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the east, which are so soon, as it respects them, to be extinguished in eternal night. Lot emerges from the polluted scenes of depravity, an instance of the goodness of God; and escapes the desolation which demonstrated his just severity. "And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city."

The night is the season of alarm and of danger. As the gloom thickens, every object wears a portentous aspect. Its solemnity deepens the cloud of affliction; and throws a darker shade over sorrow itself. It is the time for awful deeds. Then the murderer stalks abroad to destroy; and his "feet are swift to shed blood." Then the adul

Then violence

tress spreads her toils to ensnare. is prepared to "smite with the fist of wickedness;" and the thief treads softly, that he may "break through and steal." Then the sinner hastens to iniquity, in imaginary security under the covert of midnight, and says, in the ignorance and presumption of his heart, "Tush! God doth not see!" It was at night, that the destroying angel passed through Egypt to slay the first-born: at night, that the sword of the Lord penetrated the camp of Assyria, and destroyed an hundred and eighty-five thousand men at night, that the shadow of a hand wrote on the wall of Belshazzar's palace, the departure of his kingdom, the close of his glories and of his life together, and the scrutiny of justice with

its perilous consequences. But the day has ever been regarded as the season of security. The first ray of the morning chases the phantoms of the imagination, and terminates the horrors of fancy. Light discovers real peril, and bears with it the means of escape. When the day breaks upon us, it scatters peace, and joy, and safety in its smiles. Ah, how little do we know where danger lurks, and when the dream of happiness shall be broken! Sodom escapes the peril of the night, to fall by unexpected vengeance in the morning! "And while he lingered"—who that had a heart to feel, and connections to relinquish, could refrain?-"while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city." A gentle constraint is laid upon him to snatch him from ruin. It is thus that we feel a divine power gently attracting us from the world to the cross: we are drawn with "the cords of love :" no violence is imposed upon our will in leading us from the paths of death: but we feel and acknowledge, that it is HE, "who worketh in us to will and to do his own good pleasure." It is thus, when our wandering hearts "follow lying vanities, and forsake their own mercies," that God sends some gentle and salutary affliction to chastise our folly and to bring our spirit home to its rest.

"And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look

not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed." Judgment once awakened, is not always directed to discriminate characters; and the righteous are sometimes permitted to suffer in the general calamity. It is not safe to dwell in the tents of sin; and those who take up their abode in the tabernacles of the wicked, must be content to share their portion, and their punishment—at least, in the present life. Nothing short of a total separation from them can afford security: for to linger on the plain is as hazardous as to tarry in the city. “And Lot said unto them, O, not so, my Lord." In the very midst of danger, and while the cloud of ruin hangs over his head, self-willed man cannot refrain from opposing his opinions to the arrangements of Deity; and it must be "according to his mind," or he will scarcely be satisfied with his deliverance. "Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight”—should he therefore presume?—and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life;" should he not therefore be satisfied? Is the goodness of God a reason why he should tempt his forbearance? "and I cannot escape to the mountain”—why not? What shall hinder when God leads the way? what can successfully oppose, when he commands?-"lest some evil take me, and I die!" O thou of little faith! wherefore didst thou doubt? Was not HE who led thee forth from the midst of a people given over to utter desolation, strong to deliver? Was

he not able to preserve thee? And had he not given a tacit pledge of security, in the very command which he issued? "Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one "—it is a small request that I prefer, in comparison with the unsolicited mercy which thou hast already manifested; or, it is a little city, and may well be spared in so wide and general a destruction as thine offended justice meditates—“ Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live." What is the punishment which awaits the man who dares to lift his little plans to a competition with the wisdom of Deity? Let us adore the long suffering of God! Heaven lends a gracious ear to this supplication: "and he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.” How consistent is this with the character of God, who delighteth to have mercy, and to forgive. Lot had an high gratification in seeing this little object of his compassion escape the devastation of its vicinity, if benevolence urged his plea; but if selfishness dictated it, as the narrative seems to insinuate, he was greatly disappointed : for although his request was granted, his terrors suffered him not to derive from it the advantage which he proposed; since he afterwards abandoned the retreat which he had chosen, and fled to the mountain, whither God had first directed him, "for he feared to dwell in Zoar." "Haste thee, escape thither;" thy presence disarms my wrath, and

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withholds my righteous vengeance; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither." Behold the value and importance of one righteous man! It was the lip of infallible truth which said of his disciples, "Ye are the salt of the earth!" "Therefore," in remembrance of the successful plea of Lot, "the name of the city was called Zoar;" which signifies little, and relates to the argument which its intercessor used. Most of the names given to persons, and to things, in the scriptures, bear a reference to some signal circumstances, more nearly, or remotely connected with them.

"The sun was risen upon the earth, when Lot entered into Zoar." This calm is perfectly natural, and agrees with almost every account transmitted to us of tempests, earthquakes, and great convulsions of nature. We know that the wind, usually falls, and that there is a profound serenity diffused over the atmosphere, before a storm. The former part of that day in which Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake, was uncommonly fine; and the danger was not even apprehended, till an unusual subterraneous noise, and a slight trembling of the ground, preceded, for a few moments, the first great shock, which almost levelled the whole city. This same agitation of the earth was almost universal, and extended nearly over the whole globe; and in every place where it was felt, the same tranquillity was observed to reign, before the calamity was endured. This calm, however, is unspeakably dreadful! Who can read this single verse

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