8. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

9. And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God.

10. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.

In the verses we have just read, two remarkable directions were given to the Israelites, to be observed immediately upon their arrival at the promised land. The first was, that they were to erect a pillar of "great stones and plaister them with plaister," or, as it might have been translated," cement them with cement." And upon this pillar they were to engrave" very plainly " all the words of this law, probably referring particularly to the law of the ten commandments. They were also to build an altar there, and to offer thereon burnt offerings unto the Lord their God. The latter was contrary to the law already given, which forbad the building of any altar except that at the tabernacle, and, therefore, no doubt there was some peculiar and especial reason for this singular command. Probably it was thus directed, that the pillar and the altar should stand together, that when the people

beheld the commandments, and felt, as each would, alas! naturally feel, that he was living in the daily breach of them, he might turn with confidence, or at least with hope, to that altar which typified the great atonement, and look to a more perfect obedience, a better righteousness than his own for pardon and peace. Such, at any rate, is the lesson which we may, as Christians, gather from it. Never can we think of the commandments of the Almighty, as David says, so “exceeding broad," without a deep and self-accusing consciousness of our poor and imperfect performance of them; therefore, never let us turn our eyes from the commandments neglected, broken, or at the best, but miserably and imperfectly fulfilled, without casting a look of grateful faith to that altar which we possess, and of which the apostle said, "We have an altar, of which they have no right to eat, who serve the tabernacle," even the Lord Jesus Christ, at once our altar and our sacrifice. He who would, and with justice, experience only feelings of despair, when contemplating a broken law, may do more even than hope, when he surveys its perfect fulfilment in the obedience unto death of a perfect Saviour, and may not only exclaim with Thomas, "My Lord and my God," but with every accepted saint, and every glorified spirit, "The Lord our righteousness."

While enjoying the comfort which this view naturally affords us as Christians, let us ever bear in mind that the pillar of the law stood close to the altar of atonement, by no means interfering, and yet in remarkable proximity the one to the other. May we deduce from it, the important practical lesson, that while we look to our altar, and to that alone, for our acceptance with God, we should never overlook the pillar of the law, as containing our rule of life. As those who have received much, may we desire to render much; and as she who had " been forgiven much," was remarkable, above all others, in loving much, so may our hearts feel, and our actions testify, that grateful love to God, which will ever manifest itself in a consistent, holy, self-denying obedience to every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Thus shall we, through Divine grace, be enabled to manifest something of that holy feeling which induced the psalmist to exclaim, not only with truth, but with fervour," The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver."*

[Here may be read from verse 11, chapter xxvii., to the end of the chapter.]

*Ps. cxix. 72.

EXPOSITION LXII.

DEUTERONOMY XXviii. 1-14.

1. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do allhis commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

2. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

3. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

4. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

5. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

6. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

7. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

8. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

In the scripture now brought before us, we once more find Moses making the largest promises to the Israelites, upon their continued obedience. Omitting, as for wise and important reasons the great law-giver was no doubt inspired to do, all reference to a future state of rewards and punishments, it was evidently needful to supply its place, by the most unbounded declaration of blessings upon earth. This probably is the reason, that there is such a constant repetition of these short-lived though valuable promises, not merely addressed to the Israelites as a nation, but to each as an individual. "Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle." And to those whose views of a future existence were greatly clouded, these promises of temporal blessings must have been peculiarly prevailing and influential. Still there were higher things than these, that even in this less perfect dispensation were permitted to form a part of the good man's hopes and expectations. Let us look for them in the concluding portion of the blessing, in which, although much that is merely temporal is repeated, something also that is spiritual is intermingled.

9. The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt