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Willows are very pliable, easily twisted whatever way their owner chooses; so ought

mortal men to be to their Creator. Is it his will that we should be in prosperity and affluent circumstances? let us therein be humble, and rejoice with thanksgiving, joining trembling with our mirth, according to that beautiful direction of the royal Psalmist, Psalm ii. 11.

On the other hand, are we afflicted and poor? let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, with a cheerful resignation to the divine will, (not with a forced submission), saying, with the man of exem→ plary patience, when he was stripped of all his wealth and children, " Naked came I "out of my mother's womb, and naked shall "I return thither; the Lord gave, and the "Lord hath taken away; blessed be the (6 name of the Lord." "What? shall we "receive good at the hand of God, and shall "we not receive evil?" Job i. 21. and ii. 10. and with the prophet, " Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the pu "nishment of his sins?" Lam. ii. 39,

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On this rising ground stands the ever verdant yew, exposed to the northern blast; the ancestors of which have no doubt furnished many famous bows to our ancient warriors ; but, ever since the invention of gun-powder, it has been but little regarded; nay, for some offensive qualities more imaginary than real, this once esteemed tree is banished the society of those trees planted in gardens and pleasant groves, to places more remote and barren, and here and there only one of this hardy useful race is now to be found.

Such trees are emblematical of the people of the Lord, whose verdure of grace and constancy to the truth still remain, in midst of the sharpest trials to which they are exposed, whether from men or devils.

If at any time, through the weakness of the flesh, and the strength of indwelling sin, they be overcome, (which indeed they often are, for there is no man that liveth here and sinneth not, 1 Kings viii. 46. 2 Chron. vi. 36. Eccl. vii. 20.) like bows made of this elastic wood, they immediately return to that bent from which they had been forced by the law of the members, Rom. vii, 23.

They are often likewise persecuted to banishment, and even to death itself; and for what reason? only because they prove to be offensive to the wicked: nor is this owing to any thing in them, or the principles of that holy religion of which they are the votaries, (which are all calculated for the most salutary and endearing purposes) but wholly owing to the noxious qualities of the wicked themselves, which, like sore eyes that cannot endure the light and beams of the sun, are offended by the purity of their lives, precepts, and doctrines which they teach.

There is the comely chesnut, which is not only patient of the cold itself, but assists those of its own kind in defending other trees from the nipping frosts and severities of winter. So the people of the Lord are not only patient under trials, whether of a spiritual or temporal nature themselves, but contribute also very much, by their example and salutary counsels, to support others who are afflicted with such.

This tree also putteth me in mind of those yariegated rods of the same wood, which

Jacob used to encrease his wages from his deceitful father-in-law, Gen. xxx. 37. these means he knew, though unavailing in themselves, by the blessing of the Lord upon them, would answer his end; and that it was only this made them do so, he saw in a dream, Gen. xxxi. 10, 11.

Very small means, and even those, one would imagine, to be contrary to the design for which they are used, through the divine blessing, prove effectual. Witness the clay which our Lord made use of to anoint thẹ blind man's eyes, John ix. 6.

Here is the fir, which, for its lofty majestic stature, and perpetual verdure, stands unrivalled by any tree in the wood. To this our Lord hath condescended so infinitely low for our more suitable uptaking of his goodness, to compare himself: "I am like a green "fir tree," saith he," from me is thy fruit found," Hos. xiv. 8.

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Not more delightful and refreshing to the sun-burnt weary traveller is the shade of this tree, (which indeed is most pleasant and salutary in those hot eastern countries, where it

grows to a very great size) than Christ is to the Zion traveller: "I sat down under his "shadow with great delight," saith the spouse, "and his fruit was sweet to my taste," Cant. ii. 3.

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As this tree shades those who come under it, not only from the scorching beams of the sun, but also from tempestuous winds, hail, and rain: so Christ Jesus sheltereth them who come under his shadow from the heat of Satan's malice, the furious blasts of an accusing conscience, the storms of God's infinite wrath, and showers of eternal vengeance: "He that dwelleth in the secret

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place of the Most High, shall abide under "the shadow of the Almighty," Psal. xci. 1.

And as this tree, like others, stands with open shade, to receive any under it that will come: so Christ Jesus standeth with open arms, as it were, to shelter all guilty sinners who will fly to him for safety: He, the Godman, is" as an hiding place from the wind, "and a covert from the tempest," Isa. xxxii. 2.

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