valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; -thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." If God is a great King, then we ought to expect, 2. That there will be much in his government that we cannot understand. Suppose the councillors of a nation were assembled, and were trying to devise the wisest plans for the good of the kingdom. Should a boy stand outside, and throw stones at the house, because he cannot understand their plans? Should a new soldier refuse to do his duty, because he cannot understand why his general does this or that? Should the small insect, that hangs in the air on his wings, find fault with the man who is building a great ship, because he cannot understand all about it? No. Nor must we say that, because the wheels of God's government are sometimes high and dreadful, and because he drives his chariot where we could not, therefore we may complain, because we cannot understand it all! His deep wisdom is moving where we cannot follow. His great power is going where we may not tread. The great plans of the great King are high above our thoughts, as the heavens are higher than the earth. It seems as if I could see David, as he went up the Mount of Olivet weeping! His councillor turned against him, his own son a traitor, his people turned away from him, the city in danger of being burned, his own life every moment in danger, Shimei cursing him, and everything looking THE MIGHTY WATERS." 207 dark and fearful! Hear him put confidence in the great King! "The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves!" but "the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea; the Lord sitteth upon the flood, yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever!" And how will all come to nothing, who try to contend with this great King! As the traveller passes over one of the beautiful lakes of Switzerland, his eye falls upon a streak of ruin which hangs like a scarf upon the shoulders of one of the mighty Alps. It looks small to the eye, though it is close at hand; but it is really larger than the ground occupied by all the city of Paris. It is about three miles wide, and five long. Years ago, the rains were heavy and soaked into the mountain, and a loud, cracking noise was first heard. Then the tall forests that covered the mountain began to nod and reel, and the birds to fly screaming away. Then the rocks began to roll, and the whole side of the mountain began to tremble, and then to slide,—thousands of acres with all their forests began to slide-and then to rush,— and a thundering noise mingled with the crash of trees and the echo among the mountains, as all came pouring down, filling the air with dust, so that nothing could be seen, and causing the earth. to tremble as if her very foundations were giving way! In five minutes it was all done! Nearly a million of property, one hundred and eleven houses, more than two hundred barns, more than four hundred and fifty human beings, and whole herds of cattle, were swept away, and buried several hundred feet beneath the mass! Three whole villages were blotted out for ever! No trace remained, save a single bell that was carried from the church a long distance, The little lake at the foot of the mountain received a part of the descending mass, which caused the waters to rise and sweep over an island seventy feet above the level of the lake, carrying all to ruin! To this hour you can see where "Mountains have fallen, Leaving a gap in the clouds, and with the shock The ripe, green valleys with destruction's splinters, Which crushed the waters into mist, and made Oh had a little child with a feather in his hand stood there, and seen this ruin coming, could be, by stretching out his little arm, have stopped it? Could he have turned it back? Yes, a thousand times more easily than all created men could turn back or hinder God from doing what he thinks best to do or to have done! "I am a great King, saith the Lord of Hosts," VII. THE BROKEN STAFF MENDED. "He went into a city called Nain," &c.-LUKE vii. 11–16. A poisonous valley-The perishing stranger-A poor widow and her dead son-The Peak of Tempests and the Peak of Terror-An awful chasm—A twinkling light-Down, down, he falls-Why Christ raised the widow's son from the grave-A funeral at sea. THEY tell us there is a poisonous valley which has been visited by many travellers. It is small, and is surrounded by hills. As you look off from these hills, you see a level, circular basin, that looks smooth and fair,-except that there is not a living tree or bush, not a wayside flower, not even a single green blade of grass to be seen. No wind blows in it, nor is there a living thing that moves. All over it lie the bleaching bones of the dead. The bones of the huge elephant and of the strong lion, of the timid hare and of the fleet deer, lie scattered around; while here and there lie the bones of some traveller who went into it in his ignorance, and there died, and found no grave. Nothing that ever goes down there, comes up again! Now suppose that on the brow of one of these surrounding hills were gathered a company of young men. They gaze, silent and awe-struck, into the valley. While they look, a cry of terror bursts from them; for just at the foot of the rock on which they stand they see a poor traveller, writhing in distress, and gasping for breath! He is too far gone to shout, or to utter another cry for help. In an instant one of the young men slips the end of a cord which he has in his hand over the point of a rock, and slides down on the rope to the perishing stranger. He has just time enough to tie the rope round the dying man, and beckon to his comrades to pull him up, before he himself falls by the poisonous air. They draw up the half-dead stranger, and save him; but their companion is down there dying! No one can go to him! No one can save him! He must die, and be left there to bleach with the dead! And they now find, too, that the man whom they have saved was the bitter enemy of their friend. And their friend knew it too, and knew it when he put the rope round him, instead of putting it round his own body, after he got to him! How they now speak of the nobleness, the generosity, and the goodness of their friend! How that man who was his enemy feels when he thinks that he hated such a character! Ah, children! you and I were in a poisonous valley like that, and we were dying and unable to help ourselves, and Christ came and looked, and there was none to save, and he wondered that there was none to help! He died that we might live. He "tasted death for every man." "While we were enemies, Christ died for us." Oh! if it were not that we have seen it so long and so often, how beautiful in our eyes would be the light of the clear summer morning! If we had not seen it so often, how charming would be to us the bush that hangs loaded with roses! we had not heard the account so often, we should If |