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where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon; for why should I be as one that turneth aside from the paths of thy companions?" The desire arises also from the want of him. What can I do, says the Christian, without him? he is my deliverer, my helper, my guide, my comforter. The earth can do better without the sun, than I can do without him, the sun of righteousness. The body does not depend so much upon the soul, as I do upon him, the quickening Spirit. Who can screen me from the condemnation of the Law? Who can relieve my burdened conscience? Whose grace is sufficient for me, to sanctify me in prosperity, to sustain me in adversity, to crown me in death? "Oh, cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me." I must live in the same place, the same house, the same room, where thou dwellest-" Where dwellest thou?”

But let us find, if we can, an answer to this question. "He saith unto them, come and see;" and they went, and "saw where he dwelt." In a general way, he had not where to lay his head. It is not probable he had now a house to himself, but only an apartment hired or borrowed. But how was that lodging sanctified and honoured! They showed Alexander, when in Holland, a house where Peter the Great resided, and which is preserved in memory of him. Many have seen, at Ölney, the alcove where Cowper wrote his "Task"-oh, to have seen a dwelling where Jesus resided! But where dwells he now? He is everywhere, but he is not said to dwell everywhere. Dwelling, with regard to Him, implies preference, and abiding with delight. First then, he dwells in heaven; and this marks the place, yea-this makes it. "Where I am, there shall my servants be." "Absent from the body, and present with the Lord." Secondly, He dwells in his Church. "This," says he, "is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it."

Thirdly, He dwells in the sanctuary. "In all places

where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." " Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." And there his people have found him, and exclaimed, "Surely God is in this place." Fourthly, He dwells in the heart. He will reject every other residence you may offer him. "My son," says he, "give me thine heart;" and from every believer, he obtains what he demands-Christ dwells in his "heart" by faith."

This may be called enthusiasm by some, but it is the language of Inspiration. "Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." Let me forbear to injure and insult a Christian. Let me revere and honour him: he is a palace of the Prince of Peace; a temple of the Lord of all. Let me admire the condescension and kindness of Immanuel, God with us; and if I am the subject of this residence, let me not only rejoice in the dignity and privilege, but be concerned to discharge every duty I owe to such a distinguished guest, to such a divine inhabitant! "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer."

JAN. 12.-" And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea." Exod. xiii. 17, 18.

THERE were two ways which they might have taken to their destination. One was from the north of Egypt to the south of Canaan. This was short and

direct, and would have required but a few days, as we see in the case of Jacob's sons, when they fetched corn, and in the rapid incursion of Bonaparte. The other was very much farther and very indirect-and yet God took this; and instead of leading them to the Isthmus of Suez, he conducted them to the border of the Red Sea. He therefore declined the common road which the people would have chosen, and which every one else might have recommended, and selected the most unlikely.

For his thoughts are not our thoughts; neither are his ways our ways. And the promise is, "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight." It is well that we are under his guidance; for the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. We know not what is good for us; and, like children left to themselves, we should soon run into mischief. We are too ignorant, too selfish, too carnally minded, to choose for ourselves safely. How was it with the Jews in the time of Moses? They must have flesh-and he gave them their hearts' desire, but sent leanness into their souls. And was it not the same in the days of Samuel? They would have a king-and he gave them a king in his anger, and took him away in his wrath. And how has it been with ourselves? Have we not often been imposed upon both by our hopes and fears? Have we not anxiously desired what we now see would have proved injurious? And have we not been eager to escape what we now know has proved a blessing? If our bones have not been broken, have we not been bruised by the falls of our own rashness and folly? If we have not been thrown out of the vehicle, have we not endangered it enough to induce us to give back the reins into the proper hand? Surely we are not yet leaning to our own understanding; but com

mitting our way unto the Lord. Surely we are now saying, The Lord shall choose our inheritance for us.

It is acknowledged that the course declined " was near." But God being the judge, the nearest way is not always the best. Jacob, in obtaining the blessing, went the nearest way to work, in imposing upon his blind father-but God's way would have been better, though it would have taken more time. Joseph's dreams might have been fulfilled by constraining his brethren to pay him immediate obeisance. But more than twenty years must previously elapse, and he must be sold into Egypt as a slave, and be imprisoned as a criminal, and be released as an interpreter, and possess all the store of the land as a deliverer. The thing was true; but the time appointed was long. Yet the Lord's time is the best: and the fruit we covet will be much more rich and wholesome when ripe, than if seized and devoured while green. He that believeth, therefore, maketh not haste. "This world is a Mesech, and my soul is vexed with the conversation of the wicked-Why is not my taste gratified? and why am I not allowed to enter the region of purity and peace?" Because your principles are to be tried and exemplified. Because you are to serve your generation by the will of God. "How long have I waited for an answer to prayer, for a deliverance from affliction, for a sense of divine favour?" And are ye not told that "it is good for a man not only to hope, but quietly wait for the salvation of God?" and that "blessed are all they that wait for him?" The order of nature is not to reap as soon as the seed is sown-weeks and months of varied weather, and some of it dreary and chilling, are introductory and preparatory to the harvest. It is the same with the order of grace-Be ye also patient.

God doth all things well: and if he led them the longest way, it was the right way. He did not choose it arbitrarily, but for reasons founded in his wisdom and kindness. Some of these reasons are not men

tioned, but they were afterward developed; and the motive here assigned is well worthy of our attentionIt was to keep them from "seeing war"-especially "with the Philistines;" into contact with whom they would have immediately come, the other way. At present they were not fitted for serious conflict. Their spirits had been broken by oppression, and they partook of the timidity as well as meanness of slaves. They were raw recruits, shepherds, brick-makers. It was better for them not to fight for awhile, or to have only a distant brush with Amalek, rather than be plunged at once into sanguinary contest with veteran foes, inured to battle, and rendered courageous by victory. How instructive is this! What is the counterpart of it? He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. A bruised reed will he not break, and the smoking flax will he not quench. He gathers the lambs with his arm, and carries them in his bosom. He affords to young converts some peculiar encouragements to allure them on, till they have advanced too far to think of going back, whatever they meet with. From a regard to their weakness and want of experience, for a time he hides, or restrains, many of their enemies, and thus secures them from encounters with which more aged Christians are familiar.

When will ministers and Christians learn to be followers of God? Under their guidance, persons who have but just left Egypt are often involved in controversies, even with Philistines. They have scarcely entered the grammar-school of repentance before they are sent to the university of predestination. Babes, instead of being fed with milk, have strong meat given them, and even bones. Their hope is shaken, and their comfort destroyed, because they have not the confidence and assurance required of them. But if we turn to the conduct of our Lord, we shall see that every thing is not to be advanced at once-every thing is not to be exacted of all-and in all circumstances. Hear him. "I have yet many things to say

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