and to anoint the Most Holy." In looking to the mercy-seat at Jerusalem, Daniel looked to Him, the glory of whose grace was symbolised by the Shechinah, the brightness of that light which overshadowed the Divine propitiatoryto Him, in whose name alone could he, as a

the ethereal firmament, and "whom the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain;" that his affections might be elevated far above the dull level of mortality, and receive a holier and a heavenlier direction; that the great principle of the unity and spirituality of the true God might powerfully impress his soul; and that the purify-guilty criminal, draw near to his Father-to Him, ing influence of spiritual things might be habitually present, to counteract the carnal tendencies of the heart. These are amongst the essential principles of all substantial piety; but there is here something more specific and more peculiar to the character of a spiritual worshipper of God. Daniel had "his windows open toward Jerusalem," and thither he directed his eye and the thoughts of his heart, to show that Jerusalem, the holy city, though now in ruins, was still dear to his soul that he cherished an affection for its very stones and its dust"-that, though he was a great man in Babylon, he still concurred with the meanest of his brethren of the captivity in remembering "Jerusalem, and preferring it above his chiefest joy." Jerusalem was the place which God had chosen to put his name there; and when the temple was dedicated, Solomon's prayer to God was, "that if his people should, in the land of their enemies, pray unto him with their eye towards the land which he gave them, the city he had chosen, and the house that was built to his name, that then he would hear and maintain their cause." 1 Kings viii. 48, 49. And Daniel acted upon this prescribed principle. There is in it something far beyond the feeling of common patriotism or national attachment. There is in it the pious recognition of Jehovah as, in the most affecting and important sense, the God of Israel. There is a look to the temple at Jerusalem, as the place of the Divine abode and of the Divine manifestation. The mercy-seat is recognised as the symbol of Divine mercy to mankind, and as typical of that "throne of grace" sprinkled with the blood of the Redeemer, to which "we have access with boldness, through the faith of him." That Daniel entertained a spiritual view of the Divine economy towards Israel, is clear from the whole tenor of his writings; and his conceptions relative to the method of salvation are conveyed to us in language peculiarly explicit. Messiah," says he, "shall be cut off, but not for himself." "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy,

whose blood was to be shed for the reconcilia-
tion of sinners to God-to Him whom he be-
held "in the night visions, coming with the clouds
of heaven, to the Ancient of Days, and to whom
there was given dominion, and glory, and a king-
dom, that all people, nations, and languages should
serve him; whose dominion is an everlasting do-
minion which shall not pass away, and his king-
dom that which shall not be destroyed." In
illustration of the same thing, we are told that
Daniel "prayed unto his God;" and he knew full
well that a pure and holy Being could be the God
of an impure and unholy creature only in that way,
on those terms, and according to that constitution
which He himself has seen meet to prescribe, and
clearly to make known, for our encouragement
and salvation. Prayer, acceptable prayer, cannot
be presented to the Father in any other
way; and
we delude ourselves most miserably, indeed, if we
venture to draw near to the throne of unspotted
holiness in any other way, or on any other footing,
than that which has been made known to us in
the everlasting covenant. The only true religion
is the religion of a covenanted God; and the only
true principle which can be recognised as genuine,
and as truly valuable, is that faith which rests on
the love of the Father, through the interposition
of the Son-that faith which humbles the sinner,
while it exalts the Saviour who bought him with
his blood-that faith which, like Daniel's, looks
towards the mercy-seat, and derives from that
mercy-seat all its energy and all its hope. It was
this faith which Abel exercised, when he offered
up a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. It was
this faith which Abraham exercised, when he “be
held the day of Christ afar off, and was glad." It
was this faith which Job cherished, when, in the
impassioned ardour of his soul, he exclaims, "I
know that my Redeemer liveth." It was this
faith which Daniel exercised, when the angel
Gabriel came to him with the answer to his
prayer, and hailed him, with affectionate endear-
ment, as the "man greatly beloved;" and it is
the very same faith, in substance if not in form,
which every true Christian exercises, when he
pours out his heart before the Lord, and "
unto God as his exceeding joy."

"goes

THE END.

¡PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE, EDINBURGH.