LECTURE XLV.

CONSOLATION FOR The Distressed.

PSALM lv. 22.

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain theel

IT requires but little experience to know, that in con

sequence of sin, human life is attended by a variety of sorrows. Every man has his own burden, properly so denominated, as the just allotment of the Almighty; and sometimes as the consequence of his own personal imprudence. Nor may it be improperly called his own, by long and painful experience. As with individuals, so with many excellent families. Like the family of Jacob, a variety of sources afford great and sore afflictions. Nor is it uncommon for such to imagine their sorrows to be greater than others. No individual, nor family, without some burden at particular seasons; and such cannot but find the value of advice to direct them to an adequate source of support and consolation. David performs this friendly office; and directs us in the words of the text, to cast our burden upon the Lord; with this assurance, he will undoubtedly support us. I presume David's direction to us is the result of his own

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experience. He laboured under many a burden, and often enjoyed that relief in casting his care upon the Lord, which he could not have obtained from any other quarter. Let us first examine what may compose the burden of human life;-and then enforce the exhortation, to cast our burden upon the Lord.

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1. We that are in this tabernacle, said Paul, do groan, being burdened. Diseases, pains, and infirmities are incident to our bodies; some by constitution, and others by sinful habits. Old age is a burden to itself, and experiences that pain which death alone can remove. is not uncommon to find persons many years labouring under extreme bodily infirmity, which renders them incapable of discharging the ordinary duties of life, and proves a source of anxiety to their families. To enjoy health, and be freed from bodily pain without interruption, is seldom found to be the lot of our sinful race. And sometimes it happens that the best of men are subject to painful diseases, and for many years groan, being burdened. The sorrows of the body, however great, are by no means equal to the burden of the heart. The spirit of a man, said Solamon, can sustain his infirmities, but a wounded spirit who can bear? Not only the convictions of conscience, but the latent unbelief, pride and depravity of the heart, in various forms, interrupt the peace and the holy walk of the Christian with his God: which form an intolerable burden, and produce the most exquisite pain. This heavy burden compelled Paul to exclaim, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Although God bestows his grace, and accompanies that inestimable gift with numberless other blessings, yet he permits the old body of sin to remain for the trial of the heart, and the

victory of his grace. Weighty as this burden may be, it often is a mean by which the Christian is humbled in the dust; he practically learns the variety, and the sufficiency of the fulness of grace from Jesus, to counteract the depravity of his heart, and to lead him more frequently to the Lord. The ills of life, which generally consist in the loss of friends and of credit, in poverty, calumny, treachery in those we have most esteemed, with many other evils of the same nature; these make a material part of the heavy burden we have to carry through life. Such a complicated burden Job experi enced amidst a thorny path. O, said he, that my griefs were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balance together, for now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea!-To a man who is born again of the Spirit, and has enjoyed the sacred pleasures of communion with God, no trouble is so great as the withdrawment of the sensible presence of his Lord. This adds gall to the vinegar of affliction, and sharpens every arrow shot at the heart. If God shines upon the soul, every burden becomes light, and nothing can disturb its tranquillity; but when that privilege be denied, the smallest burden becomes insupportable. This made David cry, Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thy face in times of trouble ?-Ministers may be said to have a greater number of burdens to bear than other persons; and those who are designed for the greatest usefulness, will be found to sustain the heaviest load of affliction. They have temptations peculiar to their office; opposition from the world; the apostacy of those who had professed the truth; the enmity of those who once expressed the warmest attachment, and probably were foremost in their settlement in the Church; the small appearances

of conversion, and of practical religion;—these form this contents of that burden which often bows the Ministers of Jesus to the dust, and causes them to water their path with tears.

The word burden in our text, according to Jarchi, signifies a gift. This certainly throws additional light upon the passage, and is by no means inconsistent with the conduct of God to his children, and indeed likewise to his only begotten Son Jesus. The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Afflictions to us are gifts designed for our good, to humble and to prove us. Yet, when under the burden of sorrow, how hard is it to believe they are designed in love for our advantage ! In the issue, however, we prove that it is good for us that we have been afflicted. Perhaps I am now addressing myself to some in this family who labour under a severe burden. It is not my present intention to inquire of what your burden may be composed; what may be its weight; or how long, or how far you have carried it? Nor will I ask what expedients you may have taken to procure its removal. In preference, I shall, as proposed, call your attention to the exhortation which is given you in the text.

2. Cast thy burden upon the Lord. Happy is that man, or that family, to whom the Lord' is known. While they feel the burdens of life too heavy and insupportable, they rejoice in their privilege of going to God for relief. It must not be forgotten, that Jesus hath borne the weight and punishment of our sins in his own person on the cross, and that thus he became our Redeemer. From this principle it is that Jesus is both able and willing to bear our heaviest burdens. PRAYER in this case becomes an obvious duty. Proving our own wisdom inadequate to

devise a way for relief, and our own strength insufficient to support us under the burden, we learn the necessity of going by prayer to the Lord.-FAITH is equally necessary, for unless we believe the Lord to be our friend, and embrace his promise, by which he invites, saying, Comé unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, we have no encouragement to apply for relief. The exhortation of our text is, Cast thy burden upon the Lord. Here let me expose one great instance of human frailty. Often we are pressed down with our burdens; we go to the Lord in the formality of prayer for relief; but, alas, instead of casting them upon the Lord, and leaving them with him, we bring them away again. In this case, no wonder if our burdens increase in weight and measure, and more sensibly depress us. To cast our burden upon the Lord is, therefore, to believe that he will dispose of it for our good, and for his glory; it is to possess that unreserved resignation to his will, and that patience in our breast, which enables us to return from prayer as from the presence of the Lord, having left our burden with him. To practise this in our lives under suffering, we must have the assistance of supernatural aid: the Spirit of God alone can help our infirmity and actuate us to such a valuable service. Let me, therefore, entreat you, whenever you. are pressed with a burden, be that burden what it may, to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit to influence your faith, and lead you in prayer to cast your burden upon the Lord. For the practice of this duty, the text affords very de sirable encouragement.

3. He will sustain thee. Here, it is obvious, nothing is said of the burden, but of you. If the Lord is pleased

to sustain you, the burden of course will be found suf