May 10

2 Kings vii. — 1. Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

2. Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

John vi. — 1. After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

2. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

3. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

4. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

5. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?

6. (And this he said to prove him; for he himself knew what he would do.)

Observe how Jesus, in putting forth his divine power, maintained also his human condition of relative dependence. He first gave thanks; thus teaching his disciples, under all circumstances, to honor their Father in heaven. The fame of his miracles brought to him the sick, and their friends and attendants, from a wide region; so that it was in vain that he sought rest by crossing the lake into the comparatively unsettled district upon the eastern side. Thousands here thronged about him, having come many miles without provision, in their eagerness to witness some wonder, or to receive some benefit at his hand. Touched with compassion for this famished multitude, Jesus used his power over the elements of Nature.

7. Philip answered him, Two hundred penny-worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

8. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

9. There is a lad here which hath five barley-loaves and two small fishes; but what are they among so many?

10. And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. (Now, there was much grass in the place.) So the men sat down in number about five thousand.

11. And Jesus took the loaves; and, when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes, as much as they would.

12. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

13. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley-loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

14. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world.

for their immediate relief. The miracle was the more signal because wrought upon substances with which the people were familiar, and which were then before their eyes. Five thin cakes of the coarse barley bread in common use among the people, and two tiny fishes, were so multiplied in the act of breaking by his hand, that all the thousands were fed. There was no mistaking the evidence of such a miracle, and no resisting the conviction that this was the Messiah. Christ here set before us the twofold example of ministering to the physical necessities of others, and of carefulness against waste in using the bountiful favors of God.

APPROPRIATE HYUNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 115, 132.

Holy Father, we, thy children, commit ourselves, to thee in the confidence of faith. At thy command we lay down the burden of our cares and sorrows, and look up to thee as our helper and our comforter. Grant unto us, we beseech thee, the plenitude of thy grace and strength. Endue us with divine power and heavenly wisdom. Lift us out of ourselves, and out of all dependence on our own resources. Take from us the spirit of pride, and clothe us with humility. Teach us to lean upon thy hand, to confide in thy wisdom, to rest on thy power, to repose in thy love, to live on thy fulness. Ever bend our wills to thine; and do thou, in thy great mercy, overrule all things in our lot for thy glory and our good. In the knowledge of thyself and of thy Son Jesus Christ may we seek eternal life; and do thou so nourish this life in our souls by the daily communications of

thy grace and the ever-active power of thy Spirit, that we may at last attain to the everlasting joy of thy presence.

Thou givest us our daily bread: oh! feed us with the bread of heaven; and give unto all dear to us a like interest in the things of Christ.

We would begin the labors of this week by asking thy blessing on every one before thee. Let peace rule in our hearts, and reign in this household. May mutual kindness, and harmony and love, here have their abode! On our pursuits in life let thy blessing descend. Give us bread to eat, and raiment to put on; give us thankful and cheerful hearts; give us every spiritual gift necessary to prepare us for heaven; and, in thy good time, give us an abundant entrance in that happy world, for the sake of our blessed Lord and Redeemer. Amen.