Holy Ghost in his influences. The herb does not more naturally revive and flourish under the softening showers of heaven, than the church of the living God under the communications of his grace. They spring up as among the grass and as willows by the water courses. The wilderness then becomes a fruitful field; the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord," are clothed with new verdure and beauty; they present their blossoms and fruit in due season. How are the souls of the redeemed gladdened under the light of their Father's countenance; they are inflamed with more ardent love to God and more fervent concern for his glory; their conversation becomes more spiritual and edifying; in short, they mount up with wings as eagles; they run and are not weary, they walk and are not faint." The christian's growth is compar ed to that of the lily. Lilies abounded much in the land of Canaan, and are represented by naturalists as a flower equally beautiful to the sight and fragrant to the smell. Our Redeemer speaking of the lily remarks "that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of them." The church and the particular christian are probably compared to the lily in order to express their real beauty and excellence; to shew that however insignificant in their own es teem, or contemptible in the esteem of the world, they are really glorious in the eyes of angels and of God. Clothed with "lin

en clean and white," even the righteousness of Jesus their substitute, and adorned internally with the beauties of holiness, they are pronounced ALL-FAIR and UNDEFILED; "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.' "The king's daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is of wrought gold."

"And cast forth his roots as Lebanon." Almost every object in the natural, is employed to represent something in the spiritual world. The grass which grows in the field, the rose as it opens in the garden, and the cedar which towers aloft on the mountain, all point out, in their turn, the christian's progress towards perfection. In the former part of this verse he was represented as "growing like the lily;" mounting upward in ardor of affection, in heavenliness of thought, and spirituality of conversation; rising in frequent and fervent longings after God as his consolation and glory; but the believer's stability does not depend so much on the warmth of his affections, or any outward attainments, as on a downward growth in humility and self-denial. He is therefore said "to cast forth his roots as Lebanon,' or as the cedars "of Lebanon." Lebanon was a mountain situated to the north of Judea, and its cedars were generally known through the eastern world; this tree was distinguished not only by the grandeur of its appearance, but also for solidity and strength. It is therefore represented as a high display of Jehovah's power that his

"voice breaketh the cedars, yea the cedars of Lebanon." The solidity of the cedar, however, did not depend on its towering height or wide spread branches, but rather on the depth of its roots in the earth; thus the christian's safety depends not on the splendor of his gifts, on the ardor of his feelings or frames, but rather on his being "rooted and grounded" in Christ Jesus. "He that trusteth on the Lord is like mount Zion which can never be moved. The professor whose growth consists in lively feelings, or empty speculation, like a ship without ballast, or a building without foundation, or a tree without roots, is liable to be overthrown by the first storm of temptation or persecution. There is one circumstance which it may not be unprofitable to mention on this part of the verse; the growth of the root is unseen; its progress in striking deeper and wider through the earth is unnoticed, yet the tree is gradually acquiring greater strength and prepared for resisting every outward shock. This remark, if duly realized, would tend to quiet the fears of many exercised souls. They feel not that enlarge ment in spiritual exercises; that liberty in prayer; that fervor in meditation; that delight in religious company and conversation; that "joy in God through the Lord Jesus Christ" which they once experienced; they are afraid, therefore, that they "have lost their first love;" that they are going backwards in the divine life, if not altogether re

probates. But let me ask thee, disconsolate christian, art thou deploring thy spiritual barrenness? art thou more and more convinced that thy "heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked?" art thou gradually taught the necessity of lying at the feet of Jesus, and depending on him daily as thy "wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption?" Then I call upon thee not "to sorrow as those who have no hope;" thou art now "casting forth thy roots as Lebanon;" thou art becoming more immovably established in the offices of Christ, in the promises of the gospel, in the everlasting covenant, and thus prepared for sustaining every outward trial. Perhaps the christian never grows so rapidly as when in his own opinion he is not growing at all; although he may be sinking in his own esteem, he is rising in the divine esteem, by "putting on that ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price..

It may be remarked, on this part of the verse, that the believer's increase in holiness and advancement to perfection is infallibly sure. He may be liable to interruptions in his spiritual course. The natural world frequently appears decayed and barren; its growth is checked alternately by the parching drought of summer and the chilling blast of winter. The spiritual world also experiences its inconveniences and injuries; "the trees of righteousness" suffer in turn from

the summer's drought and the winter's frost; sometimes the refreshing influences of the Spirit are restrained and "the heavens over them become as brass ;" again, the chilling blasts of affliction, of temptation, and persecution pass along, their fruit then begins to languish, their leaves to decay, and their us ual bloom is in a great measure lost. But this interruption is only for a season. "Their paths shall again drop down fatness;" the sun of righteousness shall revisit them with his cheering rays, and these "trees of God" shall appear "fat and flourishing." Sooner shall the laws of nature be dissolved; sooner shall the dews of the morning cease to descend, or the clouds to pour down their rain; sooner shall the sun cease to roll in his orbit, giving light to the world, than a promise of the divine word fail of its aecomplishment. Yea, christian, all these changes, however awful, shall take place, but the love of thy promising, covenanting God shall remain unchanged, eternally unchangeable. "For a small moment have I forsaken thee," merely for the trial of thy patience and to shew thee that this world is not thy heaven, "but with great mercies will I gather thee: In a little wrath," as a correction for thy spiritual indolence or shameful unbelief, "I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee." With these promises before thine eyes, promises firmer than the everlasting hills, more immovable