ground, when they immediately strike root and form independent grasses, This is a remarkable adaptation to circumstances; for it is mar.ifest that were seeds, instead of living plants, developed in the ears of the mountain grasses, they would be useless in the stormy region where they grow. They would be blown away, far from the places they were intended to clothe, to spots foreign to their nature and habits, and thus tbo species would speedily perish." Ruskin says," Look up to the higher hills, where the waves of green roll silently into long inlets among the shadows of the pines, and we may perhaps know the meaning of those quiet words of Ps. cxlvii. 8."-R. T. Vere. 16, 17.-The lessons of the 'I.Dfflter. "What can be lovelier than the glitter- ing jewels with which the hoar-frost bedizens every leaf and spray of the woodland? Or the translucent azure of the glacier crevasses with their long pendants of lustrous ice? There are beautiful things in winter as well as in summer; and we need the cold, unearthly splendours of the one as much as the glowing, living charms of the other to educate our sense of God's greatness in his works. But beauty is every- where in nature the flower of utility; and in the realms of frost this quality is most strikingly displayed" (Hugh Macmillan). There is a short, but sharp winter-time in the Holy Land, extending from the middle of December to the middle of February. There are severe winds from the north and north-east, with heavy rains and frosts. Kings often bad "winter houses." Even the seasons God has made to fit in with man's highest needs. Winter is the stillness and re-rooting of the year. It ts as truly a busy time as any other time of the year, but the activities go on in secret, underground. So in man's religious life. He needs re-rooting times. Seasons when activity must give place to culture, in preparation for further and higher activities. Times of stillness, sickness, trouble, are the great winter-times for soul-rooting. The actual winter-time is a time of great opportunities for our religious life. I. It may be a time of personal soul-culture. 2. It may be a time of intellectual nourishment. 3. It may be a time of social intercourse. 4. It may be a time of Christian work. It is the Church's best time for work. When telling what the Lord Jesus did in Solomon's porch, John says, "It was winter.n He did not suffer himself to be unduly affected by outward conditions, or hindered in his work by them. In winter be was still "about his Father's business." He mnstered tbe cold to cnrry out good plans. Winter is, for us, full of temptations to self-indulgence. Axe we mastering the temptations, and winning our winters for God ?-R. T. Ver. 16.-The mission of the frost and the snow. "He wrnps the earth in snow as in a warm white woollen garment, and scatters the frost so that the trees, etc., appear ns if powdered with (wood) ashes blown about by the wind.'' The rain, the frost, nnd the snow are all forms of moisture. Winter is God's time for putting things to rights. Three things especially want renewing and replenishing-the earth, the nir, the w11ter, and to do this replenishing is the mission of the frost, the snow, nnd the rnin. But everything that God does is beautiful as well as useful; nnd so we find tho hoar-frost makes an exquisite silvery world; the snow hangs in festoons of wonderful glistening whiteness; and the rain makes the lovely cascades leap from crag to crng down lho hillsides. We think now chiefly of their usefulness. The frost breaks up the ground, checks the too abundant growth of insect-life, and keeps the air cool to check vege- tation, and make the sap in the trees wait for its due time. The snow penetrates tho soil, and nourishes it both with warmth and moisture; and it cnrries to the grournl some of the chemical elementll it needs to fit it for its new yeM's work. Aud the rain refills the secret springs whence our fresh water comes, and washes down from the hillsides new soil with which to fertilize the valloys. God does grandly in his winter-time what we see the farmer doing in his little way-ploughing, manuring, hedging, ditching, road-repairing, etc.; getting ready for summer's life and growth. And the frost and the snow may nrry this as their message to our hearts concerning God's dealings wi.1.h us. '' We ba'\'e apparently very severe and hard things to do for God; but we try to do them cheerfully, and we try to do them well, and, a[ter all, they are really very kind things, only the gracious severities of the infinite lovc.-R. T.
Vers, 1-6.-Jehovah the infinitely Mighty and Omniscient One, in the creation and 4013 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [rs. CXLVIII, 1-14.
in tl,e hunw.n worlJ, worthy, therefore, of all praise and worship. "Celebrates God'~ nlmighty and gracious rule over his peoplo, and over the w0rld of nature, but mingles with this a specia.l commemoration of his goodness in bringing back his people from their captivity, and rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem." I. GOD IS ALMIGHTY IN THE WORK OF TRE MATERIAL UNIVERSE. 1. He created the MIIvenlty worlds. (Isa. xl. 26.) 2. He has a perfect k"1'1,0Wledge of them. (Ver. 4.) He knows all the innumerable multitude : "telleth the number of the stars." And knows each one of them in particular: "and calleth them all by their names." "Not one faileth." God is great in power, and great in knowledge; "there is no searching of ais understanding." The inference from all this is only suggested, not stated. IL Goo IS ALL-GOOD AS WELL AS ALMIGll'l'Y AND OMNISCIENT. (Vers. 2, 3, 6.) He must know and be able to succour human woe to whom it is an easy thing to create and count and guide the stars. 1. He can recover from sla·very and restore to freedom. (Ver. 2.) '!'hose who have b~en taken captive, and dispersed abroad. Slaves are those fit for slavery. 2. He can restore men from the depths of suffering and despair. (Ver. 3.) The broken in heart, and most deeply wounded. 3. God'sJ°ustice itt-perfect in its retributive work. (Ver. 6.) He exalts the righteous above their afflictions, and casts down the prosperous wicked.-S.