"O ye Servants of JEHOVAH, bless ye JEHOVAH: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.

"O ye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous, bless ye JEHOVAH: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. "O ye holy and humble Men of Heart, bless ye JEHOVAH: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. "O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye JEHOVAH: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever."

I do not affirm that this was sung by the three Hebrew princes in the fiery furnace, but it was written by an Israelite whose God was JEHOVAH, and who knew JEHOVAH to be the Creator; and it was written in the time of the Jewish priesthood. The Creator's works all fulfil His purpose, and conduce to His glory. But another thought must strike the reflective reader. Not only is the Creator worshipped in His works, but those works are called upon to worship Him in the name that proclaimed the Redeemer, and redemption. Creation was to be redeemed. "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." The ground was cursed (Gen. iii. 17); but now that the curse is removed, when the imperfections that remain shall have fulfilled the Redeemer's purpose, we shall awake in "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." And hence this call upon creation to worship and praise JEHOVAH. The laudatory anthem is sublime, but not more so than the songs of David and others of the sacred penmen. The four living creatures in Rev. iv. represent them, and their cry is, "Holy, holy, holy, JEHOVAH GOD Almighty." And the cry of the elders around His throne: "Thou art worthy, O JEHOVAH, to receive

glory, and honour, and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created."

"The Son of God" was in the fiery furnace with the Hebrew youths: did His presence evoke the praise? He is ever with us; in our homes, in our duties, in our trials, in our difficulties, in our afflictions, in our persecutions, in our temptations, in our vexations. Yes, "Lo, I am with you alway." Oh, that we could stand by Him, as He stands by us, and glorify Him in the fires; for He is with us in every fiery furnace. Oh, that He would give us more grace to show the world this. "Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him." But should we not inquire here, when and where "the Son of God" is not with us? Not at the banquets of the world, not with those who cannot live out of the world, retire from it. He is not with us at theatres, operas, balls; He is not with our sinful selves; but with "the new man," created anew in Himself.

He was with Daniel in the lions' den. "My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me" (Dan. vi. 22). This was "the angel of the covenant," the messenger of the covenant. "The angel of His presence saved them, and carried them all the days of old." This was JEHOVAH, God in a human form, to prefigure His incarnation. The second person of the holy Trinity had numberless designations, but all signifying the God-man.

But let us inquire again, why do we find Daniel employing the name JEHOVAH in only one page of his history? and again, once at the close of his life? (Dan. xii. 8.) I have already assigned reasons, but before turning to that page, I would say here, he may have been awakened afresh to the meaning of the name, very largely instructed in the knowledge of it by studying the prophecy of Jeremiah; by the teaching of the Spirit of God, he may there have become so enlightened in the truth, that the old conventional robe of courts may have fallen from him, and he saw JEHOVAH, the Messiah, the Head of his theocracy, as he had never seen Him before. He had known the God of Israel, but perhaps not wholly in His relative character to the human family. Let us look at the brighter page. I must here extract largely from it, for it is one of the most remarkable of Scripture, both as a revelation and direct answer to prayer.

"In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans" (Dan. ix. 1). Let my reader compare this with Dan. v. 31; and again this with Jer. li. 57, 58, and he will see how complete a thing revelation is.

"In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the JEHOVAH came to Jeremiah, the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

"And I set my face unto the JEHOVAH GOD, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

"And I prayed unto the JEHOVAH my GOD, and made my confession, and said, O JEHOVAH, the great and dreadful GOD, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments;

"We have sinned, and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments:

"Neither have we hearkened unto Thy servants the prophets, which spake in Thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

"O JEHOVAH, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, near, and far off, through all the countries whither Thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee.

"O JEHOVAH, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee.

"To the JEHOVAH our GOD belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against Him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the JEHOVAH our GOD, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.

"Yea, all Israel have transgressed Thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey Thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of

God (Deut. xxvii. 15-26; xxviii. 16-19), because we have sinned against Him.

"And He hath confirmed His words which He spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

"As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the JEHOVAH our GOD, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand Thy truth.

"Therefore hath the JEHOVAH watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the JEHOVAH our GOD is righteous in all His works which He doeth : for we obeyed not His voice.

"And now, O JEHOVAH our GOD, that hast brought Thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten Thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

"O JEHOVAH, according to all Thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from Thy city Jerusalem.

"Now therefore, O our GOD, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and his supplications, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the JEHOVAH'S sake.

"O my GOD, incline Thine ear, and hear; open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city that is called by Thy name: for we do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousness, but for Thy great mercies.