you deftroyed the latter, with defpondency, complain, We are not only troubled, but diftreffed; not only perplexed, but in defpair; not only perfecuted, but forfaken; not only cast down, but deftroyed. This is the portion of them that forfake the Lord: and it is their just punishment, perfectly confiftent with the most unbiaffed equity; which requires, that they be recompenfed according to their ways, and that they eat the fruit of their own doings. This, brethren, is an interesting truth, which ought to pe netrate to the bottom of your hearts. Are any any of fenfible that you are tranfgreffors, and that you have forfaken the Lord, and afraid left he send upon you that horrible tempeft whereby you fhall be destroyed? I befeech you to flee without delay, and hide you from the ftorm: not under shelter of the creature, which cannot protect you; but under his fhadow, Who is a hiding-place from the wind, a covert from the tempeft, as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the 'fhadow of a great rock in a weary land.' Then in famine, he fhall redeem thee from death; and in war, from the power of the fword. Thou shalt be hid from the fcourge of the tongue; neither fhalt thou be afraid of deftruction when it cometh f.' 29 For they fhall be afhamed of the oaks which ye have defired, and ye fhall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chofen. The ignominy and difgrace wherewith the threatened punishment fhould be accompanied, is here pointed out. There is a remarkable change of perfons in the verse before us, which requires to be attended to, in order to our understanding the prediction it contains. The perfons primarily spoken of, and referred to in the word they, are the tranfgreffors, finners, and fuch as forfake the Lord, mentioned in the foregoing verse. These, in whatever country or generation they may live, fhall certainly fhare in the fhame and confufion which is the portion of thofe to whom the prophet immediately addressed himself.The oaks which ye have defired, the gardens that ye have chofen, are the objects which fhould occafion the fhame and confufion which are here threatened. It is obvious from many paffages of fcripture, I ftay not at prefent to recite, that groves or gardens were often planted, and frequented by thofe who forfook the Lord, and were addicted to idolatrous practices. Thefe groves were compofed of trees of various kinds, which cannot now be determined with cer tainty; and among these was the oak, which afforded an agreeable fhade from the heat, and a defirable concealment from public view. In thefe gardens, temples and altars were erected to the gods who were worshipped; various rites were performed, and facrifices were offered, to idols, by their votaries. This abominable fuperftition and idolatry conftituted a principal part of what was called the religion of the nations, whom the Lord expelled from the land of Canaan, to make room for his people Ifrael, who were commanded to deftroy their groves, and other monuments of their falfe worship: Ye fhall utterly deftroy all the places wherein the nations which ye fhall poffefs ferved their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree. And you fhall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire, &c. Notwithflanding this charge, the men of Ifrael and Judah were much addicted to idolatry, as we learn from the teftimony of the prophets, who were employed in reproving them for their fins; of which you will fee a memorable inftance, Hofea iv. 12, 13. Prompted by curiofity, excited by this furprising fact, let us inquire into the reafons why that people * Deut. xii. 2, 3. were * were fo fond of thefe forbidden practices. Among others, we may fuppofe their perverse dispositions would operate powerfully, which ever inclined them to do what was forbidden: their defire to imitate the example of their great progenitor, Abraham, who planted a grove, when he called upon the name of God (though this practice was afterward strictly forbidden +) and the foolish imagination, that fuch retired, folemn places as they enjoyed under the fhade of thick trees, and in gardens, infpired them with reverence and awe, might contribute to make them fond of fuch retirements; which afforded them opportunity of committing the most deteftable impurities, and the most odious fuperftition.It is true, in deed, that we read of fome great and good men who facrificed under an oak, and upon a high place; as Gideon, Samuel, and others. Certain it is, that they either did that which was unlawful, or for which they had fome particular difpenfation from God himself. Concerning these oaks and gardens it is foretold, They fhall be afbamed, and ye shall be confounded. Thefe two expreffions are of fimilar import, and seem to denote nearly the fame thing.The word tranflated afhamed, fignifies to blush or redden, to become pale, when the colour changes, and the frame is difordered: and that which is rendered confounded, fignifies to dig, in order to hide any thing; as the flothful fervant did, that he might hide his lord's money. Hence it is ufed to denote a perfon's being confounded; because, in that condition, he would fondly hide himself, if in his power. Shame and confufion arise from a sense of having acted contrary to duty and intereft, or from being disappointed of what we expected to enjoy. In the penitential confeffions of the faints, recorded in fcripture, they often acknowledge, that they were afhamed and confounded on account of their fins. But this is not what is Gen. xxi. 33. + Deut. xii. 13, 14. intended intended in the prediction before us. The perfons defcribed in the foregoing verfe, fhould feel the most cutting remorfe, and painful difgrace, at the time deftruction feized upon them, on account of the foolish and wicked part they had acted. Their fins being brought to remembrance, by impending judgments, they fhall be ashamed at their past conduct, and confounded at the profpect of being recompenfed according to their deeds. Then they fhall be filled with fhame, in the recollection of the oaks and gardens in which they once delighted, wherein they worshipped the idols in which they trufted for deliverance, and covered with confufion when all their hopes from them fhall be disappointed.This prophecy was awfully verified, in the confternation and difgrace which attended the destruction of the wicked among the Jews, when their nation and city was overthrown by the Romans; and it fhall be farther accomplished, in the day of the perdition of ungodly men, when they fhall implore the mountains and rocks to fall on them, and hide them. Beware then, brethren, of forfaking the Lord your God, and thereby expofing yourselves to that everlasting shame and contempt, which fhall be the certain portion of all who continue to go aftray from him. If you are found at last among the unhappy number of finners and tranfgreffors, all your claims fhall be rejected, all your hopes fhall be dafhed to the ground: you fhall be commanded to depart from him on whom all your expectations ought to be founded, and be for ever excluded from the fociety of the juft. This must be an infupportable difgrace, which, I pray you, take care in time to prevent. 30 For ye fhall be as an oak whofe leaf faileth, and as a garden that hath no water. By a double comparison, naturally fuggefted by what was faid in the preceding verfe, the deplorable condition 6 condition of tranfgreffors is reprefented.Both good and bad men are, with great propriety, compared, in fcripture, to trees of various kinds, in their different conditions. In the first Pfalm, He that delighteth in the law of the Lord, and meditateth therein day and night, is compared to a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his feafon.' The ftate of tranfgreffors is alfo exhi bited by this inftructive fimilitude, Jer. xvii. 5, 6. where it is foretold, That he that trufteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, whofe heart departeth from the Lord, fhall be like the heath (or a naked tree) in the defert, and shall not see when good cometh.' And in the words before us, finners, who forfake the Lord, are likened to an oak whofe leaf faileth. They resemble an oak that hath grown to a vast fize and height, that promifes ftability and duration, which yet quickly decays, lofes every fymptom of life, and every ornament of beauty, and then dies to the very root. In like manner, tranfgreffors among the profeffing people of God, deftitute of fpiritual beauty, the leaves of profeffion, and the fruits of righteoufnefs, and incapable of affording protection and confolation to others, through fin reigning in them, decay and perish in that death which is its wages.Another fimilitude is here used, the more fully to defcribe their condition: And as a garden that hath no water. In order to your understanding this expreflion, you must know, that, in hot Eastern countries, a conftant fupply of water is abfolutely neceffary to the fruitfulnefs and beauty of their gardens, without which every thing would foon languish and decay. Great care, therefore, must be taken to provide them with fuitable fupplies of water, either from fome neighbouring fountain or river, by directing a few ftreams to run among the trees and plants; or by having a large refervoir filled, in proper feafon, with a fufficient quantity of rain water. Accordingly, to complete the beauty of the garden of God, wherein our first pa rents |