far better;"-making, however, the reservation, that so long as his Lord had work for him in the Church on earth, he would cheerfully remain. Elijah's prayer was altogether different. It was the feverish outbreak of a moment of passion. How forbearing and gracious was God in not taking him at his word! Had he done so, the Prophet would have died under a cloud,-his name would have been associated with cowardice ;-his character would have been a mournful example of greatness ending in ignominy. He would have lost the glorious closing scene of all-the chariot of fire, and the deathless victory.

Each of us has, or may yet have, his day of trial;-sickness, bereavement, crushed hopes, bitter disappointments, crossed wishes, stings and arrows from quarters least expected. How are we to meet them? Are we to give way to peevish, fretful repining? Are we to say, 'I am wearied of life. I would I were done with all this wretchedness. What pleasure is existence to this wounded, harassed, smitten spirit? Nay, take courage. It is not "enough." The Lord has work for you still to do. It is not for you, but for Him, to say, at time, as He said to Hezekiah, "Thou shalt die, and not live." If we have ever been guilty of uttering such a rash prayer as that of Elijah,—" Take away my life,”— let us be thankful God has not given us the fulfilment of our own wish, the ratification of our own desire, and allowed us to die, unmeet and unprepared!

His own appointed

But we must not close this chapter, picturing the Prophet in his desert denuded of all hope or faith,—with no relic remaining of his own former self. His spiritual life for the moment may have been reduced to a spark; but the spark

was there, and his God will yet fan it into a flame. Even in his peevish, querulous utterance, as he lies under that juniper tree, he prays. Even in the far desert he has not forgotten (oh, how could he forget!) the ONE who, for years, had been his almighty Protector, Guide, Friend! "It is enough, O Lord"—" O Lord!” My flesh," he seems to say, "longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is." "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul for Thee, O God." "It is enough!" 'Man has deceived me ;-earthly hopes and expectations have proved like this desert's mirage ;-" It is enough, O Lord, I turn to Thee.' Yes, let us leave Elijah on that prostrate couch of unworthy exile,-yet still, mingling accents of fretfulness with accents of prayer. This poor, battered-down flower seems, in the moment of its humiliation, to turn towards the Great Sun. Arise, Prophet of the desert! thy God has still for thee a noble, unfulfilled destiny. Thy future is in His hands. Say not, in thy blind, disappointed pride, “It is enough!" Let Him work out His own plan of infinite wisdom. Arise! thou hast much yet to do and dare and suffer for His sake. He will yet turn thy mourning into dancing, take off thy sackcloth, and gird thee with gladness. Arise! take thy torch with its expiring flame: The God who gave it thee, is yet to revive it, and make thousands bless both Him and thee for its undying radiance. The day is coming when thou shalt say, "It is enough,"—but not, until, thy work finished, the chariot and horses of fire are waiting ready to bear thee to thy eternal reward!

XI.

The Angel's Visit.

"And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, 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. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?"-1 KINGS xix. 5-9.

"AND THE LORD SAID UNTO SATAN, THE LORD REBUKE THEE, O SATAN; EVEN THE LORD THAT HATH CHOSEN JERUSALEM REBUKE THEE: IS NOT THIS A BRAND PLUCKED OUT OF THE FIRE? ... AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD STOOD BY."-ZECHARIAH III. 2, 5.

"MAN DID EAT ANGELS' FOOD."-Ps. LXXVIII. 25.

THE ANGEL'S VISIT.

WE return to the lonely prophet, sitting sullen and dejected under the bush of the desert. "Lo," he had said in his despondency, "I will wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I will hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest." Jaded in body and racked in spirit, sleep-nature's great restorer," the chief nourisher in life's feast"overtakes him. He had prayed that he might die; and as his eyes were now closing, he might have wished it were the last long slumber that knows no waking. But God's thoughts are not man's thoughts. "He giveth his beloved sleep." He rocks this petulant child to rest in his desert cradle; but he is to wake with tearless eyes, refreshed, invigorated, gladdened. "Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning."

Leaving the Seer wrapt in slumber, let us pause and note God's tender interest in His people. And this especially in seasons, when we might have imagined they had forfeited all claim on His care and compassion. "He considers their soul in adversity." As this fugitive from duty is stretched under the juniper tree, with his sheepskin mantle for a covering, lo, a bright angelic being,-probably during the darkness of night—is seen approaching the sleeper's couch, bending