Lord, "thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel, to be a people unto thee for ever; and thou, Lord, art become their God." It seems as if he said, "Think upon this people, O Lord, hold them in thy hands, and preserve them under the shadow of thy wings!" David's enthusiasm rises every moment higher and higher; and what the Lord has said unto him, he desires once more to hear confirmed in all its vividness and clearness. No wish lies nearer his heart in this hour of grace than this: "And now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said." Seal it, O Lord, according to thy word: "And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel; and let the house of thy servant David be established before the." As if his soul had not already attained the highest point of child-like confidence, he seems to attain it now. "O Lord God," he cries with joy unutterable, "thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant." His heart expands in the presence of Jehovah, and he becomes bold enough to request the present enjoyment of the first-fruits of the promised glory. Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever!"

Thus David prays; raising himself up, by the grace of God in Christ, out of the very depths of humiliation and abasement, to the highest summit of gratitude and joy. First, like a worm of the dust, he crawls to the feet of Jehovah; then, as a lamb which has been often caressed, he advances to his knee; like a young eagle, he now rises on his wings; until at last, like a confiding child, he nestles in the bosom of his heavenly Father, knowing that he may

say and ask what he will. How astonishing it is to meet such a gospel spirit amidst the shadows of the old covenant! What thanksgiving and joy for the promise of that King who was to come! and what happiness in the contemplation of that work of reconciliation which was not to take form and substance until after the lapse of a thousand years!

How is it with us now, my brethren? Is the ardently desired kingdom of peace actually in existence? Is the King already come to govern it, whom David and the whole company of ancient saints desired so much to see, and longed so greatly to behold? Yes! that King has come; the heavenly angels on Christmas night announced Him to the shepherds; and his kingdom is now firmly established in this vale of tears. Were all those souls assembled together, who have sworn allegiance to the banners of this kingdom; could you behold the peace of God within them, and see the flame of new life from on high ascending upwards; and if all that which formerly was veiled, lay bare and uncovered before your eyes, and you beheld how those souls were shielded, protected, and borne along step by step by the hands of Almighty power and love; if heavenly things had a visible appearance, so that you could perceive how the eye of the heavenly Father watches over, and his heart is yearning day and night for those whom his Son has purchased, and their souls resting on his bosom enlightened by the full sunshine of his love; and if the new Jerusalem could be disclosed to you, and you beheld the garlands and the crowns prepared there for pardoned sinners, and saw those blessed pilgrims, who, casting off the dust of this earth, make their triumphal entry amidst the shouts of the holy angels,-then, indeed, would you say, "The hope of David is fulfilled! the kingdom is come!" All this, however, is still hidden; for we cannot see that kingdom until we are within it. But

strive, my brethren! strive, in God's name, to enter it by means of prayer through the gates of repentance and faith; and experience how heaven can actually exist upon earth, in the light of the Holy Spirit, in the lively comprehension of the gracious counsel of Eternal love, and in the enjoyment of the favour of God in Christ Jesus; then will you be able to cry out at the manger, and under the cross," Lo! this is the form of a Man who is God the Lord in the highest!" Amen.

F

BETHLEHEM.

MICAH V. 2.

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

THE prophet Micah prophesied in Judah seven hundred years before Christ. It was indeed a mournful time; for the kingdom of Israel hovered on the brink of destruction, and the godless character of the realm of Judah had increased to such a degree as to fill the peaceful in the land with the most dismal apprehensions for the future. Micah, by his prophecies, brought those fears to a climax; for frightful things they were which he predicted to the two kingdoms. To the kingdom of Israel he announced its near and entire destruction by the hands of the Syrians; and to the kingdom of Judah he uttered the harsh words, "Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest." But the more awful the threatening of those thunders which he wielded against the rebellious and apostate ones, the more sweetly sounded the music of the promises with which he consoled and cheered the drooping hearts of the faithful.

The very

message which we have heard to-day may convince us of this. It is a message from God; but at the same time, one which, before it was uttered, must have passed through the heart of the prophet; for it bears witness of a spirit deeply moved and attuned to the tones of Advent. Here is another period of the time preceding Christ, when we hear the joyful chiming of the Advent bells; and here we behold him not merely in the mirror of prophecy, but as received by the faith of believers, and as understood by the human mind. Let us now contemplate this prophecy of Micah more nearly, and direct our attention to the little city of which he speaks; to the expression "And thou," which he uses in addressing it; and to the coming One whom he announces.

I. The text of to-day contains the first prophecy of the Messias in which the name of Bethlehem is mentioned. The birth-place of the expected Saviour had never been known until now; although the deeper and more clearsighted minds in Israel, had perhaps in some degree anticipated whence the great and long-desired Morning Star was to arise. The nearer the day of his advent approached, the more precise were the prophecies concerning it. In the infancy of our race, the intelligence of that future Saviour who was to bruise the head of Satan was only revealed in general terms. In the times of the patriarchs this Deliverer was more precisely described as a scion of that people who, numerous as the stars of heaven, were to proceed from the root of Abraham. In the days of Moses and the Law the cry resounds to us from the death-bed of Jacob, “Judah, thou art He!"—thus pointing out to us the tribe from which the Sun of Righteousness should arise. During the government of the Kings, the prophecy attaches itself with still more precision to a single house, for out of the family of David the Ruler was to proceed. Two hundred years later, Isaiah predicted that a virgin of this family should bring forth