King of Saints: who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name, for Thou only art holy?"-O for some portion of this reverential spirit to pervade our souls!-to solemnize our every thought and feeling! All piety depends upon it all depth of piety will be in proportion to its depth. Have we thoughts many and attainments many in religious knowledge? without this lowly spirit, they will puff us up. Have we feelings warm and powerful? without this gravitating spirit, they will hurry us away. Have we purposes and actions strong and vigorous? But for holy awe and deep subjection, we shall become Gods unto ourselves, and stand erect in daring pride. As the one fatal sin which brought death into the world was simply this: the throwing off of due dependance and subordination towards the Great Creator and Lawgiver; the desire to be

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as Gods, knowing good and evil;" to discriminate and judge for themselves; to be selfrulers and self-guides; in a word, the pride of independence: so does all sin, in all ages, resolve itself into this. And so, conversely, all piety, religion, holiness, concentre in this one particular,-Dependance upon God; Subordination to his Authority; Fear,-holy Fear of his Power as the MIGHTY ONE. And, therefore,

in proportion only as from this centre there issues out and diffuses itself throughout the man, the subduing energy of this first principle, so only will our Piety be serious and profound. The sense of paramount authority and power in God is the very life of all religion

And now, then, I proceed to say, secondly, That, in proportion as we contemplate with a thoughtful mind the works of God, shall we feel this his power and authority.

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For it is in these his works especially that He has manifested them; by these in all their several classes He displays his majesty. That which would have been otherwise invisible and unknown to us; that "Eternal Power and Godhead" of which we are speaking; this, says our text, is “clearly seen,”—is fully proclaimed, by the things that are made,"by the wondrous works which from the creation of the world have been spread out before our eyes. All being that is visible to us, is but the index and the representation of THE BEING: all existence that we find around us or within us, refers us up to Him who is the Cause of all existence, the only self-existing, the great I AM, JEHOVAH GOD.

Shall we regard the inanimate creation, the

vast expanse of earth, and sea, and air, encircling us? These proclaim their great Creator, and manifest to us his power and authority; these set forth themselves as not only made by Him, but as belonging to Him, upheld, ruled, disposed of, at his will.

Do we look upon the giant earth with silent awe, and take it for the emblem of all that is stable and enduring,-its deep-laid pillars of enormous granite, its wide-spread continents, its towering mountains, frowning us down to shuddering littleness? All this is from God, and by God's power is upheld; and by God's might is changed and shaken also, even at his will. "O Lord my God, Thou art very great: Thou art clothed with honour and majesty; who laid the foundations of the earth that it should not be removed!" "By his strength He setteth fast the mountains, being girded with power." "He is wise in heart and mighty in strength, which removeth the mountains and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger, which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble."

Or do we turn to ocean, majestic in its still repose; our eye slow travelling over its expanse, and our soul hushed into solemnity by its vast solitude, till we know not scarcely whe

ther personality is ours, or whether we are but portions of the formless whole which stretches out around us?-O what a sense comes over us here of that Spirit who broods upon the silent deep!-of that God "who taketh up the waters in the hollow of his hand!" And what then do we learn of Him amidst the fury of the storm? when deep calleth unto deep, and the mighty billows leap in one wild chaos of confusion. The truth they tell us is, "The Lord on high is mightier!" Let me commend to you on this point, Brethren, the sublimity of the Ninetythird Psalm, which seeking to set forth the power and authority of God, uses for their symbol these two manifestations of Strength and Force, of passive and active power,—the solid earth, and the raging sea: "The Lord reigneth: he is clothed with majesty, the Lord is clothed with strength wherewith he hath girded himself:"-there is the proposition: there are the qualities to be extolled ;-and how are they set forth to us? By two simple yet majestic comparisons. "The world is stablished, that it cannot be moved:"-what so solid and secure? But, "Thy throne is established of old; Thou art from everlasting" Again: "The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice, the floods lift up their waves:"

But,

-what so resistless and overwhelming? "The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea!" And what is the conclusion of the Psalmist ? The very one which I am seeking to maintain, the awful Veneration which such power should excite. "Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever!"

Sacred adoration is the fittest offering of thy people.

And need we go on, then, to the heavens above us? They assuredly" declare," manifest, make "clearly seen," "the glory of God;" and they prompt us to exclaim with the Psalmist,

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Sing unto God, O ye kingdoms of the earth, O sing praises unto the Lord; to Him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens which were of old: lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice: ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds: O God, Thou art terrible in thy holy places!"—or with Isaiah, "To whom

then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things: that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by their names, by the greatness of his might, for that He is strong in power!" -Brethren, I linger on this topic, for I believe it