longsuffering? there is indeed forgiveness with himhis mercy is infinite. The word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself? The same mercy was shown to Nebuchadnezzar, and we have a most wonderful and beautiful instance of it, in the case of Manasseh, (2 Chro. xxiii.) his life was a most awful one-he made Judah and Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen; judgment in mercy did not immediately descend, the exhortation came. Time was given for repentance. The Lord spoke to the king and to the people, but they would not hearken. Then came the punishment-Manasseh was bound with fetters and carried to Babylon. And there he might most justly have been left a captive; the day of grace, which once beamed upon him, might, being despised, have closed upon him in the blackness of darkness for ever! How then should our mouths be filled with God's praises, finding him so exceedingly pitiful! When Manasseh was in affliction, he besought the Lord, and humbled himself, and prayed. How passing our expectations was the result. God was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. What a glorious illustration of those beautiful words, and of the beautiful promise with which they are followed! "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isa. lv. Our praise too, must be called forth when we consider how mercifully the Lord condescends to the weakness of our nature. Were we to announce intelligence for which we had good authority to believe it would come to pass ; of course we should expect immediate credence to be given to our relation. How much rather then, when the God of truth speaks or commands, should we, without hesitation believe and obey. But what is the course taken by human nature under circumstances such as these? Alas, how do we doubt and shrink from embracing the word placed before us! Will not our folly and weakness thus evidenced before the faithful God, be sufficient to excite his anger to destroy, to exhaust his patience? Oh, no, this is the sound that greets our ear when in proposing the question, we turn to the tenth and thirtythird chapters of Exodus : weakness of faith, a thought of inability to perform God's will, mark the words of Moses; while in the Lord's merciful patience and condescension, we read the truth elsewhere stated, "he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust, (flesh) a wind that passeth away and cometh not again." And then there is the case of Gideon-he had been told by the Lord that he should save Israel, that the Lord was with him; and that therefore every difficulty would be overcome, every obstacle removed. But Gideon asked for a sign-might we not here suppose God's wrath to be kindled, and that if his anger were not otherwise shown, it would be, in giving the honour of delivering Israel to another instrument. But God's thoughts are not as ours, and our imaginings of his ways, are far different to the record of them, found in the scriptures. The twice repeated sign of the fleece tells us much of this. What an inexhaustible mine is the Bible! we may dig deep and gather much treasure, but when we come again and again, it is to gain the same experience. We know not what treasures still remain for us, when we renew our search. May the Holy Spirit be with us to enable us to see these wondrous things. "God moves in a mysterious way:" the veil which hangs over the future cannot be penetrated by human sagacity. It must therefore suffice us to acknowledge, that the event, however dark, was ordered by a God whose name is love; who sendeth chastisement to make us righteous, to bring us into the bonds of the covenant that we may be partakers of his holiness. Time rolls on, and shows us the need-be for many a dark providence; then we shall see that praise would have been more becoming than the sorrow, it may be the murmur, which escaped us; the issue has been revealed-we perceive the mercy of the affliction, the benefit from the bitter draught. Much grace indeed is needed to lie passive in God's hands, and still more to be able to rejoice in affliction ; but to this high eminence St. Paul attained, his thoughts centred in the advance of the Lord's glory, and the welfare of his own soul. Such an one could glory in tribulations, knowing how they work together for good, producing patience and experience and hope. (Rom. i.) The poet says, The bud may have a bitter taste; How plainly do we see this truth realized in the case of Joseph: we cannot see the end from the beginning; it is to us mysterious that an innocent lad should be the victim of his brother's envy and malice. We follow him on his way, the cloud looks still blacker; where is now his God, that we see him committed to prison on an unfounded accusation; again, the victim of infamy and cruelty? But this was but a step to the further advancement of the Lord's wise and merciful purpose; and how glorious was the issue, how bright the termination of what was once so dark, so inexplicable. Our trust in God's watchfulness and love may be strengthened by contemplating the record given us of his dealings. In the prophet Balaam's case, we see a circumstance, which in a kind of type sets before us what frequently happens to ourselves. It was to him a most grievous thing that his foot should be crushed against the wall: he could see no reason why he should be the subject of so severe an accident. But we read on and we find the mercy that was in the catastrophe. "The angel of the Lord said, The ass saw me, and turned from me; unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee." God knows what is in us; he mercifully provides for our wants, and averts by his providence the evils which he foresees are before us. This is strikingly shewn in Exodus xiii. 17. What a beautiful unfolding of the Lord's care for his people, what consideration for their natural feelings. "God led the people, not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt." The Psalmist had learnt deeply of the glorious character of his God; he had studied his dealings towards himself, and towards others. He had a keen sense of the benefits with which he was loaded. Oh that we had more of his spirit, more warmth of love, that with him we might exclaim, “Sing unto the Lord, bless his name, shew forth his salvation from day to day; for the Lord is great and greatly to be praised." In the Old and New Testaments, by precept and example, the duty of praise is enjoined. Strange indeed that we should need incitement to praise, if we are at all sensible of the benefits which should call it forth; "Speaking to yourselves," says the Apostle, "in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart, to the Lord." And the Psalmist, 66 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever let the redeemed of the Lord say so." Faith gives us an assurance that we shall realize the promises freely given to us of God in Christ; and so we may begin the song of the redeemed now, for we know that we are delivered out of the hand of our enemy, and that it is the purpose of our heavenly Father to guide us in safety to Canaan's shore. "The people that shall be created shall praise the Lord." Is such the case now? Are the praises of the Lord shewn forth by all? Does the universal creation conspire to swell the note, which, however imperfectly, does ascend? A negative is put to this when we cast our eyes around us and see the perversion of God's gifts, the abuse of his blessings,-his creatures actually his, in body, mind and soul, given up to their own way, to the gratification of their own desires, caring nothing for the Lord that they should obey him. Man against man filled with envy and strife, and every evil work : the animal creation groaning and travailing together in pain, writhing under the infliction of wanton and premeditated cruelties. And the many idols which we behold, with their various devotees. Still amid this sad dark scene there is a people whom the Lord hath made for himself who shew forth his praise; they are a peculiar people, zealous of good works; and while witnessing the awful effects of sin around them, they are cheered by the reflection that so it shall not always be. God's promise standeth sure the word that hath gone out of his mouth shall surely come to pass: "the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord." Bright indeed is the scene in the future, contrasted with the blackness of the present. How animating to read the Bible de |