could keep, ancl therefore no possibility of real expectation from him. These Israelit.eB clicl not wait as they that watch for the morning, sure that it will come at last. (Ps. cxxx. 6), but rather as those who say in the morning, "Would God it were even I " and at even, "Would God it were morning I" (Deut. xxviii. 67). Their right attitude, if only they had been able to occupy it, was that which Jesus is said to have occupied (Heh. v. 7). They should ha.ve offered up prayers ancl supplications along with their strong crying and tears to him that was able to save them. But the God who had been so near to Abraham, Isaac, ancl Jacob, seemed now removed to a. distance. No one appeared with whom the Israelites in their despair could wrestle until they gained the blessing of deliverance. And thus it has been in every generation, and still continues. The misery of the world cannot be silent, and in it all the saddest feature is, that the miserable have no knowledge of God, or, if they have, it is a knowledge without practical use. They are without hope in the world, because they a.re without God in the world. They go on groaning like a sick infant that neither knows the cause of its trouble nor where to look for help. And in the midst of all this ignorance, Jesus would lead men to true prayer-to intelligent and calm dependence upon Goel. for things according to his will. II. NOTICE THE BEASON GIVEN FOB THE SIGHING AND CRYING. They sighed by reason of the bondage. Bodily restraint, privation, and pa.in-in these lay the reasons for their groaning. Their pain was that of the senses, not tha.t of the spirit. Little wonder then that they were not susceptible to the presence of God. Contrast their painful experiences with those recorded in the following Psalms, xxxii., xxxviii., xxxix., Ii., cxix. 136. Jesus made it evident by his dealings with many of those who came to him that the bulk of men, like the Israelites of old, are sighing because of some temporal bondage. They think that pa.in would vanish, if only they could get all sensible comforts. The poor man thinks what a comfort wealth and plenty must be, yet a rich man came to Jesus, still unsatisfied in spite of his wealth, and was obliged to go away again, sad, because of what Jesus had said, deeply disturbed and dis- appointed ; and all because he had great possessions. There was no chance of doing much good to Israel, as long as they were sighing simply because of the bondage. The pain of life which comes through the senses would sink into a matter of superficial insignificance, if only we felt as we ought to do the corruption and danger which come through sin. We should soon come to the true remedy for all our pains, if only we learnt to cry for the clean heart and the right spirit. III. THOUGH THE BIG HING AND CRYING DID NOT AMOUNT TO A BEAL PBA YER, YET GoD ATTENDED TO IT. God ma.de allowance for the ignorance of the people. He knew what was wanted, even though they knew not. The father on earth, being evil, ha.s to make the best guess he can at the interests of his children; our Father in heaven knows exactly what we want. God does not expect from the ignorant what can only be presented by those who know him; and he was about to deal with Israel so that they might know him. And first of all they must be made to feel that Egypt was in reality a very different place from what it appeared to Jacob and his sons, coming out of famine-stricken Canaan. The time had long past when there was any temptation to say, "Surely Egypt is better than Canaan; we shall be able to take our ei,.se, eat, drink, and be merry." There had not only been corn in Egypt, but tyrant:. and task.masters. We have all to find out what Egypt really is; and until we make the full discovery, we cannot appreciate the nearness of God and profit by it. God ca.n do much for us when we come to the groaning-point, when the dear illusions of life not only begin to vacate their places, but are succeeded by painful, stern, and abiding realities. When we begin to cry, even though our cry be only because of temporal losses and pa.ins, there is then a chance that we may attend to the increasing revela- tions of the presence of God, and learn to we.it upon him in obedience and prayer.-Y.
Vers. 23-25.-As in streams the water is attracted to and swirls round various centres, so here the interest of the narrative circles about three facts. We have- I. THE KING'S DEATH. Who the king was may be uncertain. [Some say .A.ah.mes I. -see Canon Cook, in 'Speaker's Commentary ;' others, Rameses II.-see R. S. Poole, in 'Contemporary Review,' March, 1879.J What he had done is sufficiently evident, Confronted with an alien people, of whose history he knew little and with whom he had no sympathy, he had treated them with suspicion and cruelty. Wal.king by THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [oH. III.1-22.