They withstood Uzziah the king, and said, It appertaineth not unto thee, to burn incense unto the Lord. 2 Chron. xxvi. 18. HERE is the only blot we find on the name of Uzziah: as long as he sought the Lord in the right way, God made him to prosper. God helped him till he was strong; but when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his own destruction. He was not content with the honours God had put upon him, but would usurp those that were forbidden him, like our first parents. The chief priest and other priests were ready to burn incense for the king, according to the duty of their office; and plainly acquainted him, that if, through a mistaken zeal, he offered to do it himself, he would incur the wrath of God and suffer for it; but this served only to excite his wrath, till he felt the judgment of God's hand in his punishment. Though he strove with the priests, he would not strive with his Maker, but retired as soon as he was smitten with the leprosy. Thus we see that "the God we have to deal with is a jealous God," who expects all that serve him shall do it according to his own institutions. Do you, reader, come to him in the way of his appointments? Take care that you come not with unhallowed fire before the Lord, lest you be also smitten. Our prayers, our graces, and our duties, must always be put by faith into the hand of our Lord Jesus, the High Priest of our profession, to be by him presented unto God along with the sweet incense of his merits, else we shall find ourselves deceived, and have no acceptance with God. No strange incense let me bring To present unto my King; I renounce my own desert; Jesus, thou my incense art. He, the Lord, will beautify the meek with salvation. Ps. cxlix. 4. And if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye. 1 Pet. iii. 14. Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble : thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear. Ps. x. 17. The meek shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. Ps. xxii. 26. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Ps. xxxvii. 11. See also Ps. xlviii. 10. Isaiah liv. 11. ALL this is for the humble and poor in spirit. How does that agree? poor, and yet blessed! O, yes, poor in ourselves, but blessed and glorious in CHRIST. If we never experience his glory, the reason is, we are not truly sensible of our misery; but when we are come quite low, let us confidently lay hold on CHRIST, and we shall be blessed; for all is ours. We may say, O Lord, if thou art a glorious help to the needy, lo! here is want and misery enough! therefore I come with all my want and poverty to the fulness of thy grace and riches, with my darkness to thy light, with my death to thy life. Grant that all my evils may be swallowed up by thy goodness and glorious deliverance! Mine innumerable wants I set before thee, as so many empty vessels, and desire to have them filled with thy spiritual and heavenly blessings. O might I hear the heavenly tongue But whisper," Thou art mine!" How would my leaping heart rejoice, And think my heaven secure ; I trust the all-creating Voice, And faith desires no more. Be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind. And put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Eph. iv. 23, 24. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Rom. vi. 4. O LORD, grant me daily repentance, and a tender feeling of my sins, that by the power of thy death the Old Man may be crucified, and by the power of thy resurrection the New Man may rise up and grow in grace, being filled and refreshed with the fruits of the Spirit! Let me ever be in earnest, and look upon every day as the very first and the very last, that with each I may, as it were, begin anew to work out my salvation with fear and trembling, and so be always prepared for death and eternity. Give me grace to surmount all difficulties, and to avoid everything that may prove a torment of conscience in the hour of death. And as there is no standing still, I humbly beseech thee to stir me up daily and hourly more and more, that I may make all haste, and give all diligence to make my calling and election sure." 66 Lord, I am vile, conceived in sin! Sprung from the man whose guilty fall Soon as we draw our infant breath, He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor: his righteousness endureth for ever. Ps. cxii. 9. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand. Eccles. xi. 6. THOSE that lay up treasures on earth, suffer nothing to lie long useless, but lend out as fast as they can; and such as desire to reap soon and plentifully, are careful to sow soon and plentifully. Therefore, lend and sow ye also in good time, for there may be times when you cannot shew charity, or at least not so largely. We must not pretend to pay the debt of charity with some poor mites and pence. If you will give something, give bountifully; take your hands full as if you were sowing, like the poor widow with her two mites, which she sowed out freely, though it were her whole substance. But the rich ones were not so liberal, but covetously offered only what they could spare very well. Is it not said. we should sow? Now seedsmen sow with hands full, and so should we; for God loveth a cheerful giver, and will in his turn dispense again bountifully to you, that ye should have sufficiently in all things to every good work (but God dispensing so bountifully to you, why should you then grudge him anything, or make only such poor returns?); for what we do to our neighbour, is the same as if it were done to God himself, if done in faith and love. Awake, my zeal; awake, my love, Awake, my charity, and feed The hungry soul, and clothe the poor; He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities Ps. cxxx. 8. O the Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble. Jer. xiv. 8. In wrath remember mercy. Hab. iii. 2. DESPAIR not, O my soul, in any tribulation or conflict, as if it were impossible to overcome it. The all-healing word of God contains advice and comfort for all cases. The Lord being thy helper in all adversity, and able to turn the sharpest afflictions into the greatest blessings, he would never smite, nor withhold something from thee, if he was not willing also to heal, and give thee something better in its place. O Lord, I trust thou wilt carry me through all difficulties. Though my misery and weakness were ever so great, yet there is nothing too great for thee; it is all one to thee to help in great and little distresses; nay, the more I am surrounded with grief and weakness, the more wilt thou pity, spare, and nourish me, as a tender mother does the least of all her children; and the more occasion there will be to display thy mighty salvation. The sharper and longer my distress and conflicts have been, the nearer, greater, and sweeter, I trust, will also be my salvation; for the same Lord who has said I shall not be tried above measure, has also engaged to lead me on conquering, till at length all my enemies are subdued. There's full redemption at his throne A hope so great, and so divine, And purge the soul from sense and sin, |