December 29

refers to God. He was the mediator between God and man, and had to maintain his honour, as well as to secure our deliverance. Kindness itself may be mis-exercised; absolute mercy may not only be folly and weakness, but injustice, injury, cruelty. Magistrates are to be terrors to evil-doers, as well as a praise to them that do well. The judge is to be not only merciful, but faithful; and while he feels for the criminal, he must maintain the law, though he may pass the sentence with tenderness in his heart, and tears in his eyes. Sinners were not to be saved as if they had not been guilty, but in a way that should remind them that their lives were given back to them after they had been forfeited; that they had incurred the penalty of the law; that this penalty was founded in equity, and could not be dispensed with; and therefore that our Substitute bore it in his own body on the tree, and redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Thus sin is condemned in the flesh while it is forgiven, and the law is magnified and made honourable while the offender escapes. Thus mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other, and the claims of rectitude as well as clemency are provided for, while, as the Apostle adds, "he makes reconciliation for the sins of the people."

DECEMBER 29.—"And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh."—Gen. xivii. 7.

It was an affecting hour when Jacob, after supposing for so many years that his son was dead, and devoured by wild beasts, received information that he was alive, and governor over all the land of Egypt. At first his heart fainted, and he believed it not. But when he had not only heard the words which Joseph had spoken, but saw the wagons that he had sent to fetch him down, his spirit revived in him, and he said, "It is enough, Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die."—He soon set off. But the journey was formidable to him. The old dislike changes, and cleave to places to which they have been accustomed. He therefore travelled anxiously, and when he came to Beersheba he felt alarmed. But he had recourse to his old and tried relief, prayer: "and God spake to him in the visions of the night, and said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes." Three interesting presentations followed the execution of this journey.

The presentation of Joseph to Jacob. "And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him: and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while." Then loosening from the lengthened embrace which all attempt to enlarge upon would spoil; "he said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive."

The presentation of his brethren to Pharaoh. "And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds,

both we, and also our father. They said moreover, unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle."

The presentation of Jacob to Pharaoh. "And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh." Who can

Reflect upon this event, and not admire the wonder-working Providence of God in bringing it to pass? All this was foreseen and fore appointed: but how many agencies were set in motion to produce the result, while the agents themselves were unconscious of the bearing of their respective parts, and were all acting separately from each other, yet all working together—till at last all the discord issued in the finest harmony; and these were the strains to which it was attained: "He hath done all things well." I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not: I will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them." "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord." Art thou tempted to despondence? Do the clouds return after the rain? Seest thou no way of escape? Do means fail? Does the providence of God seem not only to forget but oppose the promise? See Joseph the slave, the prisoner, lately in irons, now prime minister of a powerful and learned nation, presenting his weather-beaten father, whose fears are now dispelled, and every hope and wish of his long-aching heart more than crowned! Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At evening tide it shall be light.

What did the patriarch on this occasion? "And Jacob blessed Pharaoh."—It was an expression of salutation towards a stranger. Good men are not to be uncivil and rude, and pass this off as sincerity and faithfulness. They ought to be the most genteel people upon earth; for they ought to feel in disposition, the politeness—that is, the readiness to deny themselves, and please and oblige others, which the people of the world express ceremoniously, and often very falsely. The servant of the Lord is to be "gentle towards all men." And we are enjoined to be "courteous."—It was an act of homage towards a sovereign, whose subject he now was. We are all upon a level before God: but religious equality is not to be carried into our relative and civil concerns. The Scripture supports the distinctions of life, and calls upon us to "render to all their due; honour to whom honour, fear to whom fear."—It was an expression of gratitude towards a benefactor, who had promoted his son, and was now willing to receive all his relations, and provide for them in the most fertile region of his empire. The grace that makes us humble, makes us thankful. And while we acknowledge God as the source of all good, we must not overlook those who are the mediums of it.—It was an act of supplication on the behalf of a man who, however highly exalted, stood in need of the favour of God. The less is blessed