God can be so purchased. No; God has "showed thee, O man, what is good." Here we are told

1. That God has made a discovery of His mind and will unto us for the rectifying of our mistakes, and for the guidance of our practice. We need not trouble ourselves to make proposals, the terms are already settled and laid down. He, whom we have offended, and to whom we are accountable, has told us upon what conditions He will be reconciled to us. The lesson is taught not to the Jew in particular, but to man in general. "He hath showed thee, O man"-every man-the Gentile man as well as the Jew. It is no ceremonial command but a moral precept applicable to every rational creature in God's creation. It is a lesson containing the discovery of that which is good, and which the Lord requires of us. It contains the end at which we should aim, and the means by which we are to obtain it. It is all good. There is an innate goodness in moral duties consonant to the eternal rule and reason of good and evil which are unalterable. Conformity to this rule has a tendency to our universal good, being not only the condition of our future happiness, but also the great expedient of our present peace. In the keeping of God's "commandments there is great reward."

2. We have here the substance of this discovery. The good which God requires of us is not the paying of a price for the pardon of sin, but doing the duty which is the condition of our interest in the pardon already purchased. The duty comprises the whole of the commands delivered on Mount Sinai, and written on the two tables of stone. The second table is here placed first. "To do justly and to love mercy." To do justly is to render unto all their due; to owe no one anything, except to love one another." God abominates dishonesty whether it consists in little or in much. Before we can claim God's favour we must pay our debts; we must wrong no one in body, goods, nor name, but do that which is right and just to all. Not only are we to do justly, but we are "to love mercy." It is not sufficient to be just to all, but we must be kind to all. As far as lies within our power

to relieve the distress of all, to help all in time of need, "bearing each other's burden, and so fulfil the law of Christ." Nor must we only shew mercy but love mercy, love it as God does, delight in it as Christ did when upon earth, going about doing good, seeking objects of mercy. Justice, you perceive, is placed before mercy. We must not give that in alms which has been wrongfully acquired, nor that with which our debts ought to be paid. God will not accept robbery for a burnt offering.

The next part of our acceptable duty includes all the commands of the first table, "and to walk humbly with thy God." This duty includes that we enter into a solemn covenant to take the Lord for our God, that we attend to His word, that we make it our constant business to please Him, that we conform ourselves to His will, that we keep up our communion with Him, and that we study to approve ourselves to Him in all our conversation. This is to be done humbly, submitting our understanding to His truth, submitting our conscience to the convictions of His Spirit, submitting our will to His providence, having nothing of our own, but resigning all to Him. Every thought of ours must be brought down and laid submissively at his feet.

This is what God requires of us, without which the most costly observances are vain oblations. This is more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

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The Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity.

MORNING SERVICE.-First Lesson: Habak. ii.

Verse 3.-" Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."

THE book of Habakkuk is remarkable for its highly poetical style; taking into consideration its combined sublimity, simplicity, and piety, it is equal to any other captivating portion of Holy Scripture. Who this prophet was, or when and where he lived, we are not informed. He is thought to have been contemporary with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, therefore, lived at the time of the final destruction of Jerusalem by the army of Nebuchadnezzar. The principal predictions contained in his book are the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews by the Chaldeans; their deliverance from the oppressor at the appointed time; and the total ruin of the Babylonian Empire. The promise of the Messiah is confirmed; the overruling providence of God is asserted; and the most perfect confidence in the fulfilment of His promises expressed. In this chapter he compares himself unto a watchman standing upon a tower surveying the surrounding country, watching the movement of circumstances, and waiting in anxious expectation for the accomplishment of some long-wished-for event. He is commanded to wait on, and to write in legible characters the signs of the times. The period which he looked for was fixed, but years must roll by, changes must follow each other in rapid succession, the days "For of a nation must be numbered before it should arrive. the vision is yet for an appointed time." The Chaldeans are not yet to be stripped of their dominion, and Israel delivered out of their hand, "but at the end it shall speak, and not lie." Those people shall be allowed to punish Israel, but not to

destroy them, and at the end of the appointed time, they shall themselves be ruined, and Israel shall escape. "Though (the event) tarry, wait for it." Exercise confidence in my declaration, my time may not be thy time, but be patient and watchful, "because it will surely come, and not tarry."

The text has a practical application, and teaches us to exercise patient confidence in the promises of God, even when the appearance of things may be discouraging. We have then before us a duty prescribed, and also an encouragement expressed.

In the application of the duty to ourselves we may observe, that a patient waiting upon God is one of the brightest gems in the Christian character; it expresses a lively interest in what God has promised, and a confident assurance of the truth of those promises. To be impatient is to doubt, and to doubt is a reflection on the veracity of God's character. Patience is a fixed determination of the regenerate soul to wait upon God: it is a surrendering of ourselves in all our interests to God, to be disposed of by Him according to His own will and pleasure. It is a heaven-born principle, infused into the soul by the Holy Ghost, which nothing else can supply-which neither the disposition of nature, nor the discipline of training can foster. There is, indeed, an imitation of it in the morbid indifference which is sometimes manifested in the existence and consequences of evil; but that arises from the insensibility of a thoughtless mind, and not from a stedfast resignation under the perception of a Divine dispensation. The patient man, on the contrary, is sensible of the difficulties of his position, and is still meek and resigned.

Patience is absolute to the Christian character. You may as well imagine a man without a soul, as a Christian without patience. He may not be blessed with very bright parts; he

may not possess a talent for singing, nor for expressing himself publicly either to God or to man; he may not possess full assurance of faith, nor confidence of hope, nor the joy of salvation; but without patience he cannot be a sincere, consistent Christian. A Christian is a person in whom Christ is formed to know what he ought to be, you must consider what Christ was when He came to place before us a rule of conduct. Amongst other virtues, He was "meek and lowly of heart." Look at Him living, look at Him dying; all the circumstances which surrounded Him tended to inflame irascibility and excite revenge, but instead of hastily resigning His mission, out of disgust with the persons to whom it was directed, He patiently persevered; and instead of exercising the power of revenge which He possessed, He prayed for His enemies in the utmost extremity. "Father, forgive them,

for they know not what they do."

There are three things which require the full exercise of Christian patience.

1. Delay in the bestowment of promised blessings. God has promised to His people great and precious blessings which are intended for their support and consolation in life. They consist in deliverance from annoying circumstances, and in the enjoyment of liberty, peace, and happiness. His unerring wisdom does not see fit that we should at all times realize those blessings according to our desire; there is a delay that calls forth the energy of faith and endurance. We must wait, and hope, and exercise confidence in His faithfulness. The seed does not grow in an hour, the pearl does not form in a day, perfection is not produced at once. "Though it tarry, wait for it." The apostle James illustrates this grace by a beautiful simile, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord; behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." The husbandman has an assurance of a productive harvest to reward him for the labour of the year, but he sows