with great joy, as Ezra observes: "The Lord made them joyful, and turned the heart of the King of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel."*

He and Joshua the high-priest were represented in the visions of Zechariah as the two candlesticks supplied through pipes from olivetrees, to indicate the plenitude of that juice with which they were endued, which is thus explained by the angel :-" Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth."† The difficulties attending the work, which were very great in themselves, were extremely heightened by the malice and opposition of the enemies of God, particularly of the Samaritans; but the strength and fortitude with which he was endowed from on high enabled him to surmount them. "Who art thou, O great mountain ?" said the prophet; "before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands also shall finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you."‡

II. The words of the text admit of being applied, with the greatest propriety, to the Lord Jesus Christ. The prophecy contained in the thirtieth and thirty-first chapters looks forward to gospel times, and has an ultimate respect to the final restoration of the Jews, and their conversion to the Messiah, of whom Zerubbabel was an illustrious type. The prophet was wont, in connexion with the assurances of divine favour to the Israelites, in restoring their temple after the captivity, to mix predictions of the coming of the Messiah:-"Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."§

The prophet, foreseeing the coming of the Messiah, and descrying his character, spake with an air of surprise: "And who is he that has engaged his heart to approach unto God?" None ever approached unto God so nearly, or under the same character, as he did. He, considered as man, was taken into an intimate personal union with the Deity, so as to become Immanuel, or "God with us ;" and he approached to God, in the office of a Mediator, to make peace between the offended Majesty of Heaven and his sinful creatures. He came, like Aaron, with incense, between the living and the dead, to stay the plague, and arrest divine vengeance in its career. He approached unto God in our behalf, not with the trembling diffidence of a sinful mortal, who is conscious of his own danger and demerits, but with the holy, becoming boldness of a son to a father. He interposed with precious blood; and, on the ground of the stipulations which intervene between him and the Father, claims his church as his purchase, and asserts his authority to save them "with an everlasting salvation;""Deliver him

Ezra vi. 22.

† Zech. iv. 14.

Zech. iv. 7-9.

Zech. vi. 12, 13.

Isaiah vii. 14.

from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom. He made his approach to God by a vicarious sacrifice and spotless obedience, by enduring the awful penalty denounced on transgressors; and by magnifying the law made it honourable.

His heart was also ineffably engaged in this work. None ever exhibited such a concern for the divine honour, such a zeal for the divine interests, as was exemplified by our blessed Lord. "Sacrifice

and offering thou didst not desire: in burnt-offering and sin-offering thou hadst no pleasure. Then I said, To do thy will, O God, I come; thy law is in my heart."

Nor was he deterred by the greatest discouragements, nor dismayed by the greatest opposition, nor by the certain prospect of the most dismal sufferings, so as to desist from persevering in his undertaking till it was completed. He did not "fail, nor was discouraged, till he had set judgment in the earth."

Animated by the joy that was set before him, "he endured the cross, despising the shame."

If we look through all the scenes and passages of his life, we shall find him incessantly engaged in his Father's business, with an utter contempt of the world, and a perfect absorption of mind in the great and holy objects he came to accomplish. He never for a moment lost sight of the ends of his mission, nor ever suffered his attention to be diverted from them by the love of ease, the fascination of pleasure, or the terrors of death. His disciples, who were the daily witnesses of his actions, were compelled to apply to him a remarkable expression in the prophetic part of the Psalms-"The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."‡

III. We may consider the passage before us as highly expressive of the true manner in which the service of God must be undertaken, if we would render it acceptable to him, or useful to ourselves.

Among the heathen, it was usual to form a conjecture of the good or the ill success of application to their deities from the state in which the entrails of the victim were found; and nothing was considered as a more fatal omen than its wanting a heart. Their worship, we are well aware, was folly and delusion; but in this instance it may serve to illustrate the subject before us, which is, the absolute necessity of the heart being engaged in religion.

By the heart the Scriptures generally intend the innermost and the noblest powers of the mind, in opposition to external actions of the body. It denotes deliberate choice, understanding, and feeling, as distinguished from the semblance of devotion, consisting in a compliance with its visible forms and regulations. As the heart has usually (whether justly or not it is not necessary to inquire) been looked upon as the seat of feeling,-in like manner as the brain has been supposed to be the chief organ of thought,-it has been, by an easy metaphor, employed to denote that faculty of the soul by which we perceive what appears desirable, and cleave to what affords us satisfaction, and

*Job xxxiii. 24.

† Psalm xl. 6-8.

Psalm Ixix. 9.

taste the delight which certain objects are adapted to afford. This is a most essential part of religion; here is its proper seat.

Ezra

1. It implies a preparation of heart for religious duties. "prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it," to disengage his mind from vain imaginations, from worldly thoughts, from every thing, in short, foreign to the spirit of religion. By a diligent perusal of a portion of the word of God, we are prepared to approach him; by hearing him when he speaks to us, we are fitted to speak to him.

He who rushes into the presence of the Most High without solemn deliberation, without reflecting on the weighty and serious nature of such an undertaking, can with little propriety be said to have "engaged

his heart."

2. It includes the exercise of suitable affections in the services of religion, the being susceptible of such sentiments and dispositions as are correspondent to the universal object of worship, as well as to the diversified circumstances in which [we are placed.] Love, reverence, and trust, a profound sense of our own meanness and pollution, belong universally to every approach to God. While these dispositions, in truly pious souls, will receive a colour and complexion from their peculiar condition,—according as it is a condition of joy or sorrow, of sensible consolation or of desertion, is depressed with a consciousness of guilt or exhilarated with a sense of pardon,-the soul sometimes, with little reflection on its own state, will be taken up with adoring views of the Divine glory, delightfully losing itself in the vivid contemplation of the great All in All. At other times it will be occupied with an affecting view of the conduct of God towards it in providence and grace. "We thought of thy loving-kindness in the midst of thy temple." There are seasons again, when, under burdens of guilt and distress, it will be incessantly stirring itself up to take hold upon God. "Have mercy upon me, O Lord: my soul is bowed down within me; my wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness."†

In such circumstances the pious soul will resemble Jacob, who wrestled with the angel, wept, and made supplication. In all these various exercises the heart will be engaged, in approaching to God: the heart will be mingled with it, as the expression signifies.

3. It includes constancy and unshaken firmness, steadfastness of resolution to cleave to God. "I have sworn," says David, “ and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end." Contrast this with the conduct of the children of Israel at the Red Sea, and with Saul.

*Psalm xlviii. 9.

VOL. III.-I

† Psalm vi. 2; xxxviii. 5, 6.

XXVI.

ON FAMILY WORSHIP.

CHRON. XVI. 43.—And all the people departed, every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house.

PUBLIC exereises of religion, when properly conducted, have a happy tendency to prepare the mind for those of a more private nature. When the soul is elevated and the heart softened by the feelings which public worship is calculated to inspire, we are prepared to address the throne of Grace with peculiar advantage; we are disposed to enter with a proper relish on such a duty, and thus "go from strength to strength." David, at the time to which this passage refers, had been assisting at a great and joyful solemnity, that of bringing the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom, where it had abode three months, to the place which he had prepared for it. The joy which David felt on this interesting occasion was very rapturous. He conducted it to Jerusalem, and set it in the midst of the tent he had pitched for it. He offered, as a testimony of his zeal and devotion, burnt-offerings and sacrifices to God, and then closed the solemnity.

We need be at no loss to ascertain the import of this expression. It undoubtedly signifies his imploring the blessing of God upon his people by prayer and supplication. Under the ancient law, God was pleased to appoint a form in which Aaron the high-priest was commanded to bless the people. "On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.' This instructs us how to understand what is meant by " David's returning to bless his house;" it was to present them to God in prayer, and entreat his blessing upon them.

I shall take occasion from these words to urge upon you the duty of family prayer; a duty, I fear, too much neglected among us, though it is one of high importance and indispensable obligation. In bringing this subject before you, I shall, first, attempt to show the solid reasons on which it is founded; and, secondly, endeavour, with the blessing of God, to suggest a few hints respecting the best method of performing it.

1. The passage before us invites us to consider it as a practice by which good men have been distinguished in every age.

It pleads the sanction of the highest example. It was exemplified, we see, in the conduct of David, "the sweet psalmist of Israel," "the man after God's own heart;" a great victorious prince, who did not suppose the cares of royalty a sufficient reason for neglecting it. In the various removals of Abraham from place to place, we find that

* Num. vi. 23-26.

wherever he came to sojourn he built an altar, to call upon the name of the Lord an altar at which, there is the greatest reason to believe, he was wont to assemble his family, and to present his addresses on their, as well as his own, behalf. We know, from the testimony of Scripture, that he was eminently conspicuous for the care he took of the religious instruction of his household. This part of his character is attested in the following emphatic manner: "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that I may bring upon Abraham that which I have spoken of him."*

But wherein, we may safely ask, was this solicitude for the spiritual welfare of his household displayed, if he never bowed the knee before them in prayer; never exemplified before their eyes so important a duty as that of devout supplication to the Almighty?

In the history of Isaac we read of his building an altar at Beersheba, and calling upon the name of the Lord. Such also was the custom of Jacob at the different places where he fixed his habitation. On one of these occasions we find him thus addressing his household: "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went."+

Thus ancient is the practice on which we are now insisting. It appears to have formed a prominent part of the religion of patriarchal times, and it has subsisted in every period of the Christian church.

In later ages, who among the devoted servants of Christ can be mentioned who have neglected it? The pious reformers, the venerable founders of the Established Church of England, we know, conscientiously practised and earnestly enforced it; and so did our pious forefathers among the nonconformists. This was a branch of their conduct for which they incurred the ridicule of a careless and ungodly world; and in their days it was ever recognised as an inseparable appendage of true piety. They would have required no further proof of the absence of the fear of God in a family than the want of a domestic altar, at which its members might call on the name of the Lord.

2. Family prayer is a natural and necessary acknowledgment of the dependence of families upon God, and of the innumerable obligations they are under to his goodness. The union of mankind in families is ascribed to God, and is a distinguished [mark] of his lovingkindness. "He setteth the solitary in families." "He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children."§ The ties of domestic society are of his forming: the birth and preservation of children are eminent instances of his favour and beneficence. It is surely incumbent on families, then, to acknowledge him in their domestic relation.

Every family is a separate community, placed under one head, and governed by laws independent of foreign control. This sort of society is the root and origin of every other; and as it is the most ancient, sc

* Gen. xviii. 19.

Gen. xxxv. 2, 3.

Psalm lxviii. 6.

Psalm cxiii. 9.