that fathers should teach it to their children, and their children's children; and the same reason holds with regard to the Gospel; namely, that the chosen people, renouncing the world, with its idols and lusts, should believe and set their hope in" the true "God," the only Saviour; that they should "not forget the works" which he hath wrought for their redemption and that, ever-mindful of those works, they should love him, and "keep his commandments;" not following the examples of the fathers of Israel, who proved "faithless," and "rebellious" in the wilderness, when God had brought them out of Egypt. This is the very use St. Paul makes of those examples. "With some of them," says he, "God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples," "to the intent we should not lust after evil things, or be idolaters, or commit fornication," &c. &c. "as did some of them," 1 Cor. x. 5.

τυποι ημών

"9. The children of Ephraim being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle."

As the context treats concerning the behaviour of Israel in general, upon their coming out of Egypt; and as the cowardice of the tribe of Ephraim in particular, at that time, is nowhere mentioned; it is therefore most probable, that one tribe is here put for all the rest; and that under the figure of men, when prepared for battle, turning their backs at sight of an enemy, is pointed out that disposition of the Israelites, after all their promises, resolutions, and vows of serving and obeying God, to fall away, and relapse into sin, upon the first temptation. How often is this the case with the Christian soldier? Let not him, who hath but just put on his spiritual armour, boast, like him who is putting it off, when the fight is over, and the victory obtained.

"10. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; 11. And forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them. 12. Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan."

These verses, it is apprehended, describe in plain terms, what was metaphorically expressed in the verse preceding, namely, the proneness of the Israelites to break the "covenant," transgress the "law," and forget the "works" of God, even those astonishing works wrought in "Egypt," and in "Zoan," its capital city. Let the Christian, who perhaps is amazed at the frequent rebellions of stiff-necked Israel, reflect a little within himself, how he has observed the baptismal "covenant;" how he has “walked in the law," and with what gratitude he has remembered the "marvellous works" of Jesus.

"13. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap."

From the miracles wrought in Egypt, the Psalmist proceeds to what happened at the exodus. And here he fails not to mention that great work of Almighty power, the division of the Red Sea, which was ever uppermost in the thoughts of a devout Israelite; as the passage of the church, in Christ her Saviour, through the grave and gate of death, ought never to depart from the memory of a Christian.

"14. In the day-time also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light fire."

During the forty years' pilgrimage of Israel in the wilderness, a preternatural column of fire and cloud attended the camp. It rested with them, and moved on before them, directing and conducting them in their journeys; in the night season it was a bright and shining light; and in the day-time it afforded a grateful cooling shade from the burning heat of those sultry deserts. Thus is Christ present with his church, while she sojourns upon earth, by his word and his Spirit, guiding her steps, enlightening her darkness, and mitigating her sorrows.

"15. He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of

the great depths. 16. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers."

"Let us," saith bishop Taylor, "by the aids of memory and fancy, consider the children of Israel in the wilderness, in a barren and dry land where no water was, marching in dust and fire, 'not wet with the dew of heaven, but wholly without moisture, save only what dropped from their own brows. The air was fire, and the vermin was fire; the flying serpents were of the same kindred with the firmament; their sting was a flame, their venom was a fever, and the fever a calenture; and the whole state of the Israelites' abode and travel was a little image of the day of judgment, when the elements shall melt with fervent heat. These men, like salamanders walking in fire, dry with heat, scorched with thirst, and made yet more thirsty by calling upon God for water; suppose, I say, these thirsty souls, hearing Moses promise that he would smite the rock, and that a river should break forth from thence; observe how presently they run to the foot of the springing stone; thrusting forth their heads and tongues to meet the water, impatient of delay, crying out that the water did not move, like light, all at once; and then suppose the pleasure of their drink, the insatiableness of their desire, the immensity of their appetite: they took in as much as they could, and they desired much more. This was their sacrament, and this was their manner of receiving it. And if that water was a type of our sacrament, or a sacrament of the same secret blessing, then is their thirst a signification of our duty."*

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17. And they sinned yet more against him, by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. 18. And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking meat for their lust. 19. Yea, they spake against God: they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? 20. Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also can he provide flesh for his people?"

These frequent rebellions of Israel, with the presence of God in the midst of them, and his miracles before their eyes, would seem incredible, had they been related, any where but in the oracles of truth; and did not the heart of every self-knowing Christian at once acknowledge the picture which is here drawn of human nature, its incredulity and perverseness. For hath not God delivered us from the house of bondage, and supported us in the wilderness? Is not Jesus present in the church, and are not his miracles of love and mercy continually before our eyes, in the word and in the sacra ment? Yet, who does not still "provoke" and "tempt the Most High ?" who does not ask provision for his "lust," when his necessities are satisfied and who, after all the proofs he has had of God's power and goodness, is not apt, upon every appearance of danger, to be diffident and distrustful of his providence? Before we condemn others, let us try ourselves, and judge righteous judgment. When David pronounced the words, "The man that hath done this thing shall surely die," little did he think of being told, by his faithful monitor, "Thou art the man.' Conscience, if duly interrogated, will be a Nathan to every one, and show him his own transgressions in those of old Israel.

"21. Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; 22. Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: 23. Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, 24. And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 25. Man did eat angel's food: he sent them meat to the full."

The discontents, mentioned above in verse 17, &c. were posterior not only to the miracle at the rock, but also to the gift of "manna," which, after some little time, the people "loathed," and demanded " flesh," repenting

* Worthy Communicant, p. 92.

that they had forsaken Egypt, where they fared more to their satisfaction. See Numb. xi. The cause of the discontents was infidelity, and the effect of them a display of God's indignation; "The Lord was wroth-because they believed not," &c. Now as St Paul styles the water, "spiritual," or, sacramental "drink" proceeding from a "spiritual Rock," which Rock was Christ;" so he terms the manna "spiritual," or sacramental "meat ;" they "did all eat the same spiritual meat," 1 Cor. x. 3. And our Lord, in John vi. discourses at large upon the subject, to convince the Jews, that God, who gave to their fathers manna in the wilderness, had in HIM given them "the true bread" of eternal life, which the manna was intended to represent. "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Christ crucified is the support of spiritual and eternal life; faith is the mouth by which this support is received; manna was an outward and visible sign of it to the Israelites in the wilderness; the eucharistic bread is such to Christians in the world. When that holy ordinance is celebrated, "the doors of heaven are opened," spiritual food is given from above, "and man eats O' On the bread of the mighty ones;" whether by "mighty ones" we understand those who eat the bread, and are invigorated thereby; or the blessed persons who give the bread to man. Such is our manna, our sustenance in the wilderness, our viaticum, while on the road to Canaan. But how is it "loathed" and despised, in comparison with the flesh-pots of Egypt, by men who believe not in God, and trust not in his salvation !" Will not the same cause produce the same effect? "Will not Jehovah hear this, and be wroth?" Will not "a fire be kindled against Jacob, and anger also come up against Israel? For this cause," saith an apostle to the irreverent Corinthian receivers, "many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep," 1 Cor. xi. 30.

"26. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. 27. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea; 28. And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. 29. So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; 30. They were not estranged from their lust: but while their meat was yet in their mouths, 31. The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel."

The people, discontented with manna, asked, in a tumultuous and rebellious way for flesh, at the same time distrusting the power of God to give it them in the wilderness. Flesh, however, was procured. A wind, proper for the occasion, went forth from Jehovah, and brought a cloud of quails, which furnished the whole camp with a most delicious kind of flesh food, for the space of an entire month. But from the event we learn, that inordinate desires, though sometimes complied with, and satisfied by heaven, do not therefore go unpunished; on the contrary, they are often punished by being complied with. The blessings chosen for us by God are blessings indeed, and, like the manna, bring no sorrow with them: but when we choose for ourselves, and are so unhappy as to be gratified in that choice, our portion too often proves a curse; and while the much-loved morsel is between the teeth, "the wrath of God comes upon us," for making a wrong choice. This will always be the case in the end, whenever earth is preferred to heaven, and sense to faith.

"32. For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. 33. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble."

Mercies are followed by provocations; provocations are punished with judgments; to judgments succeed repeated provocations, which call down fresh judgments. Immediately after the history of the quails, we read of a sedition stirred up by Aaron and Miriam, and of new murmurs at the report

brought by the spies concerning the promised land; in consequence of which last, the nation had been destroyed, but for the intercession of Moses; and the whole generation of those who came out of Egypt, except Joshua and Caleb, actually fell in the wilderness, wasted and consumed by various plagues and calamities, during a forty years' peregrination. See Numb. xii. xiii. xiv. St. Jude makes mention of such a generation in the early days of the Christian church, speakers "of hard speeches against Christ, murmurers, complainers, walking ofter their own lusts;" and he therefore puts converts in remembrance, how that the Lord, "having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not," Jude, verse 5. and 15. Because, notwithstanding all that Jesus has done, and continues to do for the church, men "sin yet more, and believe not for his wondrous works," but either despise the heavenly country, or despair of obtaining it, therefore is the hand of God heavy upon the world; "vanity, and trouble" wear out the life of man; and they who have passed the waters of baptism, fall short of the promised rest.

"34. When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God: 35. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their Redeemer. 36. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. 37. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant."

Several instances of this behaviour occur in the history of Korah's rebellion and punishment, of the fiery serpents, and of Israel and Moab. See Numb. xvi. xx. xxi. xxv. The Israelites, in this particular, resembled their great persecutor, Pharaoh; their repentance, which came with the Divine judgments, went also away with them, and appeared no more. By night the dew falleth from heaven, and refresheth the weary ground, and causeth the green herb and the flower of the field to revive and spring; but in the morning the sun ariseth with a burning heat, and presently the dew is evaporated, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, and the ground again becometh parched and dry as before. Thus it is with man. Adversity is the night, and grace is the dew by which his heart is made tender and reli gious, and good resolutions are formed and begin to shoot; but returning prosperity has the force and effect of a summer sun; at its presence piety vanisheth, resolutions come to nothing, and the heart is once more hardened. "O Ephraim," exclaims Jehovah by his prophet, “what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it passes away," Hos. vi. 4. Who that hath been conversant in the house of mourning, and about the bed of sickness, but must have seen frequent instances of a temporary and deceitful repentance? Whose heart doth not reproach him with some of these backslidings of Israel? In the day therefore of health, and strength, and prosperity, before the indignation of heaven break forth, and the right-aiming thunder-bolts fly abroad, from a motive of love not of fear, let us "seek early after God, and return from our sins, remembering the Rock of our salvation, and the High God our Redeemer." Thus may we entertain some hope that our conversion is sincere; that we do not "flatter and lie" unto our Maker; that our "heart is right with him," and we shall continue "steadfast in his covenant." And then, a plant that is set and lives in the heat of day, how will it thrive and flourish under the cool and moist influences of night?

"38. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. 39. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind, or, breath, that passeth away, and cometh not again."

Had God" stirred up all his wrath," the Israelites must have been exterminated in the wilderness. But then the promises made to Abraham, of mercy and "compassion" to them, and by them to all mankind, had failed.

Therefore they were "forgiven," and not "destroyed:" judgment was executed from time to time upon the persons of offenders; but still a remnant was left; the nation subsisted until the Seed came, to whom the promise was made. Nay, although in consequence of their last and greatest crime, their polity was subverted with their city and temple, the race is yet marvellously preserved: and, we trust, preserved for mercy to be shown them in the last days. Be not angry, O Lord Jesus, for ever, with them, or with us; but remember of what materials we are made, and into what a state we are fallen; how weak and how frail we are; how liable to be seduced into sin and blinded by error: remember this, O Lord, and forgive us; and teach us to remember it, that we may forgive one another.

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40. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 41. Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 42. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the hand of the enemy: 43. How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan."

The question which the Psalmist here asks, concerning Israel in the wilderness, is elsewhere asked by him concerning mankind in general: "Who can tell how oft he offendeth ?" Psalm xix. 12. God informs Moses, who had interceded for the people, and in the name of the great Mediator obtained their pardon, that "those men which had seen his glory, and his miracles which he did in Egypt and in the wilderness, had tempted him ten times, and had not hearkened to his voice," Numb. xiv. 22. Forgetfulness of the mercies of redemption is the beginning of sin; and though every one knows how to resent and detest the crime of ingratitude in another, he yet thinks that his best benefactor will overlook the most flagrant instances of it in himself.

“44. And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. 45. He sent divers sorts of flies, Heb. a mixture, whether of beasts or insects, noisome and destructive, among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. 46. He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust. 47. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore-trees with frost. 48. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts, or, flashes of lightning."

The Psalm goes back to the subject of Israelitish ingratitude, mentioned at the beginning, verses 11, 12. in order to introduce an account of the miracles wrought in Egypt, previous to the exodus. These miracles were intended to evince the superiority of Jehovah over the elements and powers of nature, which at that time were objects of worship amongst the Egyp tians, but plainly appeared to act at the command of Moses, in subordination to their great Creator, the God of the Hebrews. In the heavens, on the earth, and in the waters, supremacy and independency were demonstrated to belong to him only: fire and air, thunder and lightning, wind, rain, and hail, obeyed his word: rivers became blood, and their inhabitants perished; insects and animals left their wonted habitations, to destroy vegetables, or torment man: so that wherever the gods of Egypt were supposed to reside, and to exert their influences in favour of their votaries in all places, and all circumstances, victory declareth for Jehovah. Hence modern as well as ancient idolaters may learn, not to put their trust in the world, but in him who made, and who can and will destroy it; whose power can render the most insignificant of his creatures instruments of his vengeance, and, in a moment, arm all the elements against sinners; and whose mercy will employ that power in the final salvation of the church, when, as the author of the book of Wisdom expresseth it, "he shall make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies, and the world shall fight for him against the unwise," Wisd. v. 17. 20. The curious and striking reflections which that author makes on the plagues of Egypt, in chap. xi. xvii. xviii. xix. are well worthy an attentive perusal. It is also to be observed, that St.