it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me,-it shall be an excellent oil which shall not break my head for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities." Moses makes the omission the proof of hatred "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." But the Saviour will never incur this reproach: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.

If he calls us friends, he will counsel us. There are passages in the life of every man sufficient to confound a single understanding. But how pleasing is it, in doubts and perplexities, to fetch in aid from the judgment or experience of another, and who, we know, is concerned for our welfare! But HE is "The Counsellor." "Counsel," says he, "is mine, and sound wisdom." He is a light to them that sit in darkness. He is a dissolver of doubts. The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way-and they that follow it will find it to be pleasantness and peace.

-If he calls us friends, he will sympathise with us. There is no true friendship, unless we make the pleasures and the pains of our connexions our own; rejoicing when they rejoice, and weeping when they weep. To him that is afflicted, pity should be shewed from his friend. The natural language of the sufferer is, "Pity me, pity me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me!" Hence the complaint of the Saviour "I looked for some to take pity, and there was none; and for comforter, but I found none"-for even all the disciples forsook him, and fled. But he will never inflict, what he endured. In all our affliction he is afflicted. To exemplify this, he assumed our nature. He became a manto be a friend. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able also to succour those that are tempted-and, therefore, though he is passed into the heavens, we have not an High Priest who

cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity. Yea, "He that toucheth them, toucheth the apple of his eye."

If he calls us friends, he will afford us assistance and succour. And this is the grand test of friendship. A friend loveth at all times; but is born for adversity; and he has forfeited all claim to the character, who says, in the hour of application, Go in peace, be ye warmed, and be ye filled, while he gives not the things that are needful! Yet, how often is this the case! How often are the words of Solomon verified-" Confidence in an unfaithful man in the time of trouble, is like a broken tooth, or a foot out of joint!" Many are very friendly when you want not their aid; especially while you are imparting, instead of receiving. You are their garden: they walk in you in summer, but abandon you in winter-then you have no flowers or fruits. You are their scaffold; they build with you -but when the work is done, they take you down, and lay you aside. But though the Saviour will never leave us nor forsake us, he has emphatically said, I will be with you in trouble. And his people have always found him a present help, when every other resource has failed. Some may really feel for us, but be unable to help us. But nothing is too hard for the Lord. Even in death he will be the strength of our heart, and our portion for ever.

Thus he treats his friends-How do they treat him? Have we never given him cause to say, "Is this thy kindness to thy friend?" Have we never betrayed a want of confidence in him? Have we never been ashamed of him? Never denied him before men? Have we not often preferred our own ease and honour to his cause and glory? We can never make him adequate returns for his goodnessbut have we made him suitable returns? Rather, will not an honest review of our temper and conduct constrain us to blush, and say—

"O were I not so vile and base,

"I could not thus my friend requite; "And were not he the God of grace,

"He'd frown, and spurn me from his sight."

MARCH 8.-" Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy." Ps. xxxiii. 18.

THIS is a very encouraging character. They who cannot claim the higher distinctions of religion, may surely know that they "fear God, and hope in his mercy."

Some may wonder at the combination; and suppose that the qualities are incompatible with each other. But the first Christians "walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost." They may think that the fear will injure the hope, or the hope the fear. But they are even mutually helpful: and they are not only never so beautiful, but never so influential as when they are blended. The fear promotes hope, by the evidence it affords; and by keeping us from loose and careless walkingwhich must affect our peace and pleasure. And hope no less befriends this fear. For never is God seen so glorious, so worthy of all our devotedness to him, as when we hope in his mercy; and even the more assured we are of his regard, the more we shall enquire, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?— The more we shall tremble at the thought of offending and grieving him; the more we shall continue upon our knees, praying, Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my Strength, and my Redeemer. It is called "a lively hope;" and Christians know, by experience, that upon all their principles and duties, it has the same influence as the Spring has upon the fields and the gardens.

Despondence of mind has the same effect upon our feelings and obedience as frost upon the stream: it chills, hardens, and stagnates. But Divine love dissolves the ice, and the waters flow.

God is a Spirit, and has none of our senses and members; but in speaking to us, he makes use of language that we can understand. His eyes are upon them that fear him, and hope in his mercy.

The eyes of his knowledge are upon them. Every thing in their affairs comes under his notice. He knows all their walking through this great wilderness; and nothing befals them without their Heavenly Father. Parents cannot always have their eye upon a child. They may be engaged, or be afar off, or asleep. But He is always at hand; He is never diverted or perplexed; He never slumbers or sleeps.

-The eyes of his affection are upon them. The eye not only affecteth the heart, but follows it. It turns with the object of attachment; it sparkles with delight while dwelling upon it; and when deprived of the sight, continues looking in the direction of departure-as the disciples stood gazing up towards heaven after their beloved Saviour. Oh! to be the object of God's love! To be precious in his sight, and honourable! But He" takes pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." "He will rest in his love: He will joy over them with singing.”

The eyes of his providence are upon them. Therefore it is added-"To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine." That isfor a part is put for the whole-to secure them from all danger, and to supply all their wants. In cases the most perilous and extreme, He is able to do for them exceeding abundantly above all they can ask or think. We are not to look for miracles; but it is only because the power and truth of God can do without them.

"For sooner all Nature shall change,

"Than one of God's promises fail.

"How safe and how happy are they
"Who on their good Shepherd rely!
"He gives them out strength for their day,
"Their wants He will surely supply.
"He ravens and lions can tame;

"All creatures obey his command:
"Then let me rejoice in his Name,

"And leave all my cares in his hand."

MARCH 9.-"Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." Ephes. vi. 10.

To this we must be brought. Nature can never do the work of grace. Reason cannot be a substitute for faith. Education cannot render needless the teaching of the Spirit. Vain must all our exertions be, without His agency. Without His influence we may have the form of godliness, but not the power; we may be reformed, but not renewed; we may become other creatures, but not new ones.

What is the use we are to make of this admission? Are we to derive from it ease in sin? self

justification? excuses for indolence? reasons for despair? Self-despair, indeed, grows out of it; but no other. There is hope in Israel concerning this thing. We have a resource; and it is accessible: and we are commanded to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."

When we plead for this doctrine, we are often charged with enthusiasm. But the Scripture asserts, that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus; that it is God who worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure; that hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us. And we retort the charge upon those that would exclude this influence. For what is enthusiasm,