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God to your highest love, your holiest confidence, | ful labours of the shepherd in the distant solitudes and your most reverential obedience. His glory of the land. In the family of Isaac, the blessing shall never depart, his throne is established descends, not to the first born, as the patriarch throughout all generations; his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure. Thus saith the Lor 1, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid; have I not told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no God; I know not any,' Isa. xliv. 6-9.

ELEVENTH DAY.-EVENING.

himself intended and desired, but according to the sovereign purpose of God, to Jacob, the younger of the two brothers. And the same infinite sovereignty is visible in the adjustment of all the details of the plan of salvation. What, for instance, could be more powerfully demonstrative of this than the selection of the humble virgin to be the Saviour's mother; BethlehemEphratah, little among the thousands of Judah, to be the place of his nativity; and the fishermen of Galilee to be his chosen disciples and ambassadors to the nations?

There is no doctrine more offensive to the innate pride of the human heart, than that which teaches us to acknowledge the sovereign and unmerited grace of God as the source from which we must look for salvation, and all its constituent blessings; and the entire absence of all room for boasting, in connection with the dispen

For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have com-sation of mercy to the guilty and the lost. There passion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy,' Rom. ix. 15, 16.

THE Sovereignty of God especially appears in the exercise of his grace; and to make it the more to be known that he is solely determined by his sovereign good pleasure in exercising forgiveness and mercy, how often does he proceed in a way wholly opposite to that which our ideas of fitness and propriety would dictate. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty, and base things of the world, and things that are despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.'

is a powerful disposition in the sinful creature to magnify self; and to deem that it must be by some means honourable to our own strength and wisdom, rather than glorious to the grace and goodness of God, that salvation must be obtained. Hence the multitudes who, in the spirit of blinded Israel, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. They despise, as too humiliating and too deeply abasing, the doctrine of the cross; that salvation is the free gift of God, unmerited by any, and equally free to the most vile and guilty of sinners as to themselves; that God is sovereign in his mercy, and that publicans and sinners may enter into the kingdom of heaven, whilst they and others of similar pretensions to a higher worth are kept out, is what they cannot submit to believe. They trust to establish a claim, founded upon their virtues, to salvation, and by their defective and sustained obedience do they blindly and impiously arrogate a right to the clemency and favour of God. Let it be deeply impressed, however, that if salvation come by the law at all, it must be exclusively by the law; or if by grace,

What a remarkable illustration of this truth was given, in selecting fallen men in preference to fallen angels, to become the objects of redeeming love. The whole tenor of the divine dispensations, in connection with the development of the plan of mercy, is demonstrative of the same thing. The people of the Jews were chosen to be God's peculiar heritage, not because they ex-it must be wholly by grace. celled the rest of the nations; they were inferior in almost all the elements of grandeur which constitute the magnificence of empires. When God would set up a king over Israel, he took not the first born of Jesse, but the youth who had not yet reached manhood, and who, apparently unequal to the toils of war, was employed in the peace

TWELFTH DAY.-MORNING.

ing you where you may find God, let us rather ask, where is he not? Can you flee from his Spirit, or leave behind you the proof of his existence, or escape beyond the limits of his authority and of his laws? The creation, throughout

› Thou, even thou, art God alone; thou hast made beaten, the heaven of heavens, with all their bust, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou pre-all its departments, is a witness of God, and an errest them all,' Neh. ix. 6.

THE knowledge of God is communicated both through the medium of his works, and of his word. It may be read in the fields of nature, and in the pages of revelation; it shines in the starry firmament with its innumerable host of revolving worlds; and beams with pure and intense splendour in the sacred records of the inspired testimony. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night succeeding night teacheth knowledge. But how should we stand reproved and self-condemned from considering how little accordance in general there is between the demonstrations of God, which are daily and unceasingly pouring in and us, and the ordinary tenor and habitude of our minds. What folly, what inconsideration, what enmity against God, characterize the heart and the thoughts of man! The whole scene of nature and providence is fitted to arrest and to fix our attention upon him who ruleth over all, and who is every where present, beholding the evil and the good. The morning proclaims his loving-kindness, and the evening his faithfulness. The varied seasons of the rolling year all speak of him. Whether it be the howling blasts of winter, or the gentle opening of the adding spring, the gay luxuriance of bloomng summer, or the abundant riches of gathered atumn, that draw our attention to God, all irect us to lift the hymn of gratitude to him whose tender mercies are over all his works. The universe is replete with the evidences of his presence, the traces and manifestations of his divine perfections. When you look to the heavens you behold the magnificence of his creative and constructive power, in those vast systems Feeding into endless space, which perform in measurable fields their majestic and ceaseless lutions. When you walk abroad through are's landscapes, each scene of loveliness that meets your eye, each object of interest that fixes par attention, all the organization and beauty that you admire, whether in things animate or inanimate, the very flowers of the earth, the grass of the field, or the insect that almost eludes your bservation as it fulfils its ephemeral destiny,-all proclaim to you the being and the perfections of Lim who is the universal parent of all; and whose every work reveals him to be excellent in workg and wonderful in counsel. But instead of tell

impressive demonstration of the duty of according with his will. It responds to every impulse of his power, and fulfils every dictate of his mind. How pointedly does the sun, from day to day, keep his track, and know his time of rising, and of going down. With what regularity do the waters of the great deep ebb and flow, and all the processes of nature observe their appointed courses. And is it that the human heart is the only place where God is not adored and his will complied with? O what a miracle of wickedness is every ungodly impenitent man! He appears as a dark blot on the face of creation, that absorbs without reflecting or manifesting the image of its divine Author; a jarring chord that mars the sacred symphony of that mighty harp whose every string tells, in sweetest music, that the hand which framed and which touches it is divine. Let every irreligious man consider the host of witnesses around him, and above him, which declare the power and glory of God. him meditate upon the infinite excellence and divine majesty of the adorable Jehovah. Let him ponder his title to receive from his rational creatures all praise, and honour, and blessing, and thanksgiving. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom extendeth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of bis that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominions. Bless the Lord, O my soul,' Psal. ciii. 19—22.

The withholding from God the glory due to his great name as the supreme Creator, Governor, and Benefactor of all things, is a sin which has often been visited with the effects of his most signal displeasure. When David numbered the host with a feeling of unholy confidence in an arm of flesh, and withdrew his trust and dependence from the Rock of Israel, he not only subjected himself to the remorse of his own conscience, but entailed a pestilence upon the people, which in those days cut down seventy thousand men. When Nebuchadnezzar, in a spirit of sinful self-elation, arrogated to himself the praise of having exalted Babylon to that height of grandeur and magnificence which rendered her the mistress of cities, saying, as he walked in his

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palace, and surveyed her extent and her splen- attention of the Christian philanthropist, than dour, Is not this great Babylon, that I have the sound moral and religious education of the built for the house of the kingdom, by the might young. View the youth of a nation or comof my power, and for the honour of my majesty? munity individually, and they may appear of While the word was in the king's mouth, there little comparative importance; but view them in fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebu- the aggregate, take them in the whole, and they chadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, The kingdom constitute the hope of society, the elements of its is departed from thee. The same hour was future fabric with whom it must depend whether the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he the cause of moral, intellectual, and religious imwas driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, provement shall decline or advance. The young and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, form the silent but sure invaders of the country till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and of their birth, who in a few short years shall occupy his nails like birds' claws.' every seat, and fill every department of social life from the highest to the lowest, and impart an aspect and character of their own to the movements and operations of the great social system. And a duty, the importance of which the dictates of mere natural policy so powerfully enforces, has yet a higher and more sacred sanction from the word of God; which by precept and example shows how important it is to lead the young to an early and decided pursuit of piety and virtue, as the source of their true happiness both here and hereafter.

In the exhortation before us, the royal preacher does not deem it unworthy of his elevated office and important duties to condescend to present himself as the counsellor of the young; and the

The adoption of second causes in the economy of the divine administration is an arrangement highly beneficial in its use, and eminently worthy of him to appoint, who ordains all things in infinite and unerring wisdom. It forms a mode of administering events more adapted to the nature and faculties of human beings, constituted as they at present are, than any other that could be substituted in its stead. In consequence of the invariable sequency which connect causes with their effects, we adjust our conduct, regulate our expectations, and exercise our powers in the most sure and satisfactory manner. Upon the institution of second causes, in short, depends all the advantage of observation, experience, and science, without which the active powers of man could not be ex-counsel which he gives is one deserving of all the ercised to any purpose, and would have been possessed in vain. But is it on account of an excellence, in his mode of administration, which contributes so essentially to the harmony of nature, and to the preservation and happiness of every living thing, that we are to overlook God, who has given to all things, not only their existence, but their several properties and qualities, so that for any power or efficacy they may possess they are wholly dependent upon him whose they are and for whose glory they are created. Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith, or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood,' Isa. x. 15.

TWELFTH DAY.-EVENING.

• Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy
youth, while the evil days come not, nor the
years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have
no pleasure in them,' Eccl. xii. 1.
THERE is scarcely any object of greater interest,
or that should engage in a stronger degree, the

honour which it could receive, by coming from the lips of the wisest and most illustrious king of Israel. How precious is the season of youth for laying the foundation of all true excellence and worth; and what a lamentable fact is it that its advantages are often defeated by the indiscretion, the folly, and the inconsideration so frequently characteristic of the youthful mind. It may be most appropriately called the spring time of human life; for not only does the corporeal frame then disclose its advancing powers with peculiar loveliness, but the expanding mind, in the freshness of its early impressions, in the vividness of its affection, in the constant flow and energy of its spirits, in the quickness and versatility of its powers of observation and memory, and in the untiring activity of all its faculties, presents a most invaluable opportunity for making progress in every department of knowledge and excellence. An eminent philosopher has justly remarked, divided into two parts; the one comprehending that were the amount of human acquirements what is acquired in the season of youth, and the other that which is laid up in after years; the former would decidedly preponderate in extent and value. But above all is the season of youth favourable for acquiring and cultivating religious

may stand; having done all, to stand. "Be stedfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.

THIRTEENTH DAY.-MORNING.

principles and impressions, and for forming the character to a conformity to the holy commandments of God. And accordingly, they who begian to seek God early have the special promise given to them that they shall find him, Prov. v. 17. How beautiful and interesting is piety in youth, how hateful and awfully inauspicious profaneness and vice. Bring as a grateful tribute to your Creator the first-fruits of your lives; bestow your earliest and chief attention upon his blessed word; employ your activity and strength in his holy service, and direct your prayers to the A profound reliance upon the righteousness end that he would ever guide and sanctify and of God, amidst the vicissitudes and under the preserve you in his fear. By commencing early trials of life, forms the source of genuine resignathe Christian life, you will not only make greater tion, and affords a principal motive for desiring progress in it, but you will do so with more ease to improve to a proper end the painful dispensaand pleasantness than those who delay and who tions of providence. We may rest assured that no familiarize themselves with courses far from being trouble would be ordained unless it were merited, favourable to their future well being. When the and that when sent it is designed and fitted to Young are seen uniting with the loveliness of evince the evil of sin; and by humbling us to lead youth, the still more pure and lasting charms of us to turn unto God, seeking mercy, and religion and holiness, tempering the sprightliness solved to live for the future in accordance with their prime with the seriousness and humility the requirements of his holy will. What ample true wisdom, blending with the recreations illustration does the whole course of providence and pursuits of their age preparation for eternity, present, when received in connection with the What parent will not rejoice, what Christian doctrines of the gospel, that God is righteous in friend will not approve and commend. A wise all his ways, and holy in all his works. The son maketh a glad father; but a foolish son is end which he seeks to accomplish in all his dealthe heaviness of his mother.' ings is the sanctification of his people; and his The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wis-every measure is pursued in perfect and unerring dan; and a good understanding have all they righteousness. Even the love which he cherishes who keep his commandments. Let religion guide towards them is subordinated to the still higher You, and your course shall be in the end trium-love which he bears to righteousness; and instead phant. When we behold the stately vessel gay of allowing sin to remain in them he uses often with its streamers, and bright in its ornaments, the painful discipline of the rod, and the sharp bounding into the ocean, its future element, we heat of the furnace, to cleanse them from their Is before it; what storms it may encounter, what help thinking of the varied destiny which idols, and to purify them from their dross. The righteousness of God was remarkably deseen and unknown dangers it may have to monstrated in the ejection of our first parents bre; and if the benevolent mind must breathe from paradise; and in laying them under the te fond wish that it may long speed a prosperous curse which entailed sorrow and death upon se, and be preserved by a kind providence them, and upon all their posterity, in consequence through all the perils of the deep, until laid of the violation of the divine law. Even though le, no more to be fraught with human interests he had so loved them, that he admitted them to Ed concerns, O how much more is the destiny the closest and most confidential intercourse and immortals in the prime of life; and communion, yet could he not allow their sins to Etted to awaken a yet deeper and more intense of the law which he had given them to obey. th the longer voyage of the world before them, pass unpunished, nor depart from the execution xitude. And when we think of the many In the case of Moses, too, highly distinguished as argers of their probationary existence, the temp he was in many respects, even above other proans afflictions, and trials which lie before phets and holy men, how strikingly was the tem, who does not pray that they may be kept righteousness of God manifested, when, for speakall evil, and be brought at last unto the ing unadvisedly with his lips at the waters of

The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works,' Ps. cxlv. 17.

Cannot

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venly kingdom?

Commend yourselves to Meribah, he and Aaron were deprived of the

by heartfelt and persevering supplication; ake unto you the whole armour of God, that ye

privilege of being allowed to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. In some respects,

sin in the servants of God is more heinous than in others, and particularly when their mercies and blessings have been great, and therefore they may incur a heavier rebuke and more painful chastisement. But their sufferings and pains are limited to the present life; and therefore they may the more patiently endure. For God will not cast off for ever his servants, nor will he utterly consume them in his anger; but he will chastise them in measure, and afterwards will he rejoice over them, to bless them and to do them good. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee,' Is. liv. 8-10.

The whole history of the church and of its several branches, affords still farther demonstration of the truth, that the Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. How did he reprove the seven churches in Asia for all their backslidings and transgressions, and call them to repent, lest he should come quickly and remove their candlestick out of its place. When mercies are misimproved, how surely are they followed by judgments, and when privileges are despised or are held in unrighteousness, how irrevocably are they at last forfeited and lost. And on the other hand, how true is it, that blessings abound to those who are stedfast in their integrity, and who have suffered for righteousness' sake, and who have trusted in the divine faithfulness and goodness in days of degeneracy and trial. The apostle presents encouragement to the believing Hebrews, despised no doubt, and persecuted by their unbelieving fellow-countrymen, from this consideration God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister; and we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the

end.'

deeds done in the body, whether they have been good or whether they have been evil. They who have believed with the heart on the Lord Jesus Christ, and who have truly died to sin and lived to righteousness, shall then be acknowledged and accepted; an everlasting separation shall be made between the precious and the vile, between them who feared God and them who feared him not. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness,' Mal. iii. 2, 3.

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THIRTEENTH DAY.--EVENING.

And thou shalt remember ali the way which the Lord thy God led thee,' Deut. viii. 2. PECULIARLY impressive and interesting were the claims which the deliverances God had wrought out for them, and the mercies he had imparted to them, during their journey to the land of promise, had upon the remembrance of the Israelites to the latest generations. They were under a state of discipline and preparation, at that period, which it was salutary and instructive for them ever afterwards to refer to, as fitted to show them the danger of falling again into those sins which they had previously been guilty of; and the necessity of being warned and admonished by the judgments which had then been incurred. The Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no: and he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy Father know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old, neither did thy foot swell these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.'

The condition of the Israelites in the wilderness was typical of the pilgrimage of faith, to which The righteousness of God will yet be more you are called as the followers of Jesus; and fully and gloriously manifested by the transac-O how often, like theirs, does our unbelief require tions and decisions of the great day of judgment, to be rebuked, our pride to be corrected, our when he shall render to all men according to the murmuring and rebellion to be visited with the

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