The survey has filled He breaks out into the

ment:"-the Apostle's heart is full. it with "wonder, love, and praise." utterance of devout astonishment, and of lowly yet lofty adoration :—“ O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."

The first of these verses ought, I am more than inclined to think, to be somewhat differently translated. As it stands, it is only the "wisdom" and the "knowledge" of God that are the objects of adoring wonder; as each containing an unsearchable "depth of riches,”—each an inexhaustible mine. But with no less at least, if not more of literal fidelity, the verse might be rendered-"O the depth of the riches, and wisdom, and knowledge of God!"-There are thus three things, instead of two only, that excite the Apostle's admiration, and draw from his utmost soul the sublime ascription of praise;—the "riches" of God-(that is, the riches of his mercy)-his "knowledge," and his "wisdom."*

In support of this, the following considerations may be noticed:

1. The term "riches" is frequently used by this Apostle in the sense thus affixed to it,-with special reference, that is, to the goodness and grace of God. "The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him:"- Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace:""God who is rich in mercy:"-"That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us, through Christ Jesus:"-" Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I

* So Bengel, Tholuck, Olshausen, and others.-ED.

should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ:"-"I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,”- -or his glorious riches, "to be strengthened with might by his Spirit, in the inner man:" and, as the Apostle had just been speaking, in terms of admiration, of the extent and freeness of the divine mercy, this seems to be the sense which most naturally befits it here.—Then

2. By this rendering, there is produced a correspondence between the three subjects of admiration, and the three questions which follow ;-only-(which with the Apostle is no unusual thing) inverting their order. Thus the question, in the thirty-fifth verse- "Who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again?" corresponds to the admiration of God's riches, as those in the thirty-fourth correspond to his wisdom and knowledge;—the question being intended to express the superabundance of His grace, as apparent in its unmerited freeness:-no one, when summoned to establish a claim upon Him, being able to respond to the challenge:- -"Who hath first given to Him? and it shall be recompensed unto him again?" Let the claim be made good :—and “from the just God the compensation is sure."

We are called, then, by the language before us to consider two things:-The depth of the divine riches, wisdom, and knowledge;—and the influence which the contemplation of them should have on our sentiments and feelings.

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I. Let us, in the first place, then, dwell a little on THE DEPTH OF THE DIVINE RICHES, AND WISDOM, AND KNOWLEDGE."

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1. "O the depth of the RICHES of God!"

"The riches” of God might be considered as having received illustration in the whole of the previous contents of the Epistle; which are, in truth, a development of the boundless amplitude of His love, in the redemption wrought by His Son. But the Apostle's devout reflection is evidently meant to be understood as having special reference to the theme of the present chapter;-the dealings of God's mercy with Jews and with Gentiles, severally, and in union. The God of salvation

-the God of the everlasting covenant-proved himself “rich in mercy" toward "the seed of Abraham his friend." The largesses of His love to them were such as no other people enjoyed. But when they refused His grace, displayed in the very greatest of His gifts-"despising and rejecting" the divine Messiah;-then, in righteousness and sovereignty,the mercy, proffered and proudly scorned, is transferred to the Gentiles. But not to the final exclusion of the chosen people. By the Gentiles-while it is enjoyed for themselves, it is, at the same time, to be, as it were, kept in store,—so that, when God's time of returning favour shall come, it may be again shared by them with the Jews,—and that in more glorious profusion than ever, the very "fulness of the blessing."As the Jews had been depositaries of it for the Gentiles, the Gentiles, in their turn, were to be depositaries of it for the Jews. And one of the effects of the temporary "casting away" of Israel will be-the more strikingly glorious manifestation of the "depth of the riches," and the munificent freeness, of divine mercy.-For many ages, the stream that flowed from this unfathomable depth appeared taking its course through Judea alone,-winding through the length and breadth of the land of promise. At "the fulness of time," -in consequence and in punishment of the infidelity and rebellion of the people whom Jehovah had thus peculiarly and highly favoured,—its course was changed. It found a new channel. Diverted from Palestine, its pure and swelling waters overflowed with blessing to those nations, which had before been dwelling in "the shadow of death"-in "dry and thirsty lands where there was no water." And now, "the wilderness and the solitary place have been glad for them; and the desert has rejoiced and blossomed as the rose:" -the "glory of Lebanon, and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon," are transferred to the wastes of the heathen. For eighteen centuries, the hallowed stream has been wending its refreshing and fructifying course, in all directions, through this wide wilderness; and it is destined, in process of time, to make the whole extent of it "like Eden, the entire desert like the garden of the Lord." But the land of Israel is not

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to be left for ever in destitution of its cheering and fertilizing influence. It is yet again to reach that once fruitful, but now desolate and blighted region; and to bless it with new and perennial verdure. 'Judgment shall then dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever."

Thus Jehovah manifests his "delight in mercy." And rich mercy it is, both to Jew and to Gentile; conferred, free of all obligation on the part of the Giver, and in opposition. to all desert on the part of the receivers. This is the sentiment so strongly and truly expressed in the thirty-fifth verse -“Who hath first given unto him?—and it shall be recompensed unto him again?"—God is just. Justice consists in giving every one his due. If, then, any being in existence can show that from him Jehovah has been a receiver; if he can thus make it good that He owes him a debt, -can substantiate a claim upon Him for its payment;-the payment will be made-instantly made, the recompense not one moment withheld. If any human being can establish such a claim, let him advance it:—and the moment it is proved, it will be met. But there is blasphemous presumption in the very thought. To no creature whatever can the infinite God ever be under obligation. He is the universal Giver. He receives nothing. The boundless ocean of His love is not kept full by the influx of tributary rivers. It is an ocean which sends forth its streams of blessing over the universe; and which, although receiving no supplies, never sinks from its fulness. It is self-supplied, from the secret and everlasting springs of infinitude. To the question, "Who hath first given to Him?" there never has been, and there never can be, any other answer than one-No created being. The highest seraph before the throne regards not his glory and bliss in the light of recompense. He owes, and feels that he owes, all that he enjoys to infinite goodness alone; owning himself an "unprofitable servant, who has done that which was his duty to do;" but who has conferred nothing that can merit any return.-To man, when in innocence, the

blessed God lay under no obligation beyond what arose from His own benevolent and holy nature, by which we are necessarily led to expect that happiness should accompany sinless obedience ;- -or from His own free and spontaneous promise, in harmony with that moral nature, giving the assurance that it should.—And when man had "fallen by his iniquity," the God against whom he had sinned was under no obligation to make any provision for his recovery. The rebel-the sinner

—could have no claim whatever for anything of the kind. He has made it :-but it has been in mercy. The provision has come from the depth of His riches,-from the inexhaustible mine of His grace. The entire scheme of salvation, in its invention, its revelation, its preparation, its execution, its application, and in all its happy results to men, in time and in eternity, is the product and the manifestation of sovereign mercy. Jesus Christ is God's gift-His "unspeakable gift:"He "spared not his own Son, but freely gave him up for us all." And all the blessings of eternal life are equally gifts, gifts of grace, bestowed on his account:"how shall He not, with him, also freely give us all things?" "O the depth of his riches!"

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Ye who have "tasted that the Lord is gracious,”—you are every one of you sensible, that all your happiness, in possession and in hope, is the gift of the "unsearchable riches" of God's mercy:-that you never had,—that you have not now, and that you never can have any claim, even the least and most distant, upon Him:-no-not so much as for one moment's existence in any condition less miserable than the "second death." You ask no recompense:-you ask a gift; a gift "without money and without price,”"the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." And, in receiving it, you gratefully adore the mercy that confers it with such munificent freeness. "O the depth!" you exclaim, "of the riches of God! Who hath first given to Him? and it shall be recompensed unto him again."

It is a wonderful expression in the thirty-second verse"For God hath concluded all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all!"-The sentiment—or general principle