the pillar was standing in his day, about 1900 years after the destruction of Sodom. PRACTICAL REMARKS. How desperately wicked by nature are the hearts of men; how sad a proof does this passage afford of the ungodly principles with which they are filled; how much are grace and the operation of God's Spirit required to subdue and rescue us from their dominion! When reading of the wickedness of others, let us not forget our own, and how obnoxious we must personally be in the sight of one who cannot look upon sin but with abhorrence. Justly might God visit us with as awful a doom, as that with which he visited the inhabitants of the plain; and yet, in mercy, he is proclaiming to every sinner, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, lest thou be consumed.' Within the gospel refuge there is pardon for guilt, peace with God, union to the Saviour, and the possession of all the gifts and graces of the Spirit. Without that refuge all are the enemies of God, slaves to their guilty passions, and the result of natural causes, but an immediate visi- | We lament, O Lord, the provocations which, tation from the hand of the Almighty. Ver. 26. day after day, we are giving thee; the weakness Lot's wife became a pillar of salt, or sulphurous of our faith; the coldness of our love; the little matter, to be a memorial of the guilt of trifling interest with which we read thy word; the inwith a divine command. Josephus mentions that the sinful thoughts which pervade our minds; sensibility which often overtakes us in prayer; the unguarded words which escape from our lips; and the unholy deeds which we perform. Truly may we say that our iniquities have grown over our heads; that we are desperately wicked; that we are the children of wrath, even as others. Eternal thanks be unto the Lord our God, that a Saviour has been provided, through whom we may come into thy presence, and whose merit we may plead as a ground for our forgiveness. We bless thee that this Saviour is revealed unto us in all his freeness, in all his mercy, and in all his grace. O grant that we may be savingly united to him; that our guilt, for his sake, may be pardoned, and our souls cleansed from the pollution of sin. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us for the obedience of thy will; and, amid abounding iniquity, may we be enabled to manifest a walk and conversation becoming the gospel; never shrinking from any trial or persecution into which we may be thrown, for righteousness' sake. Put an end to idolatry and wickedness every where; hasten the period when all shall know thee, from the least even to the greatest; when, at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, and when all kindreds and tongues shall call Him blessed. Accept of our thanksgivings for the mercies of the past night and this morning. Be with us in the duties to which we may this day be called. Suf fer us never to forget that an omniscient God is present with us, and that a day is fast approach ing when a solemn account is to be rendered unto thee for every thing done in the body Keep us ever in thy fear, guide us by thy coun sel, and receive us at last to see thy salvation in glory, for Christ our Redeemer's sake. Amen. crucifiers afresh of the Saviour. How long will sinners refuse to consult their highest interest, and register up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and neglect a salvation unspeakably precious. Let them not be deceived. The judgments of God are progressing with unerring certainty; whatsoever a man soweth that shall he assuredly reap. On the morning on which the Sodomites were destroyed, they were as hardy and profligate as ever, imagining that no calamity was near, but before the evening came, they were all in eternity. This very night our souls may be required of us; before another day, our everlasting destiny may be sealed. Let us examine our hearts, then, whether we be in the faith; and if, through divine grace, we are so, let our light so shine before others, that they, seeing our good works, may glorify our Father in heaven. PRAYER. O most holy and ever blessed God, we desire this morning to come to thy footstool, in the name of Christ, penetrated with a sense of our unworthiness, and mourning our apostacy from thee as the alone cause of all our misery. When we think of the dignity with which man was originally invested; of the knowledge, and righteousness, and holiness which characterized his nature; and of the communion which thou didst condescend freely to hold with him; and then examine the present state of our hearts, their ignorance of spiritual things, their unrighteousness and sin, and the disinclination which we naturally cherish for intercourse with our God; it becomes us to lie low in the dust, and confess that the crown has fallen from our heads, and that woe is unto all of us because we are sinners. MONDAY EVENING. PRAISE-PARAPHRASE XXIV. EXPLANATORY REMARKS. that the disciples of John, puzzled by the protracted | during his own ministry, yielded to his claims; imprisonment of their master, and that no effort was that so great a number who heard, from his own ade for his release, began to doubt the Messiahship mouth, the divine doctrines which he taught, the Jesus, and were therefore sent to converse with unequalled expositions which he gave of the moral m personally, in order to receive a confirmation of law, his transcendent views of the justice, and their faith. Others have supposed that the Baptist's mercy, and long-suffering of the Almighty, and mind, not yet fully enlightened as to the na- who saw the stupendous deeds which, in his own tre of Christ's mission, and unable to account for name, and by his own power, he performed, the sick the treatment he was receiving, yielded to a tem- healed, the lepers cleansed, the deaf made to hear, porary despondency, and dictated this application to the lame to walk, and the dead to come into life— Jes, with the view of obtaining additional grounds continued to stigmatise and pour calumny on his a which to rest its faith, and bear up under its character. Not less dreadful is it to think that, On either supposition, the method employed hedged around as the gospel is with so many and car Lord was well calculated to remove the doubt, such challengeless proofs of its divinity, which sucand demonstrate the reality of his claims. The cessive ages are continuing to strengthen, there esengers were privileged to witness the miracles should still be found not a few who take offence at e was performing, and to hear from his own lips the Saviour, and reject and blaspheme him. What be fulfilment, in his person, of the Old Testament is the reason of this? The cause of offence lies phecies. On their departure, a memorable eulogy within; infidelity is not a disease of the intellect but pronounced on the character and work of the of the heart; it does not arise from a deficiency of eviEpist. Ver. 7-16. He was more than a prophet. dence, but from an unregenerated mind, at all hazards, inspired men who preceded him, told much of at the expense of reason and common honesty, deterthe mission and spiritual achievements of the Saviour, mined to reject truth. To every doctrine and princiit was reserved for John to point to him, in the ple inculcated in the Bible it is an enemy. Nothing of humanity, and say, Behold the Lamb of God, but the grace of God can subdue its carnality, and which taketh away the sin of the world! The Jews, lead it to appreciate and receive the truth as it is in erpreting literally Mal. iv. 5, 6. expected that, Jesus. Believers therefore should pray, that this ious to the advent of Messiah, Elias the pro- grace may be more and more vouchsafed, until all would re-appear in the world; the words, This is shall know and love Christ, from the least even to Eas which was for to come, struck at the root of the greatest. of the erroneous interpretation, and identified John O let us beware, lest in any of us there be an the individual prophesied of, who, with the evil heart of unbelief. We claim the name of Chrise spirit of boldness, and power in advocating tians, but are we Christians indeed? Is there no lurkwhich were manifested by Elias, would preaching offence at any of the doctrines which Christ taught, enforce the claims of Jesus when he came. From preface, given by Luke vii. 29, 30. to the adrunning in this chapter from ver. 16—20. it lent that the pharisees and lawyers were prinin view, whom nothing could allure into a e of the divinity of Jesus. From ver. 20-25. arful doom is pronounced against those cities who ted the force of his miracles, and displayed an de obstinacy in sin. From ver. 25-28. who knew the counsels of his Father, and actitude and efficacy with which they were be2 fulfilled, gives thanks for the wisdom with which were contrived, and signifies his acquiescence the mode of their accomplishment. In the conon of the chapter, notwithstanding the infidelity perverse captiousness with which his labours derided, Christ proclaims the gospel, in all its Ees, to the multitude around him, calling upon were labouring under a sense of guilt, to unto him, and receive rest to their souls. No ation fetters the invitation; how wicked soever man was, however violent his resentment of however weighty the terrors of judgment may been lying on his conscience, the blessed call Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy , and I will give you rest. PRACTICAL REMARKS. It is dreadful reflection that, in spite of the and indubitable proofs vouchsafed by our Lord be was the Son of God, so comparatively few, | any of the sanctifying precepts which he inculcated, any of the dispensations of providence with which we have been visited, any of the ways by which he is leading his people to a city of habitation? To the extent to which there is so, we are offended at Christ, and dishonouring his name. PRAYER. Most blessed and gracious Father, thou art infinitely holy, and how shall polluted creatures present themselves before thee; thou art infinitely just, and how shall rebels against thy government come to thy footstool; thou art infinitely wise, and how shall we, who have preferred our own folly, venture to commune with thee. See God our shield, look upon us in the face of thine Anointed. We come not concealing our sins, but, sensible of our great depravity, and of the outrages which we have committed against thy law, that, through the Lord our righteousness, we may be forgiven, and obtain grace to subdue our carnal mindedness, to deliver us from the evil of sin, and to make us walk more holily before thee in the land of the living. We mag nify thy name for the redemption of sinners, for the love which thou bearest to thine own, for the care with which thou watchest over them, and for the comforting assurances which their souls receive from thy Spirit, that they are the heirs of glory. We bless thee for the animating prospects to which thou art encouraging believers to look as their portion when time shall be no more. O make us thy children indeed, interested in the new covenant of grace, and heirs of the promises. May the Holy Spirit dwell within us, to sanctify, and comfort, and enlighten our souls, to give us wisdom to believe the record which thou hast given of thy Son, confidence in the mercy of the dispensation, and more ardent desires after conformity to thy will. Lord, impress upon our minds the dreadful fate of those who continue at a distance from thee, and enable us to strive and pray that they may come to the Saviour, and obtain from him peace, and rest, and eternal joy. Humble thine enemies under the sceptre of mercy, and may the lips that now blaspheme thy name, soon praise and adore the workings of thy sovereign grace. Thou, O Lord, never slumberest nor sleepest, and we commend ourselves to thy watchful providence during this night. Save us, we beseech thee, from danger and from ill. Never leave us nor forsake us, but keep us in thy fear, and guide us always by thy counsel. May we die the death of the righteous, and may our last end be like his. Hear us in heaven thy dwelling place, and grant us a gracious answer to this our humble prayer, through Christ, our blessed Redeemer. Amen. TUESDAY MORNING. PRAISE-PSALM XXXIV. 11. EXPLANATORY REMARKS. Ver. 1, 2. This chapter furnishes one instance of the faithful impartiality of the sacred record. The scripture makes no concealment of the blemishes which mark the fairest characters. The fault of Abraham was attended with this aggravation, that this was at least the second occasion on which he had been guilty of it, (chap. xii. 13,) nay, it would seem, even from the terms of his apology (ver. 13.), that he had formed the resolution of resorting to this equivocation, whenever he might suppose it necessary for his safety. Ver. 38. The consequences of this false step had well nigh proved fatal, both to Abraham and to others. God, however, preserved him; and that by a method which at once checked the sin of Abimelech, and made him the instrument of reproving Abraham. Acting in accordance with a then common lawless practice, the king of Gerar had sent and taken Sarah. But God prevented him from carrying his sinful purpose into effect. In a dream, by night, he informed him that the woman whom he had taken was the wife of another. Jehovah 'holdeth The upright the hearts of all men in his hand.' he keepeth as the apple of the eye;' and, even when he corrects them for their sins, he preserves them from their fatal effects. In excuse for his meditated sin, Abimelech pled ignorance of the fact that Sarah was the wife of Abraham, and his plea was accepted. Wilful ignorance will never excuse, but that He had been misled of Abimelech was not wilful. both by Abraham and Sarah herself. Ver. 9, 10. Abimelech had good cause to blame the conduct of Abraham; yet, like most men, he overlooked his own fault. Though his excuse of ignorance was so far accepted, he had yet been guilty of a crime, and for this the Lord had punished him. He had done what he had no right to do, in sending and taking Sarah, even although she had been unmarried. But this, it would seem, does not occur to him. He adverts only to the equivocation of Abraham, and to the danger to which, through it, he had been exposed; forgetting that, but for his own unwarrantable conduct, there would have been no occasion for Abraham's resorting to this disguise. We can readily observe the mote in our brother's eye, while the beam in our own is unperceived. Ver. 11—13. Yet Abimelech had too much reason to reprove the patriarch. It was humiliating to Abraham to be questioned by the king of Gerar. No sin appears so heinous as that which deforms the character of a saint. And what was the patriarch's apology? He knew the wickedness of the place, the violence of those who fear not God, and that the only effectual restraint did not exist here; I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place;' he was afraid of his life, and had, therefore, resorted to his preconcerted deception. It was proper thus distinctly to stigmatise the wickedness and violence of Gerar, yet vain was his excuse. It seems to have satisfied the king, for he knew that there was truth in the allegation; but alas, it was only a confession of guilt. Although the statement which he and Sarah had agreed to make was not untrue, (ver. 12,) it was, nevertheless, an attempt to deceive. It was intended by them to be received as a denial of their relation as husband and wife; and it is in the intention to deceive, that the guilt of lying or equivocating consists. Ver. 14—16. Although the patriarch was thus guilty, it was Abimelech who had committed injury, and accordingly we find him making restitution. His conduct amounted to an acknowledgment of his own sin, while he justly reproves Abraham and Sarah for theirs. Ver. 17, 18. We must repent and turn from our sins, if we hope to be forgiven, and to have the hand of God removed from us. PRACTICAL REMARKS. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Let us beware of unbelief. This was the root of Abraham's sin. He distrusted the protection of that God at whose command he had formerly gone out, not knowing whither he went. If he watch not unto prayer, the Christian may fail even in those graces for which he is most distinguished. No warning can be more striking than that afforded by the Father of the faithful falling, through want of Ever blessed Jehovah, O enable us, by thy grace, this morning, to draw near unto thee with deep reverence and godly fear. We are thy dependent creatures; thy disobedient children. How shall we approach thy glorious majesty ? Thou art the blessed and only potentate; glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Thou art very great: thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Thou coverest thyself with light as with a garment. We prostrate ourselves before thee, humbly supplicating that God would be! merciful to us sinners. And blessed be thy glorious name, we are encouraged to approach thee as a gracious Father. Thou hast commanded us to pray always, with all prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving. Yea, we have confidence to draw near by that new and living way which Jesus hath opened up and consecrated with his blood. The desire of our souls is to thy name: with our souls have we desired thee in the night, and with our spirits within us will we seek thee early. We rejoice that there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin. In him, O Lord, may we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. mercy and find deed, the followers of Jesus Christ, in whose day. Be thou with us in all our employments. Amen. TUESDAY EVENING. PRAISE PSALM LXIX. 7. EXPLANATORY REMARKS. The leading topic in these verses, is one, the importance of which we cannot over-estimate, viz., the the Lord. It is to the Jewish sabbath, no doubt, duty and privilege of keeping holy the sabbath of that our Saviour refers, but his teaching is equally applicable to the Christian sabbath. The observance of this sacred ordinance is as really binding upon us, as it was upon the Jewish church. The time of its institution, the reason given for its appointment, the place which it occupies in the decalogue, and the designs which it is intended to And seeing, O most blessed God, we are in serve, refer to all men alike. In the passage before Durselves so weak, and exposed to such dangers us, we have a view of what our Saviour has taught from the allurements of the world, the tempta- respecting its observance; the kind of rest which it tions of the deceiver, and the corruptions of our implied, with the limitations and exceptions which he own hearts, may we obtain admitted. While the pharisees, in our Saviour's grace to help us in our time of need. O Lord, grant time, neglected the weightier matters of the law, us the teaching and the guidance of thy good external services of religion, and especially those they were most scrupulous in their attention to the Spirit, that he may lead us into all truth, and which they had received by tradition from the fathers. uphold our goings. May we be indeed followers Ver. 1, 2. We find them here blaming the disciples, of them who, through faith and patience, are not for plucking ears of corn, which were not their now inheriting the promises; the spiritual chil- own property, for, in such circumstances, this was dren of faithful Abraham, and heirs with him of allowed by their law, (Deut. xxiii. 25.) but for doing the grace of God. But may we take no en-bath day. Our Saviour replies to their accusation. what they conceived to be servile work on the Sabcouragement, from the errors of thy people, to continue in the practice of any known sin, or to in any known duty, or to yield to any known temptation. May we never, in any case, do evil that good may come. May we at no time swerve from the truth, but speak every man truth with his neighbour, knowing that the lips of truth shall be established, but that a lying tongue is but for a moment. Make us, in very The first part of his answer is founded upon the declaration, that God would have mercy rather than sacrifice; and that the very end of the sabbath, while a due homage to God, was, at the same time, an institution of mercy to man, and that to it; that works of necessity and mercy are lawful satisfy the necessities of nature was no violation of on the sabbath day. This he illustrates by a case to which a Jew could not object, ver. 5. being sanctioned by such examples, and by the Spirit of God. Thou We pray, most merciful Father, that we may not be permitted to deceive ourselves. Thee we cannot deceive, for all things are naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Thou searchest the heart and triest the reins, that thou mayest give to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. But our hearts are deceitful The necessary service of the temple also required| Who is a God like unto thee, glorious in holithat, on the sacred day, the priests should do certain ness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? works with their hands. Ver. 6-8. The pharisees art great, and dost wondrous things; thou art might urge that the nature of the labour and the God alone. holiness of the cause, sanctified the servile work performed. Our Lord, therefore, reminds them, that God prefers mercy even to sacrifice, and if work was justified in the one case, still more was it so in the other. But he answers them on other grounds. He asserts his own authority, as Lord even of the sabbath-day; not, to be sure, to annul a moral law, but to interpret it. 'And if,' says he, 'the temple sanctifies the labour necessary in its whole external worship, greater is the holiness of the true and spiritual temple, to free all its worshippers from blame, whilst performing such duties as piety requires.' Ver. 9-13. Having defended his disciples in this matter, he forthwith himself performs a work of mercy. Ver. 11, 12. And in answer to the malevolent question of the pharisees, proposes another, to which they could not reply without condemning themselves. Even according to their own conduct, he was justified in healing the man which had his hand withered. Ver. 14. To answer the objections of the wicked and unbelieving, is frequently only to exasperate their malevolence. Ver. 14-16. His time was not yet come,' and rather than occasion a tumult among the people, who would even have taken him by force and made him a king, he withdraws from the scene of strife. Ver. 17—21. In so doing he was just fulfilling the ancient prophecy, in which his character and work had been so strikingly described. PRACTICAL REMARKS. The conduct of the pharisees, who attempted to conceal their hatred of our Lord under the semblance of zeal for the law, should be full of warning to us. Of all kinds of hypocrisy, that surely is the worst which not only assumes the garb of outward piety, but does so for the very purpose of concealing sin, and even of accomplishing the ends of malevolence. The just rights of conscience are peculiarly sacred; but for this very reason, so much more aggravated is the sin of prostituting its rights to an unholy end. Let us beware of contenting ourselves with the letter, while we neglect the spirit of ordinances. Let us keep sacred and entire the sabbath of the Lord. To us let it be as indeed the day of rest which God himself has given; a type of the everlasting rest which remaineth for the people of God, in which there shall be no more sorrow, nor toil, nor suffering, but everlasting jubilee, in the presence of God and of the Lamb. PRAYER. Most merciful and most glorious Jehovah, we would, this evening, bow ourselves before thee, the most high God, our creator, our preserver; the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. O teach us how to pray. Give us thy Holy Spirit, the spirit of adoption, whereby we may cry, Abba, Father. We cannot of ourselves order our speech, by reason of darkness. Enable tbou us to worship thee in spirit and in truth. above all things. Search us, O Lord, and know our hearts; try us, and know our thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting. Let us not incur the guilt of those who make religion a cloak to their sins; but may we be enabled to maintain a conscience void of offence toward God and toward man. We give thee thanks for the temporal mercies which we enjoy. But especially do we give thee thanks for the rich provision which thou hast made for the supply of our spiritual wants. Thanks be unto God for Jesus Christ, his unspeakable gift. May he be made unto us righteousness, and wisdom, and sanctification, and redemption. We bless thee, O God, for the ordinances of religion. The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and we have a goodly heritage. Enable us, O Lord, to value and improve all our privileges. May thy word be dearer to us than thousands of gold or silver: that it may not, at length, be to our condemnation that light hath come into the world. May the sabbath of the Lord ever be to us a delight, the holy of the Lord, and honourable. May we never be contented with that bodily service which profiteth little; but, consecrated to thee in soul, and body, and spirit, present ourselves a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, through Jesus Christ. We desire to live by faith upon thy Sou. desire to be made partakers of his Spirit, and to be enabled, while discharging, with fidelity, every present duty, to have our affections set upon the things which are above. Make our bodies the temples of the Holy Ghost, and let thy gracious Spirit witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. We We bless thee for all the goodness which thou hast, this day, made to pass before us. In the blood of Jesus blot out all the guilt which we may, this day, have contracted. Take us under thy protection during the night. May the angel of the Lord encamp around us. We would remember thee upon our bed, and meditate on thee |