III. As accepted of the Lord— Instantly did God vouchsafe to answer it [Before the offering of the lamb was finished, God's acceptance of the prayer was manifest. The Philistines approached to the battle; but were so intimidated and confounded by thunder and lightning, that they fell an easy prey to those whom they had expected utterly to destroy. Thus the intervention of God was seen in the clearest light. Had the victory been gained solely by the sword of Israel, they might have ascribed it to their own skill and prowess: but when it arose from causes that were entirely out of the reach of men, they could not but acknowledge that God himself had interposed in answer to the prayer of Samuel. Signal as this favour was, we are warranted to expect a similar acceptance of our prayers, if only we ask in humility and faith. Jehoshaphat obtained a similar answer under circumstances precisely similard: and with equal speed was Daniel answered, when praying for himselfe and we also shall be heard in like manner, if we draw nigh to God, as it is both our privilege and our duty to do'.] He answered too to the utmost extent of the petitions offered [Deliverance out of the hands of the Philistines was the mercy asked; and so entirely was this deliverance effected, that the Philistines never came again into the land of Israel as long as Samuel lived. We too may expect that God will exceed our utmost requests. If we are straitened at all, it is not in him, but in ourselves. If we were more earnest, and more enlarged in prayer, our blessings would be proportionably multiplied".] We may LEARN from hence, 1. On what our safety as a nation rests [We should imitate their repentance-reformation-faithand zeal and should unite, both ministers and people, in committing our cause to God -] 2. How our safety as individuals is to be secured [There is no other way for individuals than for nations: only in nations the mercies of God may be enjoyed by those who have been at no pains to seek them; whereas every individual must stand or fall according to his own exertions in the ways of penitence and faith.] d 2 Chron. xx. 21, 22. f Isai. lxv. 24. e Dan. ix. 19-23. 8 2 Kinos xiii. 19. Eph. iii. 20. CCLXXXIX. MEMORIALS of god's goODNESS. 1 Sam. vii. 12. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. THERE is in the generality of men a very culpable inattention to the ways of Providence. A variety of dispensations succeed each other without ever attracting their notice. Hence they are unconscious of any kindness exercised towards them; and are ready to ascribe their success to themselves, or even to chance, rather than to God. But, if they would observe the many strange and unforeseen events which arise, and notice how they concur to promote their welfare, they would "understand the lovingkindness of the Lord," and be constrained to acknowledge his wise and gracious agency. The veil with which modern occurrences are covered, is, in the Scriptures, removed; and we see "the holy arm of the Lord made bare." We at this day should regard a storm as a mere accidental thing, common perhaps at the time of year; and think little of God, "who maketh the clouds his chariots, and his ministers a flame of fire." But, in the passage before us, the victory gained by means of a storm is ascribed to the merciful interposition of Jehovah. By means of thunder which terrified the Philistine army, the unprepared Israelites were enabled to destroy them, and to break the power of those who for twenty years had grievously oppressed them: nor was it a little remarkable, that this victory was gained upon the very spot where, twenty years before, God had delivered both them and the ark in which they vainly trusted, into the hands of the Philistines. To commemorate the goodness of the Lord, "Samuel set up a stone, which he called Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." From these words we shall take occasion to shew, I. What reason we have to erect similar memorials Whether the agency of God be more or less visible, it is certain that not so much as a sparrow falls to the ground without his special direction. Let us then take a view of the mercies he has vouchsafed to us. These have been, 1. Public [These have been exceeding greata mand our devoutest acknowledgments.] 2. Private and they de [We shall find abundant cause of thankfulness, if we survey our temporal mercies. How are we indebted to God for life, when multitudes have been taken into the eternal world; and for health, when many have been pining away with sickness, or racked with acute disorders! What an unspeakable mercy is it that our reason is continued to us, when many are bereft of this noble faculty, and thereby reduced, like Nebuchadnezzar, to a level with the beasts! What do we owe to God, if we have found comfort in our relatives and connexions, (for "it is God that maketh men to be of one mind in a house,") and if death has not been permitted to rob us of those, in whose welfare we are deeply interested! Perhaps during the preceding year we have entered into new connexions, or had our families enlarged. Perhaps our business has prospered; or the difficulties with which we have contended, have been overcome. In all these things we ought to acknowledge the hand of God, and to think how highly favoured we have been above myriads of our fellow-creatures. But if we turn our thoughts to the contemplation of our spiritual mercies, what ground shall we find for the liveliest gratitude, and the profoundest adoration! That the ordinances of the Gospel are continued to us, when, for our misimprovement of them " our candlestick might so justly have been removed;" what a blessing is this! If we only consider that the preached Gospel is, though not the only, yet the principal mean which God makes use of for the salvation of men, we never can be sufficiently thankful that its sound has reached a Those specified at the close of the year 1804, were, our longcontinued preservation from foreign invasion, or domestic tumults, or even the sound of war; as also our freedom from pestilences, earthquakes, and hurricanes, which had recently committed dreadful ravages in Spain, America, and the West Indies. But these things must of course be varied, according to the occasion on which the subject is used, whether it be Victory, or Peace, or any other signal mercy. "for our ears, and its light been exhibited before our eyes; many prophets and kings have in vain desired to see and hear these things," which we so richly enjoy. We have all, more or less, been made the subjects of restraining grace: and O, what a tribute of praise does that demand! How many of our fellow-creatures have brought themselves to an untimely end, either by their excesses, or by the hands of the public executioner! How many unhappy females protract a miserable existence by the wages of prostitution! How many, either to conceal their shame, or to avenge a quarrel, have committed murder! How many, to rid themselves of their present troubles, have madly rushed on suicide! Whence is it, I would ask, that we have not fallen into one or other of these evils? Are we made of better materials than they? "Have we not all one father?" Did they, previous to the commission of their evil deeds, imagine themselves more likely to fall than we? Let us acknowledge "the good hand of God upon us:" it is God who alone has made us to differ: and if he had not preserved us by his restraining grace, we should at this moment have been numbered with the most miserable and abandoned of the human race. Some amongst us, we trust, have been made to experience converting grace. And what cause for thankfulness have they! Look around, and see how few even of those who statedly hear the Gospel are savingly converted by it! What then do they owe to God, who have been quickened from the dead; who have had their sins blotted out by the blood of Jesus; who have been made partakers of a divine nature, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven! Should not they raise an Eben-ezer to the Lord? Nor have they less cause for thankfulness who have received establishing grace. Consider how many have "begun to run well, and afterwards been hindered:" some waxing cold in their regard to religion; others "turning aside to vain jangling; some drawn into infidelity; and others making religion itself hateful and abominable, by their hypocrisy or open impiety. Never does a year pass, but some instances of grievous backsliding occur, to the great dishonour of God, and the grief of all his people. And why are not we the persons that have been left to fall? Have we felt no secret inclination to sin? Have we on no occasion yielded to the suggestions. of our great adversary, so that nothing but Omnipotence, snatching us like brands out of the burning, could have preserved us? Have we never inwardly backslidden, so that if God had not for his own mercy's sake restored us, we must have departed for ever? Let us only examine the records of our own hearts, and call our own ways to remembrance; and there is not one of us who will not be ready to look upon himself as the greatest monument of mercy that can be found on earth. Whether then we consider our temporal or our spiritual mercies, we cannot but find unbounded occasion to raise grateful memorials to the Lord our God.] But it will be proper to shew, II. In what manner we should do it External and visible monuments are very proper expressions of national gratitude: but, as individuals, we must erect very different memorials; 1. We must get a sense of God's goodness engraven on our hearts [We need not to form inscriptions on stone or brass: we are concerned rather to have the mercies of our God written upon our hearts. But here is our great fault: we do not "keep his great goodness in remembrance:" we "forget him at the sea, even at the Red Sea." One single calamity will call forth complaints in abundance: but ten thousand mercies are scarcely sufficient to raise the soul to God, or to excite one desire to requite his love. Sensible of this, David stirred up his soul to the performance of its duty: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me bless his holy name: bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." It is in this way that we must raise memorials to God: and such memorials he will not despise. One grateful and devout acknowledgment is a more pleasing sacrifice to him than the cattle upon a thousand hills: "Whoso offereth him praise, glorifieth him."] 2. We must endeavour to impress others also with a sense of it— [This is a method of perpetuating the remembrance of his goodness, which the Lord himself has prescribed. And the more sensible we ourselves are of his kindness to us, the more shall we exert ourselves to preserve the knowledge of it in this way. How admirable is the example of David in this particular! He seems to have laboured with all his might, not merely to praise God with his own lips, but to interest all, whether of his own or future generations, in the same blessed employment. On the contrary, how severely was Hezekiah rebuked for ostentatiously displaying his own riches, when he should have been magnifying to the Babylonish ambassadors the Lord's goodness, and commending to them the knowledge c Ps. cxlv. 1-7. b Ps. lxxviii. 5-7. |