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greatest blessings upon earth calmness and compo sure of spirit, tranquillity, cheerfulness, and comfort of mind These, as one observes, are the peculiar portion and recompense of the meek. Unassuming, gentle, and humble in their deportment, they give no offence, they create no enemies, they provoke no hostilities, and thus escape that large proportion of human misery which arises from dissensions and disputes. If differences do exist, by mildness and prudence they anditver disarm their adversaries, they soften resentafent, they court reconciliation, and seldom fail of restoring harmony and peace. By bending under the storms which assail them, they greatly mitigate their violence, and see them pass over their heads almost without feeling their foree. Content and satisfied" with their lot, they move quietly and silently through the crowds that surround them; and encounter much fewer difficulties and calamities in their progress through life, than more active and enterprising meu.

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But doubtless the pronise includes spiritual blessings, and in this view has much higher importance. "The meek shall eat and be satisfied:" they partake of the bread of of life, they draw water out of the wells of salvation; they taste that the Lord is gracious. Do you ask, what is this bread of life, this water of salvation? It is Christ in the promise; the Saviour, as exhibited in the gospel, obeying the law, enduring the curse, and dying a sacrifice for e for guilty man. It is in reference to his death, and the blessings resulting from this great event, that he affirms, Except ye eat of the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh He

is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." blood is drink indeed. Besh

speaks of himself as the true bread, the bread which cometh down from heaven," and asserts with emphasis He that eateth of this bread shall live

for ever*." Is not this to be "satisfied?" Mark his words to the woman of Samaria: "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting lifet." And is not this to be "satisfied ?" The provision of the gospel is represented by the idea of a feast, a royal feast it is prepared in the Church, and spread for the refreshment of Gentiles as well as Jews:-"In this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people, a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." How appropriate the declaration, "My people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord!"

Now contrast, with this holy satisfaction, the unmeaning formality of nere prófessors of religion, and see its emptiness. They attend to outward duties, but all is cold and dead: they feel not the power of godliness; they enjoy not its consolations. They hear the sound of the gospel, but imbibe not its spirit; it imparts no life, neither does it make them happy. Widely different is the experience of genuine believers: "Thy words were found, and I did eat them;" and did they not satisfy? Thy word was unto me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart:"-" I will never forget thy precepts, for with them thou hast quickened me. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb.

"

2. "They shall praise the Lord that seek him." This employment is rational, and must be attended with pleasure." Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely." In harmony with this sentiment,

* John vi. 53-58.

↑ John iv. 14.

"While

the Psalmist adopts the worthy resolution; I live, will I praise the Lord; I will sing praises unto my God, while I have any being."

And observe, how praise is connected with prayer, and results from it. Who "shall praise the Lord ?" They "that seek him." "Seek ye the Lord, therefore, while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near" and know that he hath not said, at any time, or "to any of the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain." No! "Seek, and you shall find; ask, and you shall receive;" and receiving, your joy shall be full. Glory ye in his holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord." There is reason, good reason for rejoicing and glory. Such persons are the subjects of a Divine change, the happy partakers of Divine grace: such persons are interested in God as their own God: they call him "Father," and are assured of the tenderest affection of their Father's heart.

They that "seek the Lord" have already had such discoveries of his perfections and character, such experience of the preciousness of his promises, such proof of his inviolable faithfulness, as warm their hearts with love and gratitude. They cannot but praise him, and they long to praise him better. They have also in prospect the full answer of all their petitions: many of them they have forgotten, but their covenant God forgets them not. Their prayers are gone up "for a memorial before God:" they are written in his book: he remembers well all they have requested, and is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think."

The believer may "walk in darkness," and the dispensations of Providence may be attended with little or "no light;" but "let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God," and "light

* Ps, cxlvii. 1; cxlvi. 2.

your heart shall live for ever you bas seisig It shall be maintained through time; supported and preserved through all the fluctuations and perplexities of the present state. hatever Hoods of trial, or fires of temptation, or tempests of adversity assail the believer, he shall out brave them all. "Your heart shall live that seek God"nam life pHe accounts for wonder, for "Christ is our life H the cheering fact in the most satisfactory manner "Because I live, ye shall live alsot?" The Christian's life is bound up" in the life of Christ: it runs parallel with his, and shares in the same immortality

* Psalm lxix, 32: 547 John xiv. 19.

it is "hid with Christ in God." How descriptive are the words of the Apostle, of the believer's character, and of the principle by which his best existence is maintained! "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me*."

It shall be perfected in eternity: "Your heart shall live," not only through all the windings and changes of time, but to everlasting ages-" for ever." In heaven all is life, without any languor. Love burns with ardent flame; praise is elevated; and obedience is alert and constant. Jesus said to his disciples: "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." He hath it already in the promise on which he rests, and in the earnest which is given him, but he waits for the full possession: he anticipates with humble, cheerful hope, the termination of all his fears, the death of all his doubts, the destruction of all his sins. While here, his revivals are transient; much imperfection attends him; innumerable evils compass him about, spoil his peace, damp his joy, and threaten the extinction of his better life; but in heaven all is secure-all is uniform and lasting. "Your heart shall live for ever."

"The end of all things is at hand." Vanity is inscribed on every earthly pursuit, on all sublunary labour: its materials, its instruments, its objects, will alike perish." Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax olď like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished." Here then is permanent good; and the possession of this