able answers to prayer. Though the Lord's arm is not shortened, nor his ear heavy; and though Christians may appear to be somewhat fervent and zealous; they must be brought to lose all their strength, or their prayers will not "avail much." How often do good men pray God that he would quicken their own souls--that he would pour out his Spirit and revive his work-that he would bring men to the knowledge and love of the truth that he would send out his light and grace to the dark portions of the earth;-and how many sacrifices do they make and how much opposition do they withstand in pursuing this hallowed work; yet how frequently does the prospect darken, rather than grow brighter? The truth is, they are looking the rather to see the effect of their own exertion, than the effect of divine power and grace. There may be great wrestlings with God; but there must be also the dislocating touch to wither the confidence of human strength. We have other lessons to learn beside those we have learned. We must yet see that Zion is built up "not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God." We must feel that we are in the hands of God--that he exercises his own sovereign pleasure that he has mercy on whom he will have mercy--and that if our prayers are heard, it will be entirely owing to his grace in Christ Jesus, and not to anything we have done, or can perform. It

may appear paradoxical that we must strive, and yet be sensible that we have no power of our own; but it is no greater paradox than that uttered by the Apostle, when he said, "When I am weak, then am I strong. The Christian's conscious weakness is the very secret of his strength. It is when his own fond and presumptuous confidence is as the spider's web, that he is most cheered with the thought that he has omnipotence to lean upon. It is only then that he who is of yesterday and knows nothing, a creature of want, infirmity and sin, becomes peaceful in God's love, wise in his wisdom, mighty in his strength. This is the truest, the happiest, the most cheerful and most effective Christianity. Nothing discourages, intimidates, crushes the spirit of such prayers; nor does anything disturb its sweet and heavenly serenity. "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, for thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff." (6 'He that is feeble shall be as David, and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah."

May not these thoughts address conviction and reproof to those who are habitually unmindful of the duty of prayer? Are there not those who are thus unmindful? Yet are you the creatures of God. In his hand your breath is, and by his constant and powerful visitation, you are every moment pre served in existence. He is the author of all

your

mercies; and yet he is the being whom of all others you can forget and disregard. You do not thank him for anything; you do not ask him for anything. You do not supplicate his favor; you do not deprecate his displeasure. You do not venerate his excellence; you do not magnify his name. No, God is not in all your thoughts. You do not desire to draw near to him, but to keep far from him. When you rise up and when you lie down, you forget God. Your hearts, your closets, your families, all bear testimony that you are afraid of coming into the divine presence. In the hour of danger, you can cry for mercy, and vow that you will not forget your obligations if you are delivered out of it; but in a little time, you are as thoughtless and prayerless as ever. Allow me to ask you, is such a course of conduct what God deserves at your hands? Is it not undutiful? If your child should treat you as you have treated God, would you not reproach him as a most undutiful child? Is it grateful, thus to disregard the divine hand and cherish no sense of your obligations to the good Being who has done more for you than all the universe beside? Can you justify such a prayerless life? Does your conscience feel satisfied? Do you never fill your own bosoms with reproach, when you recollect how you abuse the Father of mercies? Can you be satisfied thus to live, without the love

of God in your hearts, and the fear of God before your eyes?

Are you happy? Have you any solid ground of hope, either for the life that now is, or that which is to come? Do you feel prepared to die, and to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ? In your rapid and unobstructed passage to the grave, are you satisfied that all will be well? Tell me, immortal man! do you never fear lest God may treat you, as you have treated him, and after all your thoughtlessness, that you may become an inhabitant of that world, where there is none to pity and relieve you, and where hope never comes? How wretched must be that condition, which affords no pleasing reflections, no hopeful prospects? Cease to do evil and learn to do well! When God says, Seek ye my face; let your hearts reply, Thy face, O Lord, will we seek!

CHAPTER XXIV.

The First Rebuke of a Dying Father.

JUST before the death of Jacob, and during his last illness, as the custom of the Hebrews was, he called his sons together to give them his parting blessing. In doing this, the aged patriarch appears to have been inspired with a prophetic tongue, and while he described with great accuracy and faithfulness the peculiar characteristics of his sons, he predicted what should befall them for a great while to come.

Reuben, his first-born, was the son of Jacob and Leah. We know nothing of his character except what is given us in the Mosaic history. The detail of a part of his life as found in the apocryphal book called "The testament of the twelve patriarchs," is too fanciful and spurious to be accredited. To say nothing here of the shameful crime which led his father to animadvert on his conduct with so much severity, we are informed that he was a man of no stability of character. He was precipitate, undula