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When David calls upon his soul to bless the Lord, he regards him as "slow to anger," as well as 'plenteous in mercy." (Ps. ciii. 8.) When Isaiah describes the proceedings of Providence, he cries, "Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you." (Is. xxx. 18.) When Nahum paints in awful colours the majesty and terrors of Jehovah, the picture is relieved by this cheering attribute: "Though the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and the storm, though he reserveth wrath for his enemies, and will not at all acquit the wicked, yet he is slow to anger." (Nahum i. 2, 3.) When Joel would urge the Israelites to deep humiliation for their sins, he expresses, by one of the strongest figures, the reluctance of the Most Merciful to punish them: "He is slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” (Joel ii. 13.) When Paul warns sinners against the abuse of divine patience, he energetically speaks of "the riches of the goodness and forbearance and longsuffering of God." (Rom. ii. 4.) When Peter would vindicate the truth of God in his promises and denunciations against the objections of the profane, he declares, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward; not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet. iii. 9.) When our blessed Saviour would lead us to the imitation of our Father in heaven, he is exhibited as bearing with the wicked, and sending the blessings of his providence on the evil and the unjust. (Mat. v. 45.)

But it would be endless to mention all those passages which speak of this perfection as an incentive

to duty, as a motive to adoration, and as a source of comfort. Let us rather make a few remarks illustrating its nature.

1. It is a modification of the divine goodness. But while goodness respects all creatures, patience has as its object only the sinner. Had sin never entered into the world, goodness still would have reigned over all the works of God, but patience never could have been exercised. It is goodness which sustains the irrational creation, which "hears the young ravens when they cry," which crowns the angels: but it is patience which bears with the offences of the rebellious.

2. This patience is not the result of ignorance. God does not spare us, because he is unacquainted with our guilt. Every transgression we have committed, from the first exercise of our reason to the moment that is just flying from us, is in full view of him who is one Eternal Now. Every irregular thought, every unholy desire, every improper motive, every criminal word, every forbidden act, every neglected duty, is beheld by him with all its aggravating circumstances. Every sin, from the first faint thought of it, through all the steps of its progress to its final completion, is "naked and open to him with whom we have to do." He cannot be deceived by false pretences, nor mocked by mere outward observances, for he reads the heart. He clearly beholds too the desert of this sin: the ingratitude it displays, the obligations it violates, the love it contemns, the value of the blood which it disregards, the hell which it has kindled. And yet, O riches of the forbearance and long-suffering of my God, the Lord delays his thunders!

3. This perfection does not result from impotence. Patience and forbearance in man are often supposed to proceed from inability or cowardice. But, thou great Omnipotent, who dare form such a blasphemous opinion of thy forbearance? Thou, whose word spake the world into being; who, by a single exercise of thy will, canst crush all creatures; thou, on whose arm hang heaven, earth, and hell, shall we doubt of thy power to punish thine enemies or suppose that thou tremblest from apprehension of those who could not exist an instant without thy constant support? Nay, my brethren, this perfection is so far from indicating impotence, that we are taught by the scriptures to consider the divine power as most illustriously displayed in its exercise; for this reason, the two attributes are in numerous places joined together, "Slow to anger, and of great power.' "What if God," says the apostle, (Rom. ix. 22.)

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willing to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction ?" It is remarkable, that when Moses (Num. xiv. 17.) is pleading for the pardon of the Israelites, he says, not let thy grace, thy mercy, be manifested, but, "Let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is long-suffering." That power which restrains omnipotence, which holds in that infinite justice which can crush offending creatures, is far greater than that which made the universe.

4. Neither does this patience result from a connivance at sin, or a resolution to suffer it with impunity. Who can even conceive, thrice holy God, thy deep detestation of those sins which thou endurest, towards which thou exercisest thy long-suffering? We quake with terror when we see this detestation glit

tering in the lightnings, and hear it rolling in the thunders of Sinai, when we see it written in the denunciations of thy holy word, attested by the avenging strokes of thy providence, confirmed by all the miseries which have deluged the earth, shining in the flames of hell, and still more awfully displayed in the tremendous sacrifice of Emmanuel! No, no, thoughtless sinner; though the Lord is patient, he also is just; he will not, he cannot, view sin without abhorrence; he will not, he cannot acquit the finally and impenitently guilty.

5. Finally ever remember that this patience is grounded on the everlasting covenant, and the blood of Jesus. Through this covenant, tinged with this blood, every mercy that we enjoy, every blessing that we' hope for, flow to us. Why was not patience exercised to the fallen angels, as well as to fallen man? Why were they immediately "bound in chains of darkness, reserved for judgment?" Because Jesus had not engaged in the councils of eternity to atone for them, as he had engaged to become the surety of man: because when justice demanded their punishment, there was no victim that interposed in their behalf, as did the "Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world," in behalf of man. Oh! then, when you think of the divine patience, let your hearts swell with gratitude, not only towards the everlasting Father, but also to that Jesus, through whose atonement alone this patience could be extended towards you, in consistence with the attributes of God.

Having thus shown you the nature of this attribute, how easy is it,

II. To prove that it is illustriously displayed towards the children of men.

Every thing around you and within you, the history of the church, of the world, and of yourselves, prove the immensity of the divine patience. Unroll the annals of the world: at every step you perceive traces of this attribute. When our first parents sinned, it was exercised towards them. Did the earth immediately swallow them up, or fire from heaven consume them, or the flames of the abyss instantly enwrap them? No; patience held them in being, gave them an opportunity of securing a better Eden than that which they had lost, and pointed them to that Messiah who should repair the ruins of the fall. When the old world had corrupted its way before God, for one hundred and twenty years he bore with its enormities, sent his Spirit to strive with them, and his messengers to warn them, before the exterminating deluge swept them from life. When the nations of the Canaanites indulged in every abomination, and rioted in every crime, he delayed for four hundred years to inflict on them the punishments they deserved, till exhausted patience and abused mercy called for their extinction.

When the Gentile nations in general provoked Heaven by their cruel, impure, and abominable rites; and instead of adoring the God of heaven, had placed the vilest passions and the grossest vices in the seat of the divinity; and encouraged by such a system of religion, had without remorse" run to every excess of riot," the Lord" left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness." (Acts xiv. 17.) When the Israelites so often forgot his covenant, and notwithstanding his numberless miracles and amazing mercies, rebelled