very plee.sant, and they may be very profitable occasions; but they need to be rightly directed and well controlled, Of religious enthusiasm, we may consider- !. ITtl ONLY FIRM FIJUNDATION, This is a true sense of the Divine favour. Unless God be with us, grnnting us his own approval, intending to further us with his blessing, all our congrntulations are ill-timed and all our action will be fruitless. And it is needful that we know that we have his approval. It is too often assumed in its absence. Heze- kiah and his people, with Isaiah among them, were resting in a well-grounded confi- dence, Without such prophetic guidance, we must inquire of ourselves whether our repente.nce and our faith are deep and real; whether we have in truth "yielded our- selves unto the Lord" (ver. 8), whether we are" Christ's disciples indeed" (John viii. 31). II. lTs NATURAL ATMOSPHERE. Sacred joy. 'rhey "kept the feast . . . with ureat gladness" (ver. 21); "There was great joy in Jerusalem" (ver. 26). There are ~any sources of happineHs, reaching upwards from the most gross to the most spiritual and refined. There is none deeper or purer, none more elevated or enlarginQ', than the joy of the human spirit in the worship and service of the Supreme. To be holding hallowed fellowship with our Divine Father and Saviour, and to be so doing in unison with a multitude of our Christian brethren and sisters, or to be engaged with them in doing some earnest and faithful work,-this is a source of truest and worthiest human joy. III. ITS BEST MANIFESTATIONS, 1. In sacred song. The Levites" praised the Lord day by day" (ver. 21). A large measure of spiritual fervour finds utterance in song, happily to ourselves and acceptably to God. There is no phase of sacred feeling which may not find fitting expression thus. 2. In wise and kind encouragement. Hezekiah "spake comfortably unto all the Levites" (ver. 22). He no doubt congratulated them on their good spiritual estate and on their opportunity of service, and invited and urged them to exercise their sacred functions in all fidelity. A few words of timely encouragement from one that is in a higher position go a long way; such words constitute a stronger inducement to duty and devotion than many words of criticism or censure. 3. In religious instruction. "That taught the good knowledge of the Lord" (ver. 22). 4. In re-dedication. "A great number of priests sanctified themselves." Some of the priests, probably many, if not most of them, had shown slackness and had held back ( eh. =ix. 34); they had some reason for being ashamed (see ver. 15). But in this hour of wide- spread enthusiasm they came forward and made themselves ready for their sa.trc,l functions. At such a time, much is gained if those who have become cool in the service of their Lord, whose faith is failing and whose zeal is dying down, re-consecrate them- selves to him, take afresh upon them his vows, and solemnly and formally undertake to live and labour in bis cause, 5. In expansiveness. Room was found for "the strangers that came out of the land of Israel "-room in the hearts and at the tables of the people. Nothing can be better than that our own great gladness of heart in God should overflow to those beyond our own pale. By all means let there be a generous expansiveness at such a time; let the stranger, let the "outsider," let the outcast, let the "abandoned," let those who have come to despair of themselves, be remembered, be sought out, be encouraged, be eulightencd, be admitted and welcomed. We tread closely in the steps of our Leader when we act thus. 6. In liberality. In the generous use ofour substance (see ver. 24). ·when we are receiving freely of God's good gift of Racred joy, we should give freely of the good he has entrusted to our care.-O.
Vera. l-12.-Preparations for a grand national Passover. I. A PASSOVER DE0IDED ON, (Vera. 1, 5.) 1. By whom P Hezekiah, his princes, and all the congreg,t- tion in Jerusalem, with both of whom he had taken counsel. The important step, not adopted without deliberation, was concurred in by the entire body of t_he people (ver. 4). If any in the nation held aloof, these were the priests and the Levites (ver. 15). 2. For whom 1 All Israel and Judah. The contemplated Passover should not be sectional or provincial, but national. For" all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan "-for the inhabitants of the two kingdoms, which ought never to have b~en divided, and iu religion at least should ever have been one. 3. On what grouna 1 (1) That 1t was their duty to keep such a Passover. It was written in -~he Law of Moses ~hl\t all the congrerration 0 of Israel should eat the Passover (Exod. im. 47); that three tunes a year should all the m11les of the nation keep a feast unto the Lord, one of these feasts being THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [011. xxx. 1-27.