SCRIPTURAL SELECTIONS.

FEAR not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.— Is. xliii. 1, 2, 3.

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. 7-10.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.-Matt. v. 4.

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.-John xiv. 18. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.--2 Cor. 17, 18.

God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.—Rev. vii. 17

THE RAINBOW.

WHEN the sun with cheerful beams
Smiles upon a lowering sky,
Soon its aspect softened seems,
And a rainbow meets the eye;
While the sky remains serene,
This bright arch is never seen.

Thus the Lord's supporting power
Brightest to the saints appears,

When affliction's threatening hour

Fills their sky with clouds and fears:

He can wonders then perform,

Paint a rainbow on the storm.

All their graces doubly shine,

When their troubles press them sore;

And the promises divine

Give them joys unknown before,

As the colours of the bow

To the cloud their brightness owe.

III.

"And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.”—Ps. cvn. 7. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."-REV. XXII. 14.

HIS present world through which we are passing

may justly be called a wilderness; it is a solitary, and a barren way. It is a lonely and a dreary way we are travelling in; the path is strait and narrow, and few there are that walk therein. This world is no more our friend, than it is our home; the true Christian, therefore, who is born from above, whose conversation is in heaven, and who is daily travelling thitherward, is the object of its malice, or else the subject of its ridicule. The soil of this present evil world is barren and unfruitful; it presents before our eyes many objects which are an hinderance to us in our way; but it is entirely desert and barren with respect to any help it affords us in our progress. It produces little else but briers and thorns, which have a tendency only to entangle and wound the feet of those who pass through it. The many afflictions with which the people of God are exercised in the present life, are as a constant clog to the wheels of their souls, which makes them drag on heavily and were they not sometimes favoured with a view of the rest

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which remains for them, they would be almost ready to despair of getting safe out of this vale of tears, which they have, therefore, too great occasion to call a waste howling wilderness-a solitary and a barren land.

This present world through which we are passing is also properly compared to a wilderness, as it is likewise a dangerous way. A wilderness is a place not only barren and unfrequented, but is generally full of pits and wild beasts, which render it exceeding dangerous. For this reason it is styled in Scripture "a terrible. wilderness, wherein are fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there is no water," Deut. viii. 15. We are called to pass through an enemy's country; this world is under the influence of our greatest and most inveterate enemy. The Devil is styled the prince of the power of the air, and the generality of this world's inhabitants are his willing slaves and vassals. Whilst therefore we are passing through his territories, he will be sure to gain all the advantages he can against us. No sooner do we enlist ourselves under the banner of Christ Jesus, but Satan and the world immediately join in a league against us; as though they were resolved to rob the Redeemer of his spoil, and pluck those who are the purchase of his blood out of his hands. There is a rooted enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Satan has an inveteracy against every one that bears the image of Jesus; and "as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour," 1 Peter v. 8. And, like an old serpent, he conceals his wiles that he may get the better advan

tage over us. We are, in this life, never free from his temptations: he is always contriving some temptation against us, or presenting it to us. And that we do not oftener fall into the snares which he lays to entrap us, is only owing to the care and vigilance of our Great Leader, and the grace which he is pleased to communicate to us out of his fulness.

As for the world; "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," how prevalent have these been to draw aside the believer from the God and guide of his youth! these Philistines are often upon us before we are aware of them, and there is an unbelieving heart always within, which is as constant fuel to the fire of temptations from without. So that were not God pleased at particular times to open our eyes, and let us see that, "they who are for us are more than they which are against us," we should be ready to give up all in despair.

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On these accounts the present state is compared to a wilderness. We wander here in the wilderness, in a solitary way, we can find no city to dwell in, hungry and thirsty, our souls faint within us." But herein God leads his people by the right way, to the city of habitation. They are dear to him every one as the apple of his eye-as near to him as his right hand. His love was fixed from everlasting upon them, and therefore his care and loving kindness are ever exercised towards them. He may bring his people into the wilderness, but he cannot, in consistency with the perfections of