MERCY AND PATIENCE OF GOD. 



them that fear him ; and his righteousness unto 

 children s children. Many, O Lord, my God, are 

 thy wonderful works, which thou hast done, and 

 thy thought? to us ward ; they cannot be reckoned 

 up in order unto thee; if I would declare and 

 speak of them, they are more than can be num 

 bered. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and 

 wonderfully made : marvellous are thy works. 

 How precious are thy thoughts (or designs) 

 towards me, O God ! how great is the sum of 

 them ! If I should count them, they are more 

 in number than the sand.&quot; 



Thus it appears, that both the system of na 

 ture, and the system of revelation, concur in 

 exhibiting the wisdom and benevolence of the 

 Deity as calculated to excite the highest degree 

 of ardent affection in the minds of the whole in 

 telligent creation. If an atom of gratitude is 

 due to an earthly benefactor, it is impossible to 

 set bounds to that affection and gratitude which 

 ought incessantly to rise in our hearts towards 

 the Creator of the universe, who is the &quot; Father 

 of mercies, and the God of all consolation.&quot; 

 And, therefore, we need not wonder, that &quot; holy 

 men of old,&quot; whose minds were overpowered 

 with this sacred emotion, broke out into language 

 which would be deemed extravagant, by the frigid 

 moralists of the present, age. Under a sense of 

 the unbounded love and goodness of God, the 

 psalmist felt his heart elated, and formed these 

 pious resolutions : &quot; Seven times a day will I 

 praise thee, O Lord ! At midnight will I rise to 

 give thanks to thee, because of thy righteous 

 precepts, I will rejoice in the way of thy pre 

 cepts, as much as in all riches. The law of thy 

 mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold 

 and silver. Oh, how I love thy law! it is my 

 meditation all the day. I will speak of thy tes 

 timonies before kings, and will not be ashamed 

 of thy commandments. Whom have I in heaven 

 but thee 1 and there is none upon earth that I 

 desire beside thee. As the hart panteth after 

 the brooks of water, so panteth my soul after 

 thee, O God !&quot; Under similar emotions, the 

 Apostle Paul exclaims, &quot;I am persuaded that 

 neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principal 

 ities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 

 to come, shall be ab.e to separate us from the 

 ove of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.&quot; 



SECTION V. 



ON THE MEBCY AND PATIENCE OF GOD. 



Another feature in the divine character, which 

 is peculiarly calculated to excite admiration, af 

 fection, and gratitude, is the mercy and patience 

 of God. 



Mercy has its source in the divine goodness, 

 and may be considered as a particular modifica 



tion of the benevolence of the Deity. Goodness 

 is the genus, mercy the species. The goodnesi 

 of God extends to all the creatures he has formed, 

 of whatever description or character, to the 

 fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, the micro 

 scopic animalcula, and the most wicked class of 

 human beings, as well as to angels, archangels, 

 and other superior intelligences. Mercy can 

 have a reference only to those who have sinned 

 against their Maker, and rendered themselves 

 unworthy of his favours. It consists in the be- 

 stowment of blessings upon those who have for 

 feited every claim to them, and have rendered 

 themselves obnoxious to punishment. It cannot 

 be exercised toward &quot; the angels who have kept 

 their first estate,&quot; or towards any other class of 

 holy intelligences, because they do not stand in 

 need of its exercise. The patience or forbear 

 ance of God, is that attribute of his nature which 

 consists in his bearing long with sinners, and 

 refraining from inflicting deserved punishment, 

 notwithstanding their impenitence, and long- 

 continued provocations. 



These attributes are seldom displayed, in our 

 world, by one man, or class of men, towards 

 another. Instead of clemency, mercy, and for 

 bearance, we find in the character of mankind, 

 as delineated in the page of history, the princi 

 ple of revenge operating more powerfully than 

 almost any other disposition ; and, therefore, 

 when any striking instance of mercy and long- 

 suffering is exhibited in human conduct, we are 

 disposed to wonder at it, and to admire it as an 

 extraordinary moral phenomenon. When we be 

 hold a personage who is possessed of every de 

 gree of moral and physical power for crushing his 

 enemies yet remaining calm and tranquil, and 

 forbearing to execute deserved punishment, not 

 withstanding repeated insults and injuries, we 

 are led to admire such qualities, as indicating a 

 certain degree of greatness and benevolence of 

 mind. On this principle, we admire the for 

 bearance of David, the anointed king of Israel, 

 towards Saul, his bitterest enemy, when he had 

 an opportunity of slaying him at the cave of En- 

 gedi ; and afterwards, when he was sleeping in 

 a trench at Hachila; and at the clemency 

 which he exercised tawards Shitnei, who had 

 cursed and insulted him, and treated him most 

 reproachfully. On the same principle, we ad 

 mire the conduct of Sir Walter Raleigh, a man 

 of known courage and honour, towards a certain 

 rash, hot-headed youth. Being very injuriously 

 treated by this impertinent mortal, who next pro 

 ceeded to challenge him, and, on his refusal, spit 

 on him, and that too in public ; the knight ta 

 king out his handkerchief, with great calmness, 

 made him only this reply : &quot; Young man, if 1 

 could as easily wipe your blood from my con 

 science, as I can this injury from my face, I 

 would this moment take away your life.&quot; 



In order to exhibit the mercy and long-suf- 



