all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men and maidens, old men and children: Let them praise the name of the Lord; for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above earth and heaven *. Now, I fay, to make all this to be the mere flourish of a heated imagination, is to turn the most glorious parts of the Bible into empty fiction. 7. If we look into the Prophets, we shall find the fame pleasing truth fet forth, in language not inferior to that of the Pfalmift, becoming the grandeur of the fubject, and the majesty of the Moft High. After the evangelical Prophet has spoken of the judgements of God executed upon many nations, and among the reft that of Ifrael; and thus, having fung of judgement, he changes his stile, and fings sweetly of mercy; and having praised God for the execution of his judgements, a new scene presents itself, and, referring to the progrefs of the Gospel, he adds, And in this mountain fhall the Lord of hofts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees-of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will deftroy in this mountain the face of the covering caft upon all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will fwallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be faid in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited I 3 * PL. cxlviii. 10---14 for for him, and he will fave us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his falvation *. Now this feaft, these fat things, and all this rich provifion, are generally allowed to refer to the Gofpel; and here we find it as general as language can exprefs, not only in its offers, but ever in its acceptance; fo that the veil which is fpread upon all faces is to be taken away, and the universal exclamation is, Lo, this, this is our God; he will come and fave us. Again, the divine commiffion to all the Minsters of the Gospel runs thus: Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, faith your God; fpeak ye comfortably to Jerufalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for he hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her fins +. And that the pleafing tidings are not only to be founded in Jerufalem, it is added, The voice of him crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the Lord, make ftrait in the defert a high way for our Godt. And to fhew that nothing should be able to ftop the progress of those blessed tidings, it is added, Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill fhall be made low: and the crooked shall be made Strait, and the rough places plain. And the glory of God fhall be revealed, and all flesh fhall fee it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it ||. The last clause is added to fhew the certainty of its taking place, fo that what the mouth of the Lord hath jpoken fhall infallibly fallibly take place. But we will go on a little farther with this charming Prophet, for he is very good company: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publifheth falvation; that faith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen fhall lift the voice; with the voice together fhail they fing: for they shall fee eye to eye, when the Lord fhall bring again Zion.-Break forth into finging, ye wafte places of Jerufalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people: he hath redeemed Jerufalem: the Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all nations; and all the ends of the earth fhall fee the falvation of our God *. The 8. Now this chain of precious promises is not yet fully accomplished. It is true, fomething like it took place in the Apoftolic ages; but that was only the former rain, or, rather, fome fweet drops before the fhower which fhall fall in its season. But as we are here in a pleafing path, let us not quit it yet. living waters iffue out in great plenty, and a voice like a heavenly trumpet is lifted up, crying, Ho, every one that thirfteth, come ye to the waters; and ye that have no money, come ye buy wine and milk without money, &c.† Thus he goes on, for feveral verses, to call, in the most pathetick manner, to the needy, to come. In the fiftyninth Chapter, a heavy complaint is uttered in very mournful language, but toward the close the day breaks, breaks, and the following Chapter begins with an heavenly abruptnefs, which quite furprizes the reader. Arife! fhine! for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is rifen upon thee:-then halt thou fee and flow together, and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged, becaufe the abundance of the fea fhall be converted unto thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee*. Thus fhall the glory of the Lord go forth like brightnefs, and his falvation like a lamp that burneth, while the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God, and of his Chrift, for ever. 9. BUT I have not done with this Prophet yet, or, rather, he hath not finished his delightful theme. He perfonates his incarnate Maker, who fays, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the meek: He hath fent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening the prison to them that are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God-to comfort all that To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for afhes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praife for the fpirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they, viz. the true preachers of the Gospel, shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former defolations, they shall repair the waste cities, the defolations of many generations *. Then will God fay to his Church, mourn. I * Ifa. lxi. X--- I have fet watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerufalem, which shall not hold thy peace day nor night. Then addreffing himself to these watchmen, he fays, Ye that make mention of the Lord, give him no reft till he eftablish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth * One word more from this sweet Singer of Ifrael, and then we will take our leave of him:-And I will fet a fign among them, and I will fend those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Favan, to the ifles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have feen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles +. 10. THIS charming Prophet has held our attention a good while, yet he is not tedious, however; we will pafs on a little farther. Daniel having feen and delivered a number of very important events in regular fucceffion, does not pafs by this furprifing circumstance. After mentioning the rifing and falling of many powerful kingdoms, he tells us, that a stone cut out without hands fhall fmite all thefe kingdoms; and it shall become a great mountain, and shall fill the whole earth-that the God of Heaven shall fet up a kingdom avhich shall never be deftroyed; and the kingdom fhall not be left to another people, fhall not change its mafter, as the kingdoms mentioned before have done; but it shall break in pieces, and confume all these kingdoms, and fhall ftand forever: And to fhew that God will infallibly bring it to pafs, and chiefly by the preaching of the Gospel, *Ifa. lxii. 6. + Ibid ixvi. 19. Dan. ii. 35---44. |