that the offence of murder could not be palliated by the example of a King, that he dares not tell the Messenger between them how the fact of Uriah's death had arisen but disguises the narrative of the event with the most ingenious artifice under the cloak of probable occurrence. Had the Army under Joab known that the lustful appetite of the King had been not only the occasion of the highest injury and injustice that could be offered to the feelings of an honourable Warrior, but in the progress of evil had been the principle one in superinducing the death of a tried, and faithful, and magnanimous Servant, what disgust would have been excited in it. And had Joab been actuated by the ambition of some Generals, what an opportunity would David have afforded him to gratify it by exposing his murderous letter to the Army, and holding its Writer up to execration for the foul offence committed against the Wife of Uriah, thus attempted to be grossly aggravated by the deliberate slaughter of her valiant Husband! Nor did the measure of David's guilt stop here, for he afterwards riots in lust with her whose virtue he had subdued; so seductive and unsatisfying is the very nature of sin, and thus restless in its progress towards the Soul's destruction. What an awful example does this continuance in sin by such a Man as David exhibit to the reflecting and serious mind; and how powerfully is it calculated to impress us with a conviction of the necessity of a continual watchfulness and rein over our passions, and of our unceasingly asking, in Spirit at least, that That Grace, Which is alone Sufficient to Save us from such bitter Enemies as Sin and Second Death, may every where, and in all things Abound within us! That the Lightning of DIVINE Destruction did not Overtake David is attributable to the Wonderful Mercy of GOD, and to the pious tendency of his general Life; to which these offences against GOD and Man were indeed crying exceptions.

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"But the thing, that David had done, Displeased The LORD. And The LORD Sent Nathan unto David: and he came unto him, and said unto him, 'There were two Men in one City; the One rich, and the Other poor: the rich Man had exceeding many flocks and herds; but the poor Man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up; and it grew up together with him and with his Children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a Daughter: and there came a Traveller unto the rich Man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the way-faring Man, that was come unto him; but took the poor Man's lamb, and dressed it for the Man, that was come to him.' And David's anger was greatly kindled against the Man; and he said to Nathan, As The LORD Liveth, the Man, that hath done this thing, shall surely die; and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.' And Nathan said to David, Thou art the Man! Thus Saith The LORD GOD of Israel, 'I Anointed thee King over Israel, and I Delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy Master's house and thy Master's Wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the House of Israel, and of Judah: and, if That had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee Such and Such Things. Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of The LORD, to do evil in His Sight? Thou hast killed Uriah, the Hittite, with the sword, and hast taken his Wife to be thy Wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the Children of Ammon. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine House; because thou hast despised Me, and hast taken the Wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be thy Wife.' Thus Saith The LORD, 'Behold, I will Raise up evil against thee out of thine own House, and I will take thy Wives before thine eyes, and Give them unto thy Neighbour, and he shall lie with thy Wives in the sight of this sun: for thou didst it secretly; but I will Do this Thing before all Israel and before the sun.' And David said unto Nathan, ‘I have sinned against The LORD!"-2 Sam. xi, last part of 27; xii, 1 to first part of 13.

The LORD is a SPIRIT of Perfect Purity, and nothing that is impure can be otherwise than an outrage of His Law, and an alienation from His Favour. "Thou shalt do no murder," " Thou shalt not commit adultery," had been two of the most prominent and impressive Lessons that David had imbibed with the earliest dawn of reason; and the Sacred Oracle, from Whence Those Doctrines had been Taught, had generally been held in becoming veneration by him. But the heart, which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, (and indeed, who can know it?) needs the Continual and never Ceasing Help of its CREATOR, and will otherwise, through its own perverseness, become the prey of the Destroyer. But Such is the Transcendant Mercy of GOD, through the Intercessory Sacrifice of His Incarnate SON, that so long as all sense of sorrow for sin is not extinct in us, and we do not give ourselves over to a reprobate mind, He Pitieth us as a tender Father pitieth his Children, and is Willing to Save That, which would be otherwise totally lost; for "He hath no Pleasure in the death of a Sinner, but had Rather that he would turn from his wickedness and live." Great as had been the transgressions of David against his Neighbour, yet the fear of The LORD was not dead in him, and, therefore, in the Abundance and Tenderness of His Compassion, GOD Interposed to Improve that fear to the re-establishment of a right Spirit within him, and Sent His Minister to awaken David to a sense of his guilt. And in proof that the fear of The LORD, which is the beginning of wisdom, had not been quenched within the bosom of David, he receives that Minister with reverence, and listens to him not only with patience but with zeal. Indeed a heart of stone could scarcely have withheld emotion at the relation of a Parable so forcibly descriptive of inhumanity and injustice; and David, who wielded the sceptre of Regal power, and held the scales of Human justice in Israel, in the instant pronounced judgment without mercy on him, who had thus shewn no mercy; though unmindful of the immeasurably greater offence which, in all circumstances of comparison, had been committed by himself; and little suspecting that the application was meant to him. Indeed, this example of David may be most salutary to ourselves in the estimate we form of his and of Other's characters, and in interpreting and appropriating Scripture History, as well as Scripture Precept to the similar occurrences in our own Lives and dispositions. The Judgment that we pass on the character and conduct of Others, whether living or dead, should be after a faithful review of our own conduct, and with a conviction of the preponderating mixture we need of Mercy in That Judgment, Which assuredly Awaits us, and Which will Fix our Everlasting Destiny. And as we need Forgiveness of our trespasses, let us be more ready to forgive than to condemn the trespasses of our Fellow-Creatures! At times even the failings of good Men, operating as a caution and an inducement to circumspection, may turn to our advantage. Out of his own mouth was David condemned: and the Justice of the Universal Judgment to Come no One will be able to gainsay. Well, indeed, may it be for us if the Judgment of Condemnation on our past sins be, through our present repentance, Visited in Chastisement upon us in the Life that is, and the absence of temporal good be all the punishment Reserved for us; and well also may it be, if, when the contrite Spirit be awakened within us at the recollection of our transgressions from the paths of Righteousness and true Holiness, we bring forth fruits meet for repentance, and such as may support us, through faith in CHRIST JESUS, to an Everlasting Salvation; that we may prove our repentance, by restoring fourfold the thing we have taken-by healing the heart we have all but broken-by releasing Those, whom our evil affections or example have bound with the chain of sin-and by a heart renewed in the spirit of purity and piety, of Brotherly

love and charity towards GOD and Man, turn unto GOD, that He may, for CHRIST'S Sake, Abundantly Pardon us.

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·And David said unto Nathan, ‘I have sinned against The LORD!”2 Sam. xii, first part of 13.

The heart of the truly Penitent prompts, instantaneously, the tongue to acknowledge a fault in all its circumstances of aggravation, and to submit with humility to the Judgment and Sentence Passed by DIVINE WISDOM upon it. It may be remarked that David offers nothing in palliation of his offence; he attempts not even the semblance of justification. He knows that GOD Knoweth the heart and all the secrets and workings thereof, and that there is no way of escape for us, if we neglect The so Great Salvation, of which confession and contrition are the entrances to that Path, which leads unto Pardon and Reconciliation; and such repentance bringeth unspeakable consolation, if supported by a full acknowledgment of, and firm faith in, The All-Sufficient Atonement and Intercessory Merits of The SON of GOD as The SAVIOUR of Sinners. The death of Uriah was, perhaps, but his passport to that State Where the Wicked cease from troubling, and Where the Weary are at rest; Where, though there is no marrying nor giving in marriage, there is yet a communion and fellowship in holy love with all the Angels of Heaven, and all the Spirits of just Men Made perfect, and, what infinitely transcends that exstacy of delight, even with The FOUNTAIN of Love and Life Itself for ever and ever. It was, therefore, against The LORD, Who had Commanded David to spare and protect the life of Uriah, rather than against Uriah, that this so secret an evil had been done. It is true, that as against Bathsheba, David's iniquity wore a deeper dye: he had seduced her from the paths of virtue, and had influenced her to sacrifice her honour at the shrine of his passion; thus subjecting her, through life, to the bitter pangs of remorse, at having neglected the service of her HEAVENLY KING, to feed the loathsome appetite of her earthly One. It is true that he had endeavoured to alleviate the injury he had done, by honouring her before Men, in taking her to be his Wife; and, perhaps, she was ignorant that she took for her second Husband the Murderer of her first. The example of the sincere and deep penitence of David may also have operated to the production, in the mind of Bathsheba, of a deeper sense of the importance of observing GOD'S Law, than in her former life, even before her fall, she had possessed; for thus is it, that in the Gracious Appointments of PROVIDENCE good is elicited from evil. The Record of the effect of this lively penitence is found in many passages of the Psalms, and more especially in those numbered 32 and 51, wherein the Psalmist says, "I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, O LORD, and mine iniquity have I not hid! I said, I will confess my transgressions unto The LORD!" and especially in the latter Psalm, where he says, "Have Mercy upon me, O GOD, according to Thy Loving Kindness: according unto the Multitude of Thy Tender Mercies Blot out my Transgressions! Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and Cleanse me from my sin! for I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Create in me a clean heart, O GOD, and Renew a right Spirit within me! Cast me not away from Thy Presence: and Take not Thy HOLY SPIRIT from me! Deliver me from blood-guiltiness O GOD, Thou GOD of my Salvation!" And in the 38th Psalm he says, Mine iniquities are gone over mine head; as an heavy burden, they are too heavy for me!" Passages indicating the most heartfelt sorrow, exemplifying the most profound consciousness of unworthiness, and pointing, in the spirit of the truest piety, to The Great PHYSICIAN of Souls, by Whom Alone the Healing Balm of Pardon and of Peace could be Supplied.

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"And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath Put away thy sin; thou shalt not die! Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the Enemies of The LORD to blaspheme, the Child also, that is born unto thee, shall surely die.' And Nathan departed unto his house. And The LORD Struck the Child, that Uriah's Wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. David, therefore, besought GOD for the Child: and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth: and the Elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the Child died. And the Servants of David feared to tell him that the Child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the Child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice; how will he then ver himself, if we tell him that the Child is dead? But when David saw that his Servants whispered, David perceived that the Child was dead: therefore David said unto his Servants, 'Is the Child dead?' And they said, 'He is dead.' Then David arose from the earth, and washed and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the House of The LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his Servants unto him, What thing is this, that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the Child, while it was alive; but when the Child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread?' And he said, While the Child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be Gracious to me, that the Child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.'”. 2 Sam. xii, last part of 13 to 23.

If we, who are all more or less Transgressors from the perfect Law of GOD, acknowledge our sins, and turn unto The LORD in sorrow of heart and in humble supplication for Pardon and for Peace, He is Willing to Forgive us our sins and to Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He will have Mercy upon us, and will abundantly Pardon, Remembering our iniquities no more, but Restoring us to the Inestimable Riches of His Grace and Favour. Nor is He Slow to Hear: but instantaneous as is our repentance, when it is such as may not be repented of (of which He, Who Knoweth the heart of Man, doth Justly Judge), so is the Emanation from His Mercy. David had grievously offended, but repenting of the evil he had committed, with that contrition of Soul, which operated through the continuance of his Life in self-condemnation and amendment, he no sooner owns his fault as a crying sin against The LORD, and thus throws himself upon The DIVINE Mercy, doubtless through faith in CHRIST, but he Receives the Annunciation of DIVINE Forgiveness, ere he had time to ask It. But David's escape must not be presumptuously held up as an encouragement to a reliance on the mere lip-service of confession, without the heart is, at the same time, wrapt in the deep sense of contrition, and shame, and sorrow, and self-abomination, and hatred of the sin, and a fervent desire to do iniquity no more, but to be advanced to the influence of Preventing and Prevailing Grace in the Ways of GOD'S Law and in the Works of His Commandments, the Spring from Whence that fountain of confession flows. Let us not deceive Ourselves so dreadfully as to suppose, because our Fellow-Mortal may be duped by our hypocrisy, that The Omniscient DEITY can be Mocked with impunity; let us not imagine that to say "LORD Have Mercy upon us and Lay not this sin to our charge!" is the all of repentance, on which Forgiveness is to be Visited. Awful indeed is the state of the corruption of that heart, which can so wilfully deceive itself; it is the continuance in a disposition for sin, more than the actual commission of it, that alienates the Affection and debars the Care of GOD for us. It is the conversion of the heart, that constitutes vital repentance,

and this may be attained though Death may cut short the means of an outward manifestation of it by practical reformation. If with an equally contrite heart as David's, we, having sinned, acknowledge that we have sinned against The LORD, the Sure Word of Scriptural Prophecy in Spirit Saith unto us, "The LORD also hath Put away your sins; ye shall not die." Saul acknowledged he had sinned, but the acknowledgment was made in the hope of avoiding the temporal judgment of degradation before his Subjects, and was tinctured, therefore, with spiritual pride or worldly ambition: not so David; his expression of shame was the offspring of a feeling of sorrow for having offended his DIVINE MASTER; this is obvious from a general view of David's character, and which is beautifully adverted to in the historical summary given of him by the wise Son of Sirach.-After mentioning Nathan as the Prophet in the time of David, he said, "As is the fat taken away from the peace-offering, so was David Chosen out of the Children of Israel: he played with lions as with kids, and with bears as with lambs. Slew he not a Giant, when he was yet but young? And did he not take away reproach from the People, when he lifted up his hand with the stone in the sling, and beat down the boasting of Goliath? For he called upon The MOST HIGH LORD; and He Gave him strength in his right hand to slay that mighty Warrior; and set up the Horn of His People. So the People honoured him with 'Ten Thousands,' and praised him in the Blessings of The LORD, in that He Gave him a Crown of Glory. For he destroyed the Enemies on every side, and brought to nought the Philistines, his Adversaries; and brake their Horn in sunder. In all his works he praised The HOLY ONE MOST HIGH with words of glory; with his whole heart he sung songs, and loved Him That Made him. He set Singers also before the Altar, that by their voices they might make sweet melody, and daily sing praises in their songs: he beautified their feasts, and set in order the solemn times until the end, that they might praise His Holy Name, and that the Temple might sound from morning: The LORD Took away his sins; and Exalted his Horn for Ever: He Gave him a Covenant of Kings, and a Throne of Glory in Israel."Ecclus. xlvii. 1 to 11.

To The LORD, our GOD, Belong Mercies and Forgiveness; and, with the Prophet Micah, we, who have been abundantly Pardoned by Him in the many transgressions of our past Lives, and are still Offered by Him Plenteous Redemption, may say, "Who is A GOD Like unto Thee, O LORD, our GOD That Pardoneth iniquity? HE Retaineth not His Anger for ever; because He Delighteth in Mercy. He will Turn again, He will have Compassion upon us; He will Subdue our iniquities."-vii, 18, 19. In the Proclamation of JEHOVAH from Mount Sinai unto Moses, This, His Attribute of Mercy, is also magnificently insisted on, and held out to our equal consolation and encouragement: "The LORD, The LORD GOD, Merciful and Gracious, Long-Suffering, and Abundant in Goodness and Truth, Keeping Mercy for Thousands, Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin."—Ex. xxxiv, 6, 7. And it is not in words to express a conviction of this Truth with more force than in those attributed to, or, at least, considered as assimilated to the sentiments of the offending David himself: Bless The LORD, O my Soul; and all, that is within me, bless His Holy Name! Bless The LORD, O my Soul, and forget not all His Benefits! Who Forgiveth all thine iniquities: Who Healeth all thy diseases: Who Redeemeth thy Life from destruction: Who Crowneth thee with Loving-Kindness and Tender Mercies. THE LORD is Merciful and Gracious, Slow to Anger, and Plenteous in Mercy: He will not always Chide, neither will He Keep His Anger for ever: He hath not Dealt with us after our sins; nor Rewarded us according to our iniquities: for as the Heaven is high above the Earth, so Great is His Mercy toward Them that fear Him! as far as the East is from the West, so far hath He

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