December 17

1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel;

2 This saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them

3 For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutter, a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not

5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not; they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might

7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, here is none like unto thee.

8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities

9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphar, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder, blue

and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.

10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his imagination.

11 Thus shalt ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures

14 Every man is british in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them

15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

16 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.

"Christianity allows no idols. As Dagon fell before the ark of the covenant, so have all the gods of the Pantheon fallen before the power of the cross. So shall they continue to fall, till the kingdoms of this world are reclaimed to Christ."

God is our heritage. "What can we wish for in an heritage that is not to be found in God? Would we have large possessions? He is immensity. Would we have a sure estate? He is immutability. Would we have a term of long continuance? He is eternity itself."—Arrowsmith.

Jehovah is the living God. He is the great I AM, to whom one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. He is "the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy." Let us bow in reverence before Him. "Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God."

Closet Promise.—For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.—Eph. ii. 10.

We are the mariners, and God the sea; And though we make false reckonings, and run Wide of a righteous course, and are undone, Out of His deeps of love we cannot be.

For by those heavy strokes we misname ill, Through the fierce fire of sin, through tempering doubt, Our natures more and more are beaten out To perfecter reflections of His will. —Alice Cary.