Introduction. ONE who has long sought the welfare of sailors, sends this forth with the prayer that, by reading the texts on the sea, many brave sons of the ocean may be led to study the infallible chart of Scripture, and, by its guidance, 6 Shape a course direct for Heaven,' with the Lord Jesus Christ as the Captain of their salvation. Look'd from the deck, land out of sight, The ship, fast sailing, free; On either side the ocean grand, How wonderful to see! Thought of the Ark, its floating safe Of Noah and the dove; Of Jesus walking on the wave, And of His saving love. The sun goes down, the moon not up, How does the helmsman see to steer, By light of lamp on compass card In traversing along life's path, Our guide the Bible be. J. R. R. 9 TEXTS AND THOUGHTS FOR SEAMEN. -:0: Chapter 1. Creation of the sea-It is called upon to proclaim the majesty of the Lord-It is protected by God-Commotions of it prophetic-Its insatiable nature-A sailor boy's happy death-Sea of glass in heaven. THE HE sea is one of the most wonderful of the works of God; and the only object in the universe which has remained unchanged since the beginning of the world. 'The aspect of the ocean is the same That it hath been since Noah left the sea. Mountains have crumbled, earthquakes have overturned cities, large tracts of country have been submerged, forests have grown up and been hewn down, generations of men have lived and passed away, but the sea continues the same as when God said at its creation : 10. 'Let the waters under the heaven be gathered Gen. 1. 9, together unto one place, and let the dry land B Psa. 95. 5. Psa. 33. 7. Isa. 40. 12. Job 28. 25. Psa. 24. 1, 2. 1 Chron.16. 31, 32. appear and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.' David brings this to remembrance. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.' 'He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.' 'Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span.' 'He weigheth the waters by measure.' The earth is said to be founded on the sea. 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.' The sovereignty of God over the whole world is here declared by the Psalmist. He hath formed both the earth and its inhabitants, and separated the dry land from the waters; by which it arose out of the floods, and seemed to have its foundation upon them. The sea, along with other works of creation, is called upon to proclaim the majesty of the Lord. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.' Unless God protected the sea, it might be rendered useless to man or injurious to him. Has this thought ever struck those who sail upon it? And why is it thus protected? For the sake of the righteous. How little the ungodly know the evils that are prevented, or blessings granted, for the sake of God's children, and in answer to their prayers! 'Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the Rev. 7. 3. trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.' The great 'Angel of the Covenant,' as one having sovereign authority, called to the other angels, to whom a commission had been given to bring calamities on mankind by land and sea, ordering them not to execute it till he and his ministers, as the instruments of His grace, had 'sealed the servants of God in their foreheads,' that they might be evidently distinguished from others, and so preserved during approaching calamities. This signified that very many would be really converted, and renewed to the image of God by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. Commotions of the sea are foretold as a sign of the end of the world approaching. 27. 'And there shall be signs in the sun, and in Luke 21. 25the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for |