November 10

6. And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.

7. And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: will thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.

8. And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.

9. So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.

10. And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!

11. But Jehoshaphat said, If there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered, and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.

12. And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

13. And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the

prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay, for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.

14. And Elisha said, At the LORD of hostilys, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.

15. But now being me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.

16. And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of dashes.

17. For thus with the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.

18. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your sand.

19. And ye shall settle every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

20. And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

The people of Israel had journeyed seven days, "and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them." The prophet told them, "Make this valley full of ditches." But what is the use? There are no springs, no rivers, no lakes; whence can water come? It is not the part of faith to question, but to obey. The ditches were made, and the water came pouring in from some supernatural source. What a lesson for our faith! Are you craving a spiritual blessing? Open the trenches, and God will fill them.

And this, too, in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways.

"It was an old idea, as evidenced in the Book of Job, in many of the Psalms, and even in the time of Christ, that to be in adversity was to be handed over to the Evil One. It was the most common thing not to look for spiritual prosperity among the poor. The blessing was on the hill-side, among the rich, not in the valley. The Lord Jesus Christ tore the veil from off all this. He passed the rich by, and made the fishermen of Galilee His friends. He made the 'rose to blossom in the wilderness,' and the 'thirsty land to yield streams of water.' There are still places in which men never expect to get a blessing. They go up to the house of God, just as the Jews went up to Jerusalem, that they may see God, forgetting that in the home, in the street, in their daily life, He is beside them. They view the blessing as outside these things. So they often feel that they must get out of the valley, and on to the higher land, before they get the blessing. They remember that it was the wilderness into which Christ was drawn by the Evil One, forgetting that it was there that the angels came and ministered unto Him. There should be no unexpected places of blessing to the Christian." —Rev. Mr. Aitken.

Closet Promise.—I would have you without carefulness.—1 Cor. vii. 32.

Cast all thy care on God. See that all thy cares be such as thou canst cast on God, and then hold none back. Never brood over thyself; never stop short in thyself; but cast thy whole self, even this very care which distresseth thee, upon God. Be not anxious about little things, if thou wouldst learn to trust God with thine all. Act upon faith in little things; commit thy daily cares and anxieties to Him; and He will strengthen thy faith for any greater trials. Rather, give thy whole self into God's hands, and so trust Him to take care of thee in all lesser things, as being His, for His own sake, whose thou art.—E. B. Pusey.

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