for their lust, than to secure the favour of God, and the possession of the promised land.

But these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. It is alike the wisdom and the happiness of a reasonable man, to derive caution and safety from the transgressions of others; and from the judgments with which they have been visited by the wrath of heaven. A memorable instance of both is now before us. May that Eternal Spirit, who penned the record for our admonition, write it upon our hearts! that avoiding the inordinate desires of God's ancient people for undue indulgence, we may live, as contented grateful pensioners upon that measure of divine bounty which infinite wisdom has allotted us; and say with him, who, hav-. ing nothing, possessed all things in the Saviour, I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. With such holy desire in the application of this instructive Scripture, we should contemplate

I. THE DISCONTENT OF THE ISRAELITES.
H. THE INFidelity of MOSES.

III. THE RIGHTEOUS CONDUCT OF GOD.

I. It would be difficult to imagine any thing within the extended circle of protection and supply, which had not liberally been given to

the children of Israel. They could not suffer hunger, for manna fell daily upon them from the firmament. They could not faint with thirst, for the waters of the smitten rock followed them through the wilderness. They could not err from the right way, for the flaming and cloudy pillar led their march. They had every thing which contented minds could desire, not only in sufficiency to use, but in abundance to enjoy. Where then lay the cause of murmuring and discontent? Even in their own ill-regulated, and inordinate desires, upon which every act and exercise of mercy fell, like oil upon the flame, to make them burn with more unhallowed fierceness. The children of Israel wept, and said, "Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all, beside this manna before our eyes." Was this really their experience? Did the bread which descended from heaven mock their appetite, or leave them weak and unsustained? Far otherwise. While they ate it, and were contented, there was not one feeble person among their tribes. But, goaded by sinful affections, they loathed the food which God bestowed, and tempted him in their heart, by asking meat for

their lust. If the catalogue of provisions which they had left behind in the land of their bondage, and to which they now recurred with disgraceful regret, had been as luxurious and costly, as it was, sordid and common, they should willingly and gladly have counted all but loss, for the blessings to which they had already attained; and for those future mercies, which lay in magnificent prospect before their eyes. In better days, "their more enlightened descendants took joyfully even the spoiling of their goods; knowing that they had in heaven a better, and an enduring substance." Mark then, how infallibly the desire of carnal good and present gratification produces a perverted, mischievous, and guilty neglect, or scorn of present mercies! He who openeth his hand, and filleth all things living with plenteousness, may provide for us with bounties which unerring wisdom, not less than unfathomable love, selects and regulates: but an undiscerning and rebellious man will loathe alike the manner and the measure of divine goodness. Utterly perverting the prayer which an enlightened heart would offer, he will exclaim, in the selfish desire of forbidden good, "Not thy will, but mine be done." The mother of mankind might surely have remained contented with the universal range of Paradise, and with the free permission to eat of the fruit of all the

trees in the garden, one alone excepted. But, beeause she was tempted by Satan, and saw " that the tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise," she coveted its possession. She therefore broke through the only restraint which God had imposed, so as to bring sin and death upon herself, and all her posterity. If the manna from heaven feed us with the bread of life,—if the waters of a sanctifying Spirit gush forth to refresh and purify us, if the word and teaching of God be directing us through the wilderness, towards the rest that lies beyond it,-shall we not be contented with our allotment of bodily and earthly good; even if it be not that which sense and sight most desire? Shall we not endeavour to hush every rising murmur, into the deep tranquillity of thankful submission, by the blessed assurance, He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? Shall we mingle the bitterness of gall and wormwood with the cup of our mercies, until we loathe it, because sovereign dominion, and unsearchable knowledge do not see good to bestow exactly in the manner which we see good to demand? Was it to the praise, or the reproach of Ahab's wisdom, that while he was seated on the throne of Israel, he was inconsolably wretched, because

he could not obtain the little vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite? Was Haman to be envied, when, amidst all the unbounded splendours of his station beside the throne of Persia, his happiness depended upon the homage which a despised Israelite withheld? All this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the King's gate. Few symptoms of a declining, or rebellious state of heart are more unequivocal, or more mournful, than an eager unsatisfied desire of worldly good, beyond the measure in which God has seen fit to impart it. He who walks in the view and brightness of those mercies, which the promises of the Bible reflect from the love of the Saviour to his soul, and maintains by faith a communion with the secret, though satisfying glories of the invisible world, will have no eye of love for any thing beneath them as his supreme good? If a Christian feel himself less than the least of all God's mercies, he will thankfully receive those which are given; and acquiesce in the love and justice with which others are withheld. If, especially, he be made a partaker of that eternal life which consists in knowing, obeying, and enjoying Christ, the earthly manna will abundantly suffice him. He will receive it with gladness and gratitude: and instead of regretting imaginary privations, will raise a monument of thankfulness in his heart