MOSES.

THE life of Moses, says a pious Commentator on the Holy Scriptures, was remarkably divided into three periods, each consisting of forty years.During the first, he sustained the rank of a courtier, during the second he was a shepherd in the wilderness, and during the third, he filled the important station of a lawgiver, and " King in Jeshurun "."

In the 2nd chap. of the book of Exodus there is a record of his birth, and of the protecting hand that was extended over him when, a helpless babe, he was laid "in an ark of bulrushes in the flags by the river's brink ;"-with many interesting particulars of his youth and manhood.

In the 3rd chap. of the same book we have an

a A person belonging to the court of a Prince.

b Deut. xxxiii. 5.

E

account of his being called of God to be the deliverer of the afflicted people of Israel from “the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them;" on which solemn occasion it pleased Jeto him" in a flame of fire out

hovah to appear of the midst of a bush"-and to proclaim to him his sacred and incommunicable name or nature, I am that I am. I am he that exists independent, unchangeable, incomprehensible, eternal. I am, and all creatures, all worlds, are dependent upon

me.

In the remaining chapters of Exodus we have the history of his eventful course,-of his being endowed with the power of working miracles,-of the plagues inflicted upon Pharaoh and his host for their obstinate resistance to the will of the most High, of the institution of the passover, and the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt,—of their being divinely guided “in a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night,"—of the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, and the song of Moses and of the children of Israel unto the Lord, the song of praise and of grateful triumph for their miraculous deliverance. In the 19th and 20th chapters we have an account of the promulgation

of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai amidst lightnings, and thunders, and fire, and smoke, and earthquakes. "The earth," says the Psalmist, "shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God; even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel."—In the 21st of Numbers we find the Israelites, notwithstanding the miraculous interferences wrought for them, murmuring against God and against Moses. And the Lord sent "fiery serpents among them, -and much people died;" but Moses prayed for them, and he had power with God and prevailed. At length, we come to the closing scene of the life of the Jewish lawgiver in the 34th chap. of Deuteronomy; Moses, the servant of the Lord, having been permitted, from the mountain of Nebo, to see the promised land, died in Moab, according to the word of the Lord. "These things were

written for our learning."

There are several features in the character of this eminent servant of God, from the attentive contemplation of which, much good may be derived by readers of every class, and station.

First, Moses by faith when he was come to

Psalm lxviii. 8.

ડ

years of discretion, deliberately, we read, " chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ," that is, the reproach cast on Israel for their expectation of a glorious Redeemer, "greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect to the recompense of reward a."

Reader! thou professest thyself to be a Christian,-a Believer. What fruit does thy faith produce? Hast thou learned to prefer the sanctified affliction of the people of God to the enjoyment of all the pleasures of sin? I say the sanctified, for no one can love affliction for its own sake :but, when it produces its designed effect, when in this furnace the heart is purified, then can the true Christian say with the Psalmist," it is good for me that I was afflicted."-" Before I was afflicted I went wrong; but now have I kept thy law." Reader! art thou afflicted? Be assured that God taketh no pleasure in thy sorrow, he intends thy good: he would wean or snatch thee from sin, from undue compliance with the temp-

d

Hcb. ii. 25.

e Isaiah xlviii. 10. Psalm cxix. 67. 71.

See

tations of the world, the flesh and the devil. his hand in thy trial. Cast in thy lot with the righteous. Prefer loss in the way of godliness, to any gain that sin can procure thee; prefer any privation that God may call thee to sustain, to all the pleasures of sin. Is this a hard lesson, a trying service? It is indeed both; but remember, thou servest a Master who has promised to give to his faithful servants "strength equal to their day." "Is any among you," says St. James," afflicted, let him pray." "I see and acknowledge," says the pious Bishop Hall, "the harbour that we must put into in all our ill weather. It is to thee, O God, that we must pour out our hearts, which only canst make our bitter waters sweet."

Have " respect too to the recompense of reward." Here thou art a sojourner and a pilgrim. Thy day of trial will soon be ended; wait in hope for the accomplishment of the promises. God hath said, and he will perform, "To them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honour and immortality," shall be rendered "eternal life "."

Rom. ii. 7.