"And Israel strenghened himself, and sat up on the bed."—Genesis 48:2 This was an interesting moment in the life, or rather the death, of the patriarch, and may serve, my soul, to shew what ought to be the conduct of the believer in his last expiring hours. The imagination can hardly conceive any situation equally momentous, in every point of view, both as it concerns a faithful God, a man's own heart, and the church the dying saint is going to leave behind. What can form a more lovely sight than a dying saint, sitting up in the bed, (if the Lord permits the opportunity) and recounting, as Jacob did, the gracious dealings of the Lord, all the way along the path of pilgrimage -…

"Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD. And he said, Who am I, O LORD GOD! and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And is this the manner of man, O LORD GOD?”—2 Samuel 7:18-19 The language of David, under the overwhelming views he had of divine goodness, as it concerned himself, is suited to the case of every child of God, as he may trace that goodness in his own history. Surely, every awakened soul may cry out, under the same impression, - "Who am I, O Lord God! and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? "My soul! ponder over the sweet subject, as it concerns thyself. Behold what manner of love the…

"And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him, and he became a captain over them."—1 Samuel 22:2 My soul, was not this thy case when thou first sought after Jesus? Thou wert, indeed, in debt under an heavy load of insolvency. Distress and discontent sadly marked thy whole frame. Unconscious where to go, or to whom to seek, and no man cared for thy soul. Oh! what a precious thought it was, and which none but God the Holy Ghost could have put into thine heart —Go unto Jesus! And when I came, and thou didst graciously condescend to be my captain, from that hour how hath my soul…

"He will be very gracious unto thee; at the voice of thy cry, when he shall hear it, he will answer thee."—Isaiah 30:9 Mark, my soul, what is here said; for every word in this sweet scripture tells. Thy God, thy Saviour, thy Jesus, knows thy voice, hears thy cry, and will assuredly answer. He will not only be gracious, but very gracious. He waits to be gracious; waits the most suited time, the best time, the praying time, the crying time; for he times his grace, his mercy, to thy need. And though thou knowest it not, yet so it is; when his time is near at hand, which is always the best time, he puts a cry in thine heart; so that the…

"They shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Saviour, and a great one, and he shall, deliver them."—Isaiah 14:20 Mark, my soul, the sweet encouragement contained in these words. Here is a cry, and it is the cry of the soul; for it is directed unto the Lord. There is (as Elihu tells us) a cry of nature under oppression; but as this is not to God, it is evident that it never came from God; for he tells us, that none of them saith, "Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night?" Job 25: 9. But when the Holy Ghost convinceth of sin, and puts a cry in the heart by reason of…