SERMON V.

GOD, THE APPROVER OF VIRTUE.

PSALM Xi., 7.

The righteous Lord loveth righteousness: His countenance doth behold the upright.

RELIGION may be said, with much propriety, to consist in a union with God. The religious man is united to his Creator by the frequency with which he thinks of him, by an habitual sense of dependence upon him, and by the sincere and strong affection with which he regards him. So far as the imperfections of the human nature will admit of it, there is a union of thought, of feeling, and of action between him and the Deity. The views which he takes of the Divine character, of the origin, condition and destiny of man, and of the nature of virtue, so far as they are derived from revelation, must be correct, and, therefore, coincident with those of the Deity himself. His feelings, so far as they are benevolent, must harmonize with those of Him who is love, and dwelleth in love. His actions it is the object of his constant ef

forts to make conformable to the Divine will, so that they may be considered, in a peculiar sense, as identical with those of the Almighty. Every truly religious man, in short, might employ with similar, though not with equal, propriety, the emphatic declaration of Christ, "I and my Father are one." To make this union between man and his Maker more intimate,-to cause it to approach as nearly as possible to perfection,-is the leading object of all devotional exercises, whether public or private, as well as of the meditations by which they are accompanied. Now nothing more plainly appears to be essential to such a union with God, than an habitual conviction of his presence. To acquire such an union, we must not merely believe him to be present everywhere, but we must frequently think of him as present. We must accustom ourselves to think of him as beholding our actions, listening to our words, conscious to our very thoughts. We must be on our guard against doing, or saying, or even thinking, anything which we should not be prepared to do, or say or think, in the presence of a holy and righteous God, and with a visible symbol of the Divine majesty before our eyes.Nothing, however, can be more unjust to our Creator's character, and at the same time more injurious to ourselves, than the notion that the

Divine presence is never to be thought of, except as an object of terror, and with a view of restraining us from the commission of sin. The injustice done to the Divine character, in this case, is the same in kind as that which a child does to the character of an affectionate parent, when he accustoms himself to think of him only as the author of irksome and disagreeable restraints, and to look upon his presence as destructive of ease and enjoyment. The injury to ourselves, consists not only in the loss, which such a notion involves, of much pure and solid enjoyment, but in the serious diminution, and, at the same time, deterioration of our piety, which cannot fail to result from it. The words which we have taken as our text, inculcate a far different notion. They teach us to connect the idea of the Divine presence with our virtues as well as with our vices, with our acts of obedience as well as with our sins.They contain an assertion in perfect harmony with the conceptions of the Divine character, which we are led to form by reason, as well as by revelation, and full of comfort and encouragement to every pious mind;-" The righteous Lord loveth righteousness: his countenance doth behold the upright."

It shall be the object of the following re

marks, to remind you of some of the circumstances in which the declaration before us may be called to mind, and meditated upon with advantage.

And, first, it seems highly desirable for us to accompany the religious exercises in which we engage, whether in public or in private, with the reflection, that the Great Being, who is their object, beholds them with approbation. With us, at least, the time may almost be said to have gone by, in which men were accustomed to confide in a scrupulous attention to ceremonial observances, as a substitute for moral excellence, or an apology for moral guilt. The difficulty with many seems now to be, to persuade themselves that there can be any merit or demerit whatever, either in attending to such observances or in neglecting them. At a time when such feelings, and the habits of neglect which naturally arise from them, are too prevalent, it becomes peculiarly incumbent upon those who have attained to habits of regularity in the performance of religious duties, and regard themselves as responsible for the preservation of those habits, frequently to call to mind, and to employ as an encouragement and support, the idea that the Almighty beholds and approves of this part of their conduct. It is far from being

to such persons alone, however, that the present observation is applicable. However rare may be a man's visits to the house of worship, however irregular his performance of private or domestic exercises of devotion, provided only the motive with which he engages in the performance of any individual act of worship be a worthy one, provided he has entered upon it with suitable feelings towards the Deity, and from a sincere desire of self-improvement, it is at once his privilege and his duty to look up to the God whom he worships as regarding the act in which he is engaged with approbation.— We do not, indeed, mean to say that the pleasure which such a person will derive from the consideration of the Divine presence, ought to be, or can be, equal to that of the scrupulously regular worshipper. Neither do we mean to deny, that the degree of pleasure experienced by either must be materially affected by those general reflections upon his moral and religious character, which are likely to suggest themselves on such an occasion. But notwithstanding any differences in the feelings of individuals, to which these and similar considerations may be expected to give rise, we feel assured that every individual who enters upon the performance of an act of worship from becoming motives, both may and ought to derive pleasure from the re