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ASCENSION HYMN.

Words and Music by FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL.

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Paisley: J. AND R. PARLANE.

London: HOULSTON AND SONS, Paternoster Buildings. The DAYSPRING can be had, post free, from the Publishers, as follows: 7 copies for 4d., or 12 copies monthly, for one year, 6s.

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THE STORY OF THE RAINBOW.

THE STORY OF THE RAINBOW.

'My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky.'

SO says the poet Wordsworth, and who
does not join with him? What more
delightful sight can we look upon than the
brilliant arch spanning the evening sky, and
telling of storms passing away, and fine
weather approaching? Then how wonderful
to know that the sun shining on the little
raindrops, paints all these beautiful colours,
violet, indigo blue, green, yellow, orange,
and red-all the colours of the rainbow.
An old proverb says,
'Where the rainbow
rests lies a pot of gold.' And may we not
find something better than gold hid in the
story of the rainbow?

The rainbow is a very old teacher. More than four thousand years ago, it was appointed to teach mankind the love and faithfulness of God. The first scholar who learned this lesson from the rainbow, was an old man six hundred years old. There were only eight persons in the world at that time. All the other inhabitants of the earth had been swept away by that terrible flood which God had sent to destroy men for their wickedness.

How strange Noah's feelings must have been, when coming out of the ark he once more stood upon the green earth, and thought of what had become of all those multitudes whom he had so often warned to flee from the wrath to come, but who had so disregarded all his earnest entreaties! We know that his heart was filled with gratitude to God, for having so wonderfully preserved him and his family, and that he immediately built an altar, and expressed his thankfulness by offering sacrifices to God. But do you not think sad thoughts must have mingled with his thankfulness? Would not every raincloud he saw floating in the sky make him afraid lest another deluge would again destroy the earth?

Do any of our young readers remember one stormy night, after they had gone to bed, when they heard the rain pouring in torrents and the thunder roaring, and saw

the lightning flashing, how very frightened they were-they could not sleep for fear? While they were lying trembling, afraid even to speak, they heard the room-door open gently, and then, O how glad they were when they saw their own kind mother come in, and sit down by their bedside. Then how tenderly she calmed their fears. telling them there was no danger, that the storm would soon be over, that the rain would refresh the thirsty earth, the thunder would cool the air, and everything would be more beautiful to-morrow. Cheered and comforted they soon fell asleep, and the storm disturbed them no more.

That kind mother's visit to her little ones, is a faint picture of how God comforts His children, of how He visited Noah after the flood. Thus saith the Lord, 'As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.'

Lest Noah should live in fear of another awful deluge, God promised that He would never again destroy the whole earth with a flood, and to confirm this promise, He appointed the rainbow to be a token of that covenant. How consoling to Noah must have been that precious promise, 'The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.'

Many a time would that aged father of mankind point his little grand-children and great grand-children to the brilliant bow in the cloud, and tell them of that gracious promise, and of the faithfulness of his heavenly Father. Over and over again, he would tell them the story of that awful flood, and of how wonderfully God had kept him safe in the ark for a whole year all the time the waters were upon the earth.

Then he would tell them of how tenderly God had comforted him, when he came out of the ark on the mountains of Ararat, and encourage them to put their trust in that loving Father who had placed the bow in the cloud, as the token of the promise, 'While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not

cease.

'When o'er the green undeluged earth
Heaven's covenant Thou didst shine,
How came the world's grey fathers forth
To watch Thy sacred sign!

And when its yellow lustre smiled
O'er mountains yet untrod,
Each mother held aloft her child,
To bless the bow of God.

Methinks Thy jubilee to keep,
The first-made anthem rang
On earth delivered from the deep,
And the first poet sang.'

TRUST.

Nearly two thousand years had passed, and among the captives who sat and wept by the rivers of Babylon was one, a priest, to whom was shewn a vision of the glory of the Lord. In the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar, he saw a throne, and the brightness round about it was as the appearance of the rainbow. And how did that rainbow comfort the prophet Ezekiel, and encourage him to preach to the weeping captives in that foreign land? It told him that God remembered his covenant, 'that He would turn again the captivity of His people, and that He would send the Redeemer to Zion.' 'As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.' Thus was the rainbow appointed to be the sign of the everlasting covenant.

Six hundred years more passed away. The great promise of which all the prophets spake was fulfilled. The long expected Saviour had come-had suffered on the cross for our sins-had risen again, and had ascended to heaven. The disciple whom He loved had been banished to the island of Patmos for preaching the gospel, for testifying that Jesus was the long promised Saviour, and how was he comforted on that lonely island? One Lord's day while he was praying, the Lord Jesus appeared to him, and shewed him wonderful visions. such as it had not entered into the heart of

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man to conceive. He saw a throne in heaven and one seated on it, and there was a rainbow round about the throne.

What did that rainbow signify to the apostle John? It would remind him that not one thing had failed of all the good things God had promised; all had come to pass, and thus it would encourage him to look forward with hope and confidence to the time when Jesus would come again and receive Him to Himself.

Is not the rainbow well named the bow of promise, and should it not encourage each one of us to place our trust in the everlasting covenant, of which the rainbow is still the emblem?

'For, faithful to its sacred page,
Heaven still rebuilds thy span;
Nor lets the type grow pale with age,
That first spoke peace to man.

Sunshine and rain are both needed to form the glorious rainbow; so to make us heirs of the promise we need to have Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, revealed to us, by the Holy Spirit's soul-quickening rain. May this blessed rain from heaven descend on our souls, and incline each young heart now to accept the gracious invitation, 'Come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.'

TRUST.

SADLY bend the flowers,

In the heavy rain : After beating showers, Sunbeams come again. Little birds are silent

All the dark night through;
But when morning dawneth
Their songs are sweet and new.
When a sudden sorrow

Comes like cloud and night,
Wait for God's to-morrow;
All will then be bright.
Only wait and trust Him
Just a little while;
After evening teardrops
Shall come the morning smile.

FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL.

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THE HE great strength, power, and courage of the lion have long ago placed him as king of the forest. There are nobler qualities too in this animal, which are spoken of in such stories as the fable of the lion and the mouse, or the well-known story of Androcles and the lion. It must have been a terrible death from which the affection of the lion saved Androcles. And yet it was by no means uncommon among Romans for captives and malefactors to be condemned to fight with wild beasts. The apostle Paul in all probability so fought. He says, 'If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus.' And it may have been for the same purpose that the lions were kept in the den at Babylon. I need not tell you that grand old story for you know it well. But when Daniel sat all night long as a king among those terrible lions, whose mouths God had shut, doubtless like Paul in after years in his dungeon, singing hymns and praises to God; it was the same faith that sustained him which God asks of you little children, when he

says, 'Give me your heart.' God never disappoints those who put their trust in Him, but keeps them in perfect peace.

It is to the strength and courage of the lion that the patriarch Jacob refers when in blessing his son Judah he compares him to a lion and an old lion. And you all know who the Lion of the tribe of Judah is. Let me ask you to turn to the 5th chapter of Revelation and read what John says; and you will find in the 65th Paraphrase some verses which you would do well to learn. Little children, can you say with all your heart, Thou hast redeemed me?' Love Jesus with all your heart, and then you will sing that blessed song now on earth, and bye and bye with tenfold sweetness in the Home which He has gone to make ready for those who love Him.

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In the countries where the lion is found there is perpetual war between him and man. It is thus that the lion is so often referred to in the Bible as a destroyer. When the traveller in Africa pitches his tent at night he builds a great fire not only

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