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ſandy foundation of creature-dependence; in a word, whatſoever ungraſps our hold of every creature-delight, empties us of all perſonal ſufficiency, and lays the ſoul low, helpleſs, and hopeleſs, at the feet of the Redeemner, truſting alone in his free mercy, may, with the ſtricteſt propriety, be conſidered as ſanctified, and to our advantage.
Ephraim had his dark and cloudy days of bemoaning himſelf amidſt his reproach and ſhame, when God became a moth in his ſubſtance, and a lion in his family, reading and tearing away his deareſt delights, ſhattering his idols, and caſting down all his altars to ſin. But were not theſe inſtances of the divine conduct towards him, moſt evidently the fruits of God's unalterable attachment to him, and the greateſt bleſſings that could have poſſibly befallen backſliding Ephraim? Bleſſings, which operated in Ephraim's favour, even when he was, as yet, far from having the comfort of them. Bleſſings, all tending to bring him to that union of heart and affection with God deſcribed in the fourteenth chapter of Hoſea.
Believers are apt to miſtake in nothing more than the effects produced by their afflictions, and if I am not greatly miſtaken, many divines have taken the wrong method in deſcribing them. The ultimate iſſue of them moſt undoubtedly is, "the peaceable fruits of righteouſneſs." But their firſt and immediate effect is, to harrow up the ſoul, and bring the weeds which grow there ſecretly, and unſeen before, to the ſurface, to open view. The wiſe huſbandman thus harrows up the ſkutch in ſpring, which would otherwiſe ſpoil his expected crop; and when he has ſo done, he burns it with fire. At firſt view, one would ſuppoſe, that the beauty of the field is entirely ruined by this operation, yet it
