Page:The Works of Samuel Johnson ... A journey to the Hebrides. The vision of Theodore, the hermit of Teneriffe. The fountains. Prayers and meditations. Sermons.v. 10-11. Parliamentary debates.pdf/521

 whose common interests require a reciprocation of kindness and beneficence, how greatly is the crime aggravated, when it is committed against that Being, whose goodness towards the sons of men is perfectly disinterested! The exertions of Divine providence in our behalf tend solely to our own welfare; nor can any thing we do in return contribute, in the smallest degree, to the augmentation of the happiness of the Almighty Benefactor. This unquestionably ought to be sufficient to exact from us the most profound veneration, the most fervent gratitude, and implicit obedience to his sacred laws.

David, after having enumerated the tender mercies of God, is penetrated with the strongest sense of devotion. "My mouth," he exclaims, "shall speak the praise of the Lord; and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever." Such was the tribute which the royal psalmist thought due to the Deity for the creation and preservation of man. The debt is accumulated to us in an infinite proportion; for while we are bounden to the same return for the same benefits voluntarily conferred upon us, a grander obligation is superadded to that for the "means of grace, and for the hope of glory." Were the mercies of the Lord limited to the tenure of our present existence, great and glorious as they are, the human mind would be clouded by the consciousness that a very few years must exclude us for ever from the participation of them. But since the gracious rays of life and immortality have dissipated the gloom that hung upon futurity, since, by the propitiatory sacrifice of the Son of God, death is disarmed of his sting, and the grave deprived of its victory, Divine goodness hath received its perfect consummation.

If gratitude, praise, and adoration, therefore, be due to the Author of our being for those blessings which we enjoy at present, it is no less our highest interest so to use them in this previous state of trial, that we may finally exchange them for those purer and incorruptible treasures reserved for the righteous in the kingdom of heaven.