then left her water-pot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" And what success, too! For they who speak from experience seldom speak in vain. "Then they went out of the city, and came unto him." Some of these might have accompanied her from curiosity; and some from the mere contagion of example: but not a few were deeply and savingly impressed. "And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him, for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So, when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days."

The sight of this had so affected our Saviour, as, it would seem, to take away his appetite. He had been hungry, as well as thirsty; and the disciples had gone away into the city to buy meat. But when they returned, and prayed him, saying, Master, eat; he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. And when they said one to another, Hath any man brought him aught to eat? He said, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish his work." What a repast have I had since you left me! A poor, sinful Samaritaness has been here. And I have manifested myself to her. And under the impression she has hastened to inform and invite her neighbours to come and hear meand has prevailed! "Say not ye, there are four months, and then cometh harvest?" But see the encouragement you have to scatter the seeds of Divine Truth. "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields"-See the woman and her company coming over yonder plain-" for they are already white unto harvest." Here the success is so immediate, that "the sower and the reaper rejoice together"— And so it is written-"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake

the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seeds; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt."

JUNE 23.-"The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace." Psalm xxix. 11.

THE God of Nature gave David a fine poetical talent. And he employed it like a good man, for his own improvement, and the profit of many. It is well to take advantage of the excitement of any present feeling; and to give it a religious direction; according to the admonition of the Apostle James, Is any afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. David did this; for he was accustomed to put his sentiment into verse, on the occurrence of any interesting or significant event. Many of his psalms took their rise from a trouble or a deliverance he had just experienced. The thirty-first psalm was written at the dedication of his new house. The one hundred and fourth was a spring meditation. The eighth is a night scene. The nineteenth, a morning piece. The lines before us were composed in a thunder-storm.

Thunder is one of the sublimest displays of Deity. It generally produces fearfulness and terror. Caligula, the Emperor, at the hearing of it, would creep into any hole or corner. But such a man should reflect, that if God has a mind to kill him, he can do it without raising Nature into a stormhis breath is in his nostrils: he is crushed before the moth-"Thine eye is upon me, and I am not!" And we should do well to think of a more dreadful event-like Baxter-who, when a storm came on as

he was preaching-by which the congregation was obviously disconcerted and dismayed; paused-and then said, "Men and brethren, we are assembled here to prepare for that hour, when the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up."

All greatness is comparative. David therefore naturally addresses "The mighty"-as much as to say to them,-You are flattered and feared; but what is the greatest of you before Him! Think of the THUNDERER, and adore. "Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thundereth; the Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests." Here let the mind review the description-and we shall see how truly and vividly David's imagination marked and pourtrayed the circumstances and effects of the phenomenon

He then leads us from the uproar of Nature, to the small still voice of grace. He retires with us into the Sanctuary of God, there to testify the glory of his goodness; and to calm and cheer us with the assurance of his providential empire over all the commotions of life, and his attention to the welfare of his people: "And in his Temple doth every one speak of his glory. The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever. The Lord will give

strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace."

But this promise, you say, is made to "his people." It is but be not afraid. Perhaps these people will not be found so unlike yourselves as you imagine. It is here implied, that they are weak and distressed— otherwise they would not want strength and peace. Both these blessings are insured.

Are they by nature without strength; and have they from experience a growing conviction of their inability? Yet, with all this sense of weakness, have they trials to endure, duties to perform, a race to run, a warfare to accomplish? As their day, so shall their strength be. His grace is sufficient for them. Let the weak say, I am strong.

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Do they need rest and refreshing? The God of peace shall give them peace always by all means. Not worldly peace. He has no where absolutely engaged to give this-I say absolutely; for if it be good for them, they shall not want it-for they shall want no good thing. But there is a peace as far exceeding every other as the soul surpasses the body, and the heaven the earth, and eternity time -the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, and which keeps the heart and mind through Christ Jesus. This does not depend upon outward things. In the world, says the Saviour, ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace. hence, as when weak they are strong-so, though sorrowful, they are always rejoicing.

And

Yet it is only the beginning of it they have here. At death they enter into peace fully. Every enemy is then vanquished-and the din of war is heard no more. The dangerous, treacherous, raging, sickly sea, is crossed-And then are they glad because they be quiet. So he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

JUNE 24.-" And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus; one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized." Acts xviii. 7, 8.

THIS was at Corinth. Here he continued a year and six months, assured that the Lord had much people in that city. At first he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews. But upon their opposing and rejecting him, he sought another place to teach in. It was not a building appropriated to public worship. At this time, and long after this, the Christians had no such edifices. They assembled wherever they could find an accommodation. The spot was indeed consecrated-not by a religious ceremony-but by the presence of God and the service itself. The Saviour himself attached no holiness to walls or ground: but said, Where-let it be where it will-two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them. He preached not only in the Temple and in the synagogue; but in the private dwelling, and by the way-side, and in the mountain, and on board a ship. And his apostles followed his example; and every where lifted up holy hands without wrath and doubting.

The house Paul now entered belonged to a worshipper of God, whose name was Justus; and it joined hard to the synagogue. The nearer the church, the proverb is, the further from God. This is founded on the observation, that what men can easily reach and enjoy, they often neglect. And who are they that come late to the sanctuary? Not those from a distance, but they who live near. Who are absent in bad weather? Those who have carriages, or can procure vehicles; not they who