states of Judea, the aged monarch" stood up upon his feet," (Chron. xxviii. 2.) and addressed them as his "brethren" and his "people;" first concerning the house which was to be a resting-place for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and next concerning his son, whom Jehovah had chosen to sit upon the throne of the kingdom.

As the temple, or "palace," to be built, "was not for man, but for the Lord God," King David made provision from the national resources of gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and precious stones, and marble; and from his own proper good, or private fortune, he gave of gold and silver to the amount of twenty millions of pounds sterling ; and the princes, or chiefs of tribes, contributed nearly as much.

On that high day of liberal donation the people rejoiced that their hearts were disposed to offer willingly to this good work of the Lord; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy. To which joyous sentiments and feelings his lips gave utterance in a devout solemn prayer, or humble address to the Divine Being, of which the words of our text form a part. The topics of that prayer are these-first, in the style of adoration, an allusion is made to the Divine Sovereignty; the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty belong to God. Heaven and earth are his: His is the universal kingdom; and He is exalted head above all.

In the second place, God is acknowledged to be the giver of every good. Riches and honour come of him; it is his hand that makes great, and gives strength unto all.

Then, in the third place, are ascriptions of praise and of blessing to God's glorious name, who liveth for ever and ever.

Next are confessions of obligation for all the riches and the store that were possessed; for the givers of all this wealth were only "strangers and sojourners on earth”— their days were few and transitory, ever onward moving as a fleeting shadow-their property and possessions were not their own-from God it was that all their treasure came, and to his service, as was most meet, they resigned it,

King David closed his prayer by interceding for his son; and desiring that these sentiments might be kept for ever fixed on the imaginations of the thoughts of the hearts of his people.

From this analysis of the context, it appears to me, that God's people being called "strangers and sojourners,” has not, in this instance, a reference to trials or difficulties by the way; but is intended to intimate, that man in this life has no right to assume a lordship over what is granted, nor any ground to hope for a permanent possession. Our dwelling on earth, with all its accommodations or comforts, whether many or few, are held by the merciful grant of a higher authority, and we have no just cause to claim here a lasting inheritance; for we are "strangers and sojourners, as all our fathers were." In this acknowledgment there is religion and piety, and a feeling totally different from the cynical murmurings and infidel complainings of a discontented rebellious mind. This Scriptural view of the subject brings us into contact with the Divine Being as a great, and glorious, and rightful sovereign; and leads us onward to the awfully sublime realities of the eternity which lies beyond this shadowy fleeting life. As the sun moves onward in his daily course, the dark shadow of intervening opaque bodies flung across the plain also moves -constantly, although imperceptibly, till the cause of sunshine and of shadow is lost in the undistinguishing blackness of night. The Jewish Commentators say, "Man's life resembles the shadow of a bird flying." But, perhaps, the allusion is not so much to denote the rapidity with which our days flee away, as their certain, although slow progression, gliding onward irresistibly to a close. Man's sojourn on earth is not by right, but by permission; and only for a limited period, which no earthly power can protract, any more than it could arrest the sun in its course, or stop the constantly-moving shadow, caused by the light's rays being intercepted.

In prosecuting this discourse, I shall assert two general principles, and draw some practical inferences from them as we proceed.

The First proposition is this,

The Lord God is man's rightful and beneficent Sovereign; and

The Second is, that man's sojourn on earth shall inevitably terminate.

These may seem, to many persons here present, very common-place truisms; but, nevertheless, they lie at the foundation of many very important duties, which are little regarded by all of us, and totally neglected by not a few.

It is not necessary to attempt a formal proof, that the great and incomprehensible Being who created the universe, and gave existence to human creatures, has a right to rule over the world that he made, and the nations and individuals whom he has placed upon it. The abundant supply of all that could contribute to the delight and happiness of man, in his originally innocent condition, exhibits clearly the divine benignity. The tender mercies of God, are indeed exercised towards all his works; but towards man, so far as we know, he has exercised goodness and mercy to a degree that is unparalleled in the whole history of divine operations. He created man in his own image, possessing knowledge, and holiness, and happiness; and to restore sinning man, he spared not his own Son, but gave him up to the death for us all. As King David, in the devout prayer from which our text is taken, acknowledged "both riches and honour, and all good things come from God, and that he is exalted as head above all; and reigns over all;" so we know that he has granted to guilty man an "unspeakable gift," far transcending in value the whole material universe.

In his providence also, although he sometimes arises to punish terribly the wicked; yet, Oh how much long-suffering and patience does he manifest; not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Ye know, my brethren, the tender language of the Prophet, speaking in the name of the Lord, "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? As I live (saith the Lord) I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked."

Under these various circumstances ye know what preparation is requisite. It is not so necessary on this occasion, I imagine, to teach you what is right, as to stir you up to do it. Hast thou heretofore forgotten God, and lived without Christ? Repent and be converted. Didst thou once ascend the mount of faith and hope, and hast now slidden back to a lower state of heavenly aspiration? to thee also would I say, Repent, and do thy first works.

When we look within our own breasts, and around us in the world, how lamentably prevalent is a worldly spirit! One periodical religious pamphlet of the high church (Christian Remembrancer) for the last month, has indeed complained that "a religious ferment" is rather too much gone forth among the people; but, alas, how still is this fermentation, compared with the fermentation of worldly aggrandizement! I push not the doctrine of our text to any extravagant and impracticable degree, but only ask, for such a course of acting and thinking, as common sense requires, from the facts laid down and proved every day, by ocular demonstration, viz. that here on earth there is none abiding; and added to that, an eternal existence, a heaven of happiness, or a hell of misery, lie before us. We must come to an honest application of our Christian principles, if we would live as it becomes the Gospel.*

Oh what lamentable ignorance, misbelief, forgetfulness of God, and fear of man, must exist in the many unhappy cases of suicide that take place, in every part of the world, and not least in this highly enlightened country. Shame, and revenge, and peevish discontent, have more influence than the natural fear of death, and than the fear of God, with persons of all ranks, of either sex, and of all ages. Some at the outset of their sojourn, and others when it must be near its close, impiously and presumptuously hurry themselves into eternity, instead of waiting the dismissal of their rightful Sovereign. God grant that a better understanding of man's condition and duty, may every day increase, and so prevent such melancholy occurrences. And would to God that human governments would cease to be so lavish of men's lives for crimes which concern only property. Ah, how seemingly hypocritical, for our legislators to pray God to have mercy on those to whom their laws, in pecuniary matters, will shew no mercy. What a contradiction between such doings and the Lord's prayer, "Forgive us, as we forgive." Holy Scripture, indeed, commands that "He who sheddeth man's blood, by

1. A spirit of dependence. It is the duty of creatures and of Christians to acknowledge continually, and to feel unceasingly, their dependence on God. It is, I fear, impracticable, when addressing a mixed congregation, to suit one's discourse to every age and every condition of the hearers, and to every grade of knowledge and experience possessed by them. This is, I fear, an insuperable defect in pulpit instruction. The attainments, and ages, and characters of the congregations are so different, and the impatience of the better-informed is so great, if the less-informed be attended to, that the preacher too frequently is unintelligible to one half of his audience. Hence the necessity and utility of domestic instruction, and of ministerial catechizing of children, and religious conversations with youths; and of all the varied modes which Christian benevolence can suggest for the inter-communication of scriptural knowledge; not merely of the dry detail of catechetical facts, but of principles and their application to daily practice. However, I return from this digression to say, that I ardently desire to lead every individual in this assembly to a dutiful and daily recognition of his dependence on God. Children in helpless infancy are dependent upon their parents. Every man, less, or more, is dependent on his neighbours; all ranks are dependent reciprocally on each other; the poor on the opulent rich, and the rich on the labouring poor; the people on the rulers* for personal and domestic security, and the rulers on the people, for the means of carrying on government. And if men be so dependent on each other, how much more is man dependent on God. The word "independent," although a favourite term, with individuals and communities, is a term more congenial to the pride of the human heart, than to either Scripture or reason; but when applied to a creature in reference to his Creator, it is blasphemous. Independent! on him we depend for every breath we draw, every pulse that beats. If he withhold

* A Chinese once told me he was very grateful for the government of the Tartar Monarch: peace and security, under any government, were so much preferable to anarchy.