The illustration of these particulars will give rise to a practical improvement of the subject.-Let us,

First, Attend to the description of worldly men in the first part of the 6th verse, "There be many that say, Who will shew us any good?"-It is obvious, in the

1st place, That this question betrays a great degree of inward dissatisfaction and perplexity. They speak like men who have no relish for what they possess, and who are utterly at a loss to what hand to turn to for enjoyment. They do not ask, Who will shew us the chief good? But, "Who will shew us any good ?” any thing to fill up the craving vacuity of our minds: a plain intimation that hitherto they have been miserably disappointed in their pursuits, and that at the time of the question, they cannot find any thing in their lot that deserves the name of good. They are unacquainted with happipiness, though they have been always in search of it, and neither know wherein it consists, nor how it is to be obtained. It deserves our notice,

2dly. That the only good which they inquire for is some present sensible enjoyment, which may be pointed out to the eye of sense, and may be immediately laid hold of." Who will show us any good?" They are strangers to the operation of that faith, which is "the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." They look not "at the things which are unseen and eternal;" their views are confined within the narrow limits of this present life; and they covet no other portion than they suppose may be found in the world of sense.It may be observed,

3dly. That they make no discrimination of the objects which they seek after. Any good will be welcome to them; let it be good food, or good clothing; a good estate by lawful means, or a good estate by any means

whatever; a good bargain in business, or a good booty by theft or plunder: no matter what it is, provided it gives them pleasure in the mean time, or relieves them from the irksome labour of thinking on themselves, and on the great end for which they were made.-Once more, in the

4th place, You observe, that amidst all their dissatisfaction with their present state, and their eager desires after something better, they do not turn their thoughts at all to God, but seem rather determined to banish the remembrance of him from their minds. They seek counsel from others, but none from him: they inquire at weak and erring mortals like themselves, but they neither ask wisdom nor grace from God.

Such is the representation which the Psalmist gives us of the temper and of the language of worldly men. He further tells us, that the character of which he gives this description was a common one in his time: "There be many that say, Who will shew us any good?" And it is but too apparent, that multitudes of men do still exhibit the same temper. They have no relish for spiritual and divine enjoyments; their only care is, "What they shall eat, and what they shall drink, and wherewithal they shall be clothed."-"They labour abundantly for the meat which perisheth, but not at all for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." And though they meet with repeated disappointments in every new experiment; yet instead of seeking after happiness where it is alone to be found, they still renew the fruitless search among the creatures around them, and cry out with as much keenness as ever, "Who will shew us any worldly good ?"

Let us now turn our eyes to a different object, and consider the temper of a child of God, as it is beautifully

described by the Psalmist. Whilst others say, "Who will shew us any good?" the language of his heart is, "Lord lift thou upon me the light of thy countenance." He, too, seeks what is good; for the desire of happiness is common to all.-But you will observe,

1st, That it is not any good that will satisfy him: he cannot feed upon husks; it is a real and substantial good that he seeks after. Nay, it is the chief good. He disdains the thought of having any thing less than this for the portion of his soul. He knows that all other sources of enjoyment are no better than "broken cisterns, which can hold no water;" adapted indeed to supply the wants of the body, but in no respect suited to the immortal spirit, either as the objects of its choice, or the sources of its happiness.And as nothing can satisfy him but a real and permanent good, so we find,

2dly, That he knows where that good is to be found. He has no need to solicit information from every one he meets. He knows that the favour of God, and the sense of his loving kindness, are the only sources of true happiness. Here therefore he fixeth his choice, and is perfectly satisfied that he is right in doing so.

The worldly mind is in a state of perpetual fluctuation. Having no determinate object in view, it runs wild in pursuit of every delusive image of good; and when disappointed in one object, only feels a more intense desire to seek its gratification in another.

But the enlightened mind seeth vanity engraved in deep and legible characters, on all things below the sun; and therefore looks beyond and above them for its por tion, saying with the devout Psalmist, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth whom I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."-I observe, in the

3d place, That a child of God goes directly to God himself, and begs the blessing from him. He loses no time in wandering among the creatures, or in making experiments of sensual pleasure; but takes the shortest road to the object he pursues. He flies to the arms of his father, and implores that he would smile on him, and grant him his salvation. Sensible at the same time of his unworthiness, he claims nothing as a debt; but what he asks, he prays for as a free unmerited gift, fetching all his arguments from his mercy, and pleading with him for his own name's sake, "O Lord, lift thou upon me the light of thy countenance."-Once more, in the

4th place, It deserves our notice, that the Psalmist, in the name of all the godly, useth this prayer in direct opposition to the carnal language of wordly men, who are continually crying, "Who will shew us any good?" Hereby intimating to us, that a child of God can relish no sweetness in any inferior good, till he be assured of the divine favour; and that when this great blessing is obtained, nothing amiss can come to him. Even amidst the abundance of outward things, he mourns and languisheth, as long as he apprehends God to be at a distance from him. And no sooner doth he behold his reconciled countenance, than he forgets every outward calamity, and can rejoice in the lowest state of poverty and distress.

In a word, to the spiritual man the favour of God is one thing needful. As to the other things, which may be either good or bad, as they are used, he dares not be peremptory in his choice; "For who knoweth what is good for man in this life?" But the favour of his God he cannot want. Here all his desires centre, and here he hath treasured up all the wishes of his heart.

Having thus considered the Psalmist's description of

these two opposite characters in the text, let us now

proceed,

Secondly, To illustrate the propositions which arise from this comparison-The

First which I mentioned was, 'That worldly men have little cause to rejoice in the temporal advantages which they possess.

Stretch your imaginations to the utmost; fancy to yourselves a man raised above all his fellows, enjoying every thing that his heart can wish, obeyed and honoured by all around him; let luxury furnish out his house and table; let prosperity attend his steps, and crown his undertakings with glory. Add to these advantages, if you will, the splendid titles of king and hero; and when you have finished the gaudy picture, say, what doth the value of it amount to?

1st. May not all these outward things consist with present misery of the person who possesseth them? May not the man who hath reached the summit of earthly grandeur be the wretched slave of his own passions, and suffer all the torments of a diseased mind? Who have, in fact, held the most complaining language on the subject of human life? Have not those who have drunk deepest of the cup of prosperity, and whose minds, satiated with pleasure, have become the prey of spleen and disappointment. Unless, therefore, we can finish the description of the prosperous man, by saying, that his soul is as flourishing as his body, and that his eternal interest is as well secured as his temporal advantages seem to be, all that we have supposed him to possess must go for nothing. He is indeed more sumptuously miserable than any of his fellow-creatures, but cannot be allowed to have the least reasonable cause of joy.