himself; hastens him to his offended Father's feet, at the throne of grace, there to cry, "I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son."1

The wilderness through which they wandered, had no path, no food, no water, no friendly inhabitants to help and guide them. It was a waste and howling desert, and, the water once spent, they were hopeless of more. How great the difference between their case, and that of Isaac's children, when they wandered over the same parched and fiery wilderness, as the angel of Jehovah led them through it, from the bondage of Egypt, to the rest and plenty of the promised land! They had bread from heaven, the sacramental food of God's provision. They had water from the rock, to follow their footsteps, and refresh them. They had the pillar of fire and of cloud, to guide them with infallible certainty through the trackless waste. Their clothes were not worn, neither did their foot swell during forty years: and the good will of Him who dwelt in the bush, never left them for a moment. Even so vast is the difference between those who endure

12 Cor. i. 5.

trials, according to the mind of God, and those whom affliction overtakes in the way of sin; or whose transgressions have led them into paths. of bereavement and affliction. The one party is privileged to say, "If our afflictions abound for Christ, our consolations also abound through Christ" the other wander and are weary, like Noah's dove over the waters, until the hand of mercy brings them into the ark. Jehovah in Christ is the hiding-place of the one: He shall preserve them from trouble; He shall compass them about with songs of deliverance. The other have no repose, unless the Spirit of God bring them to the ever-ready grace of salvation, that in its most merciful Author, they may find rest unto their souls. "The man who wandereth out of the way of understanding, shall remain in the congregation of the dead: "2 but if from thence he shall seek the Lord his God, he shall find Him, if he seek Him with all his heart, and with all his soul.

It is easy to account for the comparative helplessness of Ishmael. Young persons are more speedily fatigued, than those of maturer years; the fluids of the body are thrown off in

11 Cor. i. 5.

2 Prov. xxi. 16.

larger quantity, by the more impetuous current of the blood; and the greater rapidity of digestion demands a more rapid supply of provision; so that hunger and thirst soon become more craving and intolerable in them, than in others. Hagar, therefore, might have held on her way a little longer, had not Ishmael failed and fainted. Her deep affection led her to place him under the shadow of the shrubs around, that he might at least die in some little shelter from the fierceness of the sun. She went to a little distance, that her heart's wretchedness might not swell into a still more utter and intolerable woe, by witnessing the death-agony, which she could neither avert nor assuage. She said, "Let me not see the child die.” "And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice and wept."1 Was her cry addressed to God, in the fervent language of wrestling prayer? Did she remember the mighty hand, that had once already delivered her from similar misery and similar death? Did she call to mind the sure promise of God, that her son, then unborn, should become a great nation? The Holy Spirit is silent here; and we can only hope and judge with charity upon her case.

1 Gen. xxi. 16.

Whither shall a parent flee,-towards what point shall a parent's voice of earnest, fervent, agonizing prayer be directed, except to the city of refuge, the Lamb in the midst of the throne, accessible from every quarter, and with opened ear, with infinite tenderness of love, more ready to hear, than his most afflicted, most destitute supplicants are eager to prove his grace? So the Shunamite pleaded with God's prophet for her son; and he was awakened from the slumber of the dead. So the Syrophoenician clung to Christ for her child, and she was healed. So Jairus besought the Saviour for his daughter, and she lived. So Mary and Martha clung to Christ, as the Resurrection and the Life; and their brother Lazarus came forth from his four days' sojourn in the prison-house of the grave. It is God's own invitation, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble"-it is the promise of God's own unchangeable truth, "So will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise Me." If the invitation be obeyed, the truth of the assurance shall be amply vindicated; whether the solicitude be personal or parental. Alas, how fearfully does

1 Psalm 1. 15.

unbelief put back the hand, and distrust the engagements of the Most High! We give Him credit for past mercies; we acknowledge past deliverance; but we cannot or will not be persuaded, that He is equal to any, and every emergency, wherein his providence, whether directive or permissive, hath placed us. "He smote the stony rock indeed, that the waters gushed forth, and the streams flowed withal; but can He give bread also, or provide flesh for this people?" He can do all this, and infinitely beyond it. He is able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we can ask or think: and it is our chief misery, that in all our other miseries, we do not remember his faithful love, and take refuge by prayer in the sanctuary of his power, through the undrawn veil Jesus Christ.

Turn we then to notice

III. GOD'S DEALING WITH HAGAR AND ISHMAEL.

He heard the voice of the lad; whether merely the expression of bodily suffering, the outbreaking of a fear to die, or a gracious and far higher impulse, in the cry for mercy to God,

1 Psalm lxxviii. 20.