which they may be exposed, and as a sure source of refreshment and consolation under their trials. Let us consider it in a practical manner in each of these views.

1. He is a refuge from evils and danger.

The man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest. How welcome to the traveller is a place of retreat and security, from the fierceness of the storm! Such a hiding-place is the Saviour of the world, to all those who flee to Him in the time of trouble.

Could we have conversed with the apostles and early Christians, and have inquired of them, when suffering from severe persecution, what was the view which they entertained of their own state, they would doubtless have answered, that there was a hiding-place to which even then they could flee and be safe. From the relentings of their oppressors they looked for no favour; they well knew that the world was their enemy, as it had been the enemy of their Lord; and that the spirit of hostility to the cross of Christ would never be satisfied, till it had driven them from the earth. But with what confidence could they betake themselves to Him, in whose cause they suffered? how fully were they persuaded that if it

were His will, He could deliver them even from the mouth of the lion;* and that whatever might be His purpose, as it respected their outward condition, all things should work together for their good. They believed the declaration of Christ, that He was always with them; and hence they found Him to be a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest. Under such circumstances, fiercely as the wind might rage around them, it disturbed not the serenity of their minds; they were in an asylum beyond its power: they felt like the Psalmist, that though the waters might roar, and be troubled, and the mountains might shake with the swelling thereof,† they had in their Redeemer a sure refuge and strength, a very present help in the time of trouble.

2. The writers of the New Testament frequently advert to the temptations also of the Christians, and the terms in which they speak on this subject, indicate severe and painful conflicts. We are reminded of the power of that spirit of evil, awfully denominated the Tempter, whose indefatigable employment it is, as well to harass the child of God, as to urge on the sinner to eternal destruction. The

apostle mentions the combat with invisible and spiritual enemies, as among the events which remarkably show the difficulties of the Christian calling; and represents the onset of the Wicked One, as accompanied by fiery darts,* an image well suited to show the formidable nature of such attacks, and the difficulty of repelling them. But he tells us farther, that there are none of these fiery darts, which may not be quenched by the shield of faith; of faith in that Saviour, who had Himself endured temptation, and is able to succour the tempted. In taking refuge with Him the distressed spirit finds that there is a hiding-place, even from the fiercest assaults of that ever subtle and malignant enemy; the man, who in such scenes of trial and conflict, betakes himself with simplicity and sincerity to his Saviour, will hear a voice that bids him be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might; he will be enabled effectually to resist · the tempter; to banish the suggestions which would shake his confidence and disturb his repose; to withstand boldly in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.§

* Eph. vi. 16.

Eph. vi. 10.

+ Heb. ii. 18.

§ Eph. vi. 13.

3. And how appropriate is this description of the Messiah, as a hiding-place from evil, if we reflect upon the wrath which has been denounced against sin! What is the view given to us of this subject in the Holy Scriptures? That the Lord our God is a jealous God; that sin if unpardoned will assuredly meet with its recompense, and that recompense eternal death; that all mankind are guilty before God, and against all, therefore, in their present state, has the sentence of destruction gone forth; that if left to themselves there is neither ransom nor remedy; but that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins. How justly in this view is the Messiah a hiding-place to us from the wind, and a covert from the tempest !—that storm which through eternity will never be hushed, but will be felt for ever, with undiminished force, through the wide regions of darkness and despair. But

4. The prophet further represents the Messiah as a source of refreshment and consolation to his people; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. To estimate aright the force and beauty of these allusions, we must transfer ourselves in imagination to those climates,

where the sun beats strongly upon the head of the weary traveller, and the parched soil can yield no increase. How grateful to such a wanderer the cooling shade! how reviving the rivers of water! Here he can drink and be refreshed; 'upon this spot, amidst the barrenness of the desert, his eye reposes with delight; the banks are covered with verdure, and the trees planted by these streams are crowned with foliage and with fruit.*

Such is the representation of the comfort, which in this wilderness of the world, shall be afforded by the Messiah to those who need it. He maketh them to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth them beside the still waters;† He is Himself as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

Are there any, my brethren, to be found among us, who in the expressive language of Scripture, are hungering and thirsting after righteousness; any who can say with the Psalmist, As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth after thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is?§ What