August 18

1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of facet their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. 3 Wherefore have we fasted, say thee, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your last ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye brake every yoke?

7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before the glory of the LORD shall be thy reaward.

9 Then shall thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday;

11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually,

and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairers of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable, and shall honour him, not doing thine own ways, not finding thine own pleasure, not speaking thine own words.

14 Then shall thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

When fasting is the result of a humble and broken heart it is acceptable; when it is instituted as a means of purchasing the divine favor, and as laying God under obligation, it can be followed by no happy result to the soul.

"Men may be most diligent in the external duties of religion; most abundant in fasting and in prayer, and at the same time most unyielding in demanding all that is due to them. Like Shylock—another Jew like those in the time of Isaiah—they may demand 'the pound of flesh,' at the same time that they may be most formal, punctual, precise and bigoted in the performance of the external duties of religion. The sentiment taught here is, that if we desire to keep a fast that shall be acceptable to God, it must be such as shall cause us to unbind heavy burdens from the poor, and to lead us to relax the rigor of the claims which would be oppressive on those who are subject to us."—Rev. Albert Barnes.

Read carefully verses 13 and 14. "Nor speaking thine own words"— literally, "Not talking talk." If the Sabbath is not a delight to our souls, may the cause not lie partly in this, that we permit our minds to be engrossed with secular affairs, and our conversation to turn upon matters which should be deferred to another day? Is there not still more of what the prophet called "talking talk"—aimless, giddy conversation which turns the mind away from spiritual matters?

Closet Promise.—They should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us.—Acts xvii. 27.

"I know Thou art not far, My God, from me; you star

Speaks of Thy nearness, and its rays Fall on me like Thy torch. Oh, raise

These eyes of mine

To see Thy face, even Thine, My Father and my God!

"Thou wilt be nearer yet, And one day I shall get

The fuller vision of Thy face,

In all its perfect light and grace;

When I shall see Thee as Thou art,

And in Thy kingdom bear my part,

My blessed King and God!"

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

Breakfast Motto.—It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord.— Psa. xcii. 1.

Weekly Proverb.—The doors of Wisdom are never shut.—Poor Richard.

DAILY BIBLE READING.—SEVEN OVERCOMES OF REVELATION.

Sunday.—The Tree of Life.—Rev. ii. 1-7.

Monday.—Not Hurt of the Second Death.—Rev. ii. 8-11.

Tuesday—Hidden Manna and New Name.—Rev. ii. 12-17.

Wednesday.—The Morning Star.—Rev. ii. 18-29.

Thursday—White Rainier.—Rev. iii. 1-6.

Friday.—A Pillar in the Temple.—Rev. iii. 7-13.

Saturday.—A Seat on the Throne.—Rev. iii. 14-22.

WHAT'S THE USE?

Suppose, my little lady,

Your doll should break her head;

Could you make it whole by crying Till your eyes and nose are red?

And wouldn't it be pleasanter To treat it as a joke?

And say you're glad 'twas Dolly's, And not your head that broke?

Suppose you're dressed for walking And the rain comes pouring down;

Will it clear off the sooner Because you scold and frown?

And wouldn't it be nicer For you to smile than post?

And so make sunshine in the house When there is none without?

Suppose your task, my little man, Is very hard to get;

Will it make it any easier For you to sit and fret?

And wouldn't it be wiser

Than sitting like a dunce,

To go to work in earnest, And learn the thing at once?

Suppose that some boys have a horse, And some a coach and pair;

Will it tire you less while walking To say, "It isn't fair?"

And wouldn't it be nobler

To keep your temper sweet

And in your heart be thankful You can walk upon your feet?

And suppose the world don't please you, Nor the way some people do,

Do you think the whole creation Will be altered just for you?

And isn't it, my boy or girl, The weeest, bravest plan,

Whatever comes, or doesn't come, To do the best you can?

—Selected.

Little in thine own sight.—1 Sam. xv. 17.

In an English dock-yard a great ship was to be launched. An immense crowd gathered to see it glide down the slides that were to carry it into the water. The blocks and wedges were knocked away; but the massive ship did not stir. Just then a little boy ran forward, and began to push the ship with all his might. The crowd broke out into a laugh; but it so happened that the vessel was almost ready to move; the few pounds pushed by the boy were only needed to start it, and away it went into the water. Now that was a very little, but you see what it did. Oftentimes the little things you do don't seem of much account. But they are. One spring morning a little boy planted a single seed in a bank of earth. It grew, budded and blossomed into sweet blue violets unseen by the child-planter. It also seeded, and the seed fell out upon the bank of earth, and next spring more violets grew; and so for years, increasing every season. The boy, grown a man in a foreign land, desired to visit his childhood's home. When he saw the bank of violets he remembered how, years before, he had planted there a single seed. "Can it be," he said, "that all these have sprung from the single seed I planted? I will never waste a single seed." Oh, dear children, remember the importance of little things!

OUR PETS.

Everybody likes pets. Some like one kind of pets, some another kind. There are pet dogs, pet cats, pet horses, pet lambs and pet birds. In the picture are two pet doves. Sometimes there are very strange things for pets. I knew a family that had a pet turtle. He would climb up the steps and come into the house to be fed. In the torrid zone snakes are sometimes kept to destroy vermin. The rat-snake of Ceylon is often kept as a household pet by the natives; and, what is still more remarkable, even the dreaded cobras are domesticated in the place of dogs. They glide about the house, going in and out at pleasure, a terror to thieves, but never attempting to harm members of the family.

A little boy once had a pet bird, of which he was very fond. He took great delight in playing with it. It would eat out of his hand, and perch on his finger. One day the bird died, and the little fellow cried almost as if his heart would break. At night, when his mother took him upstairs, he wanted to go to bed without saying his prayers. When she spoke to him about it, he said, "Mother, I don't want to say my prayers to-night, for my little birdie's dead, and I can't say, 'Thy will be done.'" That little fellow had made an idol of his bird. He loved it more than God. His mother tried to show him how wrong it was to feel so, and taught him to pray to God for grace to say, "Thy will be done."

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THIRTY-FOURTH WEEK.

PEARL TEXT.—And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.—Acts xxiv. 16.

But, above all, the victory is most sure For him who, seeking faith by virtue, strives To yield entire submission to the law Of conscience, conscience reverenced and obeyed.

As God's most intimate presence in the soul, And His most perfect image in the world. —Selected.

A conscience void of offence before God and man is an inheritance for eternity.—Daniel Webster.

A good conscience is the palace of Christ; the temple of the Holy Ghost.—Selected.

A spiritual mind has something of the nature of the sensitive plant. "I shall smart if I touch this or that." There is a holy shrinking away from evil.—Selected.

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR.