But the work of redemption is the greatest of all His wonders -a work so stupendous that even the angels desire to look into it, but these sinless beings cannot dive so far into the mystery as the saints of God are enabled to do, and even they are only able in measure to comprehend the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge (Eph. iii. 19)—

Stronger His love than death or hell,
Its riches are unsearchable;

The first-born sons of light
Desire in vain its depth to see,

They cannot reach the mystery,

The length and breadth and height."

It is said that, when Richard Whittington was Lord Mayor of London, he invited King Henry V. to a grand banquet at Guildhall. In the centre of the hall blazed a fire of fragrant cedar wood, which was presently rendered still more fragrant when the wealthy mayor took the bonds owing to him by the king for the amount of £60,000 (present value, £900,000) and cast them into the fire, thus releasing the monarch from his heavy, and at that time insurmountable, liabilities. May we not see in this incident a type of the wondrous work of Christ, who took the handwriting that stood against His saints and nailed it to His cross, thus cancelling their mighty debt and opening to them the gates of heaven, which otherwise must for ever have been closed against them? To meditate in spirit upon this wondrous work, under the influence of the Spirit of all truth, will cause the hardest-hearted sinner to fall down with tears of love and contrition at the feet of a precious Christ, and feelingly say with the poet

"Suffering Saviour, Lamb of God,
How hast Thou been usèd!
With the Almighty's wrathful rod
Soul and body bruised.

"We would with Thee sympathize
In Thy bitter passion;

With soft hearts and weeping eyes
See Thy great salvation.

Bid us call to mind Thy cross,
Our hard hearts to soften ;
Often, Saviour, feast us thus,
For we need it often.

Do we, in these respects, think well of Christ? Can we see a beauty in Him, and all that concerneth Him, which language fails to describe?

The Church in the Canticles draws a wonderful picture of

what she thought of Christ, comparing Him to all that is most beautiful and precious in the world, such as flowers, spices, gold, precious stones, marble, ivory, and the cedars of Lebanon; but failing to fully set forth His worth, she said, "Yea, He is altogether lovely!" and this is the feeling of all saints when the glories of Christ are opened to their view.

Those who truly think well of Christ are led to do so because He has first thought well of them. Yea, so precious were they in His eyes that He died to redeem them, and is now gone to prepare a place for them, that where He is there they may be also; and, for the encouragement of all that think upon His name, He has declared that they shall be His in that day when He makes up His heavenly jewels (Mal. iii. 16, 17)—

Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills my breast
But sweeter far Thy face to see,
And in Thy presence rest.'

Reader, what think you of Christ?

THE TWO NATURES.

HOPEFUL.

A WELL-KNOWN missionary tells us of a poor African woman who once said to him, groaning heavily, that she had two hearts, a new and an old, and they were so constantly contending, the one saying, "Come to Jesus," the other saying, "Stay away"-the one bidding her do good, and the other bidding her do evil-that she knew not what to do. He read to her the seventh chapter of the Romans, and showed that the Apostle felt the same things. When he came to the verse, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" she said, "Ah! massa, that me, and me know not what to do ;" and when he afterwards added the words, "I thank God through Jesus Christ," and explained them, she burst into tears of grateful joy. What comforted her may well comfort all similarly tempted and sorrowing ones. ROBERT MACDONALD.

THERE is no affliction, how great soever, though, with respect to natural means, unremovable and unmitigable, yet, if it be sanctified by divine grace, a Christian, even while he is so afflicted, has more cause of joy than grief-more reason to bless God for it, than to repine and complain. "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thess. v. 18). He turns afflictions into benefits, and our affectionate praises are due on that account.-Bates.

DIVINE PRESERVATION AND HELP.

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy Keeper: the Lord is thy Shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. -PSALM CXxi.

We have in this Psalm a sweet view of our safety. Nothing can by any means hurt those whom the Lord keeps. Dangers, both temporal and spiritual, stand thick in our way, but the Lord is our Keeper and our Shade; and, though spiritual dangers are, no doubt, principally intended in this Psalm, yet I cannot but think that temporal dangers are also included.

This day, May 2nd, 1819, the Lord most wonderfully preserved us from imminent danger while going to His house. Going down hill upon a swing trot, the horse made a beat, and down it came in an instant. We-that is to say, my husband, myself, and poor infirm child-all fell out of the cart. In a moment of time I found myself lying upon the horse, and felt one, if not both, my companions roll after me. I felt an ejaculation arise in my mind thus, "Lord, preserve us!" I lay upon the horse until my husband was up and secured the child, and then as quick as possible came to my relief, for I had but one hand to help myself with, having lost the use of the other for a time by my rheumatic complaint. When we were all up, we found that neither of us had received the least injury; no, not the slightest injury imaginable. Neither had the horse cut its knees; it received a slight injury on the chest and shoulder, but nothing further. It is worthy of remark that the poor animal lay as still as possible, till my husband took hold of her to lift her up, as our safety greatly depended upon this as a means. Nor were either of us very much frightened. This also I consider a great mercy, but the Lord's surprising goodness seemed to take off the fright altogether. Thus did the Lord preserve man and beast, to the great display of His omnipotence and omnipresence, for if we had fallen upon a bed of down, we could not have received less injury. "Bless the Lord, O my soul." Ye saints who love His name, bless Him with me. I have by this providence learned that "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man';" yea, that "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes."

A few days before, I had rode out with an acquaintance who

drove the same horse, and going down hills. I felt a little fear because it was not my husband who drove, but when we started this morning I felt very comfortable, not seeing the least danger, because the reins were in my husband's hands. Alas! that we should so forget that our safety alone depends upon Him that keepeth Israel. May I from henceforth put my trust in the Lord. If I had trusted in Him instead of my husband, I doubt not but He would have kept us from falling; but as I was vain enough to look to an arm of flesh, He taught me my folly, and yet graciously preserved me. "Who is a God like unto Thee?" How full of compassion, how kind and tender, while at the same time He will not give His glory to another! "O bless our God, ye people; make the voice of His praise to be heard." Amen.

66

I would now look a little upon this Psalm in a spiritual sense. David begins this Psalm as though he were in trouble, for if he had felt altogether safe and comfortable, why look out for help? Is he surrounded with enemies? He tells us where he will look: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." If this had been all he had said, perhaps some would have thought he intended the city of Jerusalem, or rather the mountains that guarded that city; but, lest any should mistake him, he adds, "My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." Every Christian is upon an equality here with David. It is true we have numerous troubles to encounter, and hosts of enemies to fight against, both outward and inward. If we trust our own strength, we shall surely be overcome; but, with David, we do not look to grace already received to preserve us, but "lift up our eyes "- that is, look quite away from everything but the Lord. When we are thus enabled to act, we never miss of succour, but surely find our "help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth."

In the next verse, we have an assurance of safety: "He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber. In the fourth verse, we are called upon to pay particular attention to this: "Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." As the mountains guarded the city of Jerusalem, so in a far superior manner does the Lord guard His Church collectively, and His people individually. He here condescends to sustain the character of a Watchman. He keeps His people with a watchful eye, with an unwearied eye. "He will neither slumber nor sleep." It is again repeated, in verse five, "The Lord is thy Keeper: the Lord is thy Shade upon thy right hand." What for? To keep off those evils that so closely pursue us. Sixth verse, "The sun shall not smite thee by day." Perhaps by "sun" is here intended fiery trials of all kinds, especially persecution. Our Lord, when speaking of the seed sown, or rather

that fell upon stony places, says, these soon sprang up, "because they had no deepness of earth: but when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no deepness of earth, they withered away.' In the explanation of this parable, He says, "He that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the Word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is offended" (Matt. xiii. 20, 21). Those have no root in themselves, they have no true love to God, but have merely their passions stirred; therefore, they cannot endure the scorching beams of persecution. But those whom the Lord vouchsafes to keep are shaded by Him from its blighting influences. "The sun shall not smite thee "—that is, it shall not have power to deprive of life. It may beat very hot upon our heads, till we feel almost ready to faint; but it shall not smite us, because the Lord is our Shade. He will keep us from deadly harm, and support us in every fiery trial, whether of outward persecution or inward conflict with the powers of darkness. "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." We are in as much danger from a cold and lifeless frame of soul as we are from the scorching beams of persecution. If left to ourselves, we should forsake our colours under the heat of one, and lie down and die under the chilling influence of the other. Thus we owe all our safety to our Keeper. And that we may not give way to fear, it is added in the seventh verse, "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil : He shall preserve thy soul." He will not only preserve from the sun and moon, but from all evil, let it arise from what quarter it may. Should earth and hell conspire to take away our life, they shall be defeated. "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil,' &c. If we could always see our safety, how might we triumph over our foes, even in the worst of times. And that we may not suppose this safety is only for the day, it is said in the eighth verse, "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." What rich security! Oh, for a larger measure of faith, that we might live up to our high calling as sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty! If the Lord is on our side, what have we to fear? He will preserve us while journeying through this howling wilderness; He will preserve us when we go out of it: yea, He will preserve us safely to His heavenly kingdom; and what can we wish for more? Be it, then, our one concern to glorify God with our body and spirit, which are His, and to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, which is but our reasonable service. "Lord, increase our faith."

Old Sampford, May 3rd, 1819.