"have faid, The Lord is God of the hills, "but he is not God of the valleys: there"fore will I deliver all this great multitude "into thine hand, and ye fhall know that I "am the Lord." Accordingly the hiftorian informs us, that, in a battle which was fought on the feventh day from that time, the Ifraelites gained a moft fignal victory over the Syrians.

It was an opinion that prevailed from very early times in the Eaft, and which fpread from thence into the western parts of the world, that the evil there is in the world was not the production of a good being, but arofe from an evil intelligent principle, either co-ordinate with the good one, or fubordinate to him; and as the attributes of the good principle were divided, and diftributed by them among a number of beings, fo alfo invifible powers of an evil nature were multiplied, and became the object of feveral modes of worship. Against this principle of idolatry the ftrongest declarations are made in the fcriptures, which afcribe both good and evil to the fame fupreme

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preme mind, who effects his excellent pur pofes by means of them both alike.

Thus, the divine being, addreffing himfelf to Cyrus (though long before that prince was born) in whofe country the opinion above-mentioned was moft firmly establifhed, fays, If. xlv. "For Jacob &c. 4. 66 my fervant's fake, and Ifrael mine elect, "I have even called thee by thy name: I

have furnamed thee, though thou haft not "known me. I am the Lord, and there "is none elfe, there is no God befides me: "I girded thee, though thou haft not “known me: That they may know from "the rifing of the fun, and from the Weft, "that there is none befides me, I am the

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Lord, and there is none elfe. I form the

light, and create darkness: I make peace, "and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." To the fame purpofe, Jeremiah, in Lament. iii. 37. &c. "Who is he that

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fays, and it cometh to pafs, when the "Lord commanded it not. Out of the "mouth of the most high, proceedeth not "evil and good;" And Amos iii. 6. "Shall

"there

"there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath "not done it?" Job alfo is made to express the fame fentiment, when he fays, Job i. 21. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken

away; bleffed be the name of the Lord :" "Shall we receive

and again, Job ii. 10.

"good at the hand of God, and shall we "not receive evil?"

Laftly, in the courfe of the fcripture history, not only all profperous events, but also all calamitous ones are conftantly afcribed to God, as the fole governor of the world,, and the fovereign difpofer of all events, refpecting both nations and individuals of mankind. Thus the deftruction of the old world by a flood, as well as the interpofition in favour of Noah and his family; the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as the faving of Lot; the plagues of Egypt, as well as the deliverance of the Ifraelites; and alfo all the good and evil that befel either the Ifraelites themfelves, or the neighbouring nations with whom they had intercourse, are equally referred to the fame fuperintending providence, adminiftering both good and evil,

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evil, according to the characters and conduct of men.

The most striking ideas are given us in the fcriptures of the eternity, the omniprefence, and unchangeable nature of the true God. I fhall only quote a few, out of numberless paffages to this purpofe. Mofes, in that prayer of his, which makes the xcth Pfalm, addresses the divine being in the following manner: "Lord, thou haft been our dwel

ling place in all generations. Before the "mountains were brought forth, or ever "thou hadst formed the earth and the "world: even from everlafting to everlast"ing, thou art God." Solomon, at the dedication of his temple, addreffing the divine being, in the prefence of all the people, fays, 1 Kings viii. 27. "But will God,

indeed, dwell on the earth? behold, the "heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot "contain thee, how much lefs this house "that I have builded? By the prophet Jeremiah, the divine being fays, Jer. xxiii. 23. &c. "Am I a God at hand, faith the "Lord, and not a God afar off?

Can any

"hide himself in fecret places that I fhall "not fee him? faith the Lord: do not I fill "heaven and earth? faith the Lord." In Pf. xxxiii. 13. we read, "The Lord looketh "from heaven: he beholdeth all the fons "of men. From the place of his habitation "he looketh upon all the inhabitants of "the earth. He fafhioneth their hearts "alike: he confidereth all their works."

In the cxxxix Pfalin, we have a moft. admirable defcription of the univerfal prefence of God, and alfo of the intimate knowledge that he has of every thing belonging Pf. cxxxix. 1. &c. "O Lord, "thou haft fearched me, and known me. "Thou knoweft my down-fitting, and mine up-rifing, thou understandeft my thought "afar off. Thou compafleth my path, and

to man.

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my lying down, and art acquainted with "all my ways. For there is not a word in

my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest "it altogether. Thou haft befet me be"hind and before, and laid thine hand upon 66 me. Such knowledge is too wonderful "for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto 04

❝it.