SERMON XIII.

CHRIST FORGOTTEN AND CHRIST REMEMBERED.

Ps. XXXI. 14.

"I AM CLEAN FORGOTTEN AS A DEAD MAN OUT OF MIND: I AM BECOME LIKE A BROKEN VESSEL.

In considering the character of the holy Psalmist, there is no quality so remarkable as his capacity for sympathy. As he prefigured our blessed SAVIOUR in His office as the prophet-king, and as the shepherd of the flock, so he in a special manner illustrates that wondrous peculiarity of the Gospel dispensation-the tender sympathy which the holy and immaculate Son of man has for all those, who by His Incarnation, are His brethren. Doubtless it may be said, that the demonstrative and unconventional mind of the oriental gives peculiar facilities for this conIdition of the Psalms of David. Where there is no artificiality, where each thing is treated

in the truthfulness which distinguishes an early state of society, where there is no fashion to feign, or art to improve, nature and grace will alike speak in their own accents, and there will be, consequently, the fullest and the completest expression of the various wants of man, either as he is in the filial relation of the child of GOD by creation, or the still more endearing condition of the child of God by grace.

Accordingly, the Psalms became the exponents of every condition in which the natural and the spiritual man may exist. Joy, sorrow, peace, unrest, the comfort of a conscience reconciled to God, the fears of a soul alienated from Him by sin, triumph over enemies spiritual or corporal, strong crying and tears at the sight of the adversary, confidence in prosperity, faintheartedness in the dark hour, apprehension of the beauty of virtue, just indignation at the presence of sin, true confidence in the overruling of Providence, the natural man's doubt of the wisdom and holiness of God's judgment, every desire that can elevate, every fear that can distract, every hope that can assure, every submission that can sanctify, are to be found in these blessed compositions, and the checquered career of their composer, more varied in its accidents of success and depression than that of any other whose acts history has re

corded, or fiction has conceived, becomes the consolation of every age of Christians, however distant their epoch, or different their standard of custom.

Now all will agree that one special characteristic of the holy king, was his entire dependence upon GOD-whether hunted by Saul or persecuted by his rebellious son Absalomwhether enjoying the spiritual privileges of the Tabernacle, under the protection of the ALMIGHTY, or expecting his penance from the same hand by reason of his grievous sinwhether in the desert or on the throne-whether in his cave or in Jerusalem, his one thought is entire and unreserved dependence upon GOD, accompanied by the deepest sense of His awful presence, and of the duty of constant communion with Him. To the Psalmist GOD is ever present. No act is so trifling, no circumstance so transitory, but that God is interested in it. "Thou art about my bed and about my path, and spiest out all my ways. There is no thought in my heart but Thou, O LORD, knowest it altogether."

And this feeling of confidence and conversation with GoD, follows him into adversity. Whether that adversity arose from his enemies in this life, from Saul or his envious brothers, or Achish, or Nabal, or Absalom, or Ahithophel,

or Shimei, or from his more formidable enemies, the spiritual wickednesses in high places; he at once has recourse to God. Has he sinned, he goes to Him for pardon; is he dry and arid, he goes to Him for unction; is he assaulted by temptation, he goes to Him for protection; is he desolate, he confesses his desolation to God, and in confessing finds comfort. "I am clean forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am become like a broken vessel."

And observe, dear brethren, that if David could do all this, you who are Christians may do it in an infinitely higher and more transcendent degree. Your GoD and Creator has taken upon Him your nature; you are mystically united to Him in a bond and union, not more awful than blessed. You are no longer your own, but His by purchase, by redemption, by incorporation, and therefore your access to GOD is something more intimate and familiar (I speak in the deepest reverence) than David ever dreamed of. You are nearer to Him (0 dreadful yet most comforting thought) than the most perfect idea of human nearness can reveal to you; He is not only with you, He is in you; He not only knows every thing you feel, but He feels it; He is not only the one Mediator, He is the one sympathizer.

But we must not rest in the letter of the holy