selves up to despondency. Every moment brought the cruel tyrant and their late oppressors nearer. The sound of the trumpets, the rattling of the chariots, the trampling of the horses, and soon the voices of the commanders, were heard. Fear spread from breast to breast. It increased as it went. It became consternation and terror. It rose to the agony of despair. It broke out in the hopeless cry of anguish, which ascended, on all sides, to heaven, and then rushed, in bitter complaints, upon the ears of Moses.

"Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."

Fear ye not," was the reply of their intrepid leader, whose faith in God sustained him in this trying hour. Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The

Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." The arm of Jehovah shall rescue you, without any effort of your own; while, your clamors being silenced, ye shall witness, in quiet amaze

ment, the divine interposition in your behalf. Moses had been praying for this deliverance, in his heart surely, and, perhaps, audibly with his voice. His fervent desires, and sighs, were still ascending to heaven, for the aid of that almighty Being who had bade him engage in this momentous enterprise, and had brought him and his countrymen into their present perilous condition. His supplications are heard. The voice of Jehovah meets his ear. "Wherefore criest thou unto me?" Thou needest no longer urge thy petitions. They are about to be answered. "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, and upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen."

The Israelites were still in their encampment, waiting with trembling solicitude the crisis of their fate. What must have been their astonishment, to see, all at once, the pillar of the cloud, which was in front of them, move round in silent majesty through the air, and take its place in their rear !

The angel of God, we are told, did it; the heavenly and mysterious messenger, who was appointed by the Almighty, thus to be the guide and safeguard of his people, in the pillar of a cloud by day, and of fire by night.

It was to them a sublime and cheering spectacle. It showed that God was mindful of them; and that he was about to interpose, in their extremity, between them and their enemies. It was a bright omen of the further aid which, in some way, he would speedily afford them. Their drooping spirits were revived; and new hopes, animating their breasts, prepared them for that prompt and expeditious movement which they would, in a short time, be called upon to make.

"The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." In seasons of perplexity and danger, where can we look for support and succor but unto God. All other help will fail, or disappoint us. For we should never forget, that if we ourselves are able to make any efforts for deliverance, or to succeed in procuring the assistance of our fellow-men, such ability and assistance are under the direction of God. His unceasing Providence controls and manages it all. He holds our destinies in his hands, and sends help in our extremities, or withholds it, just as he pleases.

Make God your refuge, my young friend, at all times; a refuge not only from threatening and

appalling dangers, should they occur, but from the worst of all evils-sin, and the temptations which lead to it.

If you live, you will have your difficulties and trials. You may have had them already. The world is full of them. You will find that you need support. You may be hemmed in by such difficul ties and trials, and see no way of escape. Remember the Israelites of old. God appeared for their deliverance. He can appear for yours. He can appear for you, in the most trying of all the scenes which are yet to await you, in the hour of death. Then, when flesh and heart shall fail you, he can be the strength of your heart, and your portion for ever. He will thus afford you every consolation and aid which are best for you, in life; he will thus sustain you, in your dying hour, if you go to him, through Christ, and put your trust in him. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help; the Lord his God.

whose hope is in

CHAPTER XXIII.

The Israelites pass through the Red Sea. The destruction of the Egyptians.

The Egyptians had doubtless seen the peculiar position of the Israelites, and felt secure of victory. Their hurried and fatiguing pursuit needed a short respite. They halted and encamped, before commencing the intended attack. What was their surprise, to see the strange and wonderful pillar of the cloud, floating sublimely round the camp of the Israelites, and overshadowing it on the side where they expected soon to rush down upon them! It filled them with amazement. They gazed, and wondered to know what the prodigy portended. There it stood, an immense column, rising high towards heaven, between the camp of the Egyptians and that of the Israelites.

Towards the former, it presented the aspect of thick and gloomy darkness, heightening the deep obscurity which the approaching night was beginning to cast on all surrounding objects. To the latter it had a luminous side, shedding a bright and cheerful light, and enabling them to make their hasty and momentous movement clearly and expe