their enemies, and in the hour of danger to advance his own glory by releasing them from great difficulties. The imperfections of the creature can never be esteemed by God, nor commended by good men, for they are the offspring of a degenerate nature. The conduct of the Israelites is a striking portrait of man naturally and spiritually. Who could have supposed that the extreme state of difficulty in which they were placed, should have given occasion for God to manifest toward them his perfections in such circumstances? But so harmonious and united are the plans of infinite wisdom, that when the streams of creature comforts are cut off, and the ability of man to obtain what he desires is inadequate to effect the end he has elected, then, even then, the power of God accomplishes for his own people what the whole universe could never bring to pass. When our plans are proved to be insufficient to reach the end we desired, God is pleased to unfold his wisdom by opening a path for his saints, whereby they may either escape or surmount the oppression of their adversaries. Such was the conduct the Lord manifested upon the interesting occasion to which the scripture at the head of this paper refers.

The subject that is to employ our attention is worthy of our most cordial attachment and sincere regard. By observing and perpetuating the deliverances which God effects for us, we acknowledge practically his supremacy and independency; and we also have our beacons of deliverance kept in sight, and may often refer to them for present encouragement.

There are two things which we may notice: I. The deliverance that God wrought. II. It perpetuated and registered by his people. In every trying circumstance of life the true christian feels his entire dependence upon the arm of omnipotence, and his utter insufficiency to manage his own concerns. But as the wisdom of God is particularly displayed in the arrangement of the events of life, to bring to pass his own designs, we gladly embrace every indication of his friendship, and confide in his ability to perform what he has promised. If we were left to doubt whether the perfection of God is the endless security of the saints, we could not be sure that any one of them would persevere through the allotted scene of difficulty and tribulation inseparable from being related to the Lord Jesus Christ. We do, therefore, most gladly embrace the important fact, that the scenes of life through which we are appointed to pass become an occasion of unfolding the designs of eternal wisdom towards us; and we gratefully acknowledge the help afforded us by Almighty God. We will now consider the deliverance God wrought.

1. The appearance of Jehovah upon this occasion was unexpected and supernatural. Whenever God is pleased to shed divine influence upon the minds of his people, the effect will appear by their considering the cause of present suffering. The ark of God had long been in the possession of the philistines, and the hour of recovery had now come when it was no longer to be in the hands of pagan enemies. Samuel, the servant of the Lord, was employed in

offering sacrifices to him, and while he was thus engaged, the philistines draw near to battle; but just when they were about to triumph over the Israelites, Jehovah let loose his awful thunders and discomfited them. There is no reason to suppose that this appearance was natural; for, if it had been so, the philistines would not have fled before the Israelites. In the course of the journey of life, the good man is placed in those circumstances, that the whole world could not effect deliverance for him; and when he has from appearances concluded, that the things which affect him will be his inevitable destruction, God is pleased to work salvation for him in such a way he never anticipated. We are often hedged in by providential or mental circumstances, expressly that God may deliver us from the vain things of time, and shut us up to himself as our present and endless portion. We are never in greater danger than when we suppose ourselves to be competent to manage our own concerns, and we are never in a more becoming temper of mind than when we resign our reason to the force of truth, and commit our ways to God's management. Every display of divine omnipotence on our behalf proves, that these instances of kindness are for the glory of God; for such are the scenes through which we pass, that unless superhuman influence had been exerted for us and employed in our behalf, we could never have been released from the oppressions we were called to endure.

2. Jehovah's appearance for his people threw their enemies into confusion. There is something surprizingly pleasing in the instances of mercy shewn by God to his needy children. Their cruel enemies concerted their overthrow, but the moment the Lord as the sovereign of the universe arose to shew that all things are at his command and under his controul, that moment the opposers of his people were thrown into the utmost confusion and dismay. It is astonishing to contemplate how weak the creatures are when Jehovah appears to maintain his rights, and redress the wrongs of his people. Those who but a little while before appeared invulnerable, are thus like the moth crushed before the wind; and the good man who was trembling at the wrath of his opposers, is inspired with confidence: that is the effect of supernatural influence to face the danger and to vanquish his oppressors.

3. The appearance of God encouraged his people to pursue after and defeat their enemies. When the hand of God is visibly extended for the help of his people, their fears are soon dispersed and their hopes are elevated; for it is impossible to view his merciful appearances and not to be affected with them. He who can view the mighty acts of God with indifference, shews that he is not interested in the things wrought, and the salvation accomplished. It has repeatedly occurred in the course of the divine procedure, that the most unlikely means have been rendered by God the most effectual to accomplish his own purposes, and shield, encourage, and sustain the hopes of his people. If God will work for his own praise, and display his own supremacy and independency by the means he

wisely elected; who of all the sons of Adam will dare to say that what he does is wrong? Many of those who are rightly disposed towards God will often have ground for exultation over his enemies -admiration of the divine conduct, and they will adore Jehovah.

4. The people obtained a complete victory over their enemies. It has sometimes occurred that God has afforded his people a partial triumph over their enemies, and the effect has been to them highly encouraging; but when at a future time it has pleased him to give them a complete victory over all their confederated foes, so great has been their joy that, in the language of scripture," their mouths have been filled with laughter." Whenever God is pleased to point out the path of duty to his dear family, and strengthen them to walk in it, they have always found the way chosen by him has been the means of emancipating them from evil, and introducing them to the possession of all possible good. God can do nothing in vain, for whatever he performs he has good reason for his conduct; he never makes a straight path for his people's feet but the integrity of his nature and the uprightness of his conduct are discovered. The marvellous deliverance he wrought for Israel, was typical of the greater deliverance he wrought for the church by the sacrifice of Christ. In this perfect work the saints are interested, and through it they will obtain an endless victory over the combined forces of earth and hell.

Every thing of great moment should be carefully preserved from the wreck of nature and the desolating hand of time. There is not perhaps a more unlovely feature of conduct evinced by any person, than to neglect recording the great goodness and mercy of God. The conduct of the Israelites upon this occasion is worthy of imitation and commendation; for they had long evinced an idolatrous spirit, but they were now converted from their past vile conduct, and it had pleased God to approve their services, to deliver them from their enemies, and to restore to them his ark. I am not surprised that so great and good a man as Samuel should perpetuate the marvellous goodness of the Lord by erecting a stone of help, and inscribing upon it, Ebenezer!

We are now to consider that the people recorded the salvation effected for them.

1. We have here a public record of the salvation wrought by God for Israel. The place upon which this pillar was erected it is possible was the spot where the salvation was effected, but whether it was so or not is of very small consequence; the design of the people in erecting this pillar is that with which we have more immediately to do. It had pleased God to rescue them from their enemies, and to convert them from their idolatrous practices, and therefore they were acting in concert with the marvellous love that he had shewn to them upon that memorable day. The pillars that we erect to perpetuate the sovereign mercy of God, are often advantageous to ourselves, and ever remind us that we are the preserved of the Most High. Whenever a devout Jew passed by the stone set up

at Mizpeh, he could not look upon it but the occasion of its erection would rush into his mind, and draw from him a fresh expression of gratitude to their great deliverer. So whoever observes the displays of divine wisdom, manifested either to himself or to any other of the household of faith, reflect thereon; but he is excited to renewed expressions of gratitude to Almighty God for his unequalled love to Zion.

2. The pillar erected was inscribed to the God of their salvation. This deliverance was so evidently the work of God, that it was impossible to mistake who had wrought it. It is so with regard to those who are travelling through this world to the heavenly land; the Lord alone can bound the range of their enemies, and faithfully perform what he has graciously promised. To acknowledge the hand of God is at all times becoming those who have received from him the pleasing assurance, that all their steps are regulated in wisdom to the glory of his great name. If we were to suppose for a moment a philistine passing by the stone of help, he, being truly conscious what was the occasion of its erection, must be filled with confusion when he viewed the signal expression of his countrymen's disgrace, and the triumph of the tribes of Israel. Whenever the saints record the Lord's kind dealings with them, their adversaries are confounded at the public expressions of their defeat, and the perpetuity of their great disgrace. Besides this, a good man can never refer to the occasion of his erecting his Ebenezer pillar, but it must be an occasion of thanksgiving to God for his timely help afforded.

3. There was an acknowledgment of divine supremacy inscribed upon this public tablet. How often has it occurred that God has wrought deliverance in the earth, and there has been no pillar erected to record his unequalled goodness. But he is most graciously pleased to work salvation in and for his people, and it is wrought for them in that peculiar manner that they cannot pass it by heedlessly, nor forget it in a moment. The mind of the christian delights to run back and light down upon the spot where God was pleased to appear in the hour of extreme danger; the remembrance of it is sweet to speak of, it is beneficial to others, and the acknowledgment of it shews that the hand of God was discerned in it, while the rehearsal of it perpetuates his fame, and is an occasion of declaring his sovereignty. Whenever the christian is employed, under divine influence, in the delightful work of contemplating the great wisdom and power of Almighty God, in arranging and executing his plans, he will find matter for devout gratitude, and publicly acknowledge the harmony and unity that pervades the whole order of the divine government. It is impossible in the very nature of things that any man can sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of him what is the design of God concerning him, and not have reason publicly to confess the great condescension of God to manage his mean affairs, and thereby execute his own counsels, So remarkably is the interposing hand of God seen in the

behalf of his children, that they may invariably inscribe upon every tablet they erect, "hitherto hatlı the Lord helped us.”

4. The publicity of this pillar was the means of the salvation being perpetuated through all generations. This deliverance would be spoken of by the surrounding nations, and like the victories achieved by some of their forefathers, wherever they went their fame preceded them. We can never sufficiently admire the wisdom of God in arranging events, so that his praise shall be spread and his sovereignty adored. It appears that the saints have delighted, from the earliest age of christianity, to record the deliverances God wrought for them. When Peter was imprisoned by the Jews for the miracles he wrought, and an angel was commissioned to open for him the prison door, his associates did not forget to praise God, nor to record his wonderful deliverance. So also when Paul and Silas were imprisoned for preaching the gospel at Philippi, and afterwards casting out the spirit of divination from the damsel that followed them, when they were cast into prison for these benevolent actions, and by an earthquake the foundations of it was shaken, the mighty effects that followed were not suffered to slumber in everlasting night; but they were recorded for the glory of God, and for the encouragement of those who should hereafter believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in these latter days, the various proofs of the love of God to his chosen should be recorded with pleasure, as a grateful acknowledgment of his unbounded goodness and eternal beneficence.

J. B. T.

(To the Editor of the Spiritual Magazine.)

FINAL OBSERVATIONS ON A RECENT CONTROVERSY. Sir,

ALLOW me to offer my very humble, yet sincere congratulations, that T. W. H. has given his assurance not to write again upon the subject which has occupied the pages of a few last numbers of your useful work; Sir, my belief is, that J. H. and his opponent would be as far from convincing each other, were they to discuss the subject for twelve months, as they are at present. And to arrive at the truth of the proposition, is I believe beyond the possibility of finite compre

hension.

It would have been more in unison with the spirit of christianity, had T. W. H. been more temperate in the language which closes his observations; and, whatever might have been his convictions, it would not have been at all incompatible had he commended J. H. to the Lord, and the teachings of his Holy Spirit.

I am, Sir, your's most obediently,

Edward's Street, Portman Square

W. H. H.