in which physical life has been maintained for a long time (as in the case of Moses and Elias) without drinking, as well as without eating but for the spiritual life to exist for a moment without the grace that is in Christ Jesus, is a miracle which never has been, and never will be accomplished. Does water soften? His grace makes the heart soft; and turns the very stone to flesh. Does water purify? "I will sprinkle," says he, "clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." Does water fertilize? The man whose hope the Lord is, is likened to a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." In what a condition would the earth be if the springs were exhausted, and the rivers dried up, or if rain was withholden for a few months only! Nothing can equal the barrenness of a soul devoid of divine grace-But this water of life quickens what was dead before, and produces all the fruits of righteousness. The comparison could be pursued-But the particular allusion in our text remains. How welcome is cold water to a thirsty soul! How comfortable to the Jews, who had been three days and without water to drink, were the gushings from the rock! Moses therefore says, "He brought them honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock"-He speaks in reference to their feelingsIt was not oil or honey; but it was as sweet as the one, and as rich as the other, to persons dying with thirst. "I opened my mouth and panted," says David, "for I longed for thy salvation." the hart panteth for the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Such desires as these grace is necessary to satisfy and grace can satisfy them. "He that believeth on me shall never thirst.” He will never thirst in vain for the blessings he desires; while his thirst after other things, for which he raged before, is quenched, and he learns, in whatsoever state he is, therewith to be content. : "As Even the image is encouraging. By employing water to hold forth the blessings of salvation, our Lord intimates that they are plenteous, and open to approach without money and without price. Surely a nobleman would not forbid a poor traveller, in his weary journey, to kneel down and drink of the ample river that meandered through his estate. But Jesus says, I will "give" of the fountain of the water of life-yea, he goes further, and says, I will give "freely." Surely this is enough-Yet it is not too much for the purpose. He knows the disposition there is in man, who, ever since the Fall, is as proud as he is poor; and always thinks of deserving; and would rather buy than beg. He also knows what strong consolation is necessary to relieve the conscience of an awakened sinner, pressed down by a sense of depravity and guilt. He feels that he has nothing to pay or to promise-And he is assured that he needs nothing. "As your penury is such that you have no price to offer, my greatness, my goodness is such that I disdain to require any. You are as welcome as you are unworthy. My blessings are too valuable to be purchased-I give them freely." Hence too we may observe the only requisite in the receiver. It is not the performance of any hard condition, nor the possession of any meritorious qualification-It is only want and desire; to him that "is athirst" I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. This is indeed specified; but not in a way of desert or recommendation. It is not mentioned as the cause of the relief, but the character of the relieved. And it is wisely specified. Such persons as these are the very persons who are likely to exclude themselves, fearing, as they feel their unworthiness, the blessing cannot be designed for them. He therefore mentions them, so to speak, even by name; and in addressing them, seizes the very thing from which they despond, to minister to their hope. To which we may add, that without this thirst the promise would be no promise; the bless ing no blessing-For such only can value it. The full soul loatheth the honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. What is a physician to them that are whole? or a refuge to them that are safe? Water is every thing to the thirsty; but to others the stream runs by uninvitingly and in vain. And how many are there who have no sense of their wants, and no desire after the Saviour! But the cry of others is, Remember me, O Lord, with the favour thou bearest unto thy people, and visit me with thy salvation. No voice but his can relieve your fears. No joy but his can satisfy your souls. You long for him as the Sanctifier as well as the Redeemer; and you wait for him more than they that watch for the morning. This is a proof of something good, and a pledge of something better. Refuse not to be comforted. Go immediately and drink. And drink largely. There is enough and to spare. And while you partake, invite others, and bring them to drink of the rivers of his pleasures. And look forward to the hour when you shall ascend to the springhead itself. There you shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on you, or any heat-For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed you, and shall lead you unto fountains of waters-And God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes. JULY 31.-"And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remem. brance Amalek from under heaven."-Exod. xvii. 14, THIS is the first time any mention is made in the Sacred History of writing. It was not known in the earlier ages. It does not appear that the Patriarchs were acquainted with it. And simple and familiar as the art now seems, it is difficult, if not imposible to account for it without a divine origin. Wakefield, a fine scholar, though an erroneous divine and a radical politician, and far from any leaning to enthusiasm, yet after much reflection has contended that it must have been derived at first from a divine communication. However this may be, it was a most wonderful invention. What pleasures and advantages have been derived from it! How has the lover blessed the use of letters! How thankful has friendship been for news from a far country, which has been like cold water to a thirsty soul! By alphabetical characters improvements have been perserved from age to age, and additions been constantly making to the general stock of knowledge. But how much do we owe to it as Christians! What is the "Scripture" but the writing? All that relieves our spiritual wants and supports our eternal hope has reached us, and continues to delight us by means of what holy men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost "Our nation reads his written word, It is probable that from this time Moses began to keep a journal of striking and useful occurrences. Great men have frequently done the same for intellectual; and good men for religious purposes. Diaries were formerly much more common among pious people than they now are. This is to be lamented; for though their frequent publication was unnecessary, and their minuteness often rendered them exceptionable, they served to promote self-attention and acquaintance; and recorded events and circumstances with the impresions they produced at the time, which could not be reviewed without some utility. Whatever may be said of the particular mode, the thing itself is of importance. If we are to be affected with past transactions, and views, and feelings, they must be in some way secured and retained: when buried in forgetfulness they can have no influence to reprove or encourage, to excite gratitude or to increase confidence. And as, like the Jews, we are liable, and alas! prone to forget the works of the Lord and the wonders which he has showr us, we should write them, if not as Moses was enjoined to do, in a book, yet in the fleshly tables of our hearts. "O my people," says God, "remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord." And when his disciples seemed ready to despond because they had only one loaf on board, our Lord said to them, "Remember ye not the miracle the five barley loaves and the two small fishes, and how many of baskets full of fragments ye took up ?" "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." A reason is assigned for the recording and rehearsing of this transaction in a dreadful menace: "For I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." So highly did God resent the injury intended against his people. So dear are they to him, and so truly are they one with him, that he who toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye. Let those who oppose them tremble-"I will curse him that curseth thee.". The threatening was executed partially by Saul; but fully by David, after whose time we read no more of the Amalekites as a people. For some stragglers of course escaped and survived, and were to be met with in various countries. Haman, whose mortified ambition led him to contrive the destruction of the Jews, was one of this detested and exterminated nation. The Scripture cannot be broken. Whatever improbabilities appear, whatever difficulties stand in the way, whatever delays intervene, God's counsels of old are faithfulness and truth; and heaven and earth shall pass away sooner than one jot or tittle of his word shall fail. This applies to the destruction of the wicked, as well as to the salvation of the righteous. And it applies not only to nations, but to individuals. Behold a signal instance. "And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it." And what says History more than four hundred years after, in the reign of Ahab? "In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun." Lord, increase our faith. AUGUST. AUGUST 1.-"For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem."-Micah i. 12. THIS refers to the invasion of the Assyrian, the rod of God's anger. He had subdued and ravaged Israel, and now entered the kingdom of Judah. The prophet laments the horrors and miseries of the scene; and describes the effects of them upon the places lying in the line of his march. The village of Maroth was one of these. It was very interior, and was situated nigh Jerusalem; for which reason probably the inhabitants themselves thought that they were safer than those who lived on the borders of the country: "For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem." This may serve to remind us-of the disappointments of life-of the source of calamity-and the season of deliverance. They "waited," waited "carefully for good;" but in vain: "evil came"-Is such a disappointment a strange or an unusual thing? What is there in life that is not uncertain, and does not expose the hope that is resting upon it? Is it substance? Is it health? Is it children? Is it friends?-Does the Scripture only cry, "All is vanity;" and, "Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils? Does not all history, observation, and experience tell us the same? Let therefore the young, let those who are entering into new connexions and conditions, let all be sober in their expectations from every thing earthly. It is the way to escape the surprise and the anguish of disappointment. And let us make the Lord our hope. He will not deceive us: he cannot fail us. If creatures are broken reeds, he is the rock of ages—“Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." See also the source of calamity-"Evil came down from the Lord." This at first seems strange: we should have been ready to say, "evil came up from another being." We are assured that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." But "let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for he cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.' And this is true of moral evil, or the evil of sinning. But Micah speaks of natural evil, or the evil of suffering. And what calamity is there that the Scripture has not ascribed to God? Is it a storm at sea? "He breaketh the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.” Is it barrenness of soil? "He turneth a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." Is it the loss of connexions? "Lover and friend hast thou put far from me." "Is there an evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it?"-War is the evil here peculiarly intended. We often connect this more with the follies and passions of men than other evils; but the hand of God is no less really in it. He has "created the waster to destroy." "Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together." Let us never view our sufferings, public or private, personal or relative, abstractedly from God. Especially let us beware that instruments do not lead us to overlook his agency. They could have no power at all against us, except it was given them from above. The Chaldeans and the Sabeans spoiled Job: but, says he, "the Lord hath taken away." The question is, how this evil comes from him? Much injury is done by our separating what the Scripture has joined together. Some view God's mercy as separate from his justice; and some his justice as separate from his mercy: the one of these partial views genders presumption, the other despair. These extremes would be avoided by our considering God as at once the righteous governor and the tender father. Every thing in his present administrations is adapted to show the union of his holiness and goodness, and to awaken both our fear and our hope. The evils he sends are the effects of sin; yet they are the fruits to take away sin. We deserve them, and we need them; the one shows that we have no right to complain, the other that we have no reason to complain. What is required of a Christian is a ready and cheerful submission; but this can only be produced by our seeing the reference our affliction has not only to our desert, but to our improvement. The thought of God as a sovereign may repress murmuring; but it is the belief not only that his judgments are right, but that in faithfulness he afflicts, and in love corrects us, that enables us to acquiesce, and say, "Here I am, let him do what seemeth him good." Mark also the time of deliverance. Though God saves his people, he may permit the destruction to draw very nigh. This was the case here. He could have hindered the calamity at the frontier, but evil came down from the Lord "unto the gate of Jerusalem." So far the overflowing did come; and the insulting foe encamped in the fuller's field adjoining the city; but no further. Here were his proud waves stayed. Here ended his power and triumph. Hezekiah conquered him upon his knees. The Lord put his hook into his nose, and his bridle into his jaws, and drew him back. Yea, the angel of the Lord slew in his camp in one night upwards of one hundred and eighty-four thousand of his troops-Showing us not only that God can deliver, in the greatest straits, but that he fre quently does not interpose till the evil has reached its extremity Thus Peter was not released from prison till a few hours before his appointed execution and Abraham had bound Isaac, and seized the knife, and stretched out his hand, before the voice cried, Forbear. Whenever therefore he seems indifferent to our welfare, and does not immediately, or even for a length of time interpose on our behalf, let us not accuse him of unfaithfulness and inattention. Let us distinguish between appearance and reality. His kindness, wisdom, and power, are secretly at work for our good. The delay is not abandonment. He is only waiting to be gracious; and the sea |