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we desire, yet if we have but a hiding place, if God vouchsafe us a little liberty in our service, we ought to be content, if he will give us safety though not plenty, -for here is not our rest. God never undertook in his covenant to maintain us in such a state, nor thus to enlarge our earthly portion; if he will vouchsafe a little peace and safety to us during the time of our pilgrimage, we ought to be content. And unless God be our hiding place, the strongest defences in the world are not enough to keep us from danger. All the shifts we run into will only entangle us the more, drive us farther from God, and to greater suffering. Many thus run away from God's protection, and seek out means of safety for themselves; thus they do but plunge themselves into troubles so much the more; there is much sin and danger in departing from God; he can soon blast our confidences. God will blast our carnal shifts, Jer. xvii. 15-18. No hurt can come to us without God's leave. No creature can move or stir, not only but by God's permission, but by his influence: others may have a will to hurt us, but not the power, unless given them from above, as Christ told Pilate. Satan is a raging adversary against the people of God, but he is forced to ask leave before he can touch either Job's goods or his person; he could not touch his skin, nor anything that belonged to him, without permission from God, Job, i. Nay, he must ask leave to enter into the herd of swine, Matt. viii. 31. Constantly then, make use of God. You may think this advice not needed by you, because you are

at present out of fears and dangers; but what saith the scripture? "Be not high-minded but fear,”—and again, "Blessed is the man that feareth always." Are you not constantly to make use of God, whether your state be well or ill, and to live upon God at all times? All our comforts are from God, as well as our support in trouble. Certainly, he that lives upon God in prosperity, will live upon him in adversity. Oh! when you are at ease and abound in all things, and consider Him as the author of all your happiness, and the giver of all your gifts, you will learn better to make Him your refuge when all things fail. But he that lives upon the creature in prosperity, when the creature fails will be in utter distress, and know not which way to turn for comfort, Jer. xvii. 13, 14.

LEIGHTON.

SCRIPTURAL SELECTIONS.

THE eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.-Deut. xxxiii. 27.

And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

When the waves of death compass me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;

The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God; and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.-2 Saml. xxii. 2-7.

The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.-Ps. ix. 9, 10.

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.-Ps. lvii. 1.

In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God.-Ps. lxii. 7.

O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth.-Jer. xvi. 19.

JESUS OUR HIDING PLACE.

WHEN God's right arm is bared for war,
And thunders clothe his cloudy car,
Where, where, oh where! shall man retire,
To escape the horrors of his ire?

'Tis he, the Lamb, to whom we fly,
While the dread tempest passes by;
God sees his well-beloved's face,
And spares us in our hiding place.

Thus, while we dwell in this low scene,
The Lamb is our unfailing screen;
To him, though guilty, still we run,
And God still spares us for his Son.

While yet we sojourn here below,
Pollutions still our hearts o'erflow;
Fallen, abject, mean, a sentenced race,
We deeply need a hiding place.

Yet courage--days and years will glide,
And we shall lay these clods aside;
Shall be baptized in Jordan's flood,
And washed in Jesus' cleansing blood.

Then pure, immortal, sinless, freed,
We, through the Lamb, shall be decreed;

Shall meet the Father face to face,

And need no more a hiding place.

II.

THE RAINBOW; OR, COVENANT PROMISES SEEN

THROUGH TEARS.

"I do set my Bow in the cloud."-GENESIS, Ix. 13.

"And there was a Rainbow round about the Throne."-REV. IV. 3.

WE

E have joined together the two extremes of Holy Writ-yoked in one text passages from Genesis and from Revelations-placed beside each other as kindred truths, sentences written by Moses and by John; one, relating to the old world more than fortythree centuries ago, and the other, referring to a scene in that "new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness," which is yet to be revealed.

Thus beautifully harmonizes the whole Word of God. Thus are its beginning and ending made to meet and form one circle of truth, having Christ for its centre, and Infinitude for its circumference. Nor need we wonder at this unity of purpose, thought, language, and doctrine it was all dictated by the same Divine Spirit, it is all occupied with the same Divine salvation, and its united aim is to advance the glory of God, and the redemption of man.

The passages quoted at the head of this chapter, introduce to our notice two striking, sublime, and at