I KNOW THE THOUGHTS WHICH I THINK TOWARD YOU, SAITH THE LORD, THOUGHTS OF PEACE, AND NOT OF EVIL, TO GIVE YOU AN EXPECTED END.-JER. XXIX; 11. We believe that many of our readers will exclaim, as soon as they read this language, "Ah! it does not belong to me. I am such a vile, ungrateful, rebellious wretch, that I am sure God can have no thoughts of peace towards me: on the contrary, such is the subtility of my heart, the carnality of my nature, and the frowardness of my will, that I believe they are so many evidences of reprobation, and of his hatred towards me; and I am expecting, day by day, the mandate to go forth, Cut him down; why cumbereth he the ground?' I look on my right hand and on my left to see whence the last-the fatal blow-will come; and day after day I am struck with amazement that I am still left upon praying ground. I wake each morning, wondering that I am out of hell; and am astonished that some heavy judgment has not befallen me. Psalmist said, 'I am a wonder unto many,' but I am most of all a wonder unto myself; and am in such a deranged, bewildered state, that I am at a loss to conceive what will be the end of it. At times I almost wish I could die, that I might know the issue; at other times, my heart is melted into sorrow and contrition when I think that such a No. IX. Vol. I.-New Series. 2 F The rebel is permitted to exist; and I am ready to adore the patience and long-suffering of God towards me. At such times, instead of my being apparently at the very point of giving utterance to the most rebellious, blasphemous expressions, asking the Almighty, Why doth he yet find fault, for who hath resisted his will? Why hath he made thus ?* Why he endowed me with faculties, and formed me a rational and accountable creature :' instead of such fearful exercises as these, there are moments," says the poor sin-burdened soul, "when I have such a discovery of my own vileness and depravity-my numberless backslidings in heart and affection-and my proneness to abuse every mercy and every favour with which a gracious God has indulged me, that I am compelled to acknowledge the justice of a stroke which should consign me to the nethermost hell. At such seasons I stand as a poor selfcondemned criminal, awaiting the clemency of his judge; at the same time intreating that if he cuts me off, and sends me to perdition, he would not suffer me to associate and take part with those who dishonour and blaspheme his great and holy name. And yet such is the mystery of my case, that no sooner does this latter petition burst from my troubled heart, than a faint hope arises, that eternal banishment from his presence will never be my portion. A cry for mercy once more springs up in my heart; and again the eye of faith looks to Jesus, and pleads the efficacy of his blood and righteousness. Didst thou not, dear Jesus, say, that thou camest not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; that the whole needed not a physician, but they that are sick?' Hast thou not said, that thou wilt multiply pardons,' and that him that cometh unto thee thou wilt in no wise cast out; that thou wilt save unto the very uttermost all that come unto God by thee?' Oh! then, look upon a poor guilty rebel, who is just suited to the exercise of thy compassion-thy mercy-and thy love. Wash me in thy precious, peace-speaking blood; clothe me in thy righteousness; and justify me freely by thy grace. I know that I am vile-ill and helldeserving; but 'A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, On thy kind arms I fall; Be thou my strength and righteousness, Unto whom can I come but unto thee? I have no other refuge, no other shelter; thou art my only hiding-place. If thou turnest a deaf ear to my cry, I shall perish, and perish eternally." "I know the thoughts which I think toward you thoughts of peace, and not of evil, SAITH THE LORD." Mind, dear reader, it is THE LORD that saith it, not poor fallible, short-sighted man; and if thine exercises have been, or still may be, such as we have been attempting to describe, He saith it unto thee, too. Such is the darkness of thy mind, and such the distressing exercises of thy soul, that it is no wonder thou shouldst suppose that wrath and indignation await thee; and if thou feelest the love of sin to be so deeply engrafted in thy very nature *Rom. ix. 19, 20. as to threaten its entire dominion over thee, we are not surprised that it should stagger thee, and make thee believe it impossible that the words of our text should belong to thee. Still they do; though the Lord is now leading thee into the "mystery of iniquity," probing thine heart, laying the axe at the root of thy self-righteousness, wounding thy pride, and stopping the mouth of slander, reproach, and secret triumph over thy poor fallen brother. For what charge canst thou bring against him; or upon what ground canst thou triumph over the vilest man or woman that walks upon the face of the earth? Nay, is not thy language often this, "I am such an ungrateful rebel, that I wonder the Lord had not passed me by, and taken this or that poor wretch, upon which to show forth the power of his arm, and the riches of his grace ?" Thoughts of peace, towards me," says another; "why, it is impossible; for I seem given over to the will and power of the great Adversary. There was a time when I possessed, or thought I possessed, joy and peace in believing. Christ was precious to me-yea, more precious than thousands of gold and silver. My meditation of him was sweet.' I could call him, My Lord and my God.' Whilst I regarded myself as a poor helpless worm, I could lay my hand upon his atonement, and plead it with confidence before the throne. Satan was a vanquished foe, and if he attempted to bring my sins to view, I could readily point him to the Great Sacrifice; at the mention of whose name he would flee away and I seemed most blessedly to realize in my happy experience the truth of that scripture, 'I will give thee power to tread on serpents and on scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.' I enjoyed an unshaken confidence in the power, the wisdom, and the love of my glorious Lord; and wondered how any who professed to know and love his name could have such mean and contracted views of him. I thought that surely theirs was a spurious work, or that they were living in the indulgence of some sin, which caused the Saviour to hide his face. And I was ready to chide them for it, and to arraign them at my bar, bringing them in guilty before God. But now, alas! the tables are turned. I have no stones to cast at them; for instead of my being the holy, watchful, prudent being I so foolishly thought I had become; I now seem nothing but a mass of iniquity, and I look in vain for one spark of holiness or purity. As to sweet contemplations upon my once precious Lord, and a holy confidence in his almighty power, my views are so limited-my faith (if I have any) so weak-and my unbelief so strong, that I cannot raise a thought half-way towards him, nor can I trust him for the veriest trifle. As to power over the enemy, and a blessed triumphing in the promise, 'The gates of hell shall not prevail against thee; why, it seems at times as if I were already in the tempter's power, and as if he would carry away both body and soul to swift destruction.*" *This remark may be called in question by some, and it may be doubted whether a soul who has once triumphed in the Lord Jesus Christ as his portion and his eternal all, could ever sink so low as to imagine he was given over to the devil, and to the powers of darkness. But there are cases in which we |