To give them songs for sighing, Their darkness turn to light, Whose souls, condemn'd and dying,

Were precious in His sight.

"He shall come down like showers
Upon the fruitful earth,
And love, joy, hope, like flowers,
Spring in His path to birth:
Before Him, on the mountains,
Shall peace, the herald, go,
And righteousness in fountains,
From hill to valley flow.

"Arabia's desert-ranger

To Him shall bow the knee;

The Ethiopian stranger

His glory come to see:

With offerings of devotion

Ships from the Isles shall meet,

To pour the wealth of ocean

In tribute at His feet.

"Kings shall fall down before Him,
And gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing:
For He shall have dominion
O'er river, sea, and shore;
Far as the eagle's pinion,

Or dove's light wing can soar.

"For Him shall prayer unceasing,
And daily vows ascend,
His kingdom still increasing,
A kingdom without end:

The mountain-dews shall nourish
A seed, in weakness sown,
Whose fruit shall spread and flourish,
And shake like Lebanon.

"O'er every foe victorious,

He on His throne shall rest,
From age to age more glorious,
All-blessing and all-blest;
The tide of time shall never

His covenant remove;
His name shall stand for ever,

That Name to us is Love."

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

The River of Gladness.

Ps. i. 3.

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water; that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

JER. xvii. 7, 8.

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is; for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

ISA. xli. 17, 18.

"When the poor and the needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them, I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water."

JOHN vii. 38.

"He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

REV. xxii. I.

"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."

"There is a River, deep and broad,
Its course no mortal knows;
It fills with joy the Church of God,
And widens as it flows.

"Clearer than crystal is the stream,
And bright with endless day;
The waves with every blessing teem,*
And life and health convey

"Where'er they flow, contentions cease,
And love and meekness reign;
The Lord Himself commands the peace,
And foes conspire in vain.

Along the shores, angelic bands
Watch every moving wave;
With holy joy their breast expands,
When men the waters crave.

"To them distressed souls repair,
The Lord invites them nigh;
They leave their cares and sorrows there,
They drink, and never die.

"Flow on, sweet Stream, more largely flow, The earth with glory fill ;

Flow on, till all the Saviour know,

And all obey His will."

WILLIAM HURN.

THE RIVER OF GLADNESS.

Ps. xlvi. 4.

"There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.

HETHER, as some suppose, there is here a primary reference to the Kedron, and Siloah's brook, by which Jerusalem was watered, it

is unnecessary to inquire, as we can be at no loss to understand the Psalmist's meaning. Water, in the various forms and aspects which it assumes in nature, is familiarly known to be a Scriptural similitude of the Holy Spirit. Thus, when we read in the Gospel according to Saint John, that, "in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood, and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water"—we find the evangelist going on to explain, "But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive." Now, this explanation is no less.