SERMON VII.

THE HEATH IN THE DESERT.

JER. XVII. 5, 6.*

Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

The Jews had withdrawn their dependance from God and looked for protection to themselves and the auxiliary powers of Egypt. The consequence was that they were delivered into the hands of the Babylonians to be desolated and destroyed. To this our text had primary reference. But it was intended to apply to men in every age. Instances are never wanting of those who put their trust in man and whose hearts depart from the Lord; and they are always like the heath in the desert.

We find two definitions given of a heath. It is a

• Preached in a revival of religion.

shrub which grows in barren places; and the name is applied to the extended plains of the Arabian desert, which are covered with barren sand, with here and there a few unsightly shrubs. This inhospitable desert, except at the equinoxes, is seldom visited with rain; and the few vegetables it produces barely subsist by the refreshment afforded by the nightly dews. From this neighboring country many images were borrowed to illustrate the subjects and adorn the writings of the prophets. It is not material in which sense the word is understood in the text. It well illustrates the meaning in either sense. Those barren deserts, equally with the languishing shrubs which they produce, do not see when good cometh. Showers may fall on the mountains of Canaan, but neither the sand of the desert nor the parched shrubs imbibe the refreshing moisture. But I choose to consider the allusion as made to the sandy plains. While the trees of Canaan spread out their roots by the rivers and the dew lies all night upon their branches; while the bosom of God's vineyard receives the rains of heaven, and like a well watered garden, sends forth its pleasant fruits, the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys; while the eye, perched on Pisgah, is filled with the luxuriant scene, spread over the holy mountains, and sees grouped together, in sweet confusion, gardens of myrrh, orchards of pomegranates, and trees of frankincense; the desolate wastes of the Arabian heaths, doomed to eternal deformity and barrenness, never see when good cometh.

We may now look on the text with perhaps in

creased interest. "Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not sec when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited."

Let us first ascertain against whom so vehement a curse is denounced, and then trace the resemblance between them and the heath in the desert.

The persons alluded to are those who disclaim dependance on God and whose hearts of course depart from him. Idolaters of every kind, avowed infidels, and all the openly profane, obviously fall under this description. But I shall rather select three classes otherwise defined, believing that what is said of them will better apply to my hearers than observations pointed at infidelity or open vice.

1. Those fall under this condemnation who, though outwardly decent, have no realizing sense that they are utterly dependant on God for happiness, and that all true happiness consists in the enjoyment of him; who consequently spend their life in searching for happiness among the lumber of worldly objects; whose secret influencing feeling is that they are independent of God, that if they can collect such an amount of wealth and honor they can be happy without asking leave of him, and who are so occupied in these pursuits as scarcely to think of him from day to day. Such people act in many respects as though there was no God who is constantly supporting their lives,-no God on whom

they are in all points dependant,-no God whose eyes search them through and through,-no God who will call them to a strict and awful account for the misimprovement of their talents and privileges, for their infinite ingratitude and abuse of his patience. They plainly trust in other things for happiness, and think that if they can gain the world they can be happy without asking leave of God. One consideration proves it true. They do not ask leave of God to be happy. In the morning they are so anxious to hurry into the business of the day where they think their happiness lies, that they do not assemble their families and humbly ask leave of God to be happy that day. They do not even make this petition in their closets. And is it not plain that their secret influencing feeling is they need not ask this leave of him?

The prayerless, the stupid, and the worldly are therefore of the number who inherit the curse denounced in the text.

2. There is another class of men who fall under this condemnation. They are not indeed stupid and prayerless, but anxious and constant in the use of means, thinking that now they are making progress towards heaven. But what destroys the value of all their endeavors is, that they put their trust in man and make flesh their arm. They look for relief to ministers and christians, to their own reformation, prayers, and good resolutions. By present strictness and devotion they hope to make amends for past offences, and by the fervor of their cries to inspire God with mercy. And when they

have been a little more engaged than usual, they flatter themselves that now his resentments are in some measure disarmed. Neglecting to fix all their dependance on Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as the sole Author of a gracious salvation, they are still under the curse denounced against those who make flesh their arm; and instead of advancing nearer to God, their hearts are constantly departing from him. Mistaken souls! they are much farther from the kingdom of heaven than they imagine. They have indeed some little sense of sin, but they have no adequate impression of the amazing pollution of their hearts,-that from the crown to the foot there is no soundness, but one entire mass of corruption. And they are not overwhelmed with astonishment that so much selfishness, pride, and idolatry, so much unbelief and hatred of God, so much ingratitude and stupidity, so much neglect of prayer and profanation of the sabbath, should be kept, by long suffering mercy, so long out of hell. They do by no means see the full extent of their ruin, and therefore do not feel that they are utterly undone, helpless and hopeless in themselves, and unsusceptible of deliverance from the infinite depths of their misery but by almighty grace. Could they once obtain a clear view of their awful depravity, they would renounce every thought of doing anything to help themselves, or that all created power would help them, and would lie on their faces in sackcloth and ashes, and think of nothing but to cry, day and night, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

Let them once see themselves as God sees