"Christ is my pilot wise, 66 By faith I see the land, The port of endless rest; My soul, thy wings expand, And fly to Jesus' breast! Oh, may I reach that heav'nly shore, SERMON VIII. MIDNIGHT THOUGHTS AND MEDITATIONS. PSALM LXII. 6. "I meditate on Thee in the night watches." NOTHING makes so great a difference between one man and another as the grace of God in the heart. It is true, that many an ungodly blasphemer, many a despiser of the Lord's house, and word, and sabbaths, may be found possessed of considerable learning; and they may inherit wealth, and houses, and lands, and ships, and merchandize; and in the possession of these earthly good things, they may appear vastly superior to many others; and they may be very different in many things from those around them. But still, if they are destitute of the saving grace and love of God in their hearts, they are far beneath the poorest man in the land who knows and loves the joyful sound of the Gospel of salvation. The poor christian man is far more highly esteemed by the angels of God than the richest wicked man that breathes the breath of life. The fact is, that the grace of God makes those who possess it something what the Lord would have them to be; while the man, who is destitute of that grace, has nothing about or within him, but what is hateful in the Lord's sight. The grand distinction between the children of this world, and those of the Lord Jesus is, that the former are carnally minded, and the latter are spiritually minded; the heart of the first is set principally on things below, while that of the second is set on things above; so that the thoughts, and words, and works of the children of the world and the children of the kingdom are contrary the one to the other. The one party loves to think of and to talk about the things of the flesh, and of the world; while the other prefers to discourse about, and to meditate on spiritual and heavenly subjects. This was the case with the Psalmist. He had many important duties and employments to attend to in his station as the king of Israel, which were not of a spiritual or heavenly nature, as is more or less the case with most men, and these he knew were not to be neglected; but when he had a leisure hour or two, we find him either in company with those who feared the Lord, or else retiring to his closet to the delightful work of studying God's law, and of holding communion with his heavenly Father in prayer, in praise, and supplication. And there were other times and seasons also wherein he enjoyed sweet communion with God; ; times and seasons when the greater part of all his people were either keeping up the midnight revel, or were sunk in the insensibility of sleep. Yes, the Psalmist "remembered the Lord upon his bed, and meditated upon him in the night watches." And this is the point I would now draw your attention to. Every one knows that the seaman passes much of his life in the active and necessary duties of his profession through the watches of the night. To him the night brings its anxieties and its duties equally with and often more abundantly than the day. While those on shore are housed in safety and sunk into sleep, the seaman must pace the deck, or steer, or work the vessel; and on many occasions feel himself surrounded by dangers and sundry kinds of death. On all these occasions his mind and thoughts must unavoidably be taken up with the circumstances of the passing hour, and with the duties of the watch, and of the night. But there are seasons of quiet and fine weather, there are night watches in which those on deck have but little else to do than quietly to pace the deck, or now and then trim a sail or take a turn at the wheel; and this is the time to see what men are as to the disposition of their hearts, and the desires of the soul. For this is the time when the graceless and ungodly seamen will be discoursing with |