in all its enormity, and his spirit is overwhelmed on account of it. The heart which is broken for sin, never attempts to conceal its sense of its guilt and demerit. It is ready to confess; it must confess. So the Psalmist: While I keep silence, and conceal What agonies of inward smart! Moses, standing in the place of his people, and feeling all their turpitude, cannot ask the divine forgiveness, until he has made ample confession of their sin. Hence the lan guage employed: "they have sinned a great sin." With this confession, he ventures to supplicate for their forgiveness. "If thou wilt forgive their sin;" he pauses; what would he say? He leaves the sentence unfinished, adding, "if thou wilt not forgive them, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book, which thou hast written;" if they must be destroyed, and that be thy determination, let me die with them, for I would not survive. Through the grace of God, Moses is again successful. God replies by assuring him that, as a nation, the Israelites should not be destroyed; but that condign punishment should fall upon the guilty. And as a further token of his being accepted, God promises that his "angel" shall go before them to the land whither they were bound; meaning that either the "pillar of cloud," or his "special providence" shall accompany them, notwithstanding their recent Heaven-provoking revolt. Thus we see the power of humble, yet importunate prayer. But what condescension in God, to listen to the voice of mortal man, in behalf of a people worshiping a senseless idol, while the glory of Jehovah was "as devouring fire" on the mount! What honor is put upon Moses himself! Happy the nation which has rulers who can throw themselves into the "breach," when national sins are inviting the wrath of God. But for Moses, Israel would have been blotted out, and the blessings of the covenant transferred to others. O may the sons of men record, The wondrous goodness of the Lord! How great his works! how kind his ways! Yet the sequel may admonish those who are spared through the intercession of the righteous, that some of the consequences of their sins may remain, and still be suffered. From a condign and immediate punishment, the Israelites were exempted; but God assures them, that if he shall have occasion to visit them in judgment for future offences, he will remember this, and increase their punishment on account of it. Accordingly, a tradition exists among the Jews to this day, that whatever afflictions their nation has experienced, there has been mingled at least one ounce of the golden calf. Happy is it if, when we have sinned, and have been forgiven, either through the supplications of our Christian friends, or at the instance of our own penitential cries, we do not again “turn to folly." Let us remember, that, at length, we may so sin, that though "Moses and Samuel should stand before the Lord for us," God would not hear them.-Jer. 15: 1. EXODUS. THIRD PRAYER OF MOSES. And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, 1 know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.— Ex. xxxiii. 12-15: also, 18-23. MOSES, for the third time, is prostrate before God; and the prayer which he now offers, seems to be a continuation, or rather renewal of that which he offered when he returned unto the Lord, 32: 31. In that interview with God, he obtained a promise that an "angel" should accompany him in conducting the children of Israel to Canaan, 32: 34. But here the subject is renewed, evidently with a desire on his part to secure the same guiding hand which Israel had enjoyed. Thus far, the "cloudy pillar" had conducted their march. Was this symbol of the divine presence still to go before them? or, were they henceforth to trust to the more ordinary providence of God? Moses wished his doubts. resolved; he wished his heart to be set at rest on a point of so much importance. Mark the manner of his plea: "See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know," i. e. not specifically, "whom thou will send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight." Moses had satisfactory evidence that God regarded him as his friend, as he had had before assurances of the divine favor; inasmuch as God had offered to destroy the whole nation of Israel, and bestow upon him the blessings designed for them. Might he not, then, venture to ask that God would manifest his "way," his mind to him, in reference to the course he should pursue in conducting the children of Israel to their destined inheritance; and especially that he would favor him and them with the guardianship and guidance of the "angel of his presence." And to these personal considerations, he now adds others, growing out of their relationship to God: "Consider that this nation is thy people." God had long before adopted their fathers; he had made them "exceedingly great and precious promises;" he had watched over the nation in Egypt with a divine and parental care; he had effected their deliverance by means of, and amidst the sublime manifestations of his power; for them he had poured out water from the rock, and rained bread from heaven. Moses bethought himself of all these tokens of God's interest in this people, and now he asks, "wilt thou now forsake them? If thy presence, thy special presence, go not with us, carry us not up hence. Better that we should fail and fall in the wilderness. And unless the 'pillar of cloud' guide us, as it has done, how shall we know that we have found favor in thy sight? Go with us, as thou hast done, and we shall know that we are the 'peculiar people' of God, separated by him from the heathen nations of the world, to maintain his holy worship, to observe his ordinances and statutes, and to convey to future generations the inestimable blessings promised in the covenant." The Such is an outline of the fervent supplication of Moses. And how is it received? An immediate and definite assurance is given him that it shall be as he has asked. same gracious symbol of the divine presence enjoyed by them since their departure from Egypt should accompany them, till they reached the land of their inheritance, and he "would give them rest." They should subdue their enemies; which, having accomplished, they should sit "each one under his vine and fig-tree, having none to molest them, or make them afraid." Let us pause, and consider the efficacy of prayer. Before us is a nation, a whole nation, guilty of ingratitude the most offensive, and of idolatry the most senseless and provoking. And before that nation, as they are encamped round about Sinai, are the most magnificent displays of Jehovah's power. His voice, with terror in the sound, Through clouds and darkness breaks; Yet, behold them prostrate by thousands, paying homage to a calf! Was there, in all time, a more humiliating spectacle? Was it strange that the indignation of Jehovah was like devouring fire? Was it not yet more strange that he should have restrained himself, and suffered Moses to intercede in their behalf? A few, may be, would not join in with the unhallowed worship, but we read of none-no, not one-ready to unite with Moses in deprecating the wrath of Jehovah. He stands forth alone. He prays; prays for a nation-a nation more obnoxious at that hour, Than Sodom in her day had pow'r to be; And wonderful, most wonderful, he is heard; he secures their pardon; he procures a blessing for all. Hence, learn what an individual may accomplish! God has set bounds to the billows of the ocean; the earth itself must revolve in her prescribed orbit; the eccentric comet must return from her "voyage of awful length;" but where is the limit to the efficacy of "the fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man?" On which page of the sacred oracles is it inscribed, in respect to the humble supplicant, "thus far thou mayest prevail, but no farther?" Blessed truth! God can hear one for thousands; one for millions; a president for a state; a monarch for a kingdom. And if one may, and, in times of emergency, should thus plead, how will men in |