for our parched souls? Can we say with the Prophet"O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall we draw water out of the wells of salvation." If we are drooping and desponding;-if our cry is, "My flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is," we again echo Elijah's words—“Get thee up, for there is the sound of abundance of rain." Our privileges are many. The Spirit of God is ever and anon moving "on the tops of the mulberry trees." The small clouds have been rising, and copious showers have fallen. Go, get thee, like Elijah, get thee to the oratory-pray that the cloud may spread, that it may stretch across the heavens. At present we may have only the drops before the shower. But there shall be "abundance of rain "_"showers of blessing," for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

But let there be a word of solemn warning to us also. There is deep responsibility in that "sound of the abundance of rain." If at any time in our individual experience we should hear the "rustling on the tree-tops," let us not reject or neglect the monitory voice-" Arise, get thee up!" There is no one but can tell of such solemn seasons, when this rustling was heard," the voice of the Lord God walking amid the trees of the garden." Think of the past! That sick bed was a rustling sound of the coming rain;-when, from the long slumber of unbroken health, conscience woke up to a sense of the uncertainty of life, and the possible certainty and sud

denness of death. That solemn bereavement was a rustling amid the tree-tops;-the moaning and wailing of earth's night-blast ;—the sudden blackening and overcasting of the azure sky: oh, how solemnly did the warning voice sound amid the stillness of the death-chamber, or standing by the grave; "Get thee up!"-leave the din of the world behind thee; -Get thee up-prepare thy chariot-the deluge of wrath may be ready to overtake thee;-"Escape for thy life!"-there may verily be but a step between thee and death. That solemn sermon was a rustling on the tree-tops: do you remember it? When the word came home with irresistible cogency;-when the message (perhaps delivered with stammering lips) was like an arrow in the hand of the mighty, and went direct to your heart of hearts? Up,-at the sound of the abundance of rain,-go, like that importunate intercessor for Israel, and rest not till the little cloud have overspread the whole horizon of your being, and showers of heavenly blessing descend on your soul. Yes, and amid your own vacillating feebleness, like that of the wavering crowd on Carmel, look above, to Him, the true Elijah,-who is pleading your cause on the mount of God; and in the gathering rain-cloud is fulfilling His own precious promise—" And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever."

X.

The Flight to the Wilderness.

"And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper-tree and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."-1 KINGS xix. 1-4.

"ELIAS WAS A MAN SUBJECT TO LIKE PASSIONS AS WE ARE."-JAMES v. 17.

THE FLIGHT TO THE WILDERNESS.

WE left Elijah in last chapter a hero,-accomplishing deeds of unparalleled prowess and faith. The words employed at a future time by the Redeemer regarding his great follower, seem equally applicable to him, "Among those born of women there is none greater." As the stars in their courses, nigh this same river Kishon, had fought against Sisera,so were the very elements of nature made subservient to the Prophet's will-"fire and hail," and "stormy wind" authenticating his divine mission. After such remarkable and encouraging tokens of the Divine presence and power, we expect to find him more the champion of truth than ever; in his undaunted career, going "from strength to strength; "the torch kindled on the altar of Carmel, burning with increasing brightness as he bears its radiance among the homes and cities of Israel. As we see the bold, lion-hearted man, running amid the rain-torrents along the Esdraelon highway, in front of the royal chariot,his mind filled with the day's wonders,—we almost fancy we can hear him exultingly exclaiming, "It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. JEHOVAH liveth; and blessed be my rock; and

let the God of my salvation be exalted," (Ps. xviii. 32, 33, 46.) As he halts at the gate of Jezreel, we doubt not it is with a noble resolution to follow up his triumph on the morrow. We expect to see the leader of God's armies rush, like another Jonah, through the metropolis of revolt, with the message of Divine rebuke and mercy,-" O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found,"-confirming the capricious monarch and the wavering people; and if there be frowns still lingering on brows, which yesterday's defeat has clouded and humbled, what of that? Will not his answer be ready, "The Lord [the living Jehovah] is on my side; I will not fear what man can do unto me!" "Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand," (Ps. xx. 6.)

Alas! a new dramatic, we may rather call it a new tragic, turn, unexpectedly occurs. This Asahel-swift of foot, and mighty of soul-degenerates into a craven and coward. We almost fail to recognise the Elijah of yesterday in the unworthy renegade of to-day. On Carmel, he had willingly and without one misgiving or hesitation, staked his life on the answer by fire. These knives and lancets, which his bold irony had whetted, would, in the event of failure, have inflicted on his person a terrible retaliation. Yet, with all this certainty before him, he went fearless, in the strength of the Lord, against the mighty. Now, how different! Poor human nature reveals itself. "The tower of David, builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers and all manner of weapons of mighty men," becomes in a moment a humiliating ruin. Come and see what the best and bravest