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النشر الإلكتروني

A SERMON, &c.

LAMENTATIONS ii. 1, 13.

How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth, the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger! What thing shall I take to witness for thee? What thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? For thy breach is great like the sea; who can heal thee?

THE prophet Jeremiah lived in a dark and distressing day. Religion, among his countrymen, had sunk to an ebb awfully low. The body of the people had be come extremely licentious in principle, and corrupt in practice. And a holy God had visited them with many tokens of his righteons displeasure. By fire, by fa mine, by pestilence, and by the sword, he had taught them terrible things in righteousness; until, at length, wearied with their iniquities, he delivered them into the hands of their enemies, by whom they were, as a people, nearly destroyed.

Over this melancholy scene of guilt and suffering the Prophet composed his Lamentations. And never were scenes of misery, and feelings of anguish, pain. ted with a more masterly hand. Never were the pa

thos and tenderness, as well as the force of grief, more strongly displayed. As one of the ancient Fathers beautifully expresses it, "every letter appears to be "written with a tear, and every word to be the sound of a broken heart; and the writer a man of sorrows, "who scarcely ever breathed but in sighs, or spoke but in groans."

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Having been requested, on this occasion, to address my audience with reference to a late awful calamity, well known to you all, which has destroyed many valuable lives,and has covered a sister City with mourning; I have chosen the words just read as the foundation of what shall be offered. May the great Master of assemblies direct us to such an application of them as shall be profitable to every hearer !

How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto earth, the beauty of Israel! What shall I take to witness for thee? What thing shall I liken unto thee, Odaughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O daughter of Zion? For thy breach is great, like the sea; who can heal thee?

Without staying, at present, to explain in detail the several parts of this passage, I shall only observe, that by the daughter of Zion, and the daughter of Jerusalem, we are to understand, by a figure common with this Prophet, the inhabitants of the Jewish capital, in' which Zion stood; or rather the Jewish nation, the covenanted people, the visible Church of God, under the Old Testament economy. Of course, what the Gregory Nazianzen.

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Prophet applies to that afflicted city, may, without impropriety, be applied either to the whole, or any part of a community, who call themselves a Christian people; or who are embraced even by the most lax profession, within the pale of the visible Church.

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We may therefore consider the text FIRST, as a devout acknowledgment of the hand of God, in the afflictions which the Prophet laments;-SECONDLY, as an expression of sympathy with the afflicted ;---and, THIRDLY, as pointing to the moral application of the calamities which he deplored.

I. There is, in the passage before us, a DEVOUT ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE HAND OF GOD, IN THE AFFLICTION WHICH THE PROPHET LAMENTS. How hath the LORD covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! How hath the LORD cast down the beauty of Isruel!

The doctrine, that the providence of God extends to all events, both in the natural and moral world; that nothing comes to pass without either his direct agency, or, at least, his wise permission and control; is a doctrine not only laid down in the plainest and most pointed manner in scripture; but also one which results from the perfections and the government of God when admitted in almost any sense. If there be a general providence, there must be a particular one. If God govern the world at all, he must order and direct every thing, without exception. Yes, brethren, if it were possible for a sparrow to fall to the ground without our heavenly Father; or if it were possible for the hairs of any head to fail of being numbered by

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the infinite One; in short, if it were possible that there should be any thing not under the immediate and the constant control of the Governor of the world; then it would follow that some things may take place contrary to his will; then prayer would be a useless, nay, an unmeaning service; then Jehovah would be liable, every moment, to be arrested or disappointed in the progress of his plans, by the caprice of accident.. But, if none of these things can be supposed without blasphemy, then the providence of God is particular as well as universal. It extends to all creatures, and all their actions. Is there evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it? No; the devouring fire; the overwhelming tempest; the resistless lightning; the raging pestilence; the wasting famine; and the bloody sword, even when wielded by the vilest of men, are all instruments in the hand of God for accomplishing his will and pleasure. And as the providence of God is actually concerned in every thing which befals individuals or communities; so he requires us to notice and to acknowledge that providence in all his dispensations towards us. Not to regard the work of the Lord, or not to consider the operation of his hands, he pronounces to be sin; and denying his agency in the works. of providence, he expressly condemns, as giving his

glory to another.

While, therefore, we deplore the heart-rending calamity which has fallen upon a neighbouring City, let us not forget, or place out of sight, the haud of God in the awful scene. It was not the work of chance. A righteous God has done it. His breath kindled the

devouting flame. Not a spark of the raging element rose or fell without his providential guidance: not a victim sunk under its destroying power, without the discriminating and immediate hand of sovereign Wisdom. He ordered and controlled all the circumstances attending the melancholy scene. He doth not, indeed afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." But still affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.+ What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil also? The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!

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II. The language of the mourning Prophet, while it notices and acknowledges the hand of God in the calamities which it deplores, at the same time, EXPRESSES THE TENDEREST SYMPATHY FOR THE

SUFFERERS. This is indicated in every line of our text and context:-and it is the feeling which ought to be cherished upon every similar occasion.

To sympathize with suffering humanity, however that suffering may have been produced, is a dictate of nature, as well as demanded by the authority of our common Creator. Thou shalt weep with them that weep, is a divine precept. When one member of the body suffers, all the members suffer with it. Thus it. is in the social as well as in the physical body. Thus it is in domestic society. And thus it ought to be in the larger family of a city, a state, or a nation. When one part of a nation is afflicted, all the rest ought to feel. for it. When, therefore,any of our friends or neighbours, *Lam. iii. 33. † Job v. 6. # Job i. 21, and ii. 10.

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