2. Next there is the banquet-chamber. If you come to God's house, and get nothing, you are dissatisfied; and sometimes you look black at us, the ministers; but we cannot help it; we are not always favoured in preaching; and the children of God have to fast sometimes. We must remember that a fast is the best preparation for a feast. But blessed be God! it is not all fasting. I have been brought to this banqueting-house, and have felt,

"Bless'd Jesus! what delicious fare!
How sweet thy entertainments are;
Never did angels taste above,
Redeeming grace, and dying love."

3. Then the third is the nuptial-chamber. Women in the East were kept separate from the men ; and frequently the bridegroom did not see the face of his bride, until she was brought into the nuptial-chamber; then her veil was lifted, and he kissed her for the first time. This oriental custom is explanatory of the second verse in this Song: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth." When the church got into the nuptial-chamber, she said: "My Beloved is mine, and I am his." She could not say it before; but now, receiving the token of his love, she s freed from doubting. Oh that some of my hearers might be brought into the nuptial-chamber this morning.

III. The resolution--"We will be glad and rejoice in thee. Gladness may refer to the inward feeling, rejoicing to the outward manifestation. We are to rejoice in the Lord-not in ourselves. "We will remember thy love more than wine." 66 Ah!" you sometimes say, "the Lord has blessed me this morning: I shall remember that." "More than wine;" because it is better than the choicest wine. In Psalm xxvi. 3, it is said: "Thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes." We too frequently set it behind our backs; but it is well when we can remember Christ's love. IV. The commendation-" The upright love thee." If I heard that some people did not love me, I should not care at all about it; but if I thought that the upright -the children of God-did not love me, that would trouble me. It is a good thing to be beloved by the children of God. The upright love Christ. Do you love him? I do. You say-" You speak boldly. Can you not do the same? If you love an object, it is much in your thoughts; you have desires after it; and you like to hear that object spoken well of. Now is Christ much in your thoughts? Do you desire him? and do you love to hear him exalted? May the Lord give you to feel that you possess these evidences of love to him, and grant a blessing on the word, for his name's sake. Amen.

THE TRIED SAINT.

"I am troubled; I am bowed greatly; I go mourning all the day long."-Psa. xxxv, 5.

To be troubled is to be agitated, distressed, and burdened in mind; and such is often the case with the believer his faith is weak, his trials are numerous ; therefore he is often agitated, and cast down. Sometimes the cause of trouble is in the domestic circle, when minds are not well matched-when natural disposition do not agree: except there be much grace, there will be great trouble. Many Christians do not like the place assigned to them by Providence; they do not relish the self-denying precepts given to them in the gospel; and, therefore, they do not endeavour to reduce them to practice and this always causes trouble. If the husband does not endeavour to love his wife, even as Christ loved his church; and if the wife refuses to submit to the authority of the husband, making his will her law, there must be frequent jars, conflicts, and disagreements; and these trouble the spirit. If children are not trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, or if they are headstrong, unruly, and unlovely in their tempers, there

will be trouble. Many godly parents have often to retire to the closet and sigh out before the Lord, "I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly." Family trials are often kept in the family; no one knows them but the parties who endure them, nor, as a rule, should they; but, in consequence of this, many suffer deeply who are not supposed to suffer at all. Oh the bitter nights and sorrowful days which many believers pass through in secret, arising from domestic troubles. What a mercy there is a throne of grace, a loving Father who listens to our secret sighs, and hears our painful confessions, which we dare make to no one but himself; for if this were not the case, many a Christian's heart would break. Very frequently the source of trouble is within: "A man's enemies are the men of his own house," Micah vii. 6. It is soul trouble which is trouble with an emphasis. Guilt is contracted, confession is neglected, and the eye is taken off the atoning sacrifice, and then comes trouble. The evidences are beclouded, the prospects are darkened, the heart is contracted, fears are awakened, and unbelief becomes strong. The spirit of prayer departs, the heart is drained of its comforts, and the soul, which was like a well-watered garden, becomes like a barren desert. Every duty is a task, and what was a sweet privilege becomes a burden. The Bible is a sealed book, the ordinances of God's house are like dry breasts, and Christian conversation is wearisome. Conscience accuses, memory furnishes the indictment, and Satan tempts us to despair. Past experience appears to have been a delusion, and a spirit of restlessness seizes us; so that, like the unclean spirit, which went out of the man, we wander through dry places, seeking rest, but finding none. If we look up, God appears to be an angry judge; if we look back, our iniquities are set in array against us; if we look around, we cannot see any of the Lord's people exercised as we are; and, if we look forward, the idea of eternity without hope is dreadful. Now, the soul sighs out, "I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly." No one knows what sin is, who has not seen it in the light of God's countenance; nor can anyone tell the trouble occasioned by a guilty conscience, but he who hath smarted beneath its lashes. Precious, infinitely precious is the blood of Jesus, which heals it; and gracious, unspeakable gracious is the Holy Spirit, who applies that blood unto us. Without that blood, and without this blessed Spirit, the troubled sinner would sink into despair, or rush into desperation. The law of sin, in the members, is a constant source of trouble. It is always present. It is ever active. It is sometimes exceedingly powerful. It is upon this that Satan works, and by this he often brings us into bondage. When this law is realized in its full force, every grace appears to be buried under a heap of corruption, and the dreadful evils of the heart are set in motion. What images are painted on the imagination—what horrible thoughts pass through the soul-what indescribable evils are working in the hidden chambers of the mind. Oh! it is fearful sometimes when the flesh is lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; so that we cannot do the things that we would. What fearful thoughts of God-what dreadful conceptions of eternity-what alarming ideas respecting the Bible, the Saviour, and the blessed Spirit. The soul is, indeed, agitated, depressed, and wearied; the conflict is severe. It is only as we wield the sword of the Spirit, employ the shield of faith, and cry unto the strong for strength, that we can prevail. Many of the Lord's people suffer a secret martyrdom; for they are so harrassed, perplexed, and confounded by the working of the law of sin in their members, that their life hangs in doubt, their fears are like the rock, and unbelief, like a fire, scorches up their spirits. This makes them exclaim, "Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

The temptations, insinuations, and suggestions of Satan are another cause of trouble to the believer. He worries those whom he cannot devour-he distresses those whom he cannot destroy. Now, he tries to draw into sin, and then to drive into despair; now he employs external agents, and then he secretly works upon the mind. Sometimes he comes in his own true colours, and sometimes he is transformed into an angel of light. Oh the devices he uses, the stratagems he employs to distress and trouble us! Now he fills the heart with foul, debasing, devillish thoughts, such as no Christian dare utter, such as no author dare write.

Then he misrepresents God's character, and insinuates the vilest thoughts against his goodness and his grace. Now the object of his attack is God's word, and he assaults us in reference to its authenticity, inspiration, and purity. Then he calls attention to the church of God, and shows up all that is inconsistent among the saints, and trys to alienate our hearts from them. Now he tries to undermine our faith in the atonement of the Lord Jesus, and then he levels all his artillery against the glorious person and gracious work of the Holy Spirit. His one object is to foster unbelief, and lead us into sin, desperation, and despair. Well may the apostle compare it to wrestling, when he says, "We wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places." They are wicked spirits, full of spite and malice against God, against his Son, and against every one that desires to honour his dear name, It is a fearful struggle often, so that we are "troubled and bowed down greatly." What with trouble in the world, trials in the church, disorders in the family, occasionally guilt upon the conscience, the law of sin in the members warring against the law of the mind, and the buffettings, suggestions, and temptations of Satan, the true believer proves his life to be a conflict, his course a trial, and all the consolations of the gospel necessary. He is often troubled, and deep sighs, heavy groans, and heart-felt cries ascend from him to the throne of his gracious God. He is bowed down, straitened in spirit, and so pressed in soul, that he knows not what to do. His burden appears too heavy for him to bear, and would be, only that his Saviour's strength is made perfect in his weakness. He desires to love God with all his heart, and with all his soul; but often that heart appears full of rebellion, and is as hard as a stone. He would be constantly ascending to God in the exercise of prayer and praise; but, instead of this, he is often prayerless, indifferent, and ungrateful. He would exercise faith in his word, and trust in his providence; but, alas, he discredits the promise, doubts God's goodness, is discontented, and murmurs at his lot. He wishes to walk in the light, as God is in the light, that he may enjoy high and holy fellowship with him; but he is dark, distant, and knows little of the holy intercourse he longs for. Thus, he goes mourning at times all the day long. He mourns over the hardness, depravity, and coldness of his heart. He mourns because his love is so feeble, and imperfect. He mourns because he cannot serve God as he requires, or be holy as he commands him. He mourns because his repentance is not deep enough: he does not, he cannot, sorrow for sin as he wishes, because he is so little affected when he sees others sin, and grieves so slightly over his own. He mourns because, notwithstanding all, pride still works in his nature, though he wishes to lie low in the dust, and be clothed with humility before God and man. He mourns, at times, lest his spot should not be the spot of God's children, or his experience be different from theirs. This frequently wounds his feelings, burdens his soul, sinks his spirits, shakes his hopes, fills him with fears, and makes him groan. Then he cries, "I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long."

Reader, have you felt guilt in your conscience? Is sin a burden to your soul? Are you ever bowed down in sorrow, and laid low before the Lord? Do you ever mourn over your imperfections, and sigh after holiness? Real religion is always experimental, and experimental religion is always practical; and though all do not experience the whole of what I have written, yet every true Christian does, or will know something about it. It is necessary to strip him of self, divorce him from the law, teach him his own weakness, lead him to rely entirely on the Lord Jesus, and gladly accept salvation as the gift of free and sovereign grace. Those who are thus tried have low thoughts of themselves, and high thoughts of Christ; they walk softly before God, without boasting or self-conceit, aud they renounce all confidence in the flesh, placing confidence in God's covenant mercy alone.

To them Christ is precious-to them grace is sweet-to them the cross is glorious to them the absolute promises are necessary to them heaven will be a place of rest, satisfaction, and rejoicing; and throughout eternity they will admire, adore, and enjoy the wonders of redeeming love.

Chelsea, Sep. 20th, 1865.

J. KEALY.

Poetry.

Correspondence.