characteristic of the Christian's sabbath. The longing which he has for the highest enjoyment which God can give, and which a created being can receive, union with Deity itself, leads him to economize time, and in particular, to devote the fresh, dewy morning hours, to the sweet invigorating work of prayer and praise. Well does he know, that when the sun is up, the manna cannot be gathered, and his soul may thus be starved for an entire day. It is this that gives life and energy to his morning prayers, that leads him to ask that he may be "in the spirit on the Lord's day;" he knows that there is a reality in this, a sober, solid, strengthening blessedness; he does not ask in ignorance, he knows that for which he asks.-Love to God, for that is the real principle which we have been attempting to shadow forth-" the love of God shed abroad in the heart, by the Holy Ghost given unto us," prompts the earnest prayer for the presence of God in his holy house. If thy presence go not with me, wherefore should I go up !" It is this that leads to fervent supplications, for the minister placed in the providence of God over him; that his mouth may be opened, that he may speak boldly as he ought to speak, that he may know Christ himself, 66 and be enabled to make him known to others. It is this which prompts the intercessory prayer for the congregation with whom he worships, yea, for all who in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus, both theirs and ours; for all faithful ministers and missionaries, more especially for them, who in distant lands and inhospitable regions proclaim to perishing heathen, the power and willingness of Christ to save. It is this which pours from the heart, the supplication for the blessing of the Lord, on all means taken to promote his glory, whether in our own country or in distant regions; and it is this which often brings to the Christian's communion with his Lord, the deep-felt prayer for his own loved England, that sabbath breaking may cease on her shores, and that throughout the length and breadth of her land, in her palaces, her castles, her mansions, and her cottages, may be felt the deep, silent, calm, blessedness of sabbath repose. We speak of prayer, but will there not also be praise ? O, yes-praise for the opportunity of private communion with God; praise for the free use of the bible; praise for the teaching and the quickening of the Spirit; praise for the opportunity of publicly assembling ourselves together; praise for a faithful ministry; or, if that blessing be withheld, praise for a scriptural service, and for the public reading of the Word, and the administration of the Sacraments; (blessings, the efficacy of which do not depend on the ministry;) praise for the means of grace; praise for the hopes of glory; praise for the blessed rest of the sabbath; and, not least, praise for the desire to improve its sacred hours, may and do mingle in the happiness of this high and holy day. And Christian exertion will have its part, for how can we kneel to pray for the spiritual welfare of others, and rise from our knees to stand all the day idle? Love to the souls of our fellow creatures, is no doubtful test of the sincerity of our professed love to God, and this will be exercised among the servants and children of our family, or in the sabbath schools of our neighbourhood. We speak of prayer, of praise, of Christian exertion. If the sabbath spirit be in us, there will be no undervaluing of public ordinances. Far, far the contrary private prayer must give life and spirit to public devotion; public devotion will send back its reflex influence on private prayer. How earnest was the love of David in the courts of the Lord's house, that temple in which was but pre figured the glory that is beaming in direct radiance on our eyes! "When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me; for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day." How affectionate his desire after public service!" O, send out thy light and thy truth, let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy; yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God." How sincere and hearty and earnest his affection for the communion of the sanctuary! "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of Host, my King and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising thee." Happy is it if our own hearts can respond to the glowing words of inspiration; if we have realized in our own experience, the blessedness of "thinking of the loving kindness of our God in the midst of his temple." Psalm xlviii. 9. It is no wild dream of enthusiasm, it is a truth of God's blessed word, that "the Lord loveth the gates of Zion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob." Yet as a distinguished servant of the Lord, the late Rev. Dr. Andrew Thompson, used often to say, Though the Lord loveth the gates of Zion, he is not unmindful of the solitary, afflicted habitations of Jacob.' When you are providentially prevented from going with the voice of joy and praise, with the multitude that keep holy day, when you are constrained to adopt the plaintive language of the prophet," I am shut up, I cannot go into the house of the Lord," do not sorrow as without hope, do not mourn as though the Lord were a God of the hills only, and not a God of the valleys also. The Spirit of the Lord is not straitened; often when the Lord takes away the means of grace, he bestows grace, and the end is better than the means. 'God loves the gates of Zion,' His holy name on high: Where a thousand hearts with solemn fear |