October 14

the same qualities, and flow as freely as before. Nehemiah therefore did wisely when he wished to obtain a favour from Ahasuerus; "I prayed," says he, "unto the God of heaven:" and God disposed him to grant more than he could have requested. So Esau armed four hundred men, intending when he set off to kill Jacob; but Jacob wrestled in prayer; and having prevailed with God, he found no difficulty in succeeding with man. Accordingly his brother's mind, though not sanctified, was softened; and when they met they fell on each other's neck, and kissed each other—"When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." Hezekiah went and spread the letter before the Lord, and prayed, and conquered Sennacherib upon his knees.

Let us therefore, when we wish even to carry an enterprise with our fellow-creatures engage the Lord on our side; and follow the admonition of David, who had often tried the measure and found it successful: "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass." And the Church here found it to be true.

OCTOBER 14.—"And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands."—Acts 12:6, 7.

How well is God characterized in the address of David; "O thou that hearest prayer." "Ask," says he, "and it shall be given you: seek and ye shall find." He never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain. It is impossible to read the Scripture and not see what an honour he has always put upon prayer. Indeed much of the Sacred History is only a record of its achievements. The deliverance before us was in answer to prayer, which was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him. But we may remark three things connected with the deliverance itself.

Observe the time when it was obtained—It was the very night preceding the day that Herod would have brought him forth to the people, like a wild beast, to be put to death for their entertainment. The Lord intended to hear their prayers from the beginning: but he suffered their faith and patience to be tried to the uttermost. A few hours more!—But before the morning the decree goes forth, Peter is released, and the Church like them that dream! He designed to relieve the woman of Canaan who cried to him so piteously on the behalf of her daughter; yet he exercises her with three repulsive discouragements before he proclaimed her success. He had engaged to deliver the posterity of Abraham at the end of four hundred and thirty years, yet the last month, the last week, the last day of this period had arrived before the accomplishment of the promise: and if they are not rescued before the next dawn the Divine bond is forfeited. But there is time enough for payment—"Even the self-same day it came to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." Thus even when he has determined to give, he holds his people in suspense; and he has

reasons for his conduct. He is a God of knowledge, and blessed are all they that wait for him. These delays operate like the repulse of the Israelites from Ai; they lead to self-examination and inquiry. They tend to destroy creature-confidence. They induce us to receive the blessing with more notice and thankfulness. It is a great thing to be prepared for a mercy, as well as for a trial. But hope deferred maketh the heart sick—And here is the patience of the saints. Yet let them quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Let them remember how long he waited for them—that he is a sovereign, and has a right to choose his own time—that his time is the best time—and that though he seems slow he is sure. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence. Never despair, though Isaac be even bound, and laid on the altar, and the hand has seized the knife, and aimed the blow—

"Just in the last distressing hour The Lord displays delivering power; The mount of danger is the place Where we shall see surprising grace."

Observe also the state in which, when the salvation arrived, the subject of it was found—He "was sleeping between two soldiers." Asleep! in such a condition! in such company! in such a place! at such a time!—when there was only a step between him and his execution—when he was in the jaws of death! But his cause was good, his conscience clear, his mind kept in perfect peace, being stayed on God. Such a frame of soul would turn a prison into a royal chamber, and make a pavement of clay a bed of down, and enable the possessor to say, in the midst of danger, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me—"So thou givest thy beloved sleep." The Lord has comforts for his people answerable to every exigency, and as the sufferings abound, the consolation abounds also; so that they are often a surprise to themselves as well as to others; their new experience exceeding so much their former feelings, and falsifying their gloomy apprehensions. Yet this is only the fulfilment of the promise, "as thy days so shall thy strength be." Peter was one thing out of prison and another in it. He who trembled at the question of the damsel in the judgment-hall can now sleep so soundly as to require a blow to wake him, though in the morning he is to die in all the horrors of a public execution.

Again, let us observe the instrument employed in the rescue—"Behold the angel of the Lord came upon him." And what marvellous beings are these messengers. They are called "his mighty angels:" and how well are they said to "excel in strength." Peter seemed perfectly secured. He had been committed to no less than sixteen soldiers, who were to lose their lives if he escaped. Some of them even guarded the doors; but the angel easily enters without their perceiving him. The prison was dark, but he finds his way to Peter. He was chained to a soldier on his right hand and to another on his left. The angel strikes a light; smites him on the side; severs him from his fetters; tells him to arise, and put on his sandals, and follow him—without disturbing his keepers—and opens the gates, and sets him free to return to his praying friends. How little we can judge of the nature and agency of invisible beings. One thing however we know, that the highest of God's