St. Ambrose says, that by dust we are to understand the flesh of men, on which God permits Satan to feed, that is, sometimes to torment and grieve the bodies of believers, for over their souls he has not the least command. The dust, therefore, Satan eats, is the seed spoken of as the seed of the Serpent; these are called the cattle, and the beasts of the field—these are Satan’s portion, bear his image, and will be found like him another day, even in the resurrection of the wicked—_When they __shall awake_, _O Lord_, _thou wilt despise their image_. All the sins, infirmities, temptations, and troubles, of God’s dear people—these are the dust he feeds on. And as it is with the father Serpent, it is with his seed; his offspring a generation of Vipers and Serpents, they have their portion of dust to eat, and they can feed on nothing else—and this every believer has seen to his grief. What in one scripture is called the seed of the Serpent, is in another called the children of the wicked one. First, Because as sinners, they are his offspring. Secondly, Because they are like him, and bear the same names, a liar, a Lion, a Serpent, a destroyer, and an enemy; and because they bear his image, do his works, and obey his commands; their food is alike—dust is their meat as well as his. This is another point we shall discover—Man having lost the image of God, left the fountain of his bliss and satisfaction; his mind soon became vitiated—a vacancy being in it he seeks to fill the empty space with any thing, and every thing but God. This is the state of every man by nature; this the believer can remember with regret, and can now look back on his former folly in forsaking the fountain and cleaving to the stream of creature satisfaction. Changed by grace, he views his fellow immortals seeking for that which will never satisfy him. The Miser, a poor grovelling Serpent, feeding on white and yellow dust, “Throwing up his interest in both worlds—first starv’d in this, then damn’d in that to come.”—_Blair_. He heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.—_David_. He layeth up silver as the Dust—the pant after the dust of the earth. Thus such Serpents eat the dust, while their covetous hearts are perpetually crying, “Give! Give!”—_Solomon_. “They grudge, and are not satisfied.”—_David_. All the vain pursuits, carnal gratifications, sensual delights, and that phantom, called Pleasure, which a worldling strives for, is but trying to fill the mind with dust. Hence the Prophet Isaiah represents them as a people dreaming—_They have been eating and drinking_, _and when they awake up_, _behold they are hungry_.—Isaiah xxix. Hence David prays, _And let me not eat of their dainties_. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life—these are not of the Father, but of the world—these are ashes; and the dust they feed on—1 John ii.