and well nigh expired. In His heart, it is bright and sure, who Himself is the hope. And when He moves forward to "Come," "I come,"-then shall that which we hope for be realized and seen. And mark the word "quickly." To us time moves slowly on,-He seems as if He tarried. His heart, in other light than the dim twilight where we are, says "Quickly"! May our hearts live in the power of His purposes, thoughts and promise: and may we wait for the Son from heaven: be like unto those that wait for Him.

Simeon and Anna, and those that waited for Him had honourable occupation.-occupation much thought of in heaven at His first coming, and so now, if we really wait for Him-is it now-heaven delights is seeing us wait for Him.

I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him that is athirst come: and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.

Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

THE VESSEL.

"FILLED IN ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD."-Eph. iii. 19. Εἰς πᾶν τὸ πληρώμα τοῦ Θεοῦ,

"We learn in suffering what we teach in song."

Oh! is it come the sweet and blessed calm,
Foreseen and hoped for through those darksome years
Of anguish and of dread? Here, here at last,
I a deep vessel in the shoreless sea

Of thine own fulness, O eternal God!

Filled in that fulness, find my prayers, my hopes,
All, all fulfilled, and nothing more to crave.
The bright reality, the thing itself
Transcends all thought, eclipses every hope;
Dwelling in God, by God indwelt, I know
Love in its fulness, life to me is bliss,
All, all within, beneath, around, above,
Speak but of Thee, and tell me what I am,
The happiest of the happy! O thou peerless One!
Great God revealed in flesh, the living link
'Twixt Godhead and my soul! be thine the praise,
The loving worship of a loving heart

Rich in Thyself, for, oh, however filled,
Howe'er exalted, holy, undefiled,

Whatever wealth of blessedness is mine,
What am I, Lord! an emptiness, a nothing.
Thou art my boast, in whom all fulness dwells
Of the great Godhead, Thou whose name I bear,
Whose life is mine, whose glory and whose bliss,
All, all are mine.

E. D.

JESUS THE BEST FRIEND.

THE best of friends is one above!
On earth indeed a friend is rare:
For in the bustle of this world
Each only for himself does care.
My thoughts then all do hither tend
"Jesus, the Lord, is the best friend."

All men do like a cradle move,
But, as the rock, He firm remains:
When trials bring me very low
He still for me His love retains:
When joys or griefs my path attend
Still is my Lord my steadfast Friend.

The worldling sets his love for sale
To those who know to pay the best,
But when misfortune shows itself
Such love can give but little rest.
Yet, come what will, I can commend
"Jesus, the Lord, as a true Friend."

He

gave His life to ransom mine, He shed for me His own life's blood, He stands by me in every need,

And all my debts: He made them good: On Him alone my hopes depend

"Jesus, the Lord's a faithful friend."

My friend that does His heart bestow,
I am my friend's, and He is mine:
My constant friend that constant loves,
Beyond the grave His virtues shine.
Surely I've right to recommend
Jesus, my Lord, as a true friend.

Retain thy friendship, heartless world!
To boast thy friendship I'll beware,
Had I ten thousand thousand foes,
I need not have one single care:
Unchangeable! my thoughts ascend
"To Thee, Lord Jesus, as my Friend."

[From the German.

"A few more breathings in this dull and oppressive element, then all will be health and buoyancy, strength and gladness, purity and peace."-G. V. W.

"Our wishes are presentiments of the faculties which lie within us, and harbingers of that which we shall be in a condition to perform."

"The mind, like water, passes through all states, till it shall be united to what it is ever seeking. The very loneliness of man here, is a great proof, to my mind, of a God."

No. VIII.

SONG OF SOLOMON.

If we examine the Psalms, or even the Prophets, with a view to ascertain the character or circumstances of the residue of Israel in the latter days, we shall find, after their undergoing some deceptions through professed friendship, a distressed and oppressed people. The fowls summer upon them, and the beasts of the earth winter upon them (Isaiah: xviii. 6). That is the state of the nation when the Assyrian shall be pressing them from without, and the beast oppressing them within. At the centre of their nationality, and where their hearts have sought rest, will be trouble such as never was since there was a nation, and never will be again: the time when God is making short work upon the earth.

Though this will be in the nation at large, the effect on the wicked and on the saints will be very different. The nation at large will have joined with the beast and acquiesced in idolatry. Another, come in his own name, they will have received. The unclean Spirit of Idolatry, with seven others worse, will have entered into them. They have given up their God, rejected their Messiah, received the Anti-christ, and what have they when oppression comes? "They shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness."

But we have to do more particularly with the remnant attached to Israel, to Israel's hopes, and Israel's relationship with Jehovah, but awakened to the sense of the evil that is going on, and suffering on all hands from it where they have not fled. The Spirit and Word of God are working in their hearts. They remember the promise