hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pol own self-will-" then go ye" to your idols.” lute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols. 40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, "Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word against the forest of the south field, "and say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched." Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables ? 40 Yet is there a gleam of brighter days. The people will repent, and God will return! 46 Meaning Jerusalem. As individuals are compared to a tree, so a city is compared to a forest. toward the south, and prophesy 47 Judea, which in its length was from north to south, lay south of Babylon. The war of the Chaldeans desolated the people as a fire would share in the suffering, the green tree lay low a forest; and all had their and the dry-the righteous and the wicked, the rich and the poor, young and old together. 49 Too often now the preachers of the Gospel are scoffed; and the true and holy doctrines they declare, mocked and derided! We specially learn from this Scripture, to keep the Sabbath holy; to pray for what God willeth, if we wish God's blessing; and to reverence the ministers of the Gospel, for their Master's sake. day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou words be acknowledged clear and true. The sign will have its accom plishment; the word will be verified; and its ministry justified. shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. The nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. MORNING. DANIEL iii. 1 NEBUCHADNEZZAR the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews 12 These faithful servants of God whom thou hast set over the were delivered for envy. Their ex 1 Notwithstanding the image in the dream which had warned him, how soon Nebuchadnezzar forgot the God whom he then acknowledged ! affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, altation to high offices of the state, however well deserved, made them objects of a mean and deadly hatred. O king, have not regarded thee; they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. "Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, Ŏ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack but. psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, 0 Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve, is able to deliver us 13 The king thought that as he had promoted these men to their temporal advancement, their very consciences were to be at his bidding. 17 16 What a true courage! They would not forsake their God-they believed that he that loseth his life in the service of God here, shall find it hereafter. (Matt. x. 39.) 17 How beautiful an instance of unreserved faith in the care and providence of the Almighty! from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other 18 Let us take example from this uncompromising obedience to the commands of God; and go, and do likewise. 19 No enemy so fierce, as a friend changed into a foe. The fear of God taketh away the fear of man. Therefore, a truly religious person, whether in a high or low station, never sacrifices his conscience, either in the hope of worldly advantage, or from fear of worldly injury. garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery 22 Thus the miraculous preservation of the three was rendered more conspicuous. 25 The form of the fourth was exceeding glorious; far above any human splendour. furnace. 22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. And these three men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon. 27 Would any cavil at this? Is it then so strange that the Being who created the elements should control them? Hath not the potter power over the clay ? 30 Thus under false accusation, and the cruel surmisings of the slanderer, the persecuted christian must be firm in faith; knowing, that in God's good time his innocence shall be clear as the day, for God will make his "darkness to be light." He, who is Almighty, can at any time, deliver us-in due time, he will deliver us. EVENING. DANIEL Vi. 4 Ir pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; and over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. 3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition 3 This event took place about forty years after that recorded in the third chapter. Darius was now king, honour in his kingdom. This adand he had promoted Daniel to great vancement of one, a stranger and a captive, excited as usual the envy of the great men in the court of Babylon. A blameless life is no security against the shafts of envy, hatred, and malice; but piety takes from them their harm. 7 forasmuch as he was faithful, 5 Happy thou, whose only offence before men, is a strict fulfilment of thy duty towards God. 7 These courtiers appealed to the kingly pride of Darius-hoping that by flattery they might blind him to their presumption in having them Its avowed object was the king's honour. of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he 10 Here is no braving of danger, assumed for the occasion! no foolish Daniel courting of persecution ! pursues his even tenor of religious duties, "as aforetime." Habitual piety is an unfailing source of courage. |