It is necessary, however, to remark, that we are not authorized always to expect the strict exercise of retributive justice in the present state. Some remarkable visitations have, in all periods, roused the attention of an astonished world, and powerfully appealed to the understanding of men, in vindication of the character, and in proof of the existence, of a superintending Providence. Tyrants have been hurled from their thrones, empires uprooted from their foundations, and the "poor set on high from oppression;" but these dispensations have not been regular, nor can they be calculated upon as certain, or in general, perhaps, as probable. They have been sufficiently numerous to indicate an observant though invisible eye fixed upon human affairs; but not so frequent as to supersede the Christian's anticipations of a day of final and impartial judgment. The present may indeed be considered rather as a time of permitted, confusion, the period of moral chaos, in which the elements of a new creation exists, but in a disorganized state; in which the principles of depraved human nature are permitted to develope themselves, and human passions are suffered to act in an ample field of exertion with comparatively little control, and for the purpose of ultimately promoting the glory of God. Hereafter "the morning stars" will "sing together," and all "the sons of God" again "shout for joy," when "all things that offend shall be gathered out of his kingdom," when sinners shall be everlastingly degraded, Christ for ever exalted, the most mysterious dispensations shine with transparent brightness in the light of eternity, and the unfading paradise of the saints bloom amidst the wrecks of time. 3. "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Little did Sisera imagine the fatal reverses he was destined to suffer, when in all the pride of fancied superiority, sustained by the recollection of the successes of twenty years, he made his arrangements for the battle with Barak and Deborah. What a contrast between the moment of confident preparation, and that of disgraceful retreat! What a mighty and unexpected contrast between the high-spirited general at the head of his army, and the trembling fugitive hiding himself in a tent, and slain by a woman. Let us apply the reflection to ourselves. How often do we form our schemes, and calculate on temporal prosperities, without any due regard to the will of Providence, or any proper consideration of the uncertainty of life. "We live without God in the world," an omniscient Deity has no existence in our minds, and we inquire "Who will show us any good?" as if God were not the chief good, or could not supply our happiness.