appear clothed in sacerdotal vestments, as the servants of a priestly King (ver. 4), and themselves a 'kingdom of priests' Exod. xix. 6. Beloved, let us yield ourselves body, soul, and spirit to Christ, and the beauties of holiness shall be ours.

'From the womb of the morning.' There is some doubt, beloved, as to the meaning of this phrase. From the womb of the morning of creation, the morning of the first day of creation, when God said, 'Let there be light, and there was light;' from the womb of that morning, it may be said emerged the whole of God's glorious creation, of which man is the topstone and the crown. But there are other mornings, from the womb of which have come forth still more glorious things. The morning of the Resurrection, the morning of the Day of Pentecost: the morning of the Resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of this glorious day of Gospel light and liberty in which we live, and this day shall never be followed by night. 'It shall come to pass that at evening-time it shall be light.' Out of this morning of redemption have been indeed poured forth lavishly the unspeakable gifts of God through Jesus Christ. He is one with His people, and they with Him. And, lastly, we have, Thou hast the dew of thy youth.' This clearly refers to the Holy Spirit, whose operations may be compared to dew upon the earth. Dew refreshes the earth. It does not descend like rain, but distils gently on the ground. Who ever saw the process going on? And yet every one sees the result. When the dew is on the ground, and the sun in his rising splendour comes over the horizon in a moment, his glorious rays illuminate all which before seemed dull and gloomy. Every blade of grass, every lovely blossom, is covered as with sparkling diamonds, and the landscape becomes for a time an enchanted ground. It is all the result of the noiseless, gentle dew. So gentle, so noiseless is the dew of the Spirit, and so wondrously fair are

its results; but not so do they pass away. Theirs is not the passing beauty of an hour, but the heavenly glory which shall shine more and more unto the perfect day. Let us see to it, my dear friends, that such beauty of holiness may shine forth from us, that others may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.

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

Tongue never spake, ear never heard,
Never from heart o'erflowed,
A dearer name, a sweeter word,
Than Jesus, Son of God.

O hope of every contrite heart,
To penitents how kind,

To those who seek, how good Thou art;
But what to those who find?

Ah! this no tongue can utter; this

No mortal page can show;

The love of Jesus, what it is,

None but His loved ones know.

Jesus, our only joy be Thou,

As Thou our prize wilt be;

Jesus, be Thou our glory now,
And through eternity.

PSALM CXVI. 1, 2.

PRAISE FOR ANSWERED PRAYER.

'I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.

'Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.'

THESE are the words of one who had indeed passed through deep waters, who had cried unto the Lord out of the depths, and who now joyfully records the over

flowing thankfulness of his heart for his merciful deliverance out of suffering. I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.'

An experience such as this is often realised by an anxious soul when first the light begins to dawn upon his darkness, when first he realises the love of God, and his heart is stirred within him to think that he who was so low and lost before, is now found in Jesus Christ. When he hears the voice of Jesus saying, 'I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee,' then his heart is ready to spring up with such joyful words as these, 'I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.' But the experience of the Psalmist in the case before us is very different to this, and it is more precious far. Sweet and blessed as is the enjoyment of the Saviour's love at first, in the early joy of our espousals to Him, it is not to be compared with the fuller and more steady joy which the believer experiences. This is the blessedness which leads him to exclaim, Therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.' I have proved Him in times past; I know Him to be a prayer hearing God; He has never left me nor forsaken me; He has ever heard my voice and my supplications, and even when I was too weak to cry to Him, He 'inclined His hear unto me; therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.

Beloved, have you never felt that this was indeed the language of your hearts? In days of pain and suffering, when you were bowed down beneath a weight of sorrow; when it seemed as though tears were to be your meat day and night; oh, then, when the light of His countenance broke in from above, and the voice of Jesus was heard saying, 'Peace, be still;' what a moment that was! The load was taken away from your hearts for ever, and they bounded up with the joyful exclamation, 'Because He hath heard my voice, and my supplication.' The sorrow

of sorrows is that too often we do not see Jesus and His love so clearly as we ought. What an exquisitely beautiful picture we have of this in the history of Mary Magdalene, when she had found her Saviour and learnt to love Him. She followed Him, she listened to Him, she ministered to Him; but then there came a time of darkness, and sorrow, and unbelief, when she stood by the grave of her Lord weeping tears of bitter anguish because they had taken Him away, and she knew not where they had laid Him. At that very moment, in the depth of her sorrow, Jesus Himself stood by her side, although she knew it not; and even when He said to her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, if thou have borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away.' She did not say for whom she was looking; her heart was so full of Jesus that she only cried, 'Tell me where thou hast laid Him;' and she knew not that even then His voice was sounding in her ear. Is it not so, beloved, with us very often? Jesus draws near to us in the hours of affliction and sorrow, but we are so overcome with bitterness of soul, that we see Him not, and so we lose the sweet joy and comfort, even in the midst of suffering, which would be ours if we realised His presence. David here had proved the Lord to be a very present help in trouble, and therefore he exclaims, Because He hath inclined His ear unto me,' therefore for this reason, will I call upon Him as long as I live.' Ah, dear friends, let us put down every answered prayer to be had in remembrance. I can remember many instances of answered prayer, thank God, but oh, would that I could remember all from first to last; for every one would arm me with a thousand arguments to plead with my heavenly Father for yet greater blessings. blessings. Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.'

Ah, how often does our memory too readily recall the times when we have apparently received no answer, while it passes over lightly the remembrance of the blessings which God has sent in gracious and loving answer to our feeble prayers.

The expression is a remarkable one, inclined His ear unto me.' Does God then not hear all things? Are His ears not always open to hear the cry of His people? Yes, but it is sweet to feel that amid the swell of sound which is ever arising to the ears of the Lord of Hosts, He comes, as it were, out of it all for a time to incline His ear' to the prayers of the humblest of His children. Oh, to be enabled to realise this! How it would soothe many an aching heart! How it would calm and cheer us, and take the sting from every sorrow! I think we cannot have looked at such a passage as this, beloved, and not have felt that prayer is indeed the life of a child of God. What a blessed thing to be thus instant in prayer. I do not say that we can always have equal joy in prayer, but that it is the drawing near of the heart in sweet communion with God, which gives life to the believer. O then, let us pray always. Then only are we safe; and thus clad in the whole armour of God, we shall assuredly be made more than conquerors.