t, and limiting the Holy One
of Israel. How? By presumptuous confidence? No--but by saying he hath
given bread, but _can he give meat_ also? This is the only sense I
know in scripture given to tempting God, and that famous passage from
which the erroneous impression has mainly sprung, in the interview of
Satan with our Lord, is quite kindred. The object of Satan was to get
our Lord's mind into a condition of doubting God, by leading him to
argue, God has certainly said so, but will he do it? for our blessed
Lord was manifestly as much tempting God by attempting to walk upon
the water, as to cast himself into the air. What proves this to be the
meaning is our Lord's quotation, "It is written, Thou shalt not tempt
the Lord thy God." Now, where is this written? Why, in the Old
Testament, where it uniformly implies doubt and distrust; in Exod.
xvii. 2. "Therefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us
water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with
me? Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? And he called the name of the
place Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of
Israel; and because they tempted the Lord, saying, _Is the Lord among
us, or not?_" (verse 7.) And it is in reference to this very passage,
that in Deut. vi. 16. it is said "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God, as ye tempted him in Massah." And that we may not have a doubt of
the meaning, see the application of the word tempting, as applied to
our dear and blessed Lord. Is it ever in the sense of presumptuous
confidence? Never; but always of scepticism and doubt. I do not mean
to say there is not such a sin as presumptuous confidence; I am sure
there is; but that is never called tempting God. The Israelites were
guilty of this sin, when they went up contrary to the command of God
to fight their enemies, after he had pronounced upon them the forty
years wandering in the wilderness.

I think that rightly understanding this is a matter of no small
moment; for many are affrighted, and made sad in the ways of the Lord
by the erroneous application of this Scripture; for to whom does the
Church and the world alike now apply this term? Why, if they hear of a
man selling his property, and becoming poor, like Barnabas, according
to the exhortation of the apostles, and the _example of our Lord_, he
is considered as tempting God by all according to the degree in which
they wish to keep all or part of their own property. Again