pelled to be angry and to curse; he who was inwardly or ganized, as few are, exclusively for the office of comforting and healing, sees himself, all at once, armed with the sword of the Divine vengeance, and compelled to spread death and destruction around him, Ah! he only felt as if he himself had suffered a defeat, and as if he had been torn out of all the joints and hinges of his being. The idea of the amazing event he had accomplished lay like a mountain upon his heart; for not only did the bloody corpses of those that had been rent asunder, hover before his eyes, but much more so the deplorable souls which he had for ever execrated into the pit of hell. How shall he regain his former peaceful state of mind, of which the dreadful and awful act had entirely deprived him? How shall he calm the surging sea of feeling in his breast, the raging storm of pain, amazement, compassion, and horror, which roars through his soul! Certainly it is not hidden from him, that it is the Lord who bade him curse. this consciousness beams only like the pale moon, between clouds, upon the wild uproar of his mind. It sends down only faint and single glimmerings of consolation into the gloomy and stormy feelings of his soul. The idea, “I have done this!" is the prominent sound in the inward tumult; is the thundering peal which swallows up the soothing tones of consolation as they ascend, like the ocean does the drops of rain. Elisha is constrained to hold converse with the Lord his God. He must recover breath in the arms of Jehovah, and regain his composure. He must have it confirmed and sealed by him anew, and with a strong emphasis, that he hath done right, and has acted only in his name, from his impulse, and as his instrument. He therefore hastens with rapid steps from Beth-el, and wanders towards Mount Carmel, in order, in its solitary and

But

silent groves, to pour out his unspeakably oppressed heart before the Lord, and to recollect and refresh himself after the painfully affecting impressions of that awful event

We now leave him, and conclude our meditation, strengthened in the blissful conviction, that in the sight of God, his people's honour and his own is but one, and that he sees in every attack upon the apple of his eye, a crime against his own majesty. With this consciousness, it is in reality a small thing resignedly to endure the injuries of the world. We then observe the darts which have been shot at us, flying beyond us and upwards through the clouds, and do not become enraged at the archers, but rather tremble for them, and feel inclined to commend them to the sparing mercy of God. True it is, that God does not so manifestly take the part of his people now as he did in the case of Elisha at Beth-el. If he is desirous of avenging us of our slanderers, he punishes them at present more by concealing our real glory than by unveiling it before their eyes. This belongs to the nature of that kingdom, of which we are the citizens, which, for the time being, is still a kingdom of the cross, and which bears for an inscription over its portals, and for an indication of the way by which the Lord intends to lead us, the words, "From faith to faith." A day is, however, approaching, in which the king will remove the veil from his daughter Zion, and place her, as his elect bride, in all her splendour before the eyes of her enemies. What astonishment will then be felt; what amazement; what embarrassed and downcast looks! Until that period, let whoever will mistake and caluminate us, we know who we are, we contemplate our beauty in the mirror of the word, and travelling incognito, has also its peculiar charm, and affords its particular pleasure. Amen.

III.

THE MARCH AGAINST MOAB.

"My tongue is the pen of a ready writer," says the Royal Psalmist, at the commencement of the forty-fifth psalm, when on the point of inditing a good matter; and of singing concerning a king, who is fairer than the children of men, and whose throne shall continue for ever and ever. Who that ready writer was, to whom David alludes, who uses his tongue as a pen, is sufficiently obvious. The writer is the Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration the king played and sang, prophesied and composed. The Divine seers were all instruments of this Spirit, who moved their lips to utter his sayings, and employed their spirits as a channel for the communication of eternal things to the people, and who made use of their tongue as a pen, to express his instructions and his mysteries.

Hence it might frequently be the case, that these men of God themselves understood only little of what they were constrained to utter, although they never went away wholly unedified from thus becoming the medium of Divine communication. David does not merely say, "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer," but also, "My heart is inditing a good matter." His heart was therefore interested in the subject. The heralds of God whilst serving others with heavenly food, likewise partook of it themselves. But it is beyond a doubt, that much passed through their hearts, with the meaning of which they were only half acquainted; that much was only half understood, as regards its pro

foundest sense; and that many things remained perfectly enigmatical to them, and entirely veiled from their view.

Never probably have authors stood in such a peculiar relation to their works, and derived such a rich and abiding enjoyment from them, as the psalmists and the prophets. They were obliged to study their own writings. How of ten will they have subsequently met with depths and wonders in their songs and discourses, which were completely hidden from them at the time they indited them! How many treasures of instruction and consolation, of which they previously had no idea, will have afterwards met them in their own works, as their light and knowledge increased? Such ought also to be the case with our sermons; and as often as we take them in our hands at a later period, we ought to be able to discover depths in them, of which we had before no presentiment. The more we speak from the Spirit, the more will this actually occur, and this is probably, the best kind of preaching.

We alone enjoy the full vintage of the vines which the psalmists and prophets planted. Now that the Sun of Righteousness has risen upon us, the whole wondrous reign of the Old Testament mysteries and sayings of the Spirit is spread out before us in the clearest light. The key of David is put into our hands, which opens every lock, and solves every riddle, and we drink full draughts from those wells, which those who dug them were only permitted partially to taste.

It is not, however, merely in the sayings of its heroes that the Old Testament incloses its mysteries and its depths, but likewise in their lives and actions. Kings and prophets were not unfrequently hyeroglyphicks themselves, and their actions and the events of their lives from highly significant and emblematical characters. Elisha in particular, and

the whole age in which he lived, present themselves to us like types full of meaning, and extensive in their application. A prolific tree of life flourishes in the history of this saint-a tree laden with evangelical flowers and fruit, Come, let us gather from this lovely tree, and celebrate festivals of joy in the pleasing shade of its branches.

2 KINGS III. 9-12.

"So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days journey and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.

"And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!

"But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may enquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.

"And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, went down to him."

To-day we take the field. A camp is the scene of our narrative. Arms and banners surround us, the sound of horns and trumpets thrills in our ears. The event we have to consider contains much that is attracting and instructive. Let us therefore approach it. THE DISTRESS, OF THE KINGS, and THEIR RESORT TO THE PROPHET, are the two points which shall occupy our attention on this occasion.

I.

King Jehoram had been constrained by a vexatious affair to declare war. The Moabites, a heathenish people on the southern borders of his kingdon, had planted the standard of liberty, and were in open rebellion. This rest