Now let us bring into view the language of the motto: 'I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee.' Again, 'he shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law.' How many touching instances may be found in the eventful history of the Son of God that would illustrate this language. The Father held his hand, and kept him amidst all the dangers and trials of his great work. See, for instance, the thrilling scene in the garden of Gethsemane! In the midst of his agony, an angel appeared strengthening him. 'Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say?' exclaimed the great Redeemer, when viewing his approaching sufferings; 'Father, save me from this hour; but for this cause came I into the world. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.' But our limits forbid our going farther. When we approach the great and all-absorbing subject of the character and mission of Jesus, and the sacred nearness existing between him and the Father, we want to write a thousand volumes. But we must wait. Heaven will reveal all the glories of the great Redeemer in a brighter and better world. 'Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth. *** Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice. *** Let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains,' XXI. COVERT. ‘And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.' Isa. xxxii. 2. THERE may be something very fanciful in the application of such a passage to Jesus, but as we designed to present as perfect a list of the titles as possible, we conclude to go on with the work, though we may sometimes wander into the regions of imagination. This word occurs eight times, though applied to the Redeemer only once. It will be seen that it requires no labored criticism. The whole passage contains a variety of rich and pleasing imagery, designed to show the serenity and peace that shall ultimately be enjoyed under the reign of the Messiah. Cruden has the following:-1. An umbrage or shady place, 1 Sam. xxv. 20. 2. A thicket for wild beasts, Job xxxviii. 40. 3. Something made to shelter the people from the weather on the sabbath; or some costly chair of state wherein the kings of Judah used to hear the priests expound the law on the sabbath, 2 Kings xvi. 18. 4. Christ Jesus, the saints' shelter, defence or refuge, Isa. xxxii. 2. David uses this figure in a very striking way when speaking of the confidence which he reposed in the Almighty-For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings.'* It is very probable that the prophet drew this figure from the custom in the East of travellers, who find it very necessary and refreshing 'in a weary land,' to erect a shelter or covert. To such places They are to be met with there is an evident allusion. in every part of Arabia and Egypt. Jesus then is a covert from the tempest.' Happy thought! When the storms of trouble beat upon our heads, we may find in him permanent rest and security. Hear him in the consoling declarations which dropped from his mouth :-'Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' 'Let not your heart be troubled.' 'I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me because I live, ye shall live also.' 'As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.'|| Such truths in affliction are indeed consoling to the mind; like the gentle dew upon the tender plant; like the calm sunshine after the convulsion of a tempest; like water to a thirsty soul. In Jesus every want is supplied. There is no wound which he cannot heal; no cloud so dark that he cannot paint the bow of hope upon it; no tempest so severe that he cannot succeed it by clear skies. And when we have passed through the weary land,' he will bear us in his arms to that world where storms and tempests are never known, * Psa. Ixi. 3, 4. † Matt. xi. 28-30. ‡ John xiv. 1. § John xiv. 18, 19. || Ib. xv. 9. and where we shall dwell around the throne of love and purity forevermore. 'In him the naked soul shall find In burning sands, and thirsty ground, 8 XXII. DELIVERER. 'And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.' Rom. xi. 26. THIS word occurs in ten instances, but is applied to the Saviour only in this passage, which in the main is taken from Isa. lix. 20.; for in the quotations from the Old Testament by the Saviour and the Apostles, the precise words are not always employed.* We will prepare the way by some general remarks before we consider Jesus in the character ascribed to him in the motto. Almost every person knows the duty of a deliverer. He is one sent by a superior power, or one who voluntarily assumes the duties and responsibilities of the office. Sometimes, objects are embraced of very wide extent, and of difficult accomplishment. Sometimes, the object is merely to rescue an individual, either from some imminent peril or danger to which he is exposed, or sufferings which he is actually enduring. Sometimes, a hero starts on the great errand of freeing an entire nation from the yoke of religious tyranny or political bondage. Washington was the great deliverer of America from political evils. Howard was the deliverer of men from physical suffering and mental degradation. Luther, Calvin, and *For some just remarks on this point, see Dr. Taylor as quoted by Clarke, at the close of Rom. x. |