years of wandering: that they had been fed with a food, which neither they nor their fathers had ever conceived of; and deduces from this, the valuable lesson, that man doth not live by bread alone, but that so entirely is he dependent upon the great Jehovah for existence, that he may rather be said to live upon his Word. Very instructive is the use which our divine Lord and Saviour makes of this declaration, in after ages, when tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread; He simply replies in these words of Moses, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God;" clearly intending to convey, that it was no more necessary for Him to turn stones into bread to obtain nourishment, than it was for the multitudes of Israel to have performed a similar miracle upon the sands of the desert. God is God all-sufficient, and they who trust Him shall never want any good thing; most wisely, therefore, did the psalmist say, "Trust in the Lord, and verily thou shalt be fed;"* and most piously did he appropriate this great truth to himself, when he exclaimed, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Let, then, no faithful follower of our Redeemer doubt the fact, that his "bread and his water shall be sure," for his

* Ps. xxxvii. 3.

Father knoweth that he hath need of these things, and will, if for his good, supply them.

10. When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

12. Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

13. And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied; and all that thou hast is multiplied:

14. Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

15. Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint ;

16. Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

17. And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

18. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

19. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord

thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish.

20. As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish: because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.

Again, and again, does Moses reiterate the same injunctions to obedience, and fortify them by the same convincing recollections of past and abounding mercies: "Line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept," seems to have been his motto. And verily never were such powerful motives adduced, or such unanswerable appeals brought forward, as are recorded in the wonderful book upon which we are commenting. Bread out of the air, water out of the rock, were among the common mercies of every day's existence. Yet notwithstanding this, well did Moses forewarn them, that a time might come, when all should be forgotten, and when even the Giver of them all, the great Jehovah, should be no more remembered. And when was so fatal a catastrophe to be peculiarly watched against and dreaded? Not at those seasons when we should most expect it; when they were driven before the face of their enemies as chaff before the wind; when they should be carried away captive, and the iron

should once more enter into their soul; when they should be oppressed by misery, and pestilence, and famine, so that" the delicate woman which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, even her eye should be evil toward the husband of her bosom and toward her son and toward her daughter." No, let us listen and learn: "When thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy gold and thy silver is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;" "when thou hast eaten and art full," then," beware, that thou forget not the Lord thy God," in the good land which He hath given thee! What an unexpected caution! What a knowledge of human nature, have we here! When we are full! 0 ungrateful heart to forget the hand that fills thee! O fallen nature that spurns the arm which would lift thee up! Surely, then, it was a wise man's prayer, Give me not riches, " lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, who is the Lord ?" *

Are we blessed with "food convenient for us?" let us thank God from the very ground of our hearts, that He has given us neither poverty nor riches, and let us earnestly, thankfully endeavour to employ even our one talent to the

* Prov. xxx. 9.

honour and glory of Him, who will shortly come to take account of his servants, that we may hear the approving sentence," Well, thou good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities."

EXPOSITION LIII.

DEUTERONOMY ix. 1-6.

1. Hear, O Israel; Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven.

2. A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak ?

3. Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee.

4. Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.

5. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness