ments of the pureft piety were uppermost in the minds of the writers, and that the purest morality was the great object of that piety. It is therefore needless to make many quotations for this purpose, but that we conceive a truer idea from fome particulars, than from the fairest general defcription.

The very first pfalm contains a just character of the righteous and the wicked. "Bleffed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor ftandeth in the way of finners, nor fitteth in the feat of the fcornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. He fhall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his feafon; his leaf alfo fhall not wither, and whatsoever he doth shall profper. The ungodly are not fo, but are like the chaff, which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor finners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly fhall perish."

According to these excellent compofitions, the man who is moft acceptable to God is the

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man of the pureft virtue. Pf. xv. "Lord, who fhall abide in thy tabernacle, who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteoufnefs, and fpeaketh the truth in his heart; he that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour, in whofe eyes a vile perfon is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord; he that fweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. He that doth these things fhall never be moved." Again to the fame purpose we read, Pf. xxiv. "Who fhall afcend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his foul unto vanity, nor fworn deceitfully. He fhall receive the bleffing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his falvation."

David, under a deep fenfe of guilt, was fully fenfible that nothing would avail him in the fight of God but true and genuine repentance, which implies amendment of heart and life. He pleads for mercy on no other principle. Pf. li. 1. "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according

according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my tranfgreffions. For I acknowledge my tranfgreffion, and my fin is ever before me. Behold thou defireft truth in the inward part. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Thou defireft not facrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The facrifices of God are a broken fpirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not defpife."

The fame fentiment, expreffed with peculiar energy, occurs in feveral of the prophets, as Micah vi. 8. "Wherewith fhall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my tranfgreffion, the fruit of my body for the fin of my foul? He hath fhewed, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Ez. xviii. 20. "The foul that finneth it shall die. But if the wicked turn from all his

fins that he hath committed, andkeep all my ftatutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his tranfgreffions that he hath committed fhall not be mentioned unto him. In his righteousness that he hath done fhall he live."

Such was the perfuafion which the pious Hebrews had of the power, the wisdom, and the goodness of God, of his love of virtue, and his hatred of vice, that the firmeft confidence in the favour of his providence never deferted them while they are in the path of well doing. Pf. xxv. 10. "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to fuch as keep his covenant and his teftimonies. O keep my foul, and deliver me, let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait on thee." Pf. xxxvii. 1." Fret not thyfelf because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grafs, and wither as the green herb. Truft in the Lord, and do good, so thou shalt dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyfelf alfo in the Lord, truft alfo in him, and he will give thee the delight of thy heart. Commit

thy

thy way unto the Lord, truft alfo in him, and he shall bring it to pafs. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon day. Truft in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Ceafe from anger, and forfake wrath, fret not thyself in any wife to do evil. For evil doers fhall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord fhall inherit the earth." Pf. lxii. 1. " Truly my foul waiteth upon God; from him cometh my falvation. He only is my rock, and my falvation, he is my defence, I shall not be greatly moved." Pf. xlii. 11. "Why art thou caft down, O my foul, why art thou difquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I fhall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." Pf. xlvi. 2. “God is our refuge and strength, a present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the fwelling thereof."

I might tranfcribe a great part of the book of Pfalms, and other portions of the