Ver. 4.-The leadership of Ohrist. These words, primarily applicable to David, aro true of that Son of David whose course was to be so different, but whose work was to be so much deeper a'nd greater than that of the King of Israel. David was a man who showed himself possessed of all the essential qualitfes of a great leader of men. He had the power of attaching them to his own person with a strong affection ; be sharer! their hardships and their perils; be impreReed on them bis own principles anrl habits; he lifted them up with his own elevation. In these respects, but with a depth and fulness to which the earthly monarch can lay no claim at all, Jesus Christ is the great "Leader to the people" of God. I. HE ATTACIIEB us TO HIMSELF. The devotion of his soldiers to Napoleon Bnna- parte was extraordinary; but that great commander, with all his egotism, acknowlcclged that this was nothing compared with the devotion of Christian men to the Person of Jesus Christ. The pity with which he pitied us in our low estate, the tender interest with which he has sought and rescued us, the shame and the sorrow which he b01·e for us, the death he died for us, the patient love with which he has been loving us,-all this will well account for the fact that, as no king, or general, or statesman has ever done before, Jesus Christ has shown himself the Leader of men by attaching them to his Person with a passionate and unwavering devotion. II. HE HAS SHARED OUR HARDSHIPS AND OUR SUFFERINGS. He does not bid us go the way he went not himself. "He leads us through no de.rker rooms Than he went through before." He asks us to drink of his cup, bt,t it is only to taste that bitter draught which he himself drained even to the dregs. Whether it be bodily pain or spiritual distress; whether it be suffering, or poverty, or loneliness, or disappointment, or desertion, or shame, or death,-Christ has himself endured darker and sadder trials than any he calls us to encounter. III. HE CONSTRAINS us TO LIVE HIS OWN LIFE. He not only demands of us that our minds shall be possessed with his own principles, and that our lives shall illustrate them, but he has the power of constraining us to think as he thought, to feel as he felt, to do as he did, to be what he was. If this purpose of his is not accomplished or is not being wrought in us, then are we not bis "disciples indeed." IV. HE SHARES WITH us HIS OWN EXALTATION. If we bear his cross, we shall sit down with him on his throne. To us all he says, "I appoint unto you a kingdom." If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him.-C. Ver. 6.-God's especial nearness. It is one of the familiar Scripture truths, open even to the little child, that God is always near to us; and that there is no time we can think of when he may not be found by the humble, believing heart. But there are times wher. he is comparatively near, and when, if we are wise, we shall go to him in the spirit of full self-surrender, shall enter the kingdom of his grace, and secure his everlasting favour. I. THE PERIOD OF YOUTH ; when the mind is open, the conscience tender, the soul responsive. II. THE DAY OF VIBITATI0N; when the stticken and wounded heart wants a Divine Healer, and can find none but in him who binds up the broken heart and heals its wounds. III. THE TIME OF SPEOUL PRIVILEGE; when we listen to the minister, read the book, have fellowship with the friend whose true and earnest voice has an unusual power to penetrate to the secret places of our soul. IV. THE HOUR OF DIRECT DIVINE 0ONTAOT; when God lays his hand upon us, touches the springs of our sacred thought, reveals to us our sinfulness and our need, awakens us to the seriousness of our life and the nearness of eternity, and calls us to return unto himself. Wise is it beyond all earthly wisdom then to hearken and obey, to seek the Lord while he may be found, to call upon him while he is near; foolish is it beyond all other folly to turn a deaf ear or to show a disobedient spirit then; for God may never again come so near to our souls-may never a.gain be so readily found by our human spirits; the distance between us and our Saviour may be continually IBAIAB-U. a 339 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [OH. LV. 1-13,
enlarging, until some great gulf of sin or hard-heartedness separate ue from his side and from his service evermore.-C.