dan, God caused the waters, of the river as it flowed down, to stand still, and to rise up in a heap, so that all the people passed over on dry ground. Joshua spake to the sun and to the moon, and commanded them to stand still, and they did so. These were mi

racles.

Many more miracles are mentioned in the Bible; and you remember how many our Savior performed, and how much kindness he showed in performing them.

So it was a miracle when the great fish swallowed up Jonah. God either created the fish on purpose to swallow him up, or else caused some fish, already living in the sea, to be near the ship at the very moment that Jonah was thrown overboard, so as to swallow him, and have him remain alive, inside of the fish, three days and three nights. This was, indeed, a miracle, and a very wonderful one. It is told in the Bible, to show us the great wisdom and power of God; how he could find out a way to save Jonah when his death appeared certain, and thus prepare him the better to do the will of God, and still to go to the city of Nineveh, and preach to its wicked inhabitants.

CHAPTER IX.

Jonah swallowed by the fish. He prays to God. Duty and nature of prayer in the time of danger. Explanation of Jonah's prayer. Afflictions are very distressing when they are the marks of God's displeasure against our sins.

WHAT must have been the horror of Jonah when he saw the great fish close by the side of the ship, with his vast mouth wide open ready to swallow him up! He must, indeed, have thought that his destruction was both certain and immediate. How would you feel, my dear children, to be in the same danger of being swallowed up by a great fish? Some persons, at the present day, are fish called a shark, and eaten up by it. dreadful kind of death.

a very

caught by a

It must be

Jonah thought that he was about to suffer the same dreadful kind of death, and to be eaten alive by the fish. In his great distress and fright he cried unto the Lord, as he was entering the mouth of the fish, and continued to cry unto him after the fish had quite swallowed him up. He knew that nothing was too great or difficult for God to do. He still hoped that he might be preserved, and was somewhat encouraged thus to hope, because he found that the fish had not eaten him, and that he was still alive, although he was inside of the fish. He prayed unto God; and afterward he wrote down the prayer which he offered up while inside of the fish, and it is the

same which we read in the Bible. It is a very excellent prayer, and I will endeavor to explain it to

you. For you may be in great trouble and distress, my dear children, and feel, as Jonah did, that you can receive help from God alone, and that unless he does help you immediately, your destruction is certain. If any one of you should ever be in such trouble and distress, be sure to pray to God most earnestly. Cast yourself into his hands. Feel willing to have him do with you as he thinks best. Hope that he may deliver you.

Remember that he is very merciful, and that he has almighty power. Think how he saved Jonah. Cry to him as Jonah did. Put all your trust for safety in him alone. All who love God do so. If you truly love God, you will do so.

But we will attend now to Jonah's prayer. He said, "I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice."

It was the great affliction in which Jonah was, that made him cry unto the Lord. That was the reason of his crying; and a good reason, indeed, it was. In the time of affliction, of distress and danger, we should pray earnestly to God that he would deliver us; if to do so is consistent with his will. Above all, we should pray that he would give us peace of mind, by leading us to think and to feel that he does all things well, and that he will, at last, deliver us from the greatest of all evils, by saving our souls, even if our bodies must die.

God, too, has invited us thus to call upon him in times of affliction and danger. He has promised to re hear the prayers of his own children, who come unto him truly sorry for their sins, and trusting in Christ as their Savior, and as the only way in C which they can hope to receive any good thing from God. 66 The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee."

may

You must not think from this, that if you pray to God in affliction, ever so sincerely and earnestly, he will always do just as you may wish to have him do, or answer your prayers just as you may wish to have him answer them. You should consider, even while you are praying for deliverance, (which it is quite proper for to do,) that still God you have some other way of deliverance than the one you are thinking of. You should remember that he may not see it best to grant you his aid at the very time that you ask for it, and that it may be for some good, either to yourself or to others, that you should remain longer in affliction and danger. You should feel, too, that your deliverance, I mean the deliverance of your

body from danger and suffering, and even from death itself, may not be for the best. You should feel that your true deliverance is the deliverance of your soul from sin and eternal death, and that this deliverance can take place only by your continuing longer in affliction, and danger, and suffering, or, indeed, only by the death of the body.

If Jonah had not been overtaken by the storm, and brought into great distress and danger, and very near to death itself; if the wind had continued fair, and the weather pleasant, and he had arrived safely in Tarshish, he might have kept on in his wickedness, and wandered farther and farther from God, and his soul been lost for ever.

God knew that his only true deliverance—the deliverance of his soul from eternal death, could not take place without a great change in his feelings. He knew that Jonah could not be admitted into heaven while he remained in such a state of wicked disobedience to the commands of God. He knew that he must be brought to feel truly penitent for his sins, and be willing to love and obey God. He knew that Jonah would not be brought to think and to feel so, if he was permitted to go to Tarshish. God, therefore, sent the storm, and the distress, and the terrible danger, in mercy to Jonah, and that he might be delivered from the worst of all evils, the eternal death of his soul.

Think of Jonah when you are in affliction and danger, and when you are praying for deliverance, which I still tell you it is perfectly right to do, in