of sorrow and perplexity, he longed intensely for the honest and intrepid counsellor, whom he had hated and shunned, whilst danger was unmolesting him. "Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, bring me up Samuel." What a testimony to the worth of a friend, who will tell us of our faults, and not leave us undisturbed in our sins! What a warning that we hearken to such a friend, whilst we are privileged with his presence, lest we live to wish his services when no longer to be had.

JACOB WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL.

Gen. xxxii. 24-32.

Jacob was now returning with a large family and much abundance from Haran, and the house of his infamous uncle Laban. Thither he had fled from the face of his brother Esau, till his fury should be abated. But his resentment seems not to have yielded to time; for Jacob is informed of his approach, and four hundred men with him, and no doubt with murderous design. Here was an embarrassment! But God had said to him, "Return ;" and he had also said, "I will surely do thee good." This was his encouragement. But what was his conduct? It equally expressed prudence and piety. He sends forward a present, with a soft answer, that turneth away wrath; and then he has recourse to prayer. For except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. When we have arranged our plans, and secured our means, and done all that we can do in order to secure success, we must cast our care upon Him that careth for us, and say, “O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity." Jacob found prayer not only his duty, but his privilege. How pitiable are those in trouble who cannot say, from experience, " It is good for me to draw

near to God!" In the perplexities, dangers, distresses of life; in the loss of relations, the failure of friends, the insufficiency of creature-helpers ;-how relieving to the burdened spirit is it to say, "Therefore will I look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me!"

Imagine Jacob's situation. He was left alone. His family had been sent forward. It was now past midnight. No noise was heard. Perhaps no star was seen. He was kneeling on the ground in prayer, with his eyes closed, or raised towards heaven; when he felt the fingers of some one seizing and grappling him, and he started up and closed with his antagonist, and endeavoured to maintain his standing against him.-There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. Wrestling is a trying and close combat, in which we can only engage personally, hand to hand; it allows not of seconds and helpers; and the aim of each is to throw the other upon the ground. Jacob's opponent came as his friend; but how could Jacob think so at first, when, instead of being lulled to sleep, he was grasped and pulled to and fro with violence? Though mercy always brings him, the Lord's coming to his people is often alarming in appearance and apprehension. He works by unlikely means, and in a way the most strange. He impoverishes in order to enrich; wounds us in order to heal; by legal despair he brings us into the hope of the gospel; and by death leads us to life eternal. Let us welcome him in whatever manner he may appear. Job could say, "He hath taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces;" but he could say, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."

The affair was not a vision, but a real transaction. We may however make two enquiries. First; who was this mysterious personage that strove with Jacob? Hosea calls him "the angel;" he is here called " a man❞—yet the prophet says, Jacob "had power with God:" and

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"His

Jacob himself says, I have seen God face to face." What can we do here, but have recourse to "the angel of the covenant?" to him of whom Paul speaks, when he says, "being in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men :" to him of whom John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." goings forth were of old, from everlasting." "He rejoiced in the habitable parts of the earth, and his delights were with the sons of men." Thus he often assumed a human shape, as an emblem and earnest of his real incarnation in the fulness of time. Secondly; what was the nature of this wrestling? It was partly corporeal, as is undeniable from the injury he received in his thigh; and partly spiritual, as an inspired expositor tells us that "he wept, and made supplication unto the angel." These are the severest trials in which God at once exercises both the body and the mind. Yet it is no unusual thing for sickness and straits in circumstances to blend with internal conflicts-"Without," says Paul, fightings, and within are fears:" and, says David, "Heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed; but thou, O Lord, how long?"

are

It is from this exercise of Jacob's that prayer has been so frequently called wrestling with God. Formalists know nothing of the force of the image: but they know the meaning of it, who feel their guilt, and are pressed down by a sense of their unworthiness and imperfections; who are in earnest as to their object; and whose cry is nothing less than "Lord, save! I perish."

We cannot determine how long the contest had lasted; but it seems to have been several hours. During all this time, though Jacob stood his ground, he got no advantage

until the breaking of the day: then the scene changed, and relief was obtained. The Lord often tries the patience of his people; he delays their desires, and under the suspension, they sometimes are ready to say, Why should I wait for him any longer? Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when it cometh it is a tree of life; and come it will in God's own time, and will not tarry a moment beyond it. Weeping may endure for a night; but joy cometh in the morning." What applies to any particular dispensation will apply to life itself-What is it but wrestling until the breaking of the day? But the night is far spent, and the day is at hand.

It is wonderful that Jacob was able to maintain the contest as he did. Never was there such an unequal match. The wrestling was between a poor worm and the Lord of all. What would have been the consequence, if things had taken their natural course, but Jacob's overthrow? How then did he stand? Not from his own sufficiency, but from the condescension and kindness of his opponent, who, instead of striving against him with his great power, put strength in him, and sustained him in the encounter.

Yet the Lord would remind him of his weakness. He therefore touched and disjointed the hollow of his thigh. This was to intimate that if he should gain the victory, he was not, as he otherwise might have done, to ascribe it to himself. Good men in their attainments and successes are in danger of self-elation. It is necessary to keep them from their purpose, and to hide pride from them. Paul, after his revelations, had a thorn in the flesh, lest he should be exalted above measure. All our honours and comforts must have some alloy. In sailing, the ballast is as necessary as the sails, and the one must be in proportion to the other.

But does not Jacob yield now? No; he keeps on wrestling, though in pain, and even lamed, and there

fore obliged to grasp the closer and firmer to keep him from falling. So we are to cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart, and to pray and not faint. Whatever discouragement we meet with, we are not in our wrestling to give up; and when we cannot pray as we would, we must pray as we can, and not discontinue the exercise because of infirmity and imperfections.

"Let me go," says the angel. Yet could not he, who by a touch only had disjointed Jacob's thigh, have easily disengaged himself from his hold? And does he ask for permission to withdraw? He gives intimation of his departure, to excite the more earnest supplication for his continuance. When he was with the two disciples at Emmaus he made as though he would have gone further: he designed to enter with them, but not without pressing; and they constrained him, saying, Abide with us-and he went in to tarry with them. So much do they love him, and so necessary is he to his people, that a hint of his going is enough to throw them into alarm, and induce them to cry, "Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me." But the motion is designed to shew the power of prayer. "The king is held in the galleries." "I held him, and him go." "The violent take it by force." The might of earth and hell cannot restrain God, but prayer can. Two blind men begging by the way-side, hearing that he was passing by, cried, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on us." The multitude deemed them offensive interrupters, and ordered them to hold their peace. But Jesus stood still, and commanded them to be brought. The sun in nature once stood still, to enable Joshua to finish his victory. And now a much nobler Being cannot take another step till he has paused, and heard, and relieved the tale of distress. When God, provoked by the idolatry of the Jews at Horeb, threatened to destroy them, Moses interposed, and held back his arm; and

would not let