e.way, 11nd tbey went to their master." What wa.s the result of this generous treat- ment? Did they go away with the old passion of vengeance burning in them? Awo.y to reorganize themselves in greater numbers and with greater force to make another ntt.Hck? No. Here is the result: "So the bands of Syria came no more into the land ,,f Israel." The magnanimous kindness extinguished the flames and paralyzcd tho arms of revenge, so that tbey came no more into the land of Israel. This is the Divine way, nay, the only way, of conquering our enemies. Evil can only be overcome by good. The most glorious victory over an enemy is to turn him into a frieud.-D. 'l'. Vers. 15-17.-lnvincible helpers of the good. "And when the servant of the man of God was risen," etc. The context illustrates two circumstances too frequently o\'erlooked, but ever demanding the recognition and study of mankiad. 1. The value of a good man to his country. The Syrian monarch makes war with Israel; his counsels are formed, his arrangements are complete, and sanguine are his hopes of victory. But there is a go0d. man in Israel-Elisha-who reads the bidden purpose of the Syrian despot, sounds the alarm, puts his country on its guard, invokes Heaven, and thus confounds the wily stratagems and thwarts the murderous purposes of the foe. "So the bands of Syria came no mere into the land of Israel." True piety is the source of true patriotism; its prayers and prophecies are the sure "defences" of nations. This idea is dawning on the world now; and in coming periods will blaze iu broad daylight on mankind. We shall one day see that the victories of truth and prayer were th., only victories that e,·er served the interest of any nation, and that many-a pious man, who liven in obscurity and died under oppression, conferred greater blessings on the commonwealth than those statesmen and warriors whose patriotism has been emblazoned in history and sung in verse. The context illustrates: 2. Th6 source of a wicked man's weakness. Why did not this Syrian tyrant succeed in his plans? The words which one of his servants addressed to him explain the cause: " Eli,ba, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words that thou sr,eakest in thy bedchamber." His projects would not bear the light. As a principle, wicked men would seldom, if ever, realize their ends were there a prophet to unveil their hearts, and publish all the selfish, sensual, dishonest, and blasphemous thoughts that trnuspire in the hidden chamber of their souls. Wicked tradesmen, lawyers, states- men, and others succeed only as they conceal their hearts from public view. Let some prophet, like Ezekiel of old, break open the barred door of their "chamber o(imagery," and expose the hideous forms " portrayed upon the wall," the impious works tha.t are wrou ht "in the dark," and forthwith they will lose all public sympathy, patronage, 0
and ;upport. 0 my soul, cherish thou thoughts that shall bear a prophet's fiery glance-principles that will glow, bloom, and look attractive in the daylight; and purposes that will commend thee to the Divine consciousness of brother spirits, and to the favour of the Everlasting. I proceed to state, with the utmost brevity, a few general truths suggested by the incident before us. l. THAT THE GOOD ARE OFTEN PLACED IN CIROUHSTANCEB TO BEQUIBE BUPERHUIIIAN IIELP. Elisha and his servant were, at this time, at Dothan. The Syrian king, enraged with the prophet for frustrating his military designs on Israel, sends "horses, and chariots, and a great host" in pursuit of him. The mighty army "came by night, and compassed the city about." Early in the morning the pr?phet's servant beheld t~e armed and ruthless multitude drawn up around the city. Here were euenues which the prophet himself could not subdue, perils from which his unaided power could not extricate himseli Faint symbol this of the spiritual enemies that surround our dwellings! True, in these days, the antagonists of the good are not so outwardly visible as they were in times that are past. 'l'he great enemy does not send forth his host now garbed in the attire of the persecutors. They app~ar_ not amongs~ us i-';1 the grim and savage forms of the J ulians and the~ eros, the Max1m1?s ~n~ _the D1ocletULn~; they assume au habiliment more consonant with the tastes of tins e1v1hzed era. Their forms fascinate rather than terrify. They seek to draw rather than to drive. But Btill, are they any less deadly in their aim, or formi,lablc in their pow_cr, be~ause the_y change their garb, drop the sivord, and sl;retch out the hand of false fnendsh1p? It 18 not the plundering of our property nor tl, e wounding of our bodies that injures us most, Lut the corrupting of our souls. The awakening within our spiritual natures of an impure OH, n. 1-33.] THE SEC01/D BOOK OF THE KINGS. 139