desires, and holy thoughts, and spiritual affections. May the light of Thy reconciled countenance shine upon us. Grant us Thy peace. Hear us and bless us, for our Saviour's sake. Amen.

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CHAPTER XXV.

SICK-BED CARES.

JEREMIAH XLIX. 11.

11. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me.

THE sick are often troubled with anxiety about those whom they must leave behind, when it shall please God to call them. The father of a family sees his wife and children round his sick-bed, and wonders how they will fare when he is gone. His labour has been their main support; already, during his illness, they have been without some of the comforts which they were used to while he could work for them; what will they do in time to come? The sickly mother of a large family, feeling her strength decline day by day, has many an anxious thought for her children. Who will

train them aright? Who will comfort them in trouble, help them in difficulty? Who will do for them what she has been used to do, but even now can do no longer? Who will be a mother to them, when she is no more?

Even when the sick person has been able to commit his soul in faith to his Redeemer, and can humbly believe that he is forgiven and accepted in Christ, anxiety is still often felt about wife, children, husband. And this anxiety disturbs the peace of the soul, and sometimes brings a cloud over a bright and well-founded hope.

This verse from the prophet Jeremiah exactly meets and answers all such anxious thoughts; "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me."

It is true, there is some difficulty about the words as originally spoken. For they are found in the middle of a severe threatening against Edom; and some have gone so far as to think that they were addressed to the people of Edom ironically in some way, and were not really meant as words of comfort and promise. It seems more likely that they were not addressed to Edom at all, but to Israel. Edom was the enemy and per

secutor of Israel, and was to be punished severely. While threatening the Edomites, God comforts the people of Israel. Let them not be afraid. Their enemies should not make an end of them entirely. Many women were made widows, many children fatherless, yet God would take care of the widow and the orphan.

Whether this was the meaning, or whether, even in the midst of threatenings, God yet addresses these words of mercy to Edom, the meaning to us is plain. God speaks by these words to the dying believer, and bids him trust wife and children to Him.

There are many other places in Scripture in which comfort of the same kind is given. For instance, the Psalmist addresses God thus, "Thou art the helper of the fatherless." In another

Psalm we read, "A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation." And again, And again, "The Lord preserveth the strangers; He relieveth the fatherless and widow." So in the prophecy of Hosea we read, “In Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

In other places we find God's severe displeasure declared against all who should oppress the widow

and the fatherless; and throughout Scripture we cannot fail to see God's special care for them. It was for a widow, that the miracle of the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil was wrought. It was a widow, whose only son Jesus restored to life at Nain. One of the first things we read of in the history of the Church after our Lord's ascension is the provision made for the wants of widows; and this was the work of the Apostles, who acted under inspiration of God.

We see plainly then from Scripture, that God has a special care for the widow and the fatherless. And have we not observed the same in our own experience? Have we not often seen how God raises up friends for the widow, and provides for the orphan ? God does not change. The God of the Bible is our God still. What He there declares to be His gracious will regarding the widow and the fatherless, is His will still. What we read in His Word, we may also observe in His dealings. He is the God of the widow. In Him the fatherless findeth mercy.

Let those who have committed their souls to their God and Father in Christ Jesus, commit to Him also all their concerns. He who can save your