THE

GOSPEL MAGAZINE.

"COMFORT YE, COMFORT YE MY PEOPLE, SAITH YOUR GOD."
"ENDEAVOURING TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE."

"JESUS CHRIST, THE SAME YESTERDAY, AND TO-DAY, AND FOR EVER." "WHOM TO KNOW IS LIFE ETERNAL..

No. 97, NEW SERIES.

JANUARY, 1865.

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No. 1,189, OLD SERIES.

OUR WATCHWORD FOR THE NEW YEAR.

"Thy God helpeth thee."-1 CHRON. xii. 18.

BRETHREN AND SISTERS BELOVED,-Stepping as we are once again called to do over the threshold of a new year, it is but natural that numberless thoughts should present themselves as to what the said year shall disclose. There is a proneness in us all to wish to pry within the leaves yet unturned of the Book of Providence. At the same time it is among our greatest mercies that we "know not what a day may bring forth." The subjects as we are of unbelief and God-dishonouring doubt and conjecture, and never able of ourselves to rise above it, it is so merciful and so considerate of our God to hide the future from us. should be sure, could we know what awaits us, to dwell upon the dark and gloomy rather than upon the bright and sunny. We should be sure to ponder more upon our weakness than upon God's strength, as covenanted to meet and counteract that weakness. We should be sure to think that the painful far, far exceeded the pleasurable. Hence it is so sweet when enabled, by the precious power of the Holy Ghost, to say—

"As a little child relies

On a care beyond his own;
Knows he's neither strong nor wise,
Fears to stir a step alone:
Let me thus with Thee abide,
As my Father, Guard, and Guide!

"What Thou shalt to-day provide,

Let me as a child receive;
What to-morrow may betide,

Calmly to Thy wisdom leave:
'Tis enough that Thou wilt care-
Why should I the burden bear ?”

We

Reader, what say you? is this the frame of mind with which you wish to step over the threshold of this new and untrodden year? Without doubt it will be no exception to the general rule-it will be, like each preceding year-fraught with trial, sorrow, perplexity, care. It will be neither so smooth nor so pleasant or agreeable as to render it necessary that it should be struck out of the list of years which prove to a demonstration the truth of the Divine record, "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards," and "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." As there is sufficient strength for the day, so shall there be sufficient evil to render that strength necessary. All this, we contend, shall mark the year 1865, as well as its predecessors. But, if it is to be no exception to the rule with respect to trial, so neither shall it be any exception to the rule in regard to mercy.

B

Our God undergoes no change, although the year may change. His covenant alters not, although circumstances may vary. Well has it been said, “His dispensations may change, but not His disposition. No, blessed be God, He is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." "He rests in His love."

Here is our security, and here our peace, in the contemplation of all the momentous circumstances which may or may not mark the progress of the ensuing

year.

Of this we may be assured, that, as years advance, so shall each become more eventful; the more especially when we reflect upon the fact, that we are now so closely approaching the year 1866-a year specially pointed to by writers for centuries past as the year when that accursed thing, Popery, shall receive another deadly blow, if not its final overthrow and destruction. Well may these facts lead us to stand on our watchtower, and earnestly to desire grace and strength from on high to meet whatever it may be the will and pleasure of our God we shall encounter, for His glory and the trial of our faith.

We will, however, as the Lord the Spirit may enable us, consider our motto as applicable to the Psalmist, and the various circumstances in which he was placed.

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Thy God helpeth thee."-Saul was dead, and we find that, after his death, all Israel gathered themselves to David. "Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel" (1 Chron. xi. 1, 2). David, in consequence, went up to Jerusalem, and there dwelt; for, although he was at first resisted by the inhabitants of Jebus (Jerusalem), who said, "Thou shalt not come hither, nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David."

It is worthy of the reader's most careful observation, how in every step the Psalmist took, and with regard to his onward progress, he invariably met with opposition. His way was always disputed, his advancement and promotion continuously resisted. And why this, but that the Psalmist might be thoroughly versed, personally and experimentally, in the doctrine to which he himself gave utterance in the 44th Psalm: "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old : How Thou didst drive out the heathen with Thy hand, and plantedst them; how Thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour unto them. Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. Through Thee will we push down our enemies: through Thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But Thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise Thy name for ever. Selah."

Reader, rely on it the self-same truth is ever observable with respect to the advancement of the children of God. They are advanced and promoted, it is true; but it is invariably connected with circumstances that are attended with additional weight, and care, and responsibility; and the promotion (if it be manifestly of God, and for the well-being of His child) shall carry with it most significantly this impression, "It is not by (human) might, nor by (human) power,

but my Spirit, saith the Lord." What is all this for but to hide pride from man, and that the glory might be given to whom alone it is due? That this was the experience of David is evident from every step and every stage of his history. Take, for example, his saying, after all that he had endured at the hand of Saul, and the bitter experience that that man's enmity and antagonism had caused him, "I am this day weak, though anointed king."

Yes, David had what every child of God has, ballast with the blessing-care with the comfort: the one is invariably set over against the other, and must of necessity be so in this time-state. If the poorest member of Christ's flock were suddenly transferred from a state of extreme poverty to that of greatest affluence, he would carry his care with him. It would only be a change, not a cessation. Were some poor long and intensely-afflicted child of God, suddenly possessed of health, he would have, notwithstanding, that on account of which to sigh and to cry, "being burdened." The world would still be but a wilderness—yea, and that very health in contrast to the sweet realization of sanctified sorrow, would be instrumental in proving the world to be what indeed it is to the people of God, a snare and a trap—that which is calculated sadly to engross the thoughts, fetter the mind, and captivate and enslave the affections.

Bitterly—yea, most bitterly-has this been felt by the people of God in every age; but we believe never more so than now, when the Church and the world, in fashion, are so amalgamated, and, as far as appearances are concerned, it is so difficult to discover which is the one and which the other.

We read, however, that " David waxed greater and greater; for the Lord of hosts was with him." Here was the secret. And David could bear the promotion, for the reason we have before given. He had weight and care and anxiety. If he had men of valour about him, there was always that to engage them; there being enemies to contend with, and battles to fight, their services were perpetually needed: so that, notwithstanding his exaltation and attainments, David's was ever a state of unrest. He had no more reason for saying, as occupant of "the castle of Zion," 'Here will I dwell-this shall be my rest," than as a shepherd-boy upon the mountain, or as a warrior upon the hills, pursued by Saul. No, believer, the Psalmist's motto, in common with our own, must be both pre-eminent and perpetual, "This is not your rest." He found it "a desert land, a waste howling wilderness," and we shall find it to be so, in one case as well as in another.

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The number as well as the names of David's heroes are so specifically given. This may, at first sight, seem to be both strange and unnecessary; but to our mind there is much mercy connected with the record. It is, we conceive, that the vain speculations of some and the equally vain objections of others who dare to cavil at or dispute God's revealed truth, should be met. It was not without ample reason God has caused the names and the numbers to be left on record which we here and elsewhere meet with. The details, too, here and elsewhere so minute, are to give additional weight and importance to the history itself. There is neither chance nor contingency in the narrative. It was written, and has since been preserved, as a memento of Divine, incontrovertible truth, however wicked men may assail, pervert, or deny.

The reader also may feel assured, that the very minuteness of the details in regard to some of the incidents here mentioned, such as David's longing for the waters of Bethlehem-men fetching it at the hazard of their lives-what David said and did in consequence; all only goes to prove the strict accuracy and correctness of the narrative in other respects.

We say again, we would that the reader should keep this idea pre-eminently