very hairs of your head have been all numbered." "Not a sparrow is forgotten before God: fear not, therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows. "He is not far," it is written-not from every place, or from every congregation of his people, but" from every one of you."-Then, secondly,

2. Consult with him, on all the causes of your anxiety. "Ask counsel at Abel," according to the ancient proverb (2 Sam. xx. 18.)," and so end the matter.”—And this you may do in various ways. The Apostle mentions several: "by prayer," by "supplication," by "making known your requests unto God." But this,' you will say, 'is mere repetition and tautology.' It may seem so: yet is it of the same kind with that, which the Spirit of adoption teaches, first to the only begotten Son, and then to every child of God-" Abba, Father." It is the tautology of feeling; of deep and earnest desire, on the part of the Apostle, to excite in his Christian friends a deep and earnest spirit of prayer. There may be no real difference of meaning in these varied expressions: but there is a great and important variety in the methods of prayer; and each, according to circumstances, will have its use. Stated and periodical seasons for prayer cannot be safely neglected. Occasional additions may be useful. Ejaculatory prayer is always at hand. Social prayer has the aid of sympathy. Public prayer ascends as a sweet

savour from the whole church. And there may be occasions for special and extraordinary approaches to the throne of grace, with more than usual deliberation, earnestnesss, and seclusion.-And the use of this variety is, not that God should be the more interested in your case, but that you yourself should be so; more distinctly, more faithfully. He will assuredly "draw nigh to you," the instant that you "draw nigh to him." The passionate exclamation of Job, therefore, should find its echo in your own heart: "Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him; I would fill my mouth with arguments." Job's calm conclusion would then be yours also: "But he knoweth the way that I take; when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (xxiii. 3, 4. 10.)

Observe, further, that the employment of this Remedy is to be as universal, as was the prohibition. "In every thing-". To your Almighty Helper, none of your circumstances are unimportant. Alas, Master, for it was borrowed!" said the alarmed hewer of wood to the Lord's prophet, when his axe fell into the water; (2 Kings vi. 5.) and the Lord, in that age of miraculous interposition, honoured the confidence reposed in his servant. Thus, not only when seeking the salvation of your soul, but in the ordinary cares of life, an ever-present God must be your first and last appeal. Is the counting-house the scene of

your anxieties? Spread your books, as Hezekiah did his letter, before the Lord. Have you vexations in your family? Make them known, not to your neighbours, but to him. Does your pulse

throb, or your memory falter, or your knees tremble, or your sight grow dim, or your friend slight you, or your servant deceive, or your superiors maltreat you? Well, whatever it be, bring it all before God; who is no less careful of the insect's microscopic frame, than of what we account most great and valuable. Put it into "the hollow of his hand," and leave it there. You have then done all that man can do. You have then only to stand still, in the meekness of faith, like the prophet " on his watch-tower, to see what he will say unto you "-what he will do for you.

(Habak. ii. 1.)

3. I must not omit a third ingredient which the Apostle has thrown into the composition of this remedy against anxiety. Dwell also on God's mercies, which, amid all your troubles, still encompass you on every side. The cry of distress must ever be accompanied with the voice of "thanksgiving." This will soothe the mind-if it do nothing moreby repressing hard thoughts, and encouraging honourable thoughts, of God. And has not the most unhappy man among you numberless occasions for thankfulness? And can he fail to see, if he will but retrace the instances, that they have all proceeded from the spontaneous overflowings of a

Divine beneficence? The heathen themselves might have learned this lesson-" for he gave them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness." And it was their special condemnation, "that when they thus knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful:” whereby they rendered themselves unworthy of that more abundant exhibition of his love, which the Gospel has now made unto us. And shall we be as thankless as they, for mercies so unspeakably greater than theirs?

The only remedy, then, for anxious care, is to be found in habitual prayer and praise. If any be "without hope,”—without the joy, the comfort of hope, it is because they are living, to all practical intents and purposes," without God in the world.” We have now considered the Evil to be shunned, and the Remedy proposed: there follows, thirdly,

III. A RELIEF TO BE EXPECTED. "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds."

The promised relief is perhaps different from what you may have wished it to be; and yet it is, in substance if not in form, the very object upon which all our anxieties are fixed.

1. It is Peace.-' But I could have wished that it should be, success to my schemes, health to my child, recovery from my losses, a removal of my trials and temptations.' Very good-and for what

end did you desire these results? Was it not, that your mind might be at rest? satisfied, contented, and calm? The means of satisfaction are of no value, independently of the satisfaction which they yield. And have you still to learn, that all the means of happiness to which our hearts naturally look, have no real satisfaction in them, except so far as God may bless them to that end? Look at the elaborate experiment tried by the king of Israel, and described in his book of Ecclesiastes: and hear his conclusion; "Vanity of vanities-all vanity!"-But your own choice, if you might have it, would be, as you think, more successful. Then God inspired him to write that book in vain; for, as he himself says, "What shall the man do that cometh after the king?"-Still, however, the difference between you and the Apostle is rather as to the means, than the end. He promises you peace," repose and satisfaction of heart: and what else could you have, were "all the kingdoms of the earth, and the glory of them," laid at your feet? Oh for peace, in a world of tumultuous distraction! and in a heart, torn with intestine contrarieties, strifes, passions, lusts, and fears! Blessed be God, that a gift so precious may even yet be obtained by prayer!

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2. It is an incomprehensible peace. The ungodly world have no conception of it; they neither know its value, nor have faith in its existence. And even to the Christian, who seeks and enjoys