, that it has been seen in the upper regions of Mount Atlas, which are covered with snow during the whole year. There is not a question, but it abounds in Arabia. Thevenot in his travels informs us, that bears inhabit the wilderness adjoining to the Holy Land, and that he saw one near the northern extremity of the Red Sea. In all probability the brown bear frequented the Land of Canaan, as well as Arabia, in the time of the Israelites, and no doubt often passed backwards and forwards from the one country to the other.

The bear was once an inhabitant of Great Britain, and long after it was extirpated, it was brought from the continent to be baited. Baiting consists in setting a number of dogs on the poor animal, and forcing it to

defend itself. If bull dogs are set upon it, they will soon tear it to pieces; but if mastiffs, a longer conflict may be maintained. Bear-baiting seems now to have gone into disuse, and this is to be hailed as a sign of increasing civilization. The case was different two centuries ago. History informs us, that with this cruel pastime Queen Elizabeth was entertained by the Earl of Leicester at Kenilworth Castle. Thirteen bears were sometimes baited in an evening, for the diversion of her majesty.

Bears, when in a captive state, can be trained to a certain extent; especially if they are young. This training is nothing more than teaching them to rise on their hind feet, at the command of their master, and to walk in that posture with a long pole in their fore paws. It is said, that while a musical instrument is played upon, they are put upon a heated girdle, in order to force them to this movement; and afterwards, when the musician plays, and the cudgel is applied, they resort to the same movement, though the heated girdle is not used. The intention of this training is to draw crowds, in order to gaze at the strange motions of the animal, that those who enslave and torment it, may have a pretence for going round, and collecting money from all who please to give. In this way they may support themselves, but we can never behold such a sight without detestation. We know that the animal must be subject to a greal deal of beating, before it can walk erect on its hind feet, and grasp a long pole in its fore feet; and certainly those who beat it into such habits, deserve to be punished in proportion to their cruelty.

The body of the bear is covered with long shaggy hair. Its tail is short, its feet large, legs thick and clumsy, head large, ears short and rounded. The sole of the foot rests entirely on the ground. The claws on each foot are five, and armed with strong nails; the cutting teeth six, but the canine one, and the grinding from four to seven in each jaw, Its muzzle is pointed.

The eyes of the bear are very small, and furnished with a winking membrane. What is uncommon, the crystalline humour is drawn up on one side. This singular structure gives to the animal that severe and surly aspect, observed by most naturalists, and which has been taken notice of by the son of Sirach in the Apocrypha, Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 23. "The wickedness of a woman darkens her countenance like a bear."

The bear commonly builds its hut at the root of a tree, and when the snow covers it, the peasants know his retreat from a hole melted in the snow by his breath. They attack him in a body; the noise which they make frightens him from his hiding-place, and, as he makes no way through the loose snow, they kill him by a stroke on the nose. This is the weak and mortal part of the animal, and when in combat with man or beast, he instinctively tries to preserve it. When he throws down any animal, he opens a vein in his neck, and by this means drains the animal of the blood which it contains. A tame bear in the Tower of London, escaping from its den, laid flat the keeper's wife, and proceeded to suck the blood from the neck, and, with the utmost difficulty, the keeper forced it back into the den. Whenever it saw the woman afterwards, it raged to be at her, and became fierce and unmanageable. The Prince Regent, afterwards George the Fourth, hearing of the circumstance, ordered it to be killed.

When the bear awakens out of sleep, he sucks his paws, if we are to credit common report. feet, which resemble human hands, are covered, as well His fore as his whole body, with a soft skin, towards which run a great number of blood vessels. probable, that a serous fluid is secreted, and the secre In these, it is tion will be more copious when the action of sucking is applied,

During the several months of winter, the bear retires to his den, and this, whether a cave in the side of a mountain, or the hollow of a tree, he can, on no account, be induced to leave. While he stays in it, he does not seem to become torpid; but he supports himself by sucking his paws. Of course, however fat he may be when he goes in, he is very lean when he comes out. When the bear leaves his confinement during the winter, nearly reduced to a skeleton, he ranges everywhere for food. At no time is he more to be dreaded, or more bent upon mischief. However famished he may be, he shows neither failure of strength nor want of activity.

He betrays an excessive fondness for fruit, especially dates and plums; and, while he climbs trees in quest of fruit, he dexterously catches it with one paw, while he hangs from a branch by the other. From a strong relish for sweet juices, he greedily devours all the honey within his reach. Captain Bruce tells us in his Memoirs, that a tame bear, which he kept, sometimes broke his chain, and made his way to the shops where they sold honey, and devoured great quantities of it, as the shopkeepers durst not prevent him. Bees abound in the south of Russia, and often swarm in the cavities of trees, and collect vast quantities of honey. These repositories the bear discovers, and robs of their treasures. Though he takes whatever they contain at the first visit, he returns again and again, as if expecting a fresh supply. The peasants mark this anxiety to indulge his appetite, and lay snares in those places where the hives are rifled. In this manner they destroy or get possession of an animal among the most formidable on the face of the earth.

It In a

The bear does not confine itself to animal food. takes vegetable food when it can get no other. tame state, it may be fed with bread or oats, as well as with flesh.

The flesh of the young bear is a great delicacy, and the paws of the old bear are much relished in those countries where the animal prevails. In general bears' filesh is reckoned good food by many, and, in particular, bear hams are celebrated.

The Russians kill thousands of bears every winter for the sake of their skins. The skin of the bear answers many purposes, especially in cold climates. It forms an excellent defence, if the weather be severe. It affords a warm cover to those who are sleeping in their huts, or serves as a pallet on which they lie down. Shoes and buskins are made of it, for wading through the snow, or treading on the ice.

The animal which we call bear, is named dub in Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic. There is no difference among critics about the origin of the term. Dub, as a root in Hebrew, signifies to murmur, grumble, or growl; and of course, dub as a noun will be the murmurer, grumbler, or growler; a term most expressive of the cry of this animal.

The sacred writers lead us to suppose, that the bear was a severe scourge to the inhabitants of Canaan. When David was a young man, he defended his father's flocks from wild beasts; and he killed both a lion and a bear, which had taken a lamb out of the flock. From 2 Kings ii. 24, we learn that two she-bears were employed as instruments of punishment for insulting Elisha. As he went up from Bethel, children came out of the town and mocked him; and when he cursed them in the name of the Lord, two she-bears came out of the wood, and tore forty and two of them. It is thought that those children belonged to idolatrous parents, who had instigated them to this outrage towards the prophet of God.

The ferocity of the bear when robbed of its whelps, has been noticed by sacred as well as profane writers. The sacred writers speak of this ferocity in three places, (2 Sam. xvii. 8,) "They be mighty men chafed in

their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field." (Prov. xvii. 12,) "Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly." (Hos. xiii. 8,) "I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion."

Its fury is equally terrible, when driven on by hunger. It not only attacks sheep and goats, but cows and bulls, seizing them by the horns, that it may bring them to the ground by its weight; or by the nostrils, that it may sooner overpower them, from wounding parts most susceptible of pain. The danger to be apprehended from the bear, wher. in want of food, is thus touched upon by Solomon, (Prov. xxviii. 15,) A hungry bear, and a roaring lion, is a wicked ruler over a poor people." That shukek means hungry, is asserted by Jerome, defended by Bochart, and assented to by Geier. The translation of the English Bible is "a ranging bear. If the epithet "ranging be retained, the sense will not be altered.

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To the ferocity of the bear, whether from the want of food, or the loss of its young, may be added its craftiness in watching for its prey. Thus, (Lam. iii. 10,) "He was to me a bear lying in wait, and a lion lurking in secret places."

It cannot fail to strike us in reading the notices taken of the bear in the Old Testament, that it is often coupled with the lion; and we are to attribute this circumstance to the similarity of these animals in size, in ravenous disposition, and in the terror which they excite in men and other animals. This coupling of the bear with the lion in holy writ, shows the ferocity of the animal, and the great dread of it by the inhabitants of Canaan. The difference of danger in the two animals was so small, that they dreaded as much to meet the one, as the other. Hence we find in (Amos v. 19,) "As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him."

In

The beast of Rev. xiii. 2, resembled a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion. other words, the Roman empire had a varied character, fluctuating betwixt aristocracy and democracy; and at last, sinking into despotism; but beyond all question, from the beginning possessing immense strength, and proceeding slowly but steadily to unlimited power.

The reign of the Messiah was to be distinguished by good-will among men of every nation and religion. This feature of his reign, Isaiah has beautifully describ ed by the agreement between the horned cattle and the bear. "The beeve and the bear shall feed on the same pasture, and their young ones shall lie down together." The Jews and the Gentiles shall become members of the same church, and party feelings and distinctions be done away.

The growl of the bear awakens a mournful feeling in him that hears it, and hence in (Isa. lix. 11,) it is associated with the cooing of the dove, which is always regarded as mournful, "We all moan like the bear, and mourn as the dove."

CHRISTIAN TREASURY.

A useful Hint.-Welcome the cross of Christ, and bear it triumphantly; but see it be indeed Christ's cross, and not thy own.-WILCOX.

True Prayer.-Prayer is the application of want to him who only can relieve it; the voice of sin to him who only can pardon it. It is the urgency of poverty, the prostration of humility, the fervency of penitence, the confidence of truth. It is not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of helplessness, but the feeling of it; not figures of speech, but compunction of soul. It is the "Lord save us, we perish," of drowning Peter; the cry of faith to the ear of mercv.→ MRS MORE. (The Spirit of Prayer.)

SACRED POETRY.

-

TO A YOUNG FRIEND.

Now glancing in sunlight with flowers and with song,
Thy bark of existence is sweeping along ;
Not a wave on the sea-not a cloud in the air-
All is music and mirth; yet beware, oh beware!

Now the world is a garden of rapture to thee,
Where blossoms and fruits cluster thick on each tree;
And still as thy hands gather fast the bright store,
Scarce tasted they fall ere thou reachest for more!
Yes, earth is thy Eden, and thou art its Eve,
And its varied delights thou wouldst wish ne'er to leave;
By its groves, and its streams, so surpassingly fair,
Thou for ever couldst range,-yet beware, oh beware!
The sky may be radiant, and tranquil the tide,
While the storm is at hand, hath despair by its side;
The flowers may be fragrant, and lovely the fruit,
With the canker concealed at the core and the root.
This life may be sweet, but to prize it so dear
That the loss of its pleasures is all that we fear,-
No hopes and no treasures more precious to deem-
Ah! this is a false and a dangerous dream!

Oh! remember, my friend, though the earth may be
bright,

Time drives on its years with untameable flight;
And the deeper its spell round the spirit is cast,
The darker the struggle to leave it at last.
Remember that God hath revealed, of his love,
That there is but one heaven-his temple above;
And this is the bliss at which mortals should aim,-
To walk in his presence, and honour his name.

Alas! that so many, and thou with the rest,
Shouldst dream in this world to be perfectly blest;
With never one thought of His goodness and power,
Whose hand gives the sunshine, and sends down the
shower!

Oh! pause but an hour in thy careless career,

And let Wisdom but once breathe her words in thine ear;
Let Religion but show thee one glimpse of her light,
And the joys that now charm thee will fade into night.
Let the Spirit Divine shed his beams on thy mind,
And scatter the shadows thy vision that blind;
Let God be revealed in his justice and truth,
And thy soul as a fountain polluted from youth:
In amaze, as if waked to new life, thou wilt start,
For all things will seem changed to thy fast changing
heart;

And solitude then with delight will be sought,
As the handmaid of knowledge, the sister of thought!
Then the laws thou hast broken, most holy and wise,
In the mirror of conscience against thee will rise;
And doubts may assail thee of vengeance and doom
Laid in wait to o'erwhelm thee when pass'd through
the tomb!

But just in that moment, when full in thy sight
Thy sin and God's justice stand awfully bright,
And in fear and despondence thou gazest around,
Unknowing whence pardon and peace may be found,—
Oh! then, let His mercy who died in our stead,
And bore all the curse of our guilt on his head,
The Holy, the Just One, rush clear on thy mind,
Till there lurk not a shadow of doubting behind:
Thou wilt feel all the depths of thy spirit to move;
As thou ponderest the weight of thy Saviour's love,
Thy heart will be melted, thy tears will flow tree,
And the dew of repentance fall gently on thee !

Oh happiest moment of all thou hast past!
When thy soul to earth's vanity wakens at last!
And thou feel'st that its pleasures and aims are but dust,
When heaven is thy home, and Jehovah thy trust!
JANE C. SIMPSON.

The Superstition of Hindoos.-The Hindoos believe in the metempsychosis or transmigration of souls. They suppose that evil has come into the world in consequence of the union of spirit with matter, and is to be done away by suffering, or acts of charity, or religious observances. The soul as it passes from one body to another is preparing for a reunion with the divine spirit of which it is a part, as a drop of water with the ocean. It is the same in man and in the lower animals. After

having obtained a human birth it may be doomed to be born a brute, or to exist as a tree or plant. According to the character formed in any birth will be the condition of that next succeeding. Good and evil, both natural and moral are entailed from one birth to another; and the fate of each one is written in his head when be is born. This is indicated by the sutures of the skull, which are considered to be writing. This fate is unalterable, and excludes the idea of blame or praise. It is a sufficient excuse for any course of evil conduct to say, "it is fate in my head, my forehead is bad." They speak of heaven and hell, but in a different sense from Christians. Each corporeal god has his own heaven where he receives his worshippers, and grants them various sensual indulgences for a longer or shorter period, according to their merit, after which they become subject again to the vicissitudes of mortal birth. Even the gods must descend to this, if they would be released from matter and obtain Mookshum or absorption in the divine essence. If any die without sufficient merit to obtain Mookshum, or go to either of the heavens, or have another birth in this world, they must be sent to the Yuma-loka or world of Yuma, the god of death, and tormented as in Purgatory, until their sins are so far expiated as to allow of their being launched again on the sea of transmigration. They are allowed at first, perhaps, only an inferior birth, but gradually may rise to inhabit a human form, and eventually, like others, obtain absorption. This fatalism and belief that all will end well, almost destroys their sense of accountability and fear of the consequences of sin; and their apathy is increased by the ease with which sin is done away. The putting of a light in a temple bathing in any of the holy waters, marking the forehead, breast, and arms, with holy ashes, repeating the name of some god, though unintentionally, doing charity, or perform ing any of the various kinds of penance, to say nothing of many other methods, will effectually atone for sin, and secure happiness after death.

CONTENTS.-A Standing Revelation, duly Authenticated, the Best and the only Authorized Means of Conversion. By Rev. A. Hamilton, A. M.-Biographical Sketch. Mrs Harriet W. L. Winslow.-Hebrew Gleanings. By Rev. R. Simpson, A. M. No. IV.Discourse. By Rev. A. L. R. Foote.-Diluvian Antiquities. By the late Rev. J. Kidd, D. D. No. 1.-Investigations into the Natural History of the Bible. By the late Rev. D. Scot, M. D. No. III.-Christian Treasury. Extracts from Wilcox and Mrs More. Sacred Poetry. To a Young Friend. By Jane C. Simpson. Miscellaneous.

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ON GODLINESS.

BY THE REV. GAVIN PARKER, Minister of Bon-Accord Parish, Aberdeen. TRUE religion or godliness consists in maintaining friendly intercourse with God. In their natural state, sinners are afar off from God; but the godly have been brought nigh by the blood of Christ. It is the very essence, the very soul of true godliness to be near God. It is not sufficient, as an evidence of true godliness, that we hold much intercourse with the works, or the Word, or the ordinances of God; nor that we enjoy some pleasure in the contemplation of his works, or in meditation on his Word; nor that we even delight in attendance on his ordinances. Very acute philosophers, very celebrated theologians, very exemplary professors of Christianity, may be living without God in the world, as really as the heathen, who have seldom heard of his name. Those who are truly godly do maintain communion with God himself. They are a people near to God; they have God nigh to them; their intercourse with the true God is real, and frequently joyful.

Godliness consists in habitually recognizing the Omnipresent God. The ungodly may have occasional, and even frequent, thoughts of him, but the godly habitually think of him, and consider him present with them in all places. A person having the sense of seeing can habitually, during day, realize in the face of the sky the presence and light of the sun; so can one possessed of genuine piety, habitually, and without any effort, consider himself present before God; and were he to give utterance to his thoughts and impressions, he could thus speak: God is here; all his perfections are here; his eternity, his immensity, his almighty power, his all-perfect wisdom, his immaculate holiness, his inflexible justice, his inviolable faithfulness, his unbounded goodness, his rich mercy, are all here before me, and within

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siderations will induce one possessed of true godliness to speak also with holy reverence to God himself: "Thou God seest me;"-" thou triest my reins and my heart;"- -"thou art here a God loving righteousness and hating wickedness ;"thou art infinitely better acquainted with me than I am with myself;-thou searchest out the hidden wickedness of my heart;-" thou dost place my secret faults in the brightness of thy countenance ;"66 my sins are open before thee;""thou knowest my thoughts afar off;"- "thou art acquainted with all my ways." If we are not accustomed habitually to recognize the presence of God, we have no sufficient evidence that we have ever been brought nigh to him by the blood of Christ; we have no sufficient evidence that we are in Christ at all; we have, therefore, no sufficient evidence that our piety is genuine, or that our profession of Christianity is sincere

The godly do habitually recognize the approbation and friendship of God toward themselves. The thoughts of God are welcome to their minds; because they consider him their best, their present friend, they love him, they reverence him, they trust in him, they rejoice before him. It gives them pleasure to think that their best friend is never absent; and they can frequently delight themselves in him, while they possess the sure evidence, and while they enjoy the rich fruits, of his approbation. These are the persons who walk with God; their meditation of him is sweet; they can say to others, "This God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death." They can even speak in holy boldness to God: "Thou art my portion;" "in the multitude of thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul."

Those who possess genuine piety do habitually cherish desires after God. It is pleasant for them to think of him, and to enjoy him as their ever present friend. But they have also very much to expect from him; they feel, and they acknowledge, that they are poor and needy in themselves. All are poor and needy; but the ungodly expect their comfort from creatures; the godly expect all from God himself. There be many that say, "Who will show us any good?" But those who are friendly to God will say to him, "Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us."

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