valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me."

Three things encouraged David to stay his mind. upon the Lord Jesus, the Lord's presence with him, the rod which directed, the staff which sustained him; and these three things ought to be equally effectual for the encouragement of the Lord's believing people in every age. Moses had such unbounded reliance on the Lord's presence with His people, that he said, "If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence ;" and the Lord teaches us that Moses' dependence on His presence was not without a cause, when He said unto His apostles when He sent them forth on their mission, as the greatest encouragement which He could give them, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." St. Paul employs the very same assurance as a reason why believers should be careful for nothing: "The Lord is at hand," said he; "be careful for nothing." And, indeed, when we consider what is implied in the expression, "The Lord is at hand"—namely, that the Lord is watching over us; that He is cognizant of all our wants and all our trials; that He is deeply interested in us, and ever ready to uphold us with His everlasting arms,—such an assurance may well divest the mind of all anxiety, and lead us in patience to possess our souls.

A second encouragement referred to by David is the rod, or word of the heavenly Shepherd. And when we bear in mind that this word communicates to us exceeding great and precious promises--pro

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mises commensurate with our utmost need, our minds may well be stayed on Him in whom they are all yea and amen.

There is not a want of the believer which is not met by some sweet and encouraging promise. Does he find the remembrance of his misdoings grievous unto him, the burden of them intolerable? The Saviour says, "Come unto Me, ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Is he weak and bowed down by the trials and conflicts of this militant state? The Saviour says unto him, "Be of good cheer: My grace is sufficient for thee:" "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." These promises are as bright bows in the dark clouds which from time to time overhang our path; and they embolden us to say with David, "Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

Another consideration that animated David was the staff, emblematic of the power of the heavenly Shepherd. This very consideration is brought forward in the verse which follows the text; for there it is written, “Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehováh is everlasting strength." And this consideration may well encourage all to let their minds be stayed on the Lord. What He has promised He can and will perform; what we commit to Him He can and will keep; so that we need fear no evil: we have only to watch, and pray, and press on.

Let us consider, lastly, the reason assigned for this promise: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth

in Thee." God promises, therefore, to keep those that stay their minds on Him at perfect peace, because they trust in Him. Is, then, trust in the Lord a meritorious act—an act that lays God under an obligation to speak peace unto the souls of those that manifest it? Certainly not; yet it honours the Lord -it proves that He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of our salvation—it hangs upon Him all the glory of His father's house; and those that honour Him He will honour. It is also calculated to bring others to Christ: for when they see the peace of the Lord's people amidst trial and danger— when they see His blessing upon His people in all situations, they will be led to cast in their lot with the Lord's people, saying, as virtuous Ruth said, Thy people shall be my people, and thy God shall be my God."

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Cultivate, then, my readers, the character to which the promise is made. Some promises are evidently conditional; and men ought not to be surprised, when they neglect the condition prescribed, that the blessing is withheld. If men, for example, ask not, is it at all wonderful that they have not? No: the word of God says, "Ask, and ye shall have;" and since the condition has not been complied with, man has no ground of complaint. It is no satisfactory answer to say that God sometimes gives without being asked. What God will give as a Sovereign, who has a perfect right to do what He will with His own, it is not for us to say; but what He promises, we must look for in the way that He promises it. And it is just so with the promise of the text. Persons complain that

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they are strangers to peace; but are their minds stayed on the Lord, on His work, on His grace, on His promises? If they are not, they are not entitled to peace. Cultivate, then, I entreat you, the character. Make Jesus your Shepherd: commit your works unto Him stay yourselves upon Him, and He will not fail you: He will do as He has said. To all who do so I would say, Enjoy your privilege. is a precious one. There may be storms without; but there shall be peace within. The Saviour intimates as much when he says, "In the world you shall have tribulation; but in Me ye shall have peace." Luther could say, "Strike, Lord: I can bear all; because my sins are forgiven." And, indeed, if our souls be as the troubled sea, it is because we are not staying ourselves upon the Faithful and True, but on some broken reed-some shifting sand. Stay yourselves on Christ, beloved, and your peace shall flow as a river; yea, the Lord will keep you at perfect peace.

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THE NECESSITY FOR CHRIST'S

SUFFERINGS.

LUKE xxiv. 26.

"Ought not Christ to have suffered these things?"

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ANY are the devices which Satan makes use of to blind the eyes of men, but perhaps there is not one which is more successful than prejudice, nor one which operates in so great a variety of ways.

Prejudice led the scribes and Pharisees to reject Jesus of Nazareth, even though they were constrained to admit that He did many miracles. "Search and look," said they contemptuously to Nicodemus, “for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." Even a devout Nathanael was not proof against this baneful principle; even he said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" though his natural candour and justice led him afterwards to adopt the judicious advice of Philip, and to see and judge for himself whether Jesus were not the Son of God and King of Israel.

The chosen disciples and apostles of the Lord Himself were not exempt from the influence of prejudice. They were so prepossessed in favour of a conqueror, of a Messiah who would restore the kingdom to Israel, that they not only overlooked those passages of Scripture which spake of the sufferings