ever rnnintained, ( 4) A double joy ls put into the use of earthly oifts. They are receive(! !LB a Father's tokens of love. '!'hoy mean so much more than they can to others. (5) The expectations are satisfied. In God's love they have an enduring troaeury of wealth, .. , , . when all earthly pleasures rail,- (And fa.ii they always will to every soul of man), Ho sencls his hopes on high ; reaches his sickle forth, And reaps the clusters from the vines of God." Verily such a one is "satisfied with favour, and filled with the blessing of the Lord." Vers. 24, 25.-Asher's blessing; strength as the day. There are several features in this blessing to Asher. He is to have a numerous seed: to enjoy above his brethren the favour of the Lord; to be surrounded with plenty; to be guarded with bars of iron and brass; and to have strength according to the days. (The Hebrew word trnnslated "days" is so rendered or explained by the Targnm, Boothroyd, and Parkhurst. The LXX. render it la-xvs: the French version has it ta force; Gesenius renders it" rest." In this Homily we follow the LXX., and accept our translation,'' strength.") However great the temporal blessings may be which are here promised to Asher, this last-named one is surely the greatest of all, yea, greater than any merely earthly blessings could possibly be. And perhaps there is no promise of God's Word which has more deeply touched the hearts of his people, or more frequently proved itself a balm in care, than this one. For that it was made to Asher first, need not shut off any child of God from taking the comfort of it. 'l'here is a disticct promise made to Joshua, "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee;" but yet the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews bids the people whom he is addressing to make that promise their own. And so assuredly may the people of God in every age and land do with the promise before us. They have done so hitherto, and will do so till the end. Let us meditate on it now, presenting, as it does, this topic-Strength promised/or the day. I. WHAT DOES THE PROMISE INCLUDE? It suggests troths of ~hich we are often reminded, viz. : 'l'hat we have to live by the day. In one sense we can do no otherwise. We can never with certainty look over the rim of one day so as to see what will happen to-morrow. Then each day has its own peculiar alternations and variations of liyht and shade. One day all is.smiling; the next, perchance, all is in gloom. Every hour, every place bas "hues of its own fresh borrowed from the heart." Consequently, each day bring_s its own demands with it. And for each day we require new self-adaptedness. Moreover, the strength of each day will not serve/or the next. Now, these are the facts which this promise is intended to meet. How does it meet them? 1. It assures us of strength as varied as the day. Whatever kind of strength is wanted, that kind of strength will be given-whether for work or war, pain or sickness, poverty or temptation, bereavement or death. "They that wait on the Lord shall renew [i.e. change] their strength." 2. It is a promise of strecgth as sure as the day. No day shall come without its due measure of might to enable us to meet its demands. Be who hath taught his children to cry, "Give us day by day our daily bread," in teach- ing them so to pray reveals his purpose to fulfil the prayer he bas taught. We shall never find a day when the Saviour's grace is a-wanting. 3. It pledges strength as long as the days shall last. So long as any demands are made upon us, so long will God's grace be sufficient to enable us to meet them. We need not look wistfully and anxiously ahead, Our Father cares. One whose words are more to us than thousands of gold and silver bas said, "'l'ake no thought for the morrow," etc. And an inspired writer bas given us an impregnable argument, " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" But let us inquire- H. WHAT IT 1B WHICH GIVES THIS PROMISE A SPECIAL VALUE? "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." The words remind us of II picture drawn by Mrs. Stowe, in • Uncle Tom's Cabin,' of a slave weary and worn with toiling in the ~ultry sun. OJ?,e quotes the words "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rost I" '" Them's uood words," is the reply, "but who says 'em~" Obviously oil depends on that. Bo it is here. 'l'he words are said-by 1. One who kuows wha\ 650 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [cm. xxxm. 1-20.
0ur da:,s "·ill be. 2. One who or<lers our days. 3. One who measures our days. 4. One who lon•d us from everlasting days. 5. One whose love changes not with lhe days, G. One who has infinite re~ources on which we can <lraw throughout lhe days, 7. One whose l,n·e RS rcnalcd in Christ is R pledge that he will be wi1h us to the rnd of the days. h Rnythin<:: wanting tn heighten the value of a promisr if it comes from such a Promiser? III. OUGHT NOT SUCH A PROMISE TO HA\'E GREAT POWER OVER us? Yea, verily. A triple power. 1. It should ftimulate to holy obedience. 2. It should preparo us to look 0nwar<l with holy calmness. "I will trust, and not be afrai<l." 3. It should embolden us to meet emergencies with a valiant heart. 4. It should lead us to look upwe.rd with a waiting, expectant eye,