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to trace it, we are lost in a vast abyss, and are obliged to confess with Job, "that touching the Lord we cannot find him out to perfection." Time is too short to ascertain his nature, and eternity will not be long enough to admire it. When we look at the natural sun we are completely dazzled with a blaze of splendour, and when we dwell upon the spiritual sun we are so struck with his astonishing glory, that we sink into the dust, exclaiming, "Lord what is man?"

In meditating upon God as a sun from whom all blessings spring, I would remark, 1st. He is the source of all existence. “In him all live, and move, and have their being." Nothing sprung from blind casualty, for all emanated from the wonderful creating hand of him, who forms "all

things after the counsel of his will," and is able to do whatsoever is pleasing in his sight. The Bible is very copious on this interesting point, and man at no time proves his glorious original more, than when he feels and confesses the truth. O Lord," thou hast created all things, and for thy glory and pleasure they were created."*

God is, 2dly, The source of all natural good. He has enriched the earth with all that can be desired, and delights in giving all that his creatures need. Every good and every per

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fect gift cometh down from above."+ "The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. He opens his hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing."

* Rev. iv. 11.

"Oh!

† James i. 17.

Psa. cxlv. 9-16.

that man would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness."

God the mighty sun is, 3rdly, The supporter and preserver of all things. Everything is dependent on his support, and all things are subject to his control. He balanceth worlds, and prevents their crashing together. They move at his command, and perform their circuits with unerring nicety. He takes cognizance of the most important, and neglects not the minutest circumstances. He presides over the affairs of empires, and watches the course of everything. One man is as much the subject of his care, as nations of men; and not a sparrow falleth to the ground unnoticed by his omniscient eye. "He upholdeth all things by the word of his power; none can stay his hand or say what doest thou? for he does as he

pleases amongst the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of earth."

God, the eternal sun, is not only the fountain of all natural, but spiritual good. When we reflect on him in the former character, we find sufficient to fill the mind with the most grateful and delightful thoughts; but considering him as a God of mercy and love, our souls expand with "a joy that is unspeakable, and full of glory."

God the spiritual sun is the source of regenerating grace. To experience this is the highest boon of love, "for except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." Every person has, by nature, a mind darkened by sin, affections corrupted by it, and a will determined to it. The mind has lost its moral and spiritual beauty; for when God created man, it was in his

own image; but through transgression the likeness of God has been destroyed, and supplanted by that of the devil. The mind is so dark, it cannot behold the least danger, or deformity in sin. The affections are corrupted, and placed upon earthly enjoyments. The perishing things of this world are sought with avidity, but there is no concern to lay up treasures in heaven. Christ and eternity are as little regarded as the sand on the sea-shore. The will is dreadfully perverse. Its language is, "who is the Lord that I should serve him? I know not the Lord, neither will I have him to reign over me." No state can be worse than this. It assimilates man to a beast, and exposes him to the punishment of hell.

Oh! what a happy change takes place when "God, who commanded the light

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