itself. Some preachers make so much of an illustration, that that which it illustrnteR is forgotten. (You may drive a brass-headed nail so "home," that while it is fixed nothing will hang upon it.] III. A RETREAT l'OR MEDITATION AFTERWARDS (ver. 27). Some excellent sermon~ are forgotten directly in the hurry and bustle that succeeds them. To gain by sermons we must recollect them; and to recollect them we must have time and place for recol- lectedness. This God gave to the Israelites at Elim; yet, even so, they failed to profit by it. Had they used their time for meditation better, much after trouble, caused by forgetfulness, would have been saved . .1pplication. "A sermon for preachers! n Yes, but a sermon for people also. If God's sermons can be so soon forgotten, even when he gives time for pondering them, how much sooner those we preach I Everything does not rest with the preachC'r. If the people will not take pains to remember-to ponder, meditate, inwardly digest- the best of preachers, even God himself, may preach home to them, and the rei;ult be nil.-G. Vers. 22-27.-Trial and Blessing. I. Tm: CLOUD AND SUNSHINE OF THE PILGRIM LIFE. The weariness of the wilderness journey, the disappointment of Marah, and the comforts of Elim, all lie along the appointed way. II. A HEAVY TRIAL BADLY BORNE. The wilderness thirst had been endured without a murmur; but when in addition they were mocked by the bitter springs ofMarah their spirit broke. 1. The end ofa prayerless faith is soon reached. If we have not learned to cast burdens upon God and to wait upon him, but expect him to fill our life with ease and pleasure, we shall soon be offended. 2. A spirit with such a. faith speedily turns away from God and breaks into complaint against man. III. F AITH'B TRIUMPH IN DIFFICULTY (25). 1. Moses "cried unto the Lord. n The need of the time was rightly read. It was a call to prayer. In times of difficulty and reproach our first recourse .should be to God. 2. In answer to believing prayer the bitter waters are sweetened, and the soul finds God in the gift as without the previous di~- appointment he could not be manifested. IV. Goo's COVENANT TIME. 1. In the full experience of his mercy. We must know God's love in Christ before his covenant of service and blessing can be made with us. 2. In the midst of self-knowledge and repentance. At the sweetened waters the faith- les~ ones knew themselves and were ashamed. 3. The nature of the covenant. If they cleave to and serve him, there may be affliction, but there shall be no jndgment. 4. How God will be known in Israel. "I am the Lord that healeth thee.n Note :-When God's goodness has rebuked our unbelief, he means us to listen to the assurance of his love and to renew our vows.-U.
Vers. 22-"-26.-The well of bitterness. "For I am Jehovah that healeth thee" (Ex. xv. 26). A new chapter of history now opens, that of the wandering; it comprises the following passages. 1. Two months to Sinai. 2. Eleven months at Sinai. 3. Thirty- eight years of virtual settling down in the wilderness of Paran. 4. March upon Canaan in the last year. Introductory to this sermon give description of the journey from tho sea to Marah, keeping prominent these points, the first camp probably at "The Wells of Moses," the road thence varying from ten to twenty miles wide, the sea. on the right, the wall-looking line of mountain on the left for nearly all the way-this the wilderness of" Shur," i.e., of" the wall." 'l'here may indeed have been a city called "Shur," but the wall of mountain may have given name both to city and desert. (Un the line of the Homan wall in Northumberland is a. villago "Wall.") The route here qLtite unmis- takable. More than forty miles. No water. The modern caravan road marked by bleached camel bones. Num. xxxiii. 8, gives the impression of a forced march. At len!:!;th Marnh, to-day a solitary spring of bitter water with stunted palm-tree beside it. Here too is the place to point out, that Israel's wanderings are not so much allegorical, but tautegoricnl. The phenomena of spiritual lire aud those oflsrael's desert history are n,,t 60 n,uch two sets of things-one pictorial the other real, but one and the same. This truth lies at the base of all snccessfnl practical homiletic treatment. I. MAN MAY N01' LIVE 11> 'l'HE PAST. "And Moses brought [forced away l Israel from the Hut.! Sea.'' Note :-1. Jiencefurth llloses is supreme leader. Aaron aml :Miriaw sink 28 THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [en. xv. 22-26.