thus in reference to what must have happened according to the ordinary course of the disease ; for, in point of fact, he did not die of it. His malady, however, would have been mortal, had not God wrought a miracle to preserve his life. Let us learn from this, that what in the natural course of things would be fatal, is not so when the Lord appoints it otherwise. “The Lord

“ killeth and maketh alive," and he frequently disconcerts all human calculations as to the chances of life and death. As he can make a disease, which at its commencement threatens no danger, terminate fatally, so he can also bring us up from the gates of the grave notwithstanding a malady apparently the most fatal, and restore us to life, if life be necessary for us, to carry on our sanctification, and to work for his glory. Let us therefore, on the one hand, be always ready, and, on the other, let us remember that it is in the power of the Lord to prolong our days as long as we have need of it. Let us also learn from this, that when we expose ourselves to dangers for the cause of the Lord, he can preserve our life in spite of the threats and wrath of our enemies. Let us never imagine that we are obliged to act with cowardice in order to save it. Our life is in the hands of the Lord, who numbers the hairs of our head, who keeps us as the apple of his eye, and without whose permission even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground, much less one of his own children. It is often true, even with regard to this world, that "he who loses his life finds it;" that is, he who exposes it courageously for the Lord, is so protected by m, that that life which had been devoted to his service is preserved in the midst of all dangers. The apostle Paul was a striking example of this special protection of God over his people As he tells us himself, he had been in deaths oft, once was he stoned,

thrice he suffered shipwreck, a night and a day had he been in the deep;" he had often been “in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by his own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” 2 Cor. xi. 25–27. And yet after a ministry of nearly thirty years, he could say to his disciple Timothy, “ Thou hast fully known the persecutions and afflictions which came upon me; but out of them all the Lord delivered me.” 2 Tim. üü. ll. It deserves also to be remarked, how often the Pharisees endeavoured to lay hands on our Lord, and yet were not able, though there seemed to be nothing to hinder them, but, as the Scriptures tell us, “ his hour was not yet come.”

In the Apocalypse also, we may observe, that the beast shall not prevail to overcome the witnesses and put them to death until they have finished their testimony. Rev. xi. 7. The servant of God, then, may go forward with courage,

in the assurance that in spite of all the fury of his enemies, he shall have time to accomplish the work which his Master has assigned him in this world.

THE WARNING OF THE LORD TO HEZEKIAH.

The prophet Isaiah is sent to Hezekiah to tell him, “ Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die and not live.” Though the Lord has admonished us in his word, with sufficient frequency, to keep ourselves always in readiness, since we know not the hour when he shall come; yet as he knows with what difficulty this idea of the uncertainty of life takes the form of a reality in our minds, he is often pleased

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to add to the warnings of his word, warnings of providence, which are so many voices whereby he says to each of us : “ Thy time is short : set thine house in order, for thou must die and not live.” Though he may not warn us by a prophet, he sometimes does so by certain inward feelings, which his Spirit excites in us. At times, those years which, seen in perspective, generally appear so long, suddenly contract themselves to our view, and are reduced to the measure of a “handbreadth ;" so that the time of our life is as nothing before us, and looking forward to the coming of the Son of man, we can say,

66 Behold he cometh in the clouds of heaven.” At other times, God warns us by sudden and striking deaths ; by the death of persons of our own age, or by the death of those who were united to us by the ties of blood, or of some of our intimate and familiar friends, with whom we took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company. Ps. lv. 14. Sometimes, also, God admonishes us by the decay and wasting away of our mortal body. When we see it growing weak, and withering like

field in the heat of summer; when we feel disease slowly undermining our constitution, and at intervals bringing on attacks, which successively take away a portion of strength that never returns : this is a voice which says to us, “ Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die and not live.”

“ Set thy house in order.” These words admonished Hezekiah to regulate every thing connected with his temporal affairs, and the succession of the kingdom. Let us learn from this, that it is the duty of a child of God to regulate his worldly concerns in such a manner, that when he dies he may leave no cause of embarrassment, blame, or scandal, to those who survive him. When our affairs are in an unsettled and disorderly

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state, we can neither live nor die in peace; the word

; is choked and stifled by thorns; and the “ cares of this world” render it "unfruitful.” Many words would be superfluous on this subject : here experience speaks louder than words. We never see the Christian, whose temporal affairs are embarrassed, and who allows them to remain in such a state, a lively, happy, zealous Christian, desiring to depart. On the contrary, it is among such Christians that we find suffering souls, discontented with themselves, with events, and with others. “ He that hath ears to hear let him hear.”

HEZEKIAH'S CONDUCT WHEN THE PROPHET ADMONISHED

HIM OF HIS APPROACHING END.

Hezekiah had no sooner heard the word of warning, than " he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord.” Here we still see Hezekiah calling upon God in every circumstance of difficulty, and thus shewing us that one of the happy effects of trials

upon the believer is to send him to prayer. We are by nature so ungrateful, that prosperity, which ought to draw us nearer to God, often estranges us from him, and we have need of afflictions to lay us at his feet again.

“ Hezekiah turned his face to the wall.” This he did, doubtless, to have his mind more collected by avoiding the distraction which the view of surrounding objects might occasion to him. When we pray, let us seek to have our minds collected ; let us enter into our closet,” or let us go into some“ place apart," as our Lord was wont to do; but above all, let us withdraw our hearts afar from vain thoughts and tumult of the world within us, which too often follows us in our retirement. It is especially in sickness that God summons us to reflection; it is then especially that we

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must avoid hearing and seeing persons and things that would distract us; that we must turn our eyes to the wall, and close them upon the vanities of earth, and place ourselves before our God, to whom perhaps we may soon be called to commit our soul. Hezekiah might have felt some difficulty in disengaging himself from the vain attractions of those about him, and he turned his face to the wall to create a solitude for himself in the midst of his court and of his palace ; thus intimating to his attendants that he wished to be alone and to meditate. Let us, like him, find moments of meditation and retirement for ourselves in every situation. Let us have the courage to disengage ourselves with meekness, but at the same time with firmness, from the importunate earnestness of those who, from an ill-directed affection, dissipate our time and our thoughts by the anxious interest which they take in the care of our body. Let us, if possible, turn to the wall, and thus fearlessly shew that we feel the want of being alone, of reflecting with ourselves, and of turning our back upon the bustle of the world which for us is passing away.

GENERAL REFLECTIONS WHICH HEZEKIAH'S SICKNESS

AFFORDS US.

The sickness of Hezekiah, considered now under a general point of view, will furnish us with two kinds of instruction: the one relative to the body, the other relative to the soul. We shall consider these in order.

1.-HEZEKIAH'S SICKNESS CONSIDERED IN CONNECTION

WITH HIS BODY.

Let us here take for granted, what cannot be denied, that Hezekiah sought from God a prolongation of life,