HUMILITY AND RESIGNATION. 



39 



duration, and the range of his omniscience winch 

 embraces an intimate knowledge of the thoughts, 

 the purposes, and the actions of all creatures ; 

 are calculated to overpower the mind with emo 

 tions of veneration and awe, blended with feel 

 ings of affVnion and delight at the recollection of 

 the relation in which we stand to this glorious 

 Intelligence. 



Again, Love to God includes Humility and 

 self-abasement in the divine presence. There 

 is no disposition which appears more incom 

 patible with supreme affection for the Creator 

 than pride, haughtiness, and arrogance. &quot;God 

 resisteth the proud.&quot; Even &quot; a proud look&quot; is 

 declared to be an &quot; abomination&quot; in his sight. 

 And, if the indulgence of pride be inconsistent 

 with the love of God, humility must be regarded 

 as one of its essential and distinguishing accom 

 paniments. When a man who loves God re 

 flects on his condition and character lhat he is a 

 creature who derived his existence from a supe 

 rior Being, to whom he is indebted for all his 

 powers and faculties, and by whose power and 

 mercy he is every moment preserved in ex 

 istence ; when he considers his station in the 

 universe that he is only like an atom in the im 

 mensity of creation, when compared with the 

 innumerable beings which people its wide do 

 mains that he stands near the lowest part of 

 the scale of intelligent existence, and that &quot; all 

 the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers&quot; 

 before Him who sits on the throne of the heavens ; 

 when he recollects that he has apostatized from 

 the God who made him, that he is guilty of 

 innumerable violations of his righteous laws, and 

 stands condemned at the bar of Him &quot; who is of 

 purer eyes than to behold iniquity ;&quot; when he 

 contemplates the circumstances in which he is 

 now placed in consequence of his transgressions 

 the pains, diseases, poverty, bereavements, 

 and reproaches, to which he is subjected ; the 

 storms, and tempests, and elemental war to 

 which he is exposed ; the degradation which 

 awaits his body at the hour of dissolution and in 

 the mansions of the tomb ; and the ignorance, 

 the errors, and follies into which he has fallen ; 

 when he considers that &quot; lowliness of mind&quot; is a 

 characteristic of the most exalted of created in 

 telligences, who &quot;veil their faces&quot; in the divine 

 presence, and cheerfully extend their benevolent 

 regards to the meanest human being who is an 

 &quot; heir of salvation ;&quot; and, above all, when he re 

 flects on the ineffable grandeur of that Being 

 before whom &quot; all nations are as the drop of a 

 bucket,&quot; he is convinced that pride is the most 

 unreasonable principle that can exist in the hu 

 man breast, and that the most profound humility 

 ought for ever to characterize his thoughts and 

 actions, both in the presence of God, and before 

 the eyes of men. On such a character only will 

 ; the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity,&quot; 

 KKJk with complacency, and in such a heart alone 



can the love of God !&amp;gt;e expected to reside in 

 all its generous and noble exercises. Such a dis 

 position, mingling with all the othct benevolent 

 affections, will render them sweet and delightful : 

 it will render us amiable in the eyes of our fel 

 low-men; it will secure us against all the 

 wretched effects and boisterous passions which 

 flow from haughtiness and pride ; it will mitigate 

 the sorrows, the perplexities, and anxieties to 

 which we are subjected in our earthly pilgrim 

 age ; it will enable us to preserve our minds 

 tranquil and serene amidst the provocations, the 

 affronts, and the contentions to which we are ex 

 posed in our intercourses with general society, 

 and will prepare us for associating with the in 

 habitants of that happier world, where seraphic 

 love, profound reverence of the Divine Majesty, 

 and profound humility, mingle with all their in 

 tercourses and employments. 



Resignation to the providential dispensations 

 of the Almighty is another manifestation and ac 

 companiment of love to God. To be habitually 

 discontented, and to murmur and repine under 

 the allotments of his providence, must obviously 

 appear to be inconsistent with sincere and ardent 

 affection for the Supreme Disposer of events. 

 Resignation to the will of God is the duty of 

 every intelligent creature towards the Creator ; 

 and in proportion to the degree in which this 

 principle exists, will be the happiness of the in 

 tellectual being that exercises it. Angels are 

 perfectly happy, because they are perfectly sub 

 missive to the will of their Creator being fully 

 contented with the station allotted them in the 

 universe, and completely resigned to all the fu 

 ture services and allotments which Infinite Wis 

 dom has ordained. Wherever pure affection 

 towards God actuates the mind among the in 

 habitants of our world, it produces a disposition 

 similar in kind, though inferior in degree, to 

 that which animates the breasts of the cherubim 

 and the seraphim in the regions of bliss. 



He, who is actuated by this noble principle, 

 regards every providential event as the appoint 

 ment of his Father in heaven. The devouring 

 flames may consume his habitation to ashes, and 

 scatter his treasures to &quot; the four winds of hea 

 ven ;&quot; the ship in which his wealth is embarked 

 may be dashed against the rocks, and sink &quot; as 

 lead in the mighty waters ;&quot; his friends may for 

 sake him in the season of his deepest anxiety and 

 distress ; the wife of his bosom, whom he ten 

 derly loved, maybe snatched from his embrace by 

 the cold hand of death ; his children, dearer to 

 him than his own soul, may fall victims, one 

 after another, to some pestilential disease, and 

 be for ever removed from his sight to the &quot; land 

 of deep forgetfulness ;&quot; his familiar friend in 

 whom he trusted may &quot; lift up his heel against 

 him,&quot; and load him with unmerited reproaches, 

 his own body may be chastened with sore pain 

 and loathsome disease ; a fall from a home may 



