I. HIS CALL. From his very birth he has been destined as a missionary to the heathen world (cf. Ver. 1:5; Galatians 1:15; Luke 1:31). The emphasis is on the fact. He was not self-called, and there was no presumption on his part. There is all the difference in the world between calling one's self missionary, or apostle, or minister, and feeling that "God has made mention of one's name."

II. HIS ENDOWMENT. His mouth has been made a sharp sword; a vehicle for that Word which is elsewhere compared to a sharp and two-edged sword, to pierce the conscience, to overcome the proud and the stubborn (cf. Isaiah 11:4; Isaiah 51:16; Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17; Revelation 1:16; Revelation 19:15. See also, for the pungency of eloquence, Ecclesiastes 12:11). It is a lesson: pointless speech is no speech for the minister of God. We do not speak to "gain time," but to gain hearts. In some respects we may be compared to marksmen. In Gentile poets the like figures occur of the sword or the arrow.

"His powerful speech Pierced the heater's soul, and left behind,
Deep in his bosom, its keen point infixt.
Say through what paths of liquid air
Our arrows shall we throw?"

(Pind., 'Od.' 2, 160.) And so with the apostolic preaching. They told the world in plain terms "that he who believed should be saved, and that he who believed not should be damned." "This was the dialect which pierced the conscience, and made the hearers cry out, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' It tickled not the ear, but sank into the heart; and when men came from such sermons, they never commended the preacher for his taking voice or gesture, for the fineness of such a simile or the quaintness of such a sentence, but spoke like men conquered with the overpowering force of truth." The Servant of God is also compared to a "polished shaft" (cf. Jeremiah 51:11). His words penetrate easily, because natural, familiar, and not above the capacity of the hearer. "Nothing is more preposterous than for those who profess to aim at men's hearts to shoot over their heads" (South).

III. HIS DEARNESS TO GOD. This polished shaft is covered in the quiver of God. The Almighty takes care of his tools, as every good workman does. Through Israel as his instrument, he designs to manifest his glory. "His Servant will become the Head of a regenerated and expanded Israel, which Jehovah will hold forth to the universe as his fairest prize" (Cheyne). This sense of being related to God and his purposes is the source of the purest consolation. It is true the Servant of God is tempted to despondency, as in the typical case of Elijah in the wilderness. The "flesh is weak." On the other hand, just when he is weak, then is the Servant of God strong. The cry of seeming despair in Psalm 22:1 is absorbed in the jubilant exultation of the singer at the close, in the prospect of the extension of the kingdom (cf. Matthew 27:46). So here, after the melancholy outburst, "I have laboured in vain," etc., the Servant of Jehovah "gives the lie to all delusive appearances," assured that his recompense is with God. The Servant of God has his rights founded on the nature of God himself and on his covenant. The missionary of the great King has a right to be protected, and to expect submission to his message. "The mention of recompense shows that 'Servant' here has a special meaning of its own. A slave can have no recompense" (Cheyne). He will have a" portion among the great" (Isaiah 53:10, 12). And what is the great "recompense of the reward"? The noblest that can be thought of - to "bring back Jacob," to "gather Israel," and still more, to be the Light of the nations, to be the Instrument of Jehovah's salvation unto the earth's end. It is natural, it is noble, it is Christian, to have respect to such a recompense. The quality of life's rewards is the main throe to be considered. There can be no contradiction between the doctrines of grace and the hopes of reward, if that reward be conceived as, first and last. consisting in the favour, the friendship, the enployment of the righteous and merciful Governor of the world.

IV. GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT REWARD. Already faith, revived in the breast of Jehovah's Servant, is encouraged by large views of the future.

1. His promised honours. He is now heartily despised by man; but the "God of Israel," the Redeemer and Avenger, saith that he stroll in his future fortunes be the Representative of Israel's glories. He is now under the sway of great despots, heathen lords. The time shall come when kings shall rise up to do him homage, and princes shall-bow down before him; for behind him is Jehovah himself, the faithful Covenant-keeper, who has chosen, and therefore will support his Servant.

2. His mediatorial office. When the season of Providence has come, the Servant shall not only be helped and saved, but shall become the Source of salvation to others (cf. Psalm 22:23-27). He shall raise up the ruined land; he shall assign to the different families the heritages belonging to them; he shall say to the captive Jews, "Go forth!" and they shall return, like a well-shepherded flock, finding pasture everywhere on the way. They shall not be afflicted by the burning sun nor by the illusive mirage. Led by refreshing springs, and finding a highway through the mountains, they shall come from all quarters to the wished-for end of their pilgrimage. The description may be taken as an allegory of life's pilgrimage. - J.

I. IN ITS REFERENCE TO JESUS CHRIST. He was, indeed, an Israel, a Prince with God, as never Jacob was. He was truly a Servant of Jehovah, doing his work as never prophet or nation did before. These words are most appropriate on his lips.

1. He claimed the attention of mankind. He said, in other words and ways, "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far." He said that "every one that was of the truth" would hear his words; that he would draw all men unto him. He summoned the weary hearts of men everywhere to come and find rest in him and in his service; he offered himself to mankind as the Light of the world, as the Bread of life, etc. He had the most penetrating truth to utter (ver. 2; see John 6:63).

2. He compressed a temporary, outward failure. He had to acknowledge that the men of social standing and of ecclesiastical position did not believe in him; that many of his disciples fell away from him in the time of difficulty and trial; that he was left "alone."

3. He found great consolation in God.

(1) In the consciousness that the Eternal Father called him to his work (ver. 1). The thought that "the Father had sent him ' was his continual refuge:

(2) In the assurance that the Father was with him, encompassing him with his protecting love (ver. 2; and see Matthew 26:53).

(3) In the confident belief that the future would justify his action and his words. He knew that the time would come when God would be glorified through his life and death (see John 12:24; John 17:4).

(4) In the unfaltering conviction that his work would receive a Divine reward in his own exaltation (ver. 4).

II. IN ITS APPLICATION TO OURSELVES.

1. We, as true teachers, make our claim. We confidently believe that we have something to say which is worth the world's attention; which is fitted to penetrate, like a sharp sword, the thoughts, the purposes, the convictions, of mankind; which will give light to the understanding, peace to the conscience, nobility to the character, brightness and beauty to the life, of all who will listen and learn.

2. We have to make our confession of defeat - to acknowledge, often, that we have "laboured in vain'" (see Isaiah 53:1). The truth we preach, or teach, or print, does not penetrate; it is like the seed which falls on stony ground - it yields no fruit. Even the influence of our lives, and even the pleadings of our soul with God in earnest prayer, sometimes seem to be unavailing.

3. We find our consolation in God. In the conviction that he has called us to do the work in which we are occupied; that he is surrounding us with his Divine protection and inspiring us by his upholding Spirit; that God will grant increase to our toil in the distant if not in the near future; that he will bestow on us a full reward when the hour of blessed recompense arrives. - C.

I. IT LIES IN ENDOWMENT. The true servant of God is a gifted man - one to whom special powers have been committed, which powers indicate his work, and make him responsible for the doing of it. The proper idea of a Christian ministry is the separation to the work of preaching and teaching of all those who are evidently divinely endowed for preaching and teaching work. The right of a man to do any particular kind of work in the world is simply the right which comes from the divinely given capacity for doing it. If God made us painters, we must paint; if he made us poets, we must shape beautiful thoughts in verse; if he made us preachers, we must preach. Canon Liddon eloquently describes the endowed teacher. "Picture to yourselves a teacher who is not merely under the official obligation to say something, but who is morally convinced that he has something to say. Imagine one who believes alike in the truth of his message, and in the reality of his mission to deliver it. Let this teacher be tender, yet searching; let him win the hearts of men by his kindly humanity, while he probes, ay, to the quick, their moral sores. Let him pursue and expose the latent evil of the human heart through all the mazes of its unrivalled deceitfulness, without sullying his own purity, and without forfeiting his strong belief in the present capacity of every human being for goodness Clearly, such a teacher must be a moral power;" a "sharp sword." One thing greatly needed in our day is quickness to recognize Divine endowments in men, and brotherly aid to all endowed men in the due exercise of their gifts.

II. IT LIES IN THE DIVINE CALL. For the fact of possessing power is not, standing alone, authority for its being put forth and exercised. There must be the inward Divine call, which may or may not be heard through the voice of outward circumstances. This is the lesson taught by the records of the prophets - Elijah, Isaiah, Jonah, etc. They were endowed, but they did not act until they were called. The distinction is expressed, poetically, in Psalm 39:3, "While I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue." Illustrate from apostles, who were endowed with the Holy Ghost, symbolized in tongues of fire; but who were also sent ones. It is one thing to be able to speak, it is quite another to be called to speak.

III. IT LIES IN RESPONSIVE GOOD WILL. A man may actually deliver God's message unwillingly and grumblingly, as Jonah did, but it is clear that this cannot be regarded as fit service. Only when we say, "Lord, just what thou wouldst have me do is exactly what I desire to do," can we be regarded as servants indeed. This does not say that our good will towards what is God's will for us involves no effort, no conflict with sell The way of earthly prosperity may be the way of our own will; and the way of lifelong disability may be the way of doing God's will and work. Many a man has given up every earthly prospect to preach Christ to his fellow-men. And he is no fit preacher who does not preach with good will - preach from the heart. He should preach because he must; he should preach because he wishes to.

IV. IT LIES IN CULTURE OF GIFT. This is the human element in the fitness, which is as truly essential as the Divine clement, the natural endowment. We cannot give the gift, but we can train it into efficiency. It has to be prepared for the work of a particular age, and for the demands of a particular sphere. The sword has to be furbished and sharpened. The "gift" has to use instruments; it must gain skill in the use of instruments. The culture properly takes two forms.

1. Self-culture, the whole responsibility of which lies on the would-be minister.

2. Culture by agencies, which can be secured by those who recognize in the would-be minister the Divine "gift." Let the endowed and cultured man wait on God, and of this we are sure - he will find both his place and his work. - R.T.

I. THE SORROWFUL WORKERS. The words have pain in them. "I have laboured in vain." No man likes to feel that. These are not the tears of indolence, but the sorrows of the toiler. We can sympathize with them; for we have all at seasons felt thus. But the words are:

1. Mistaken in their main idea. Who knows what success is, or where success is? "In vain?" Sometimes the largest harvests grow above the sower's grave.

2. Mistaken in their central object. "I said." Yes; but who are you? God is the Judge. Let no man make the attempt to enter the Divine observatory.

II. THE SAVING CLAUSE. "Yet!" Here comes wisdom after mistake. "Surely my judgment is with the Lord."

1. This quickens inspiration to duty.

2. This sanctifies the sorrow of disappointment.

3. This keeps alive the hope of reward.

What a beautiful sentence! - "My work is with my God" It is in good hands. - W.M.S.

I. MAN IS REQUIRED TO WORK WITHOUT CONSIDERATION OF RESULTS. And that is reasonable,

(1) because his one work is obedience;

(2) because the best results are long in coming;

(3) because any one man's work is never more than a part of a whole, and results follow the united influence of all the parts; and

(4) because any seeming result man may recognize is only a cause of other and better results that are quite beyond his estimating. George Macdonald makes one of his heroes reproach his brother for good . advice given which had led to unpleasant consequences, and the brother gives the following forcible reply: "My dear fellow, I gave you no advice that had the least regard to the consequence of following it! That was the one thing you had nothing to do with."

II. MAN MAY BE CULTURED THROUGH HIS DISTRESS AT RESULTS. One point only is suggested. Seeming failure reveals the self-seeking which had been in his work. And it is the best of culture to get true knowledge of ourselves. The man who aims for results really works for himself - for his own praise. We must just work as God's servants, satisfied to do work that can stand his inspection; and none of us will find it easy to draw in our minds from results, and concentrate them on work.

III. MAN MAY BE SURE OF THE DIVINE ACCEPTANCE OF GOOD WORK. And that is an all-satisfying result. It is only man's poor view that makes results into the standard that tests the value of the work. The best work may produce little, but it is "best work" nevertheless. Many a minister has failed in his sphere. At least, so the world says. But its foolish estimate does not matter. Was it good work? God's judgment is of the work. - R.T.

I. IN THE WORK OF THE LORD HIMSELF. As he "grew in wisdom," he found that "his Father's business" involved more than appeared to him when he was twelve years old. There was a time when he instructed his disciples to "go not into any way of the Gentiles:" and when he said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:6; Matthew 15:24). But later on, he not only recognized for himself that his work was to be wide as humanity and to embrace those furthest away from truth and from God, but he commanded his disciples to "baptize all nations," to "go unto all the world," etc. Under his holy hand his great mission grew, and it became that one which, for the vastness of its proportions and the beneficence of its aim, leaves every human enterprise immeasurably behind.

II. IN THE WORK OF THE APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. James and John, when they were asked by their Master whether they could drink of his cup, answered with sure confidence, "We can;" but they little knew what were the contents of that cup; they little imagined how great, how stupendous, was the task which their Lord would leave in their hands.

III. IN THE WORK OF INDIVIDUAL REFORMERS. At different times men have addressed themselves to some work of necessary reformation. They supposed that they could measure the extent of their task; but they found that as they proceeded it enlarged, and what they first attempted proved to be "a light thing" in comparison with all that they ultimately accomplished. Witness the work of Luther, Knox, Cranmer, Wesley, etc.

IV. IN THE WORK OF EACH CHRISTIAN CHURCH. A Christian Church, when first planted, is most anxious to establish and consolidate itself - to grow in numbers and in reputation and in strength. But before long it awakes to the truth that it has a greater mission to effect than this; it is called into being to exert a powerful influence for good on all the surrounding neighbourhood - to communicate spiritual health and eternal life to all human souls that can be reached and blessed. To establish itself is "a light thing" in comparison with this high and holy function.

1. The entrance on this greater mission should be in the spirit of pure devotion. We should feel that we are God's servants (ver. 5), called to do his work.

2. It should be carried on and completed in God's strength. "My God shall be my Strength." - C.

I. IN RELATION TO THE TRUE GLORY OF HIS KINGDOM. Not to exalt Jacob, or to preserve Israel, but to be a Light to the Gentiles.

II. IN RELATION TO THE HISTORY OF HIS MINISTRY. Why did the Jewish nation despise and crucify the Redeemer? It would have been a light thing to serve in such a cause as that which ministered to their glory by restoring their prestige and preeminence; but it was "heavy as the cross" to save the world. - W.M.S.

I. MAN HAS INFLUENCE WITHIN THE RANGE OF HIS OWN PURPOSES. We may make our life-spheres. We may decide what we will do, and where we will do it. We may propose to limit ourselves to a certain number whom we will endeavour to aid and bless. Our energy can do much, and we often speak of men's influence as limited. And it is so far true that every man has a first circle - a sphere immediately round him; and it is well that it should have his best work.

II. MAN HAS INFLUENCE BEYOND ANY PURPOSES OF HIS OWN. You may break the scent-bottle to purify a room, but the fragrance will fill the house. Jesus came to the Jews, but his salvation has gone forth to the ends of the earth. We may live for a home, but the glory of gracious character fills a street. We may preach to a congregation, but strangers may hear, and from us carry inspiring words to the distant colonies. Every one of us may truly say, "Humanity is my congregation; the world is my sphere."

III. A MAN'S LARGER INFLUENCE DEPENDS ON THE CHARACTER SHOWN IN THE SMALLER SPHERE. Especially on his "individuality." By just that in which a man differs from other men, his sphere of influence is the whole world. - R.T.

I. ITS MOST STRIKING CHARACTERISTICS.

1. Spiritual restoration. "To establish the earth," or rather to restore the land, and to bring about the repossession by their true owners of the "desolate heritages." In the kingdom of Christ humanity, that had "lain waste" and had produced all kinds of noxious and ugly growths, should be recultivated, bear its own true feints of peace and righteousness, and be a land restored.

2. Spiritual freedom. To the prisoners of sin, of folly, and of vice, the commanding word will be addressed, "Go forth" (ver. 9); and they will walk in the atmosphere of sacred freedom.

3. Abundance of truth. The disciples of Christ are "the children of light;" they walk in the light of his holy truth (ver. 9).

4. The sheltering and providing power of the sovereign Saviour. The present Lord shall satisfy their hungering hearts, shall slake their spirits' thirst, shall shelter them from the heats of strong temptation, shall supply them with all-sufficient grace for their recurring need (ver. 10). All its swings are in him and he is near to minister to all their wants.

II. THE OPENNESS OF THE WAY TO ITS FULL ESTABLISHMENT. (Vers. 11, 12.) In the arrangements of Divine providence, when Jesus Christ came and introduced his gospel to the world, there were ready three things that were wanted to carry it over the world.

1. A missionary people - supplied by the Jewish nation, in whom were all the elements of moral worth and religious enthusiasm.

2. A suitable language - supplied by the Greeks.

3. A highway to distant lands - supplied by Roman roads and Roman laws. And the new faith, which seemed certain to perish as soon as it was born, grew and spread on every hand. It was as if the very obstructions were "away." Difficulties disappeared; a "great door and effectual was opened." And in our time the way is being further opened. Exploration, human science, international treaties, even war itself, is levelling the separating hills and bridging the dividing gulfs; and even into the very heart of China (Sinim?) the missionary is penetrating with the truth of Christ.

III. ITS ACCEPTABLE HOUR. The era in which we live is one in which the Father of all is disposed to bless and save. It is "a day of salvation." The atoning work is wrought; the Divine Spirit is ready to regenerate and renew; the Word of truth and grace is multiplied; great is the company of the preachers.; the Churches of Christ are fast awaking to a sense of their obligation and their opportunity. It is a time to pray, to work, and to look for God's favouring presence and redeeming power. - C.

I. THERE MAY BE HINDRANCES TO DIVINE ACCEPTANCE. Get right apprehensions of God, and it will be understood that, under some circumstances, he cannot accept - he must reject, he must frown, he must be against man. Acceptance, to be any moral good to us, must be based on righteousness. We do not care for acceptance unless we are quite sure that God is right in accepting. Illustrate this in connection with the three prominent figures we use for God.

1. King. Certainly a king cannot always accept his subjects.

2. Moral Governor. A very intangible figure. But the addition of the word "moral" shows clearly that conditions are involved.

3. Father. True lathers must sometimes hold off their sons.

II. THE HINDRANCES MAY BE SUCH AS WE PUT IN THE WAY. It is easy to say the hindrances are our sins; it is much more searching to say they are the sinfulness of which our sins are the expression. It would be easy to forgive sins, if our sinfulness were put away. And Christ's mission brought to us an "acceptable time," because it bore upon getting away both the sinfulness and the sin.

III. THE HINDRANCES MAY BE SUCH AS GOD MUST PUT IN THE WAY. This the preacher must deal with according to the notions he has of God's Law and God's righteousness. He has demands; acceptance must be hindered until they are reasonably met.

IV. WHEN GOD AND MAN AGREE TO PUT THE HINDRANCES AWAY, THE ACCEPTABLE TIME HAS COME. Man must put away his sinfulness in penitence. God will put away his claims in mercy; and righteousness and peace can kiss each other. Christ bears mediatorial relations both to God and man. - R.T.

I. DISABILITIES ARE NEEDED WHILE MORAL CULTURE HAS TO BE CARRIED ON. If any proof were required of that fallen and deteriorated condition of man which is a matter of universal experience and conviction and really requires no proof, it would be found in the fact that man now will only learn his best moral lessons through suffering. We so readily think of suffering as arranged in the sovereign will of God; it is a sovereign necessity in meeting man's fallen condition. Why will we not learn without these disabilities? It is clear that we do not, and we will not. It is evident that we are biassed towards wrong, towards self-willedness. Bodily pain, life-distresses, are necessary to the culture of moral creatures who have become enslaved to self-will. Sorrow is graciously linked with sin, lest sin should come to be loved.

II. DISABILITIES MAY BE REMOVED WHEN MORAL CHARACTER IS ESTABLISHED. When men are all holy, then their surroundings may be all beautiful. There is no smiting heat, no chilling cold, no lack of food, no biting hunger, no raging thirst, no wearing pain, no blinding tears, no separating sea, no remorseless death, in heaven, because all who dwell there are established in goodness, and so there is no mission for disabilities to accomplish; their "occupation's gone." And just so far as we win goodness on earth we rise above all our disabilities, heaven is begun below; as with everything, so with love, "perfect love casteth out fear." - R.T.

I. THE TEMPTATION. "Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me." The temptation is to ascribe the cause of feeling in our own mind to a Being outside us; forgetting that "'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus." It does not follow, because our hearts are dry, that the fountain of comfort is sealed. It does not follow, because we feel ourselves lonely, that the good God has deserted us; nor, because we do not realize the Divine presence, that God has forgotten us. But the mind naturally leans on signs and symbols and outward manifestations. The act of faith - so simple to speak about - the "walk by faith, not by sight," is really most difficult. There are times when even the noblest of mankind are unequal to such an effort. Reason will hardly meet the case. "He that despairs," it has been said, "limits an infinite Power to a finite apprehension, and measures Providence by his own little contracted model." True; and the truth is not consoling. The sense and assurance of love alone can console.

II. DESPONDENCY MET. Not by censure, not by argument, but by the assurance of uninterrupted and undying love. It is a Divine love; surpassing, therefore, the noblest manifestations of human love - that of father or moth, or. A woman may, like a Lady Macbeth, allow some mightier passion to get the better even of maternal love. But there is no mightier passion in the heart of God than the love to his children. Human memory is infirm; but God cannot forget. The picture of Israel is graven on the palms of his hands. "It is indelible, like the sacred marks of devotees. Jehovah inverts the usual order. A worshipper needs a consecrating mark to remind him of his relation to God. Zion's God, though not needing such reminder, has condescended to grave Jerusalem on the palms of his hands. The objects of human interest are changing; God concentrates his thought on his people. "Thy walls are ever before me." The visible city was indeed destroyed, but God had his eye upon the preservation of the spiritual building for eternity. "Dost thou think that that is the city of which I said, 'I engraved thee on the palms of my hands'? Nay; that building is not now built in the midst of you. It is that which shall be revealed in my presence; it was prepared from the time when I meditated to produce a Paradise, and I showed it to Adam before he sinned; when he cast away my command, it was removed from him. And now, lo! it hath been kept by me, even as Paradise." Men's thoughts decline to the material; God is concerned with the ideal and eternal. And in this truth lies profound encouragement. Forms decay, institutions come down with a mighty crash; the building of the ages is ever going on. And it must go on by means of the labours of Zion's children. The desolate city will yet be clothed with ornaments like a lonely bride; and she who has been as a desolate widow will have a family too numerous to be contained within present narrow bounds.

III. UNFAILING HOPE IN JEHOVAH. At his bidding, and with the hearty aid of the Gentiles, the exiles shall return to their own houses, as the foster-father carries the child in the bosom of his garment. The custom is Oriental (see on 2 Kings 10). The meaning is that the princes of the Gentiles shall favour and respect Israel. Some fulfilment may be seen in the conduct of the Persian kings, of Alexander and his successors towards the Jews; another kind of fulfilment in the patronage of the Church by Constantine. But the full accomplishment of the prediction remains for the future. But incredulity breaks in. "Can the tyrant be made to disgorge his prey?" This shall take place. Jehovah shall appear in battle-might, as Avenger and Hero of Jacob, and the foes shall be put to shame. Jehovah - those that hope in him shall not be ashamed. The strain that began with the mutterings of despondency ends in the triumph of confidence and exultation. Hope in the Eternal - this must be our sure stay in the times of the nation's, the Church's, the individual's need. Our conduct cannot rise higher than our hopes, no more than the water in the pipe can rise higher than the spring-head. He who lives by the hopes of the present and passing world, acts and suffers with a strength that is less than might be his. Nothing in this world can support us against trials which threaten the loss of our worldly all. We can only be borne up by something mightier and greater than this world, not to be found in it, but in the Eternal himself. - J.

I. THE HUMAN REASONABLENESS OF DOUBT. Days went on for those captives, the days made years, the years passed by the score, and with the utmost straining not one gleam of light could be seen in the nation's sky. Indeed, the political conditions and combinations made the hope of return more vain than ever. From the human point of view it was time indeed to doubt. "See how deplorable the case of God's people may be sometimes, such that they may seem to be forsaken and forgotten of their God; and at such times their temptations may be alarmingly violent. Weak believers, in their despondency, are ready to say, "God has forsaken his Church, and forgotten the sorrows of his people'" (Matthew Henry). This text is "not an expression of absolute unbelief; it is the pain of seemingly unreturned affection, which borrows the language of scepticism. The highest act of faith is to see God with the heart when all outward tokens of his presence are removed. There are times when even the noblest of mankind are unequal to such an effort" (Cheyne). So long as we are dependent on the senses, and our knowledge is strictly limited, for disciplinary purposes, so long there is a good sense in which it is reasonable for us to doubt.

II. THE DIVINE UNREASONABLENESS OF DOUBT. Knowing what he is, and what he is purposing and doing, man's doubt must always seem unreasonable to God; and his one response to every doubter is, "Cannot you trust me?" It is the love of God, the unchangeable love of God, which puts our best-grounded doubts and fears to shame. Exactly this is pressed on the attention of despondent Israel by God's comparing himself to a mother whose child is daily feeding on her own life. Such mothers have a most sacrificing, passionate love for their children, and no intenser simile could have been found. "Thou art more than mother dear;" then how can we doubt? Why not rest in the love, and be at peace? Illustrating the strength of mother-love, Lander says he frequently met, during his journey in Africa, with mothers who carried about their persons little wooden images of their deceased infants, to whose lips they presented a portion of food whenever they partook of it themselves, and nothing could induce them to part with these inanimate memorials. - R.T.

I. THREE TEMPTATIONS TO THINK OTHERWISE. There is:

1. A consciousness of our littleness. Thinking of the smallness of this earth as one little planet among the Whole stellar universe; of the insignificance of any nation, group, or family of mankind; of the infinitesimal character of the individual, - we are apt to suppose that each one of us is, in the matter of intrinsic worth, undeserving of God's regard. This is very shallow reasoning; but it is not uncommon, nor is it without influence among men.

2. A sense of our sin. It is natural enough that we should conclude that our guilt in God's sight has so "separated between us and him" that he banishes us from his thought, as a human father who has been grievously wronged by his son dismisses him from his mind.

3. An appearance off desertion. When trial comes upon trial, when all the waves and billows of affliction go over our soul, when all things seem to be against us as they seemed of old to Jacob, it is not surprising if we look up despondently, or even despairingly, to heaven and say, "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" There may come times to us, as to others, when we shall seem abandoned by men, and at length deserted of God - the darkest,. bitterest, saddest hour of our life, even as it was of his (Matthew 27:26).

II. THE STRONG DIVINE REASSURANCE. The tone of the text is as pathetic as its argument is convincing. The appeal is made to the tenderest human affection - that of motherly love. God says to us, "Though your love for one another may fail, even where the tie is the tenderest and strongest, yet my remembrance of you shall not fail." Human attachments do not suffice to indicate the fulness of Divine fidelity; that surpasses anything which our experience will illustrate. He further grants us the assurance that he is as one who has taken the most effective measures to secure the necessary mindfulness; he has, so to speak, made indelible impressions where he cannot fail to see them. He goes as far as language can go to implant in our minds the conviction that, however our logical understanding may argue, however appearances may be against it, we are never out of his mind; he always has us in his heart. The extremity will never come in which we may not say, "I am poor and needy, but the Lord thinketh upon me." - C.

I. ALWAYS IN SIGHT, TO BE CARED FOR. This is true of friends who truly love one another - of husband and wife, of parent and children. They may not be always in bodily sight; they are always in thought, which is soul-sight. Of God it is said, "He careth for you." We are always in his thought. Round us, wherever we may be, are the "everlasting arms."

II. ALWAYS IN SIGHT, TO BE WORKED FOR. This is quite an additional idea. Others may care for us, who have nothing to do for us or can do nothing. God's care is an active care, finding due expression in tendings, watchings, providings, and arrangings. He keeps us before him, in order that he may do for us exceeding abundantly more than we ask or think. - R.T.

I. THE FEAR WHICH MAY BE FEARLESS. "They shall not be ashamed that wait for me," or "that hope in me." Reverent trust in the living God, in the Divine Friend of man, has nothing to fear. It may be seriously threatened, but it is secure. Sickness may come, adversity may assail, friends may forsake, bereavement may afflict, death may cast its shadows; but a confiding trust in the love and the faithfulness of God will never be put to shame. It will retain its calmness under all; it will triumph over all.

II. THE HOPE WHICH MUST BE HOPELESS. "I will contend with him that contendeth with thee." He who fights against the people, the truth, the cause of God, is fighting against the Almighty One himself. However promising outward appearances may be, he is foredoomed to utter and disastrous failure: his hope is hopeless. - C.

"The hope that's built upon his word
Can ne'er be overthrown." The line of thought suggested is this: Find the various sources whence comes our disappointment with men, and show, in each case, that they cannot possibly apply to God.

I. MEN PROMISE MORE THAN THEY CAN PERFORM. Often they do this in

(1) gushing and impulsive generosity; or in

(2) desire to produce an extravagant impression of their ability; or in

(3) false estimate of their means; or in

(4) simple but weak good nature.

Such people are not thoroughly true; and we learn by experience never to trust their promises. We give them credit for meaning well, and then forget what they said. God's promises are strictly true to his intentions and his power.

II. MEN PROMISE WHAT THEY NEVER INTEND TO PERFORM. A man who had just parted from a female friend was overheard to say, "I told her more in a minute than she will find come true in a twelvemonth." Men intentionally deceive, and then we cannot but be ashamed and disappointed in them. Of this we may be quite sure - God intends to fulfil everything he promises. "Hath he said, and shall he not do it?" "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."

III. MEN PROMISE WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES NEVER ALLOW THEM TO PERFORM. With the best intentions, and the best ability at the time of promising, men cannot anticipate the changes of life, and may disappoint us through force of circumstances. But he who sees the end from the beginning makes his promises in view of every possible contingency; and

"His very word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies;
The voice that moves the stars along
Speaks all the promises"' R.T.