on his external character and conduct,—“ none of his steps shall slide."

I. The inward principle which actuates him: "the law of God is in his heart." This implies,

1. An acquaintance with the law, considered as the standard of holiness, as the rule of action. A precept may be known, which is not obeyed; but it is impossible it should be obeyed, when it is not known. Nor will ignorance of the will of God excuse the disobedient; since such ignorance must be voluntary, the consequence of " loving darkness rather than light." The time is long past when such a pretence might have been urged with some plausibility. That period is elapsed when it was necessary for men "to feel after God," like persons who grope in search of an object in the dark. "The day hath dawned, the day-star hath arisen," the light of revelation shines with a brilliant effulgence, and the path of duty [is] made so plain, that the "wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein."* When ignorance of the will of the Great Supreme arises from inattention, from carnal security, from a passive indifference whether he be pleased or displeased; instead of mitigating, it aggravates the guilt of disobedience. "They are a people," saith the prophet, "of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, he that formed them will shew them no favour." r."† How different is it with the good man! "As the

*Isaiah xxxv. 8.

Isaiah xxvii. 11.

eyes of servants look unto their masters, and the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so his eyes wait upon the Lord;" that he may attend to his directions and receive his orders. Conscious that he is made for God, he carefully explores his will, and he " meditates on his law day and night."

By a careful perusal of the sacred volume, by diligently weighing and pondering the precepts of revelation, he is constantly enlarging his conceptions of duty, and arriving nearer and nearer to a full and perfect comprehension of the spirit and import of its sacred injunctions. His fear of God is not taught by the commandments of men, stands not in human observances and will-worship, but in a solid acquaintance with the dictates of inspiration. Hence the service he presents is a reasonable one, the offspring of an enlightened faith, such as it is becoming man to offer, and God to accept.

By seriously applying the mind to the exhortations and injunctions of the sacred page, a good man arrives at a "quick understanding in the fear of the Lord," and his senses are "exercised to discern between good and evil.”

2. The man of God is distinguished by an habitual [reference] to his mind and will. He is not merely acquainted with it as a branch of speculation, which serves to extend his knowledge, and to recommend itself to his understanding, while it seldom mingles with the ordinary current of his thoughts; it is not merely deposited in that

department of his mind which seems a cabinet for the preservation of what is curious, rather than the reception of that which he has daily occasion to use. The precepts of God occupy much of his thoughts, and engage much of his attention. The knowledge of them is continually revived, the remembrance of them refreshed, by daily mental recollections, by reiterated acts of attention, such as it becomes us to exert towards the counsels and ordinances of the Great Eternal. It is thus, and thus only, that knowledge becomes practical and influential; that the light which first pervades the intellect, descends into the heart and diffuses itself through all the faculties of the soul.

"And these words," said Moses, "which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.'

The original word is extremely expressive,"thou shalt whet them on thy children," [or whet thy children upon them,] in allusion to the practice of giving the necessary edge to certain instruments, by continual friction with hard substances. Thus a good man whets the word of God on his own mind [so as to sharpen it] by successive acts of serious attention, [and thus acquire] an aptitude in applying it to its proper purpose. In the most busy and tumultuous scenes of life, it naturally * Deut. vi. 6, 7.

occurs to his recollections, it instantaneously presents itself to his thoughts; while to the wicked the "judgements of the Lord are far above out of his sight," and it is with great difficulty that he raises his mind to such high and holy meditations, and, after all, it is a painful and short-lived effort.

3. The good man is impressed with a deep sense of the obligation of the law of God, accompanied with a sincere resolution of implicit and unreserved obedience. He is not only acquainted with the rules of duty, he does not merely make them the object of his serious and habitual attention: he accedes to the justice of their claims; his conscience is enlightened to discern their equity and their obligation; and he humbly but firmly resolves, in the strength of divine grace, to yield a practical compliance. Far from arraigning the precepts of God as too strict, too extended, or too spiritual, he entirely acquiesces in their justice and propriety, and turns the edge of his censure and reproaches on himself only. "O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!" He is perfectly satisfied that, however he may be "carnal, sold under sin,” "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."* He blames himself only, not the strictness of the precept; he laments the weakness and corruption of the flesh, not the purity of the divine command. Although he perfectly despairs of yielding such an obedience to its requisitions as shall justify him in the sight of God, he main

*Rom. vii. 12.

tains a steady and conscientious respect to all his commandments. 66 " is Thy word," saith David, a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” "I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgements."

"*

Holy resolutions are essential to a sincere obedience: they may become abortive by being framed in our own strength, and without "counting the cost;" but, notwithstanding, they are a necessary preparation to the conscientious performance of duty. Nothing is more certain than that real religion is a reasonable and voluntary service; he will never truly serve God who is not deliberately resolved to do so. Good resolutions bear the same relation to [upright conduct] as the seed bears to the fruit.

All this, however, of itself, is indeed sufficient to form a slave, not a child-to produce a constrained and reluctant obedience, not the cheerful homage of a heart flowing with gratitude and love. The understanding may be enlightened, conscience awakened, and the external conduct reputable ; while the service of God is felt as an insupportable load, with difficulty sustained, though impossible to be shaken off.

Something more is requisite to render religion a delight, to convert wisdom's ways into " ways of pleasantness," and her paths into " paths of peace."

4. To put the finishing stroke, then, to the character of a good man, let me add, once more, that *Psalm cxix. 105, 106.