THE COVENANT OF GRACE, A SUPport under SORROW.

2 SAMUEL Xxiii. 5.

Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; for this is all for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.

It is animating and useful to stand by the dyingbeds of believers, and listen to the expressions of hope and triumph, with which they terminate their lives. The text then deserves our attention, since it forms part of "the last words of David." Standing on the borders of the eternal world, he looks back to his humble original, and blesses that goodness which God had displayed to him, in elevating him to eminence both in the church and the state. He had been raised up on high, anointed of God, and made the sweet" Psalmist of Israel." But that object on which he most earnestly fixes his view, is the glorious and gracious Redeemer, of whose advent he speaks in the verses immediately preceding the text, declaring the equity of his government and the blessed influence of his reign, which should be cheering as the sun, when it dispels the darkness, and enlivens all nature; and refreshing as the show53

VOL. III.

ers, which, after long drought, renovate the face of the earth. "The Ruler over mankind," thus the words may literally be translated, "shall be the Just One, ruling in the fear of the Lord. As the morning, shall this Sun arise, a morning unclouded in brightness; as rain that waters the tender herbs of the earth.”*

When he looked at his family, David saw much cause of grief. He had suffered from the sins of his children; he had followed some of them to the grave; and probably, by the prophetic spirit which inspired him, he foresaw the distress which his posterity would endure. Yet, even in these circumstances, he could rejoice in the grace of the Redeemer, and in the complete and inviolable covenant of his God, which was the foundation of his trust, and the object of his attachment. "Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; this is all my salvation, and all my desire." In looking at himself, he was humbled at his sins, and at the slow progress he had made in the divine life. Yet, "although he make it not to grow," that is, although the grace of the covenant had not been in so vigorous a state within him as it should have been, he still trusted in the covenant faithfulness and love of his God.

To these declarations concerning the Redeemer, the covenant, and himself, he adds a description of the character and the end of the wicked; whom he represents as "sons of Belial," useless as thorns, fit only to be burned, reserved for the fire of God's wrath.

* See Bishops Chandler and Hales.

Having thus briefly paraphrased this dying testimony of David, let us deduce from that part of it which constitutes the text, these two interesting truths:

I. Even the children of God, those who are within the bonds of his covenant, may have to contend with domestic afflictions, may have to lament their errors and their falls, and must be extended on the bed of death.

II. In all these circumstances, they may find support in that covenant of grace which God has made with them.

Suppose not, my brethren, that we are unauthorized to extend to all believers that which was the ground of David's consolation. All the children of God are under the same covenant, and have a title to its promises and blessings. To us all, the invitation is given," Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." As all the pious are then exposed to the same calamities with the royal Psalmist, there is open to them also the same rich fountain of consolation.

I. "Although my house be not so with God." Well might David use these words, when he recalled the conduct of Amnon, of Absalom, of Adonijah; when he recollected the wickedness and ingratitude which had so often been displayed by his children. Is he the only one of God's people who has experienced similar trials; who has been compelled to weep over the sins of those to whom he was united by the

closest bonds!

Alas! such examples are every

where to be found. We need not go back to Aaron or to Eli. We have only to look around us to behold them. How many pious parents, who "water their couch with tears," because of the guilt of their children; whose souls are distressed, when they see these dear objects of their affection dishonouring God and neglecting the Redeemer! Yes! there are more than one of you, my hearers, whose hearts have bled at beholding those under your roof, for whose holiness you pray, still living the enemies of God.

Although my house be not so with God." David, in using this language, recollected probably not only the sinfulness of some of his children, but also the death of those who had preceded him into the eternal world. And this is still often the lot of God's covenant people. We need no laboured proof of this point; for in every part of this temple, we behold parents whose fond hopes have been withered, who have wept over the cold ashes of those children, whose opening virtues and expanding talents they had watched with tender solicitude, and who, they hoped, would have survived them, to bear their names, and to advance the cause of the Redeemer when they themselves were in the tomb.

But if bereavements are at all times painful, they are most exquisitely so when the surviving parent contemplates, with doubt or with shuddering horror, the eternal state of the departed child. And this was felt by David in his domestic trials; this was the chief source of his bitter lamentations over Absalom. Child of God! this excruciating sorrow thou mayest also experience; this anguish, than which thou canst scarcely conceive one deeper, may be felt

by thee. Many a pious parent is still constrained to exclaim, while hanging over the corpse of a dear, but irreligious child, "Would God I had died for thee!"

David acknowledges that not only his house, but also his person and his heart, were not so with God as they should have been; and that the grace of the covenant had not grown within him as it ought to have done, and which it would have done, had it not been for his criminal remissness. He remembers his imperfections and sins, the defects that had been mingled with his best services, and the dark cloud by which he had so long been obscured. Ah! how many here also resemble David, and, in looking at the past, recall sins for which, though forgiven, they must ever weep bitterly! Who is not constrained to cry, with him, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant?" Who is not compelled to lament the little progress that he has made in comparison with what he ought to have made in the divine life?

Finally, these are "the last words of David." He, though the servant of God, must die; his piety exempts him not from the pangs of dissolving nature. How unnecessary is it to prove that here also all the covenant people of God resemble him! With regard to temporal death, "there is but one event to the evil and to the good." The time is rapidly coming, when even the dearest children of God among us will be surrounded by weeping friends; when we shall be separated from the enjoyments of earth, and lie down with the worm for our couch, and the earthworm for our covering.

We have seen the afflictions which David felt, and which the children of God in every age may feel; they are sufficient to crush us, if we have no support