Amos 5:4-17

The first verse in this paragraph is a confirmation, if it were needed, of what I advanced in my observations on the former. Seeking the Lord, implies the hope of finding him, and indeed the promise is of life. For the Lord hath never said to the praying seed of Jacob, seek ye my face in vain. Psalms 27:8. It is a sure sign of returning grace, when such rich proclamations come from the throne. See Isaiah 55:6. There is a great beauty in the allusion to the planets, those faithful nightly witnesses of heaven. Job speaketh of him that gives to the Pleiades, and Orion, their sweet influences. Job 38:31. And as those heavenly bodies testify to God's faithfulness concerning his covenant of day and night; so the Lord engageth to be gracious to his people when they call upon him. Genesis 8:22. I beg the Reader to remark with me, how again the Lord engageth that his people shall live in seeking him, and that as the Lord of hosts he will be with them. The wailing and mourning in all the streets that are spoken of, do not only refer to the desolations of Jerusalem as a city; but also to the sorrow of the soul, under the awakenings of the Holy Ghost, when the heart is leading under a sense of sin to the Lord.