Ah, dear Reader, it is in the hour of our deepest grief that our God is nearest to us. "He shall call upon

Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble." Oh, what a charm there is in such a promise! Better, far better, is it to be in sorrow, if Christ is with us, than to enjoy prosperity, if He is far from us. Noah cared little for the tempest around him; for God was by him in the ark. Joseph was happy in his dungeon; because God was at his side. fiery furnace and the lions' den were places of safety and peace; because God was with His servants.

The

And if you are serving God, He will stand by you in your sharpest trials. He will be near you on your sick bed. And even if your earthly friends should

be far away, you will be able to say, "I am not alone, because the Father is with me."

Alas, how apt we are to think more of our troubles, than of the great Deliverer who is by us! Like Peter, we look at the waves and billows, and are cast down; but we forget the almighty arm that is stretched out for our support; and therefore, like him, we sink in our distress.

May God give us a more simple, humble, trusting faith, to shelter ourselves in the Lord, amidst the darkest storms of life; and to exclaim, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in

all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us."

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CHAPTER III.

THE FAREWELL.

RUTH I. 4-9. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.

Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.

D

And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt wit the dead, and with me.

The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.

IN the last chapter, we spoke of Elimelech and Naomi leaving the city of Bethlehem, and emigrating to the heathen land of Moab. And we left Naomi mourning over her husband's loss.

She had still however the happiness of having her two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to cheer her in her widowhood. And they are now desirous to marry. Alas, their choice was made from among the heathen women of Moab, women who knew nothing of the God of Israel. This was one of