tance to die, is perhaps immaterial. Strong reasons did, in fact, exist, why he wished for the continuance of life, and such as led Hezekiah to pray most fervently, therefore, and to accompany his supplication with tears unto Him that was able to save.

On receiving the message, therefore, he turns himself on his bed towards the wall, either to conceal his strong emotion, or the better to prevent interruption, and now pours forth his desires for the prolongation of life.

I cannot think, with Dr. Clarke, that, in the arguments he used, there was a "want of humility, or of a due sense of his own weakness." Hezekiah was not pleading for eternal life, but simply for the continuance of his natural life; and, as Dr. Scott rightly observes, "the Lord knew, and Hezekiah could appeal to him, that he had walked before him in sincerity and uprightness of heart; having used all his authority and influence, with zeal and earnestness, to suppress idolatry and wickedness, and, by every Scriptural means, to promote the worship and service of God; and that he had done what was good in his sight, being an example to his people. The consciousness of his integrity gave him confidence, and he begged the Lord to remember the fruits of grace which had been produced, and to spare him, that he might be yet more fruitful and useful." And this plea prevails. Before Isaiah has left the royal residence, he is directed to return to Hezekiah, and assure him that the Lord has heard his prayer, and seen his tears, and would add fifteen years to his life.

"If we would have promised mercies, however, we must observe instituted means." An application is prescribed of a lump of figs, which, although it might tend, according to natural laws, to his recovery, must have derived its chief efficacy from virtue directly imparted.

And, moreover, a sign is given for the encouragement of his faith. He begged it, we may believe, not in any distrust

of the power or promise of God, but because he looked on the things promised to be of great importance, and worthy to be confirmed; and, may be, he remembered how much God was displeased with his father, for refusing to ask a sign. Isaiah 7: 10-12.

It

may be added, to Hezekiah's credit, that, on his recovery, he expressed his gratitude in a "writing," beautiful in conception and expression, in conclusion of which he says: "The Lord was ready to save me; therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instrument all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord."

The preceding narrative may serve to awaken solemn reflections in the bosoms of those whom God, either through their own supplications, or through the prayers of pious friends in their behalf, has spared, but who have not made requital, as they have promised.

Who has not seen persons on a sick couch startled at the prospect of dying? and, as nature has grown weaker, and an increase of disease has given warning of approaching death-what anxiety! what prayers! what vows! How often, in such seasons of alarm, friends have been conjured to intercede at a throne of grace; and the minister has been summoned to add his importunity also. Oh! if they might be spared a little longer-if God would have mercy—if they might recover-how assiduously would they devote themselves to his glory; the world should see how faithful they I would be to their vows.

God has spared them, and both He and the world have seen how faithful they have been. In a few weeks, or months, they have left their couch of pain and languishment. They have, perhaps, gone up to the house of God, and returned public thanks. They have, for a time, appeared grateful, and thought they should sing songs unto the Lord all the days of their life. But mark them, a few months or years onward! How absorbed in the cares of life! How

eager in the pursuit of its objects! No time now, scarcely, for reflection; no time even for private prayer, and communion with God. Where-ye spared monuments of the mercy of God—where are those solemn and rëiterated vows, which were poured forth to God in the presence of your agonized friends?

Take another case. Observe those parents, sitting beside the cradle of a beloved, and, perhaps, only child. It is sick, and nigh unto death; and, with inexpressible anguish, they are watching its little bosom, as it heaves, feeling its fluttering pulse, and marking its dying moan. Listen to the aspirations of its almost frantic mother: "O God! spare, spare my child! It shall be devoted to thee!-nay, merciful God! not only my child, but also myself will be thine-only spare my child!"

In a few weeks, the little prattler is again at play, sporting around its fond parents, joyous as a morning sunbeam; and the parents' eyes, especially the mother's, beam with delight, and her heart beats with joy, as she sees this idol of her soul once more exulting in all the gayety and animation of childhood.

Is that child consecrated to God, as that parent promised? Does she, more than ever, bring it up for God, because it has been re-lent to her, in answer to her tears and prayers? And, moreover, has the mother remembered her vows, made in relation to herself, and given her heart to God? Alas! how many hundreds of instances occur every year, in which such vows are made only to be forgotten!

Better, doubtless, for some, if prayers offered for them by pious friends were unanswered. They have been spared; but longer life, instead of proving a blessing, has proved only a curse. They have lived but to evince the ingratitude of their hearts, and to add to the aggravation of their final doom.

Friends! wnoever you may be, whose eyes fall upon these

pages, have you received such mercies as we have named? Have you prayed, or others prayed for you, and you promised? Oh! by the worth of your soul-in the name of gratitude-duty-life everlasting-fail not to do as you vowed unto the Lord, in the day of your trouble.

I. CHRONICLES.

PRAYER OF JABEZ.

And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.-1 Chron. iv. 9, 10.

"IF we had to fix upon a portion of Scripture," says a writer, "which might be removed from our Bible, without being much missed, we should probably select the first nine chapters of the first Book of Chronicles. They seem, at first sight, a mere record of names, a catalogue of genealogies, over which the eye glances rapidly; and we are inclined, like the traveler whose journey lies through the sands of the desert, to hasten on, as if there were nothing worthy of examination. Yet, amidst those sands, there is, now and then, a verdant spot; some oasis where we may pause and refresh ourselves; and, perhaps, some spring at which we may slake our thirst."

In like manner, interspersed with the names which crowd these nine chapters, there occur, here and there, brief, but pungent notices of persons and things, which are both interesting and instructive.

The passage before us is a remarkable case in point. Here is a chapter made up of genealogies and names. Let me skip it, might be the feeling of the reader; what good can I get from learning that Penuel was the father of Gedor,

and Ezer the father Hushah? But, if he were to skip it, he would miss one of the most beautiful and interesting passages in the Bible; that which is now the subject of our contemplations.

We do not know the particular reasons which influenced the mother of Jabez to call him by that name, a name which means "Sorrowful." Perhaps she brought forth this son with more than common anguish; perhaps the time of his birth was the time of her widowhood; so that the child came, and found no father to welcome him. But whatever may have been the cause, whether personal anguish, domestic affliction, or public calamity, we may consider her as having bent in bitterness over her new-born child, having only tears to give him, as his welcome to the world.

And, yet, child of sorrow that he was, he proved “more honorable than his brethren." They, too, may have been excellent, and perhaps as much is implied; but Jabez took the lead, and whether or not the youngest in years, surpassed every other in piety and renown. Oh! if the mother lived to see the manhood, the integrity, the piety of this son, she must have regretted, and, perhaps, reproached herself for giving him, in some hour of despondency, the gloomy and ominous name which he bore.

But let us turn to the prayer of Jabez. "And what did he pray for? For great things; great, if you suppose him to have spoken only as an heir of the temporal Canaan; greater, if you ascribe to him acquaintance with the mercies. of redemption. 'Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed!' Lay the emphasis on that word, 'indeed.' Many things pass for blessings which are not; to as many more we deny, though we ought to give the character. There is a blessing in appearance, which is not also a blessing in reality; and, conversely, the reality may exist where the appearance is wanting. The man in prosperity appears to have, the man in adversity to be without, a blessing; yet how often does