yield us as abundant cause for praise, as the assent with which he at other times graciously crowns them. Do not think the time too long which you have to wait. You may be ready to exclaim, "O Lord, make an end; it is enough!" But no, beloved brethren! you must first travel, like Elijah, through a desert unto Horeb, that you may there hear the "still small voice" of peace. There must first come things which shall compel us to exclaim, "O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face!" And after that, the end; then the pilgrim's staff is dropped-and the longed-for "Now" of good old Simeon is arrived.

Elijah did not die-his hour was not yet come. So far his petition remained unanswered, yet not entirely so. The prophet longed for rest. Rest he was to have, not however by the stroke of death, but by the boon of natural sleep. He lay down and slept under the juniper tree. It was indifferent to him where he lay; whether on a silken couch or upon the heath; under a thorn-bush, or in a royal pavilion. The burden of life was alleviated, the juniper tree lent him its refreshing shade, the inward tempest of his soul subsided, grief and uneasiness departed, tormenting thoughts gave place to sweet and spiritual rest, body and mind became completely renovated. Such intervals of rest fall to the lot of all that bear the cross. Even in the midst of the desert our gracious God is able to provide for us a place of repose; the storm does not rage incessantly; peaceful hours intervene unawares, and the burden upon our shoulders becomes for a while a resting pillow to our heads, upon which we insensibly gather recruited strength. At one time the Keeper of Israel sends us bodily slumber in the midst of our sorrows; and what a welcome guest may it not prove to us, particularly when spiritual conflicts threaten to confuse the senses and absorb the spirits! At another, pleasant dreams perform to us the ministry of angels; poor Lazarus is in thought translated into Abraham's bosom, and lonely Jacob is borne aloft from his stone pillow into the opened heavens. At another season, a sympathizing Jonathan visits me in my outcast condition, and by his affectionate conversation, imperceptibly removes my depression. At other times, some consoling truth of revelation is by a text or hymn suggested to my mind, and hope diffuses its mild and cheering light in the midst of my darkness. In short, the very days of storm and tempest have their hours of repose and mercy. Therefore let no one be anxious, however steep and thorny his path, however dreary and rough his road. When his weary knees are ready to sink, God will know how to provide

him a resting-place, and he shall be able to say, "I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the Lord sustained me." And although these may be only short pauses; still they remind us how easily he could, if he pleased, at any moment deliver us out of every trouble. And a believing assurance of this is sufficient to overcome every anxiety and fear.

II. The man of God lay and slept under the juniper tree, to all outward appearance as one forsaken, and, like the disciples in Gethsemane, "sleeping for sorrow." Yet a Divine watch is

kept over him. Grace, mercy, and peace are with him. Here we have a sensible demonstration given of the ministry of the elect angels about them that fear God, sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation. An angel "touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat." Here is one instance, among several which are given in the Holy Scriptures, of the pleasure enjoyed by angels in ministering to God's saints on earth. Behold then, in this gloomy wilderness, the ministry of an angel of God, who finds an addition to his happiness in preparing help and refreshment for a servant of God in his distress and sorrow! O Israel, a people saved by the Lord, what people is like unto you in this world, wherever ye are scattered and dispersed, or in whatever age ye live! What glorious attendants minister unto you, even to the least heir of salvation among you! Solitary as any one of you may seem in many a path of duty, that is the very situation where he is attended by company of the best and noblest kind. Thus was Jacob attended at Mahanaim. And indeed it may be adopted as a general remark, that where the world closes against any servant of God, there heaven opens to him. What a wonderful mixture is there of poverty and dignity in the condition of the children of God, even as there was in that of Christ himself upon earth, to whose image and likeness all his people are conformed! And if I asked you for the most venerable places upon earth, whither would you direct me? Perhaps to some stately palace, or well fortified castle, or magnificent cathedral ;-perhaps to the halls of learning and science, or to those edifices where all the glories of riches and art are collected! But I would rather point out to you the place where a Magdalene lies weeping at the feet of Jesus, or a poor sinner is rejoicing in the mercy he has obtained; where a Lazarus dwells, or a Martha and Mary. Though the walls be but of clay, and the roof of straw, yet here is Bethel, here is no less than the house of God. Here dwelleth a royal priesthood, clad in the beauty of the Most

High. High and invisible guests are their companions, and eternal love overshadows them with her wings.

The action of the angel, in waking the prophet and bidding him "Arise and eat," may be spiritually applied to many a one among ourselves. Though the weary pilgrim stood in great need of bodily refreshment, he does not appear to have felt the want of it, and required first to be incited externally to make use of it. So an afflicted soul may often need nothing so much as the food of the word of God, and yet by brooding over his troubles may go on for some time insensible of this want. Though he opens the Bible, he may feel no attraction towards the truths it contains, nor any desire for the benefit of Divine ordinances, and may be ready to ask, "What good will these things do me?" This is a pitiable and melancholy condition; but the help of God arrives to relieve it, either by a suggestion immediately from his Spirit, or by the medium of a christian friend, or of some apparently accidental, but in reality providential occurrence, that he should "arise and eat;" should take up and read, or go and hear the word of life. Then he finds a spiritual appetite returned, and his soul is strengthened by the word of God.

III. "Arise and eat." Thus the angel; and Elijah awoke, "and as he looked around, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again."

Thus he appears to have been so well lodged and provided for here in the wilderness, as to leave him nothing more to wish for. Oh the tender compassion of God: for "so, he giveth to his beloved sleeping," Psa. cxxvii. 2. (Luther's version.) Yet how few learn to cast all their care and anxiety about temporal provision on Him who careth for them! What a serious and difficult thing does it seem to many of us to practise that instruction of the inspired apostle, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." To "cast all our care on Him who careth for us," appears to blind natural reason a perilous method of proceeding. But is not our reluctance to follow this direction a reason why we experience, in our own lives, so little of His aid, who ordereth all things both in heaven and earth, and who hath the hearts of all in his hand? His remarkable interpositions in behalf of Elijah we are too apt to regard as prodigies of a golden age long since gone by; hence almost the only sounds at present heard even in the tabernacles

of the righteous, are sighs and lamentations for embarrassments, disappointed prospects, and unsuccessful undertakings.

The bread and the water with which God nourishes souls in the wilderness, are the doctrines and promises of his word. But as the cake was baked on the coals for Elijah, and the water placed at his head in a cruse, so we need to have the truths of God's word prepared for us by his Spirit, and set before us by his providence, that we may take the benefit of them for our spiritual refreshment and nourishment. And how refreshing and strengthening do we find those truths, when God has again spread his table for us, and we again feed on the bread of life, by faith in our hearts, with thanksgiving, and refresh ourselves with the Divine promises, and rejoice with renewed confidence in the Divine favour! Then do we thank God for the season of hunger and sorrow through which we have passed. It then seems to us as if we had never before feasted at such a passover, and we become more sensible than ever of the value of that bread of life, which our gracious God has prepared for us.

Elijah, apparently more asleep than awake, stretched out his hand, ate of the bread, drank of the water, and sank down again, weak and weary, and fell asleep. For that he fell asleep may be supposed from the angel's touching him a second time. We, however, should have thought that his surprise would have been so excited, and his thoughts so set in motion, as to have rendered it impossible for him to fall asleep again immediately. But here is no appearance of surprise expressed. He partakes of the refreshment, not as if he were lying in a desolate uninhabited wilderness, but as if he were at home in his own dwelling. If he was not in a half-awakened state, he must have been absorbed, like Mary Magdalene at her visit to the sepulchre, in higher thoughts. This is no unsupposable case; and, spiritually applied, it is a very common one. Persons of weak faith, and under strong spiritual temptation, may hear the word of consolation, and receive it; but taking only a hasty draught of the living waters of promise, the enjoyment is soon gone again. It is however not without its use. If it effect nothing more, it serves to revive and confirm the persuasion, that He who can thus cast a ray of comfort into the benighted soul, is able at any moment to send into it the full sunshine of peace.

The sleep of Elijah serves also to remind us of those who are for the most part spiritually asleep, and have never yet been thoroughly awakened. They eat and drink, or, in other words, they hear much that is good, they read the Bible, and are regular in attending the worship of God; yet every thing seems lost

upon them, and not the smallest decided proof of spiritual life is discoverable in them. Yet let no one venture to say, before their course is ended, that such persons have eaten and drunken in vain. They may suddenly one day prove the contrary to your surprise. The food they have received may at unawares be found effectually to have nourished them. Let all diligently use the means of grace.

IV. "The angel of the Lord" then "came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee." Though God allow his servants to be tried beyond their own inherent strength, he never suffers them to be tried beyond what he himself enables them to undergo. He prepares and strengthens them before he leads them to any conflict, before he lays his cross upon them. When we enjoy days of special refreshment in spirit, it is generally a sign that new trials of faith await us, for which, through this refreshment, we must make vigilant preparation.

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Elijah now arose, and did eat and drink," and his slumber and weariness disappeared. The word of the angel seems to have quickened his soul as much as the food had refreshed his body. The angel had spoken to him of a further " "journey " which the prophet had now to undertake: which was the same as telling him that God had a new commission for him, and that he was still on a career of which he had not yet seen the end even at a distance. It had seemed to him as if his own "heart" had "devised his way" into this wilderness; he now finds that "the Lord had directed his steps," and was still directing them. He is again persuaded that God is present with him, and he springs up as a young roe, and no longer goes "whither he would," but in the name of his gracious God, he again sets out on his way. Oh how blessed is it, after going on for a season in uncertainty and darkness, sighing with David, “I am sorrowful and forsaken," unexpectedly to discover some indubitable proof of the Divine presence with us, some Scriptural evidence that things are really different from what we supposed, and that we are really walking in a path which God has marked out for us!

V. Elijah is now himself again; he has found God to be the lifter up of his head. "And he went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God." He travels through the sandy desert alone; yet not alone, for God is with him. He is not anxious as to whither