Isaiah 26:9 With my soul have I desired you in the night; yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you early… I. THAT THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN VISITED BY THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD. 1. Our nation has, indeed, been a scene of many and extraordinary mercies. The rise and establishment of free institutions, and that wonderful balance of constitution which has prevented both the extremes of government, — royal despotism on the one hand, and popular anarchy on the other, — deserve our grateful recognition. Our own soil has long been e, stranger to the desolating ravages of war, and the shouts and confused noise of battle have been heard only at a distance. The discoveries of science and the attainments of art have been unparalleled; and useful knowledge has been diffused to an unexampled extent over the various classes of society. We have had the benefits of a Divine religion, reformed from the corruptions which had accumulated with the course of ages; we have had an almost universal diffusion of the pure Word of God, the inspired oracles of truth. "The lines are fallen to us in pleasant places; yea, we have a goodly heritage!" 2. Yet it is also true that the judgments of God have been abroad in the land. That mighty hand is the hand of God; that mysterious and invisible power is the power of God. There is indeed a sinful and fatal disposition abroad, to account for things only by speaking of fortune and chance, or by referring, at most, to the passions and principles of those human agents by whom the management of national interests is conducted. This forgetfulness of the Most High, amounting to a practical atheism, and spread widely over the habits of men, is one of the worst signs of the times in which we live. II. WHETHER, BY THE INHABITANTS OF THIS COUNTRY, A RIGHT IMPROVEMENT OF ITS VISITATIONS HAS BEEN MADE. "When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." We do not imagine this to be a positive assertion, that the learning of righteousness is the invariable consequence of the Divine judgments, but a statement that such ought to be their result. If it be true that the Divine judgments are poured forth in consequence of transgression, it must be clear that the right conduct to be pursued by those who feel them is to repent and to reform. III. THE REFLECTIONS BY WHICH AN IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENT OF PAST VISITATIONS IS FORCIBLY URGED. 1. Consider what must be expected as the public consequences of continued impenitence and transgression. (1) The removal of religious privileges is an event scarcely to be doubted; and it seems but just and right that when the means of spiritual guidance and blessing have been for a protracted period undervalued and abused, they should be withdrawn (Revelation 2:5). (2) The removal of religious privileges will be the harbinger of national desolation. 2. Consider what will doubtless be the results of the desired amendment and repentance. "Iniquity shall not be our ruin." New glories will then arise upon our land. (James Parsons.) Parallel Verses KJV: With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. |
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