occasion of his sin. He had boasted of the “multitude of his chariots,” and of the number of his troops, the sole of whose feet was sufficient to “ dry up the rivers of besieged places.” But God humbled him, by destroying, in one night, that mighty army of which he had been so vain. Thus God deals also with his children, when they indulge a spirit of vain-glory. When David, out of vanity, caused the people of Israel to be numbered, God punished him by sending a mortality among them, and thus making a numbering of death where David had made a numbering of pride.“ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth ; for in these things I delight,

I saith the Lord.” Jer. ix. 23, 24.

When, after his defeat, 'Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, the capital of his kingdom, it came to pass,

as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with a sword.” Those who will not receive instruction from the first chastisements of God, must expect to receive others still more severe. The sinner must humble himself in heart, or he shall fall under the weight of the Almighty's wrath. “ He, that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." Prov. xxix. 1. Sennacherib, instead of humbling himself before God who had smitten him with the rod of his displeasure, refused to receive instruction from the chastisement. He continued to bow before his idols, and to

worship the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for evermore;” and thus hardening hiş

impenitent heart, he "treasured up for himself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." There is another lesson which we may derive from this circumstance. As Sennacherib had revolted against Him who is the Father and Sovereign Benefactor of all, Him in whom

we live, and move, and have our being," the Lord repays him according to his own doings, and allows him to fall by the hands of his own sons. Children of God! receive the instruction which the Lord heregives you. Would you be chastised by your own offspring, like Eli, David, and Isaac ? Indulge, like them, a culpable weakness towards your favourite children, or in the bosom of your families depart in some things from the straight path of God's commandments, and most assuredly as you treat God, so by a just retribution shall you be treated by your children. Would you have obedient children ? then first submit yourselves to your Heavenly Father, and be obedient to Him. “ Prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only; and he will deliver you.” Without this all your efforts will be vain; for He alone can incline the heart as he will, and unless his blessing be with you, you will find, in your children, nothing but uncircumcised ears and rebellious hearts.

They will render double into your bosom the recompense of your rebellion against God, and he will execute against you that denunciation of the prophet, “ Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” Hos. iv. 6.

The history which we have been considering appears to verify, in a striking manner, some important declarations of the Word of God. The melancholy end of Sennacherib seems to speak to us in the langnage of the prophet, “ Who can stand before the indig

nation of the Lord ? who can abide the fierceness of his anger ? What do we imagine against him ? he will make an utter end.” Nah. i. 6, 9. The deliverance of Jerusalem from a powerful army, by the hand of God, proves the efficacy of that promise which is made to the heavenly Zion, where the Most High dwelleth: “ God is in the midst of her ; she shall not be moved : God shall help her, and that right early.” With regard to Hezekiah, it verifies, in a most striking manner, that passage in Ecclesiastes, which seems as if it had been expressly penned for him: “ This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: there was a little city and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city."

May the Lord grant, that whenever Satan assails us with his temptations, this poor wise man may be found within us to deliver the eity! May we ever be that poor man,

poor in spirit, humbled before our God, and made wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus ;” that man who is strong because he feels himself weak, and who is

more than

conqueror through him that loved him;" that by happy experience we may be able to say, with the preacher, “ Wisdom is better than strength.”

66

MEDITATION V.

HEZEKI AH'S SICKNESS.

“ In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order ; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears : behold, I will heal thee : on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken : shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees ? And Hezekiah

answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees : nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord : and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.” 2 Kings, xx. 1-11.

From the sixth verse of this chapter, in which the Lord promises to deliver Hezekiah out of the hand of the king of Assyria, it would appear, that his sickness took place at a time when he had still something to apprehend from Sennacherib. It is generally thought

to have happened between the period when the king of Assyria retired from before Jerusalem, in consequence of the intelligence which he received relative to Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, and the period when he returned to meet his doom.

Whether this opinion be correct or not, we see here the accomplishment of those declarations of the word of God, which tells us, that "man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward," Job v. 7.; that he "is of few days, and full of trouble," Job. xiv. 1; that "many are the afflictions of the righteous," Ps. xxxiv. 19; and that it is "through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God." Acts xiv. 22. Hezekiah had no sooner obtained a little rest from his external enemies than he was attacked with a severe malady. Let us not imagine that while we are on earth, where there is, as it were, a time of warfare appointed to man, Job vii. 1, we may expect to enjoy a day of perfect repose. It is on the other side of the grave that there is "a rest prepared for the people of God." Here there is no rest but in hope-here it is needful for us to be in "heaviness through manifold temptations," which are the remedy of our various infirmities. It had been necessary for the faith of Hezekiah to be exercised by the invasion of the king of Assyria, it is necessary for that faith to be now exercised by the approach of death; after having been humbled by the first of these trials, he required to be again humbled by the second, that he might have no ground of glorying.

HEZEKIAH IS SICK UNTO DEATH.

"In those days," saith the word of God," was Hezekiah sick unto death." When the Scripture calls Hezekiah's sickness a sickness unto death, it speaks