We plead thy parting promise, Our souls shall raise, For love like thine, Lord Jesus. ANONYMOUS. A SONG FOR THE WILDERNESS. 1 THIS world is a wilderness wide! I have nothing to seek or to choose; I have nothing to fear nor to dread. 3 There is but that one in the waste Which His footsteps have marked as His own, And I follow in diligent haste To the seats where He's put on His crown. 4 For the path where my Shepherd is gone, Has led up to His Father and God, To the place where He's now on the throne, And His strength shall be mine on the road. 5 And with Him shall my rest be on high, When in holiness bright I sit down, In the joy of His love ever nigh, In the peace that His presence shall crown. 6 'Tis the treasure I've found in His love That has made me a pilgrim below, And 't is there, when I reach Him above, As I'm known all His fulness I'll know. 7 And, Saviour, 't is Thee from on high I await till the time Thou shalt come, 8 Till then 't is the path Thou hast trod, No. XVII. THE APOSTOLICAL DOXOLOGIES. ALL Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless Thee.' This is an end most worthy of God; and it relieves the mind from many an anxious exercise to keep steadily in view that self-manifestation is the end of all God's action; or, in other words, his own glory. What may be needed in order that God may display himself, can alone be known to God; but it is well to lay down this as an axiom, that all the works of God-all his dealings with men in his various dispensations are necessary unto his own great end, the making himself known. This will be fully brought out in that final dispensation, when "God is all in all." The unintelligent creation shall praise God. All intelligent beings, whether created or redeemed, shall praise Him-even angels who have not tasted redemption themselves, do yet praise God for redemption, as that which most distinctively and prominently makes Him known. Angels own with admiration the worth of the Lamb. He is the object of their admiration as well as of their adoration (Rev.v., Heb.i. 6). "Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul." Praise is silent for God in Zion, for Israel is blinded. unto this day: and as for creation, it "groaneth and travaileth together in pain until now;" so that there can be no expression of praise either from Israel or creation. But the Church can now praise-yea the saints can now bless. The essential elements of the Church's praise are fervency of affection, depth of intelligence, admiration and adoration. It is praise of the highest character. She can "sing praises with understanding" Praise is the proper element of the Church. "By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." But praise cannot be forced; it must be spontaneous: it is in vain for those that wasted Israel to say to Israel, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." They could not "sing the Lord's song in a strange land." The heart must be suitably attuned to praise. Melody must be made in the heart to the Lord ere it is intelligently expressed with the lips in praise. Hence, the heart established in grace and occupied with Jesus, marking the thoughts and ways of God as they are manifested, alone understands the comeliness of praise. In marking the apostolical doxologies, we can hardly fail of perceiving that they are the expressions of an overflowing heart, filled with wonder and admiration, on account of the grace and wisdom which God himself is discovering to the spiritual understanding. Sometimes a didactic discourse is interrupted by a burst of intelligent praise. Sometimes the soul bursts out into rapture, in contemplating the speciality of the relation of Jesus to itself. Alas-for our hearts so "slow to believe." How little intelligent praise do we find among Christians. It is indeed recognised as part of the worship of Christians. The doxology-" Gloria Patri"is of ancient date, even earlier than the Nicene Council, and is a valuable testimony to the faith of the Church; yet in its prescribed use how little are the affections called out; how hearty as well as intelligent is the simple "Amen" of the Apostle in Rom. i. 25. It interrupts indeed the course of his argument, but he could not announce the Creator "blessed for ever," without adding his "Amen." The first formal doxology is found at the close of the eleventh chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. It is very brief-" To Him be glory for ever-Amen." But brevity is here becoming; for the doxology is the utterance of a soul absorbed in admiration both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. The Apostle had rapidly glanced at Israel's past history, his soul yearned in tenderness over their present blindness; again it warmed with joy at the thought of the Deliverer coming out of Zion to turn away ungodliness from Jacob. What deep instruction did the survey unfold to his soul! The purpose of God in election and calling so fully vindicated.-Legal righteousness unattained, but righteousness by faith in Christ fully established. The failure of that which had been outwardly dispensed, and the security of a remnant. The diminishing of Israel, the riches of the Gentiles. Gentile highmindedness warned by what had happened to Israel. Israel enemies for the Gospel's sake, and yet beloved for their fathers' sake. Israel's actual blindness subserving the great end of bringing mercy and truth together, since they are to be received even as sinners of the Gentiles on the ground of mercy, and on that ground alone God fulfilling to them all his promises—not because of their worth, or their righteousness, but because of His mercy and His truth. How different is inspiration from a mere didactic style. The Holy Ghost in informing the spiritual mind calls out spiritual affections. Man often regards the Gospel as a theory, as a plan of salvation; but the Holy Ghost deals with the conscience and affections of men. The Apostle, under his guidance, could not dismiss this subject without an expression of his admiration.-"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out!" And who is the expositor of these ways but God himself-not only as revealing them, but as being himself the Originator, Cause and End of all things. "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things." This solves many a perplexity. That which is hidden from the wise and prudent, because they attempt to master infinity by that which is finite, is plain to the babe. He recognises God and the difficulty is solved; and then how suitable the brevity of the doxology—" To Him be glory for ever-Amen." Every thing is lost sight of but God; and God himself manifested most blessedly, even through the folly, weakness, ignorance and sin itself of the creature. The next doxology in order is found Rom. xvi. 25-27. It is one of a class most interesting for our study, because it concerns the manifestation of the perfections of God in relation to ourselves. It shews the ability of God to do that for us which we cannot do for ourselves. We find similar admiration of the power of God expressed in the doxology Ephes. iii. 20, 21, and also in Jude 24, 25. The Epistle to the Romans might well close with the fifteenth chapter. In the latter part of that chapter the apostle had to write of that which personally concerned himself, and especially of his desire and intention of visiting Rome; and closes with the brief yet complete benediction, "Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen." The sixteenth chapter is like a postscript, commending Phoebe to their notice, and distinctively saluting individuals by name. It is in such notices that we derive instruction which could hardly be conveyed by systematic teaching. It is the expression of the mind of Christ in the apostle. What a readiness there is to link others to himself. The acknowledgment of oneness in Christ, one body but many members, was a deeply practical truth in the soul of the apostle, and he never missed the occasion of manifesting his delight when oneness in Christ had been the means of specially associating him with individuals. It is often so in family relationship; brothers and sisters are, by circumstances, thrown as it were into pairs, and this tends to heighten the closeness of their actual relationship. So the apostle, in the house of God, the church of the living God, delighting in common sonship and common heirship, found the common tie strengthened by being able to regard individuals as fellow-helpers, fellow-prisoners, fellow-soldiers, yoke-fellows, fellow-travellers. There was a power in the thought of fellowship which greatly enlarged his heart. After these salutations, the epistle again closes with the benediction, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." The benediction is repeated after the salutations of several individuals to the saints at Rome. Then all is closed with the doxology, "Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made |