The custom of fasting arose among the Jews from the appointment under the law of an annual "day of atonement:" concerning which order was made, "It shall be a holy convocation to you: and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people." 1

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Now God has mercifully ordained that the use of food should not only be a necessary support, but an enjoyment to man. Not only is hunger painful, but the satisfaction of hunger is pleasant. And therefore abstinence from food was treated as part of that "affliction of soul" which was prescribed on the day of atonement." And fasting became a sign of humiliation and repentance, whenever the individual, or the community at large professed sorrow for sin. And this, not merely from imitation of the effect of anxiety of mind, which, when it is vehement, takes away the appetite for food: as we are told of Ahab, that he "would eat no bread," because of his disappointment in the matter of Naboth's vineyard: and of Darius, that when he had consented to the death of Daniel, and consigned him to the den of lions, he passed the night fasting:"3-it was also considered an act of self-denial which was suitable to a season of repentance and confession of sin. For so the prophet describes his own practice, and says, "In 21 Kings xxi. 4.

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Lev, xxiii. 27-31.

3 Dan. vi. 18.

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those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." 4 It was a joyful festival, when after their return from Babylon the people dedicated themselves afresh to God, and rejoiced in the words of his law and Nehemiah "said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord; neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." 5 And on the same principle it was a part of mourning and self-abasement, to abstain from "pleasant bread," and from "wine that gladdens man's heart, and oil that makes him of a cheerful countenance." The outward practice ought to agree with the inward feeling; there should not be the taste for enjoyment when there was the profession of deep sorrow: it would not be "such a fast as God hath chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul," if he indulged himself in those gratifications which the soul delights in.

But still less would it be a fast acceptable to God, if the outward show of mortification was attended with no correspondent feeling of the heart: if the signs of mourning concealed thoughts of pride and self-complacency within: if men disfigured their faces, that they might appcar unto men to fast, whilst no humble, no penitent feeling was raised towards God, no sorrow for transgression entertained in the heart, no purpose of obedience designed. 5 Neh. viii. 9-10.

+ Dan. x. 2-3.

6 See Isai. lviii. 5.

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But the Father who seeth in secret, will reward the self-condemning penitent, who dares "not so much as to lift up his eyes to heaven," and says, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" and who, because he feels thus, has no taste for the indulgences of life, and refuses them, as unsuited to his state of mind. He will also reward the self-enquiring Christian, who, in the course of his conflict against sin dwelling within him, might find by experience, that the indulgence of one appetite provoked another: and that the more he restrained his bodily inclinations, and refused to gratify them, the better he was able to serve God in all things, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Therefore he might determine with himself to fast: i. e. to eat sparingly, and of the simplest things: such as are least likely to provoke a sinful thought or action. Or he might regulate himself according to a rule which has been recommended by eminent Christians, and "deny himself" in something every day; on the principle of the apostle, where he says, "All things are lawful unto me; but I will not be brought under the power of any :"8 I will not make them necessary to me. But this would be a matter between himself and God; his nearest friend would not be aware of it: much less would he proclaim it to the multitude. And such abstinence, grounded on the right exercise of reason, and pursued for the sake of acquiring self command, is as surely approved of our heavenly Father, as the pretence of it is condemned. So the Lord declares,

7 Luke xviii. 13.

81 Cor. vii. 12.

17. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face;

18. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

He who seeth in secret, will at the great day of account, lay open much hypocrisy which had here, perhaps, received unmerited applause: and will reward those unseen acts of piety and self-denial, which have been here practised in "his faith and fear" practised for the purpose of preventing transgression, not with the vain design of atoning for transgression; practised that "the flesh might be subdued to the spirit," and kept ready to obey "his godly motions." "With such sacrifices God is well pleased:" They are proofs not of hypocrisy, but of sincerity. For if we indeed lament our past offences, and grieve over our daily infirmities, we shall be no more disposed to pamper those appetites by which they have been engendered, than one would be disposed to "go to the house of feasting," who was mourning over the death of a dear friend.

LECTURE XXV.

THE RIGHT DIRECTION OF THE HEART.

MATT. vi. 19-23.

19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

When the patriarch Jacob received the unexpected tidings that his son Joseph, whom he had long mourned over as lost, was yet living, and enjoying a post of high honour in the land of Egypt, we are told that the heart of the aged parent revived; and he exclaimed in a transport of delight, "It is enough ; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die." Joseph was his treasure; and his To leave his heart was there, where Joseph was.

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place of abode; to enter upon a wearisome journey; to visit an unknown country, was nothing to him :Joseph was yet alive, and he might go and see him

1 Gen. xlv. 28.