nod Horror, and threaten Destruction on all below. A Perfon congratulates Himself, when He has got clear of the bending Precipice; and can hardly forbear thinking, that the enormous Load is with-held by fome unfeen Hand, till the execrable Wretch, doomed to a most astonishing Vengeance, is come within Reach of the Blow. And truly, if he had the Strength of the Elephant, or the Firmness of the Behemoth, this would grind him to Powder, or even crufh Him into Atoms. How awful to confider, that there is a Day coming, when wicked Potentates, and haughty Monarchs, will beg of yonder Seas, to yawn compaffionately deep, and hide them in their darkest Abyffes; hide them from the piercing Eye, and avenging Sword, of inflexible Juftice. That there is a Day coming, when the foft Voluptuary, the wanton Beauty, and all the Ungodly of the Earth, will beseech those tremendous Ridges, with all their unfupportable Burden of craggy Rocks, to rush down upon their guilty Heads *. If, by this means, they may be fcreened from the infinitely more dreaded Weight of divine Indignation. Vain are their Cries; and vainer ftill would be their Refuge, fhould their paffionate Requests be granted. Can Floods conceal the impious Wretches; when the Caverns of the *Rev. vi. 12, 13, 14 Ocean Ocean fhall be laid bare, and the Foundations of the World be discovered? Can Rocks fecrete an obnoxious Rebel; when Rocks, with all their marble Quarries, and adamantine Entrails, shall diffolve like melting Wax? When Hills, that plunge their Roots to the Centre, and lose their towering Heads in Air, fhall start from their affrighted Bafe, and flee away like a withered Leaf!-Good GOD! What racking Anguish muft they feel! What inexpreffibly feverer Torment must they fear! Who can implore, ardently implore as a most desirable Fa vour, * This brings to our Remembrance a moft fublime Defcription of the DIVINE POWER, which arifes in a beautiful Climax, and terminates in this grand Idea. The Voice of the LORD is mighty in Operation, the Voice of the LORD is a glorious Voice. The Voice of the LORD breaketh the Cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them alfo to skip like a Calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young Unicorn. Pfal. xxix. 4, 5, 6. The Voice of the LORD is mighty in Operation. This is the general Propofition; which, in the following Sentences, We fee moft magnificently illuftrated.The Voice of the LORD breaketh the Cedars; when He speaks in Thunder, and bids the Lightning execute his Orders, the Trees, the Cedar-Trees, thofe fturdieft Productions of the Earth, are fhivered to Pieces.-Yea, the LORD breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon; which, for Stateliness and Strength, surpass the Oaks of the Foreft, almost as much as the Qak exceeds a Shrub.-It is a small Thing with JEHOVAH, to rend the Trunks, to tear up the Roots, and make those masly Bodies Skip like a Calf; even Lebanon and Sirion, the Mountains on which they grow, tremble before their GOD. They are thrown into ftrange Commotions; they are ready to fpring from their Foundations; and, with all their Load of Woods and Rocks, appear like fome affrighted or fome fportive Animal, that farts with Horror, or leaps with Exultation. vour, what Imagination itself fhudders to conceive. In fome Places, thefe mountainous Declivities lift their Brow aloft; plant their Basis deep; and, instead of portending a Fall, defy the Fury of the most impetuous Elements. Firmly confolidated, and ftedfaftly established, they have withstood the united, the repeated Affaults of Winds and Waves, through a long Series of revolving Ages.-The facred Writers, I obferve, felect almost all the striking Images, which the whole Creation affords; in order to communicate their heavenly Ideas, with the greatest Advantage. Ifaiah, defcribing the Security of the Righteous, takes his Comparison from the grand Spectacle before my Eyes. He fhall dwell on high: his Place of Defence fhall be the Munitions of Rocks*; inacceffible as those lofty Ridges, immoveable aş their everlasting Foundations. Should it be asked, what thefe Munitions of Rocks may fignify?-I find two Places of Refuge and Safeguard, pointed out in Scripture; to either of which, I believe, the Metaphor is applicable. He had Horns, says one of the divine Pindarics, coming out of his Hand: there was the Hiding of his Power †. Uncontroulable *Ifai. xxxiii. 16. † Habak. iii. 4. Horns were an Emblem of Strength. A Horn of Salvation, is put for a mighty and effectual Salva troulable and omnipotent Power was lodged in the great JEHOVAH's Hand; and this was the fure Defence, this the impregnable Garrifon, for all his People.-The Church of CHRIST is faid to be in the Clefts of the Rock* : That Spiritual Rock, of which the Ifraelites drank in the Wilderness; whose facred Clefts were opened, when the bloody Spear tore up the tion. Luke ii. 69. Thou haft heard me from among the Horns of the Unicorns; Thou haft rescued me from the most potent and formidable Enemies. Pfal. xxii. 21. Here the Word seems to denote that Power of JEHOVAH, to which nothing is impoffible. And more than feems, if We confult the next Claufe.-There was the hiding of his Power; or, as it may be rendered, his powerful Hiding, a moft fecure Refuge, a Sanctuary abfolutely inviolable. I have accommodated this Paffage to a different Senfe, Meditat, Vol. I. p. 183. But the true Signification, moft fuitable to the Context, and moft fubfervient to the Prophet's Defign, is, I apprehend, given by Theron. It is fomewhat like a noble Sentiment in the Night-Thoughts; which, with a small Alteration, may ferve as a Paraphrafe on the Text: And Nature's Shield the Hollow of his Hand. Cant. ii. 14. Should the Reader have an Inclination to fee this facred, but myfterious Book explained, I would refer him to Dr. Gill's Expofition of the Canticles. Which has fuch a copious Vein of fanctified Invention running through it, and is interfperfed with fuch a Variety of delicate and brilliant Images, as cannot but highly entertain a curious Mind. Which prefents Us alfo with fuch rich and charming Difplays of the Glory of CHRIST's Perfon, the Freenefs of his Grace to Sinners, and the Tendernefs of his Love to the Church, as cannot but adminifter the moft exquifite Delight to the believing Soul.-Confidered in both these Views, I think, the Work refembles the Paradifiacal Garden, defcribed by Milton; in which Bloffoms and Fruits at once of golden Hue the REDEEMER's Side, and cut a wide and deadly Paffage to his Heart. Surely, the Inhabitants of this Rock have Reason to fing*. What fhould difquiet them? Who can destroy them? Why should not the Voice of Joy be in their Dwellings, and that Hymn of holy Triumph in their Mouths? We have a strong City: Salvation fhall GOD appoint, Salvation itself, for Walls and Bulwarks +.-Happy should I think myself, if I was interested in this SAVIOUR, and established on this Rock. Yonder, on the Summit of the most confpicuous Cleft, is erected a grand and stately Pile. At the Top, my Glass discovers a magnificent Lanthorn; at the Foot, are the Huts of Fishermen, furrounded with various Sorts of Nets. -It is, I fuppofe, a Light-houfe. Intended to apprife the Sailor, of devouring Gulfs, and deftructive Shoals; or elfe to conduct Him, into a fafe Road, and fecure Harbour. Both the Situation and Design of the Building read me a Leffon: the one of awful Admonition, the other of comfortable Inftruction. -Comfortable Inftruction. How maffy and ponderous is the Edifice! Yet, there is not the least Reason to be apprehenfive of a Failure in the Foundation. Was the Structure ten thousand times larger, the folid Rock would fupport it, with the utmoft Eafe, and the ut most |