she has no continuing city, but seeks one to come. Forty years Israel abode there, but at last the floods of Jordan were crossed, and the shores of Canaan gained. So will it be with you, beloved child of God. The snows of many winters may rest upon your brow. Long the time appears since you started on the journey, but it will have an end. At eventide there shall be light. Is the eye of some tried invalid resting on these words? Does the ear of one listen who is too weak to read? To such the Master says, "The vision is yet for an appointed time, but in the end it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry." He who knows all things has made the appointment, and will not fail to keep it. "Oh, tarry thou the Lord's leisure; be strong, and He shall comfort thine heart." Impatience for the future ill befits those for whom so much has been done in the past. Can we receive a wrong cup from the pierced hand? Whether our days be long or few is immaterial to us. They are in the Lord's keeping. He is guiding us by his counsel, and afterwards will receive us to His glory. Blessed be God, "this is not our rest." The Bride is coming out

of the wilderness.

(II.) Consider-The attitude of the Bride,-"leaning upon her Beloved."

Have we any difficulty in naming this Beloved? None whatever. It is the Lord Jesus. Despised and rejected of men, He is beloved by every one who knows Him. John Bunyan has a character called "Great Heart," who guides the steps of the trembling pilgrims towards the celestial city. Surely none has so great a heart for this work as our Beloved. This brought Him from above. He has pledged Himself to the task. "When He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice" (John x. 4). In the passage under consideration He is fulfilling His word.

For our instruction and comfort let us consider this blessed attitude of the Bride.

She leans on Him for protection.

The road is full of dangers, and she has no power of her own to escape them. There the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. She is unable to grapple with such a foe. Hence the blessedness of her position, leaning, resting on the Strong for strength. So it is with all God's people. None could travel that road alone. They would neither escape the terror by night, nor the arrow that flieth by day. The pestilence that walketh in darkness would overtake them, and the destruction that wasteth at noonday would cut them off. But "I will sing of

the Lord. He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust." Therefore, "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling (Ps. xci. 9, 10).

Nothing can exceed your helplessness, beloved child of God. We are weaker than a bruised reed, fragile and sensitive though it be. But with such a Protector what have we to fear? Only self-confidence. So long as you walk humbly with your God, all will go well. This lesson was understood by holy Paul. One so signally honoured of God must have been mightily tempted of the devil. Lest, through the abundance of his revelations, he should be exalted above measure, a thorn was placed in his flesh, and it had the desired effect. He cries, "Who is weak, and I am not weak? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities." For the removal of the trial he besought the Lord thrice, and the answer was, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Learn, then, beloved, however weak, that you are safe. None can hurt while He is nigh. "If God be for us, who can be against us ?" "Who shall separate us from the love It is everlasting. "Having loved His

of Christ ?"

own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." He never changes. Therefore, "Thou shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot." Amidst the lions Daniel was calm with his Beloved. The Hebrew youths in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace were unharmed. The Beloved walked with them in the midst of the fire. The Lord stood by Paul, and delivered him out of the mouth of the lion. If the keeper be at our side we are not terrified at the sight of wild beasts. All things are under the command of our Beloved. We can smile at storms, be calm amidst tumults, fear no evil in the valley of the shadow of death, and have boldness at the day of judgment.

Again, The Bride leans on Him, because of her ignorance of the way.

Like Naomi, in our own conceit we start full of wisdom, and come to the end overwhelmed with our ignorance. In our Guide are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. On the journey, He imparts many lessons to us. The Holy Spirit, by Solomon, says, "Be not wise in thine own eyes. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding." "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct Thy paths." In that verse lies our danger and safety. Danger, because we are so apt to

lean to our own understanding. has promised to direct our path.

Safety, because He Remember the words

of the prophet: "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. x. 23).

"He

Sometimes the Lord tries our faith, by causing us to wait for the knowledge of His will; but we are to trust in Him with ALL our heart, and we shall not go astray. He who directed Israel through that great and terrible wilderness will not fail us. "He leads the blind by a way that they know not." But it is well known to Him. As with Israel, so with us. found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye" (Deut. xxxii. 10). "O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good for His mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.

by the right way, that they

:

And He led them forth might go to a city of