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, himself intended and desired, but according and he will do all his pleasure. Thus saith the to the sovereign purpose of God, to Jacob, the Lor 1, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the younger of the two brothers. And the same inLord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; finite sovereignty is visible in the adjustment of and besides me there is no God. And who, as I, all the details of the plan of salvation. What, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for instance, could be more powerfully demonstrafor me, since I appointed the ancient people? and tive of this than the selection of the humble the things that are coming, and shall come, let virgin to be the Saviour's mother; Bethlehemthem show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be Ephratah, little among the thousands of Judah, afraid; have I not told thee from that time, and to be the place of his nativity; and the fishermen have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is of Galilee to be his chosen disciples and ambassathere a God besides me? yea, there is no God; dors to the nations? I know not any,' Isa. xliv. 6-9. ELEVENTH DAY.-EVENING. 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 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on room for boasting, in connection with the dispenwhom 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.' 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 excelled 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 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, it must be wholly by grace. TWELFTH DAY.-MORNING. ‹ Thou, even thou, art God alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preserrest them all,' Neh. ix. 6. 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 all its departments, is a witness of God, and an impressive demonstration of the duty of accordTHE knowledge of God is communicated both ing with his will. It responds to every impulse through the medium of his works, and of his of his power, and fulfils every dictate of his word. It may be read in the fields of nature, mind. How pointedly does the sun, from day to and in the pages of revelation; it shines in the day, keep his track, and know his time of rising, starry firmament with its innumerable host of and of going down. With what regularity do revolving worlds; and beams with pure and in- the waters of the great deep ebb and flow, and tense splendour in the sacred records of the in- all the processes of nature observe their appointed spired testimony. Day unto day uttereth speech, courses. And is it that the human heart is the and night succeeding night teacheth knowledge. only place where God is not adored and his will But how should we stand reproved and self-con- complied with? O what a miracle of wickedness demned from considering how little accordance is every ungodly impenitent man! IIe appears in general there is between the demonstrations of as a dark blot on the face of creation, that abGod, which are daily and unceasingly pouring in sorbs without reflecting or manifesting the image around us, and the ordinary tenor and habitude of its divine Author; a jarring chord that mars of our minds. What folly, what inconsideration, the sacred symphony of that mighty harp whose what enmity against God, characterize the heart every string tells, in sweetest music, that the and the thoughts of man! The whole scene hand which framed and which touches it is of nature and providence is fitted to arrest and divine. Let every irreligious man consider the to fix our attention upon him who ruleth over host of witnesses around him, and above him, all, and who is every where present, beholding which declare the power and glory of God. Let the evil and the good. The morning proclaims him meditate upon the infinite excellence and his loving-kindness, and the evening his faith- divine majesty of the adorable Jehovah. Let fulness. The varied seasons of the rolling year him ponder his title to receive from his rational all speak of him. Whether it be the howling creatures all praise, and honour, and blessing, and blasts of winter, or the gentle opening of the thanksgiving. The Lord hath prepared his budding spring, the gay luxuriance of bloom-throne in the heavens, and his kingdom extendetl ing summer, or the abundant riches of gathered autumn, that draw our attention to God, all direct 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 receding into endless space, which perform in unmeasurable fields their majestic and ceaseless revolutions. When you walk abroad through nature's landscapes, each scene of loveliness that meets your eye, each object of interest that fixes your attention, all the organization and beauty that you admire, whether in things animate or injected himself to the remorse of his own conanimate, the very flowers of the earth, the grass science, but entailed a pestilence upon the people, of the field, or the insect that almost eludes your which in those days cut down seventy thousand observation as it fulfils its ephemeral destiny,-all men. When Nebuchadnezzar, in a spirit of sinproclaim to you the being and the perfections of ful self-elation, arrogated to himself the praise of him who is the universal parent of all; and whose having exalted Babylon to that height of granevery work reveals him to be excellent in work-deur and magnificence which rendered her the ing and wonderful in counsel. But instead of tell- mistress of cities, saying, as he walked in his 6 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 sub D 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 corporcal 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, that were the amount of human acquirements divided into two parts; the one comprehending 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 principles and impressions, and for forming the character to a conformity to the holy commandments of God. And accordingly, they who begin to seek God early have the special promise given to them that they shall find him, Próv. viii. 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 end that he would ever guide and sanctify and preserve you in his fear. By commencing early the Christian life, you will not only make greater progress in it, but you will do so with more ease and pleasantness than those who delay and who familiarize themselves with courses far from being favourable to their future well being. When the young are seen uniting with the loveliness of youth, the still more pure and lasting charms of religion and holiness, tempering the sprightliness of their prime with the seriousness and humility of true wisdom, blending with the recreations and pursuits of their age preparation for eternity, what parent will not rejoice, what Christian friend will not approve and commend. A wise son maketh a glad father; but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.' 6 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and a good understanding have all they who keep his commandments. Let religion guide you, and your course shall be in the end triumphant. When we behold the stately vessel gay with its streamers, and bright in its ornaments, bounding into the occan, its future element, we cannot help thinking of the varied destiny which lies before it; what storms it may encounter, what unseen and unknown dangers it may have to brave; and if the benevolent mind must breathe the fond wish that it may long speed a prosperous course, and be preserved by a kind providence through all the perils of the deep, until laid aside, no more to be fraught with human interests and concerns, O how much more is the destiny of young immortals in the prime of life; and with the longer voyage of the world before them, fitted to awaken a yet deeper and more intense solicitude. And when we think of the many dangers of their probationary existence, the temptations, afflictions, and trials which lie before them, who does not pray that they may be kept from all evil, and be brought at last unto the heavenly kingdom? Commend yourselves to God by heartfelt and persevering supplication; take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye THIRTEENTH DAY.-MORNING. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works,' Ps. cxlv. 17. A profound reliance upon the righteousness of God, amidst the vicissitudes and under the trials of life, forms the source of genuine resignation, and affords a principal motive for desiring to improve to a proper end the painful dispensations of providence. We may rest assured that no trouble would be ordained unless it were merited, and that when sent it is designed and fitted to evince the evil of sin; and by humbling us to lead us to turn unto God, seeking mercy, and resolved to live for the future in accordance with the requirements of his holy will. What ample illustration does the whole course of providence present, when received in connection with the doctrines of the gospel, that God is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The end which he seeks to accomplish in all his dealings is the sanctification of his people; and his every measure is pursued in perfect and unerring righteousness. Even the love which he cherishes towards them is subordinated to the still higher love which he bears to righteousness; and instead of allowing sin to remain in them he uses ofter the painful discipline of the rod, and the sharp heat of the furnace, to cleanse them from their idols, and to purify them from their dross. Even though The righteousness of God was remarkably demonstrated in the ejection of our first parents from paradise; and in laying them under the curse which entailed sorrow and death upon them, and upon all their posterity, in consequence of the violation of the divine law. he had so loved them, that he admitted them to the closest and most confidential intercourse and communion, yet could he not allow their sins to pass unpunished, nor depart from the execution of the law which he had given them to obey. In the case of Moses, too, highly distinguished as he was in many respects, even above other prophets and holy men, how strikingly was the righteousness of God manifested, when, for speaking unadvisedly with his lips at the waters of Meribah, he and Aaron were deprived of the 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. 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. THIRTEENTH DAY.--EVENING. And thou shalt remember ali the way which the Lord thy God led thec,' Deut. viii. 2. PECULIARLY impressive and interesting were the claims which the deliverances God had wrought out for them, and the mercies he had The whole history of the church and of its seve- imparted to them, during their journey to the ral branches, affords still farther demonstration of land of promise, had upon the remembrance of the truth, that the Lord is righteous in all his the Israelites to the latest generations. They ways, and holy in all his works. How did he were under a state of discipline and preparation, reprove the seven churches in Asia for all their at that period, which it was salutary and inbackslidings and transgressions, and call them to structive for them ever afterwards to refer to, as repent, lest he should come quickly and remove fitted to show them the danger of falling again their candlestick out of its place. When mer- into those sins which they had previously been cies are misimproved, how surely are they fol- guilty of; and the necessity of being warned lowed by judgments, and when privileges are des- and admonished by the judgments which had pised or are held in unrighteousness, how irrevo- then been incurred. The Lord thy God led cably are they at last forfeited and lost. And thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humon the other hand, how true is it, that blessings ble thee and to prove thee, to know what was abound to those who are stedfast in their integrity, in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his and who have suffered for righteousness' sake, commandments or no : and he humbled thee and and who have trusted in the divine faithfulness suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna and goodness in days of degeneracy and trial. which thou knewest not, neither did thy Father The apostle presents encouragement to the believ- know; that he might make thee know that ing Hebrews, despised no doubt, and persecuted man doth not live by bread only, but by every by their unbelieving fellow-countrymen, from this word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the consideration— God is not unrighteous to forget Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not your work and labour of love which ye have old, neither did thy foot swell these forty years. showed toward his name, in that ye have minis- Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that as a tered to the saints and do minister; and we de-man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God sire that every one of you do show the same dili- chasteneth thee.' gence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end.' The righteousness of God will yet be more fully and gloriously manifested by the transactions and decisions of the great day of judgment, when he shall render to all men according to the The condition of the Israelites in the wilderness was typical of the pilgrimage of faith, to which you are called as the followers of Jesus; and O how often, like theirs, does our unbelief require to be rebuked, our pride to be corrected, our murmuring and rebellion to be visited with the |