SERMON XVII A tender Spirit. 2 CHRON. XXXiv. 27. the former part. Because thine heart was tender.- THI HIS is God's own commendation of king; very young, at eight years old; and though he was the fon of an exceeding wicked father, yet was a prince of eminent religion through the feveral periods of his government. Perfonal religion appeared in him betimes. "In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young," or when he was but fixteen years old, he began to feek after the God of David his father;" that is, he publicly avowed: the worship of the true God, which had been notoriously caft off in the days of his own father Amon, ver. 3. "And in the twelfth year" of his reign, the twentieth of his age, "he began to purge Judah and Jerufalem from the high places, and the groves," &c. He began a public reformation of the worship of God, from the abuses which had been countenanced in the days of his predeceffor; feveral of which the facred hiftorian goes on to enumerate. "And in the eighteenth year of his reign," when he was twenty-fix years old, he proceeded to repair the house of God, ver. 8, 9, &c. In the courfe of the repairs, "Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses," ver. 14 Whether this was that original book of the law which Mofes laid up by the ark, or some antient authentic copy of it, is not fo certain. Probably this had been concealed in fome fe-.. cret place of the temple, to fecure it from the impious fury of fome of the idolatrous kings of Judah; and now happily came to light, when people were set to work to repair it. It is plain by what follows, that both king and people were in a great measure strangers to the contents of it till this discovery. Probably the reading of the law had been neglected both publicly and privately in the reigns of feveral wicked kings who had gone before Jofiah; it may be moft of the copies had been wilfully deftroyed, or, by the general neglect of tranfcribing more, were grown very rare and scarce. Without doubt the king had not written a copy of the law with his own hand, according to the command in Deut. xvii. 18. which furely he would have done before this time, in obedience to the law, if he had been particularly acquainted with it; fince he is declared to have done that which was right in the fight of the Lord" from his early days, ver. 2. i. e. according to fuch degrees of ligh about the mind of God as he had, before the law was found; either by hints received from fome good people about him; or by means of fome imperfect abftracts of the law, which might go about, while intire copies were wanting. The The law being found, it was carried to the king; who, like a man earneftly defirous to know the way of God more perfectly, ordered it to be read to him; and like a man of a tender confcience," when he heard the words: of the law, rent his clothes," ver. 18, 19. fell under it, ftruck with the dreadful threatenings contained in it against tranfgreffors; and apprehending from them, that great wrath from the Lord was like to be poured out upon them, fends a deputation of fome of his principal minifters to inquire of God in the cafe by Hul-dah the prophetess, ver. 20, 21. to enquire.. whether there were any hopes that God's anger might be appeased, and what was neces fary to this end. Huldah by direction from God lets him know, that God was peremptorily refolved. to execute his vegneance upon the Jews for their great and long revolts from him but for the king himself, he should have. the favour to." be gathered to his grave in peace, that his eyes might not fee all the evil. that was coming upon them." The reafon. of this mark of diftinction in Jofiah's cafe isgiven in the text: "Because thine heart was tender, and thou haft humbled thyself before: God, when thou heardeft, the words against this place, &c. I have even heard thee alfo,, faith the Lord." I have chofen this divine encomium upon: an Old Testament faint, to reprefent to you one eminent ingredient or qualification of the christian temper, which should attend us with reference to every part and branch of it; a tender heart. The The fame thing is expreffed by an heart of flesh in oppofition to a tony heart, in fome promises of the Old Teftament, which were to receive their principal accomplishment inevangelical times in the fpiritual feed of Abraham, in Ezek. x1. 19. and chap, xxxvi. 26. "I will take away the ftony heart out of your flesh; and I will give you an heart of flesh." I apprehend St. Paul had thofe promises in his eye, when he says to the Corinthian converts, 2 Cor. iii. 3. "Ye are manifeftly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministred by us, written, not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of ftone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." These converts were a fort of epiftle from: Chrift, in commendation of the fincerity and efficacy of the apostle's ministry among them: this commendatory epiftle of Chrift was written in the "fleshly tables of their heart ;' that is, in their hearts made foft, and ready to attend to and obey the Gofpel by the operation of the Holy Spirit, agreeable to the an-tient promise, that he would give an heart of flesh." To this ftands oppofed what we so often read of, "hardness of heart," an "heart of ftone." We read of fome, who "made their hearts as an adamant ftone," Zech. vii. 12. the extraordinary hardness of which makes it exceeding difficult to carve or fashion it by art into a regular figure. Others are faid to "make their faces harder than a rock," Jer. v. 5. which you cannot easily move or penetrate... The faine bad difpofition is elsewhere fet. fet out by a metaphor taken from a part of flesh as has contracted a brawny stiffness and hardness, by much exercise and hard labour. Under fuch an allufion the Gentile world is defcribed as "paft feeling," Eph. iv. 19. And others as "having their confciences feared with an hot iron." The tender heart in the text ftands opposed to all this. My bufinefs upon this head fhall be, I. To give a general account of the import of a tender heart. II. To defcribe more particularly the ways wherein such a temper fhould exprefs itself. And, III. To fhew what foundation is laid for it by chriftianity. I. It may be proper to give a general account of the import of a tender heart, Two things feem to be pointed at by it. 1. A quick and ready fenfe and feeling in fpiritual things. A tender heart is one that hath fenfes exercifed and prompt to difcern both good and evil, Heb. v. 12. Spiritual things are apt to make a deep impreffion, or fpiritual pains and pleafures are easily felt, where this is a man's character. Quickness of apprehenfion in matters of a religious nature is one inftance. Light in the mind is neceffary to guide all our powers and actions. "If our eye be evil, the whole body must be full of darkness; if therefore the light that is in thee," in the understanding, which is the eye of the mind," be darkness, how great is that darknefs ?" Matth. vi. 23. If our minds are blind to the true light, or under the influence of a falfe light, this must be followed with diforder in all our ac |