to the will of God; strive to overcome the stubborn propensities of your own will, and learn to bend it in meek submission to the pleasure of your heavenly Father; keep your hands steadily upon the plough, and do the work of your great Master while ye have the light so shall his good Spirit forward and aid you in your labours; so shall the hour of death, which to the sinner is an hour of terror and darkness, be to you the dawning of a brighter day, when "the Sun of Righteousness, arising with healing on his wings" 3 upon all who have died, and all who live in the Lord, shall welcome them into the kingdom "prepared for the righteous from the beginning of the world.”+

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SERMON VIII.

2 SAMUEL xii. 7.

And Nathan said unto David, Thou art the

man.

THE history of man no where affords a more striking and lamentable instance of the weakness of human nature, than in the circumstance which gave occasion to the words We see here a man,

spoken in the text.

virtue, and wisdom;

eminent for piety, chosen, on that account, by divine appointment, to fill the highest of all earthly dignities; intrusted with the government of the Lord's peculiar people, and emphatically styled "the man after God's own heart ;”completely subdued by the influence of a

master passion; and, in defiance of every principle of religion, of honour, and humanity, led into the perpetration of crimes at which nature recoils with horror.

The character of David was one of no ordinary stamp: he was naturally of a warm and impetuous disposition; of strong, and, at times, ungovernable passions: he was one, who had he been nursed in the lap of prosperity, educated in luxury, and unprovided with sound religious principles, would have been, most probably, as remarkable for depravity, as he was eminent in piety had he been the son of Saul instead of Jesse, he would in all likelihood have been a cruel tyrant, the scourge instead of the father of his people, the enemy of religion instead of the man after God's own heart. The early scenes of his childhood, however, passed amidst the pure simplicity of the sheep-folds, had taught him humility; in the school of the prophet Samuel he had been instructed to fear, to reverence, and to love his Creator; by the persecutions to which he was exposed from the vengeance of Saul, he had learned

resignation to the divine will, and patience under trials and afflictions. Thus the very warmth and impetuosity of his disposition, by being early directed into a proper channel, became the greatest ornament of his character the whole energy of his ardent mind was devoted to the service of his God, whom he may be truly said to have loved with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength. David was, indeed, in every sense of the word, a pious man; and from this principle proceeded every good quality which he possessed: the whole history of his life bears witness to his many transcendent virtues; and the grateful effusions of his fervent spirit, poured forth in the Book of Psalms, remain as lasting testimonies of the ardour of his devotion. Yet this man-so devoted to his God, so zealous in the cause of religion, so indignant against its enemies, so incessantly employed in acts of adoration, and even favoured by the special inspiration of God's Holy Spirit-fell into the snares of wickedness, and yielding to the impulse of illicit passion, proceeded,

step by step, to the commission of adultery, of treachery, and murder. Let us take a view of the whole transaction, and we shall undoubtedly feel our astonishment excited, at seeing a man like David, not merely guilty of yielding to the momentary impulse of passion, but led on to the perpetration of so much deliberate wickedness.

How forcibly does the observation of our Saviour apply to this case-"Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart!" 1 David's first offence was the mere gazing upon an object which it was not lawful for him to look upon: an offence which in the opinion of the world is generally considered as of trifling importance. How often are the charms of beauty, of wealth, of honour, and of pleasure, gazed upon with an eye of desire, while our hearts are far from contemplating the criminal possession of what we covet: yet the desire, by indulgence, becomes too strong to be restrained; we gaze on, and long more and more ardently, till

Matt. v. 28.