build up a wall around you, that, if you should for a moment
incline to follow after your former lovers , you may
not be able to find your paths." If unhappily you have gone
in pursuit of them , implore of God, that " you may
never find them ; or, having found, may never overtake them :"
or, if you have overtaken them , separate yourselves
instantly from them, and say, " I will go and return to my first husband; for then it was better with me than now^" ]
z Hos. ii. 6, 7.
Ps. xlvi. 4. There is a river, the streams ichereof shall make
glad the city of God.
FREQUENTLY, in the Holy Scriptures, is God compared to a fountain : in conformity with which idea, the blessings of salvation which flow from him may well be called " a river." To the Israelites in the wilderness, there was given a stream which followed them in all their journeys : and to the Church, at this day also, is " a river opened for the refreshment of all who travel Zion-ward." Innu- merable are the necessities of God's people in this dreary wilderness; and the "troubles" with which they have to contend are often so great as to make it appear as if " the earth itself were removed, and the mountains were carried into the midst of the sea." But God is with his people ; and the river which attends their steps supplies their every want. " The whole city of God is gladdened by it, and especially the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High :" for the nearer any one's access to God is, the more abundant are the communications made to him of grace and peace.
The exalted character given of this river will jus- tify a minute inquiry respecting it. Let us notice then,
I. The source from whence it issues —
[Whence can this be, but from God himself? But on this subject we are not left to form conjectures : for David says, " With God is the fomitain of life^" And St. John says,
* Ps. xxxvi. 9.