likely to stumble in rough ways as in smooth and slippery places. Better walk on rugged rocks than on slippery ice. If we lose our roll it is in the harbour of ease, not in the valley of Baca. Few Christians backslide while under the rod; it is usually when on the lap of plenty that believers sin.

Stars

Fifthly, it is, therefore, a profitable place. may be seen from the bottom of a deep well when they cannot be discerned from the top of a mountain: so are many things learned in adversity which the prosperous man dreams not of. We need affliction as the trees need winter, that we may collect sap and nourishment for future blossoms and fruit. Sorrow is as necessary for the soul as medicine is to the body:

"The path of sorrow, and that path alone,

Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown."

The benefits to be derived in the vale of tears are greater than its horrors, and far outnumber its disadvantages. There was a fiction once of a golden cup at the foot of the rainbow: it would have been no fiction had they put the treasure in the dark cloud. In this valley of Baca there are mines of gold and of all manner of precious things; and sometimes, even in the thick darkness, one may perceive the diamonds glitter. Full many a pilgrim has here been made rich to all the intents of

bliss, and here have others had their heavenly wealth most marvellously increased.

But we proceed to observe―

II. THE TOILSOME EFFORT spoken of in the words at the head of the chapter-"They make it a well," &c. When Eastern Shepherds travel, if they find no water, they dig a well, and thus obtain a plentiful supply of water for themselves and for their cattle. So did Isaac, and so also did the rulers for the people in the wilderness. When we are thirsty and there is no water to be found in the pools, we must dig deep for it. Calvin translates it-"They, travelling through the valley of weeping, will dig a well," &c. This teaches us that

1. Comfort may be obtained even in the deepest trouble. We often look for it and fancy there is none. Like Hagar, the child of our hope is given up, and we lay down to die; but why should we, when there is water to be had, if we will but seek for it? Let no man say, My case is hopeless; let none say, I am in the valley, and can never again know joy. There is hope. There is the water of life to cheer our fainting souls. It certainly is not possible for us to be in a position where Omnipotence cannot assist us. God hath servants everywhere, and where we think he has none his word can create a multitude. There are There are "treasures hid

in the sand," and the Lord's chosen shall eat thereof. When the clouds hide the mountains they are as real as in the sunshine; so the promise and the providence of God are unchanged by the obscurity of our faith, or the difficulties of our position. There is hope, and hope at hand, therefore, let us be of good cheer.

2. It teaches that comfort must be obtained by exertion. Well-digging is hard labour: but better dig for water than die of thirst. Much of the misery Christians feel arises from inaction. Cold numbs the hand if exercise be not used. We are bound to use every scriptural means to obtain the good we need. The sanctuary, the meeting for prayer, the Bible, the company of the saints, private prayer and meditation-these revive the soul. We must dig the wells. If there be rocky granite we must bore it; we must not be disturbed from perseverance by the labour of our duties, but continue to dig still: and what a mercy! if the well has ever so small a bore the water will flow.

3. It teaches us that the comfort obtained by one is often of use to another; just as wells opened by former travellers would suffice for the company which came after. When we read works full of consolation, like Jonathar's rod, dropping with

*Deut. xxxiii. 19.

a

honey, let us remember that our brother has been here before us, and digged this well. "Songs in the Night," could only have been written by that nightingale in the thorns, Susanna Harrison. Many a "Night of Weeping," "Midnight Harmonies,” an "Eternal Day," "A Crook in the Lot," Comfort for Mourners," has been a well digged by a pilgrim for himself, but has proved just as useful to others. Specially we notice this in the Psalms, which console us, although they were mournful odes to David. Travellers have been delighted to see the footprints of man on a barren shore, and we love to see the way-marks of the pilgrimage while passing through the vale of tears. Yea, the refuse and débris of the receding camp often furnish food for the stragglers behind. We may notice

III. THE HEAVENLY SUPPLY. The pilgrims dig the well, but, strange enough, it fills from the top instead of the bottom. We use the means, but the blessing does not lie in the means, but in the God of the means. We dig the well, but heaven fills it with rain. The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but salvation is of the Lord. The means are divinely connected with the end, but they do not produce the blessing. "The rain filleth the pools," so that ordinances and duties are rather reservoirs than fountains, containing comfort, but

not creating it. In vain are all the ordinances without the divine blessing; as clouds without rain, and pools without water, they yield us no supplies. When heaven smiles and pours down its showers of grace, then they are precious things; but without the celestial rain we might as much expect water from the arid waste, as a real blessing in the use of them. " All my springs are in Thee," is the believer's daily confession to his Lord-a confession which until death must ever be upon his lips.

We now turn to our legitimate subject, from which the beauty of the text has for a while allured us, and we hasten to answer the question, How doth Jesus behave himself toward his people in the hour of their distresses? Does he leave them when their friends are taken from them! Does he desert them in the hour of their poverty? Is he ashamed of them when sackcloth is on their loins, and ashes upon their heads? Do the pains of Sickness affright him from the bed? Can famine and nakedness separate his brethren from his love? Is he the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever? Our answer shall be one dictated by the experience of the saints, and confirmed in the life of the Christian reader. The Lord Jesus is no fair-weather friend, but one who loveth at all times-a brother born for adversity. This he proves to his beloved, not by mere words of pro