SERMON XX.

THANKSGIVING.

(Preached on the day of the annual Thanksgiving in 1819.)

I. CHRONICLES, xxix. 13.

f

Now, therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious

name.

In the chapter, with which our text is connected, are recorded the death of the devout monarch and psalmist of Israel, and some of the latest acts of his life. His piety, gratitude, and humility appear in these acts, in a most striking light, After God had given him peace on every side, and had established the kingdom in his hand, and settled the succession in his son Solomon, it became an earnest wish of David, to close his reign and life by a memorable act of piety: to build a temble at Jerusalem. He proposed the great design to the prophet; but, though it pleased God to approve, and to commend him, that it was in his heart to build

him a house, the execution of the pious enterprise was reserved for the peaceful reign of his son. David, however, made great preparations for the work; appropriated, from his own resources, what would be equivalent to nearly fifty millions of our money, to its accomplishment, and excited the friends and opulent men of his kingdom, to give liberally after his own example. He seems, at last, to have been astonished at what had been done, and deeply penetrated with pious gratitude, for what both he and his people had been enabled to contribute to this pious object. To God, he gives all the praise; acknowledges that it was his own, which they rendered to Him; that all their riches had been but the mercies bestowed upon them, in His Providence. In the presence of the congregation, he uttered the deep emotions of his pious heart, in the following effusion of praise and thanksgiving-" Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and earth is thine! thine is the kingdom, O Lord,

and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all." Then follows our text-" Now, therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name."

This sublime hymn was originally adapted to the circumstances of David and Israel; but the senti

ments are at all times just, and become the hearts and lips of every people. It is an ardent acknowledgment of the greatness, the perfections, the providence, the government, the merey, and bounty of the great Creator. O that we may this day feel much of the grateful, joyful spirit of the holy psalmist, in this song; and when we shall have indulged, for a few moments, a train of thought naturally arising from it, let us join with the choir at least in our hearts, while they repeat the sentiment, in the strains of our best anthems.

Let us, with David, take a view of some of the many mercies of God, which should animate us to the duty of praise and thanksgiving, and with that order, which the extent of the subject admits, consider,

I. The display of his goodness in creation, and the ways of his providence.

II. Some of his many mercies to this Commonwealth.

III. Some of the benefits of the past year; and -what is never to be forgotten, nor omitted in our thankgiving,

IV. The mercy of the Gospel.

For a moment we are to consider,

I. The display of God's goodness in creation, and in the ways of his providence.

We are very incompetent judges, it must be confessed, on a subject which is boundless, and most of which is entirely beyond our research. But so far as we can search out the works of God, his goodness appears most illustriously. The earth is full of his goodness-so is

this great and wide sea. The numberless living creatures, which people the air, the earth, and the waters, whatever be the term of their life, seem made to enjoy divine bounty. The meanest insect is constituted with organs, adapted to minister to its pleasures. The human frame is a little world of wonders. It cannot be examined, and its parts understood, without a devout admiration of the hand which formed it. Examine the arm; and observe the ease, and use, and grace of its motions, single and combined. Examine the hand; you see nothing about it superfluous, nothing deficient ; and of what delicate and important uses is it capable : The eye; we could not behold it without delightful astonishment, if it were not so common an object.How complex and delicate in its parts; how comprehensive and grand in its power! The beauties of the earth, the sublimities of the heavens, it ushers into the mind. We grow familiar with the objects of vision, and less sensible to its pleasures. But let a man born blind, by the operation of the oculist, be brought to see, and he will be utterly unable to tell his delightful amazement. Every thing, my friends, is wonderful in the human frame; and the more we know of its mechanism, the more shall we discover the divine wisdom and goodness in its construction, and the more ready shall we be to exclaim with the psalmist, "I will praise thee O Lord, for I am wonderfully made and curiously wrought."

Let me remark farther. If the great Creator appears thus good in his works below, from analogy we may

confidently conclude him to be infinitely good throughout creation. "The heavens declare the glory of God." At this vast distance from those shining orbs, we behold them with awe and delight; but could we survey them at hand, new wonders would burst upon our eyes. What orders of being people those larger and brighter orbs, or what happiness they enjoy, we can only conjecture. But we have every reason to believe that the works of God every where display his goodness, as well as his power; and it is the duty of all in-. telligent beings to praise their good and great Creator.

Under this general head, I add, that the ways of. Providence form another just claim to our grateful praise. The same power is necessary to sustain, as to create. What confusion and desolation would instantly spread through creation, if the divine hand was not constantly employed in wheeling and balancing the mighty orbs. If, also, the divine care was not constantly exercised in feeding every living thing, what misery and destruction would be instantly experienced! It becomes us then, this day, to unite in paying our humble adoration and praise to the great Parent of the world, for the display of his goodness in the works of creation, and the ways of his providence. But we shall see something farther of the goodness of God's providence, under the remaining heads of our discourse.. Let us, therefore, proceed to consider,

II. Some of his many mercies to this Commonwealth, and to our country.