November 13

Judges vii.—2. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

3. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Who-oever is fearful and afraid, let him return, and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

4. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many: bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whom-oever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.

5. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.

6. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

7. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three

For forty years after Barak's victory, the Israelites were unmolested, but by degrees they relapsed into the idolatry which had provoked their former chastisements, and, in this state of moral degeneracy, again became a prey to their neighbors. The roving tribes of the Arabian desert, like locusts for multitude, first laid waste the southern border of Palestine; then, passing to the east, swarmed over the Jordan into the Plain of Jezebel. But the Lord had raised up a new champion for Israel in a devout and resolute man of the tribe of Manasseh. Gideon had boldly overthrown the altar of Baal, and had begun a religious reformation. God had given him a twofold sign of his end,—first in a fleece of wool made moist with dew while the ground was dry, and next in the same fleece kept dry while there was a heavy dew all around it.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

O God, who makest the outgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice! we bless thee that ours has not been a night of anguish and sorrow. We lift up our hearts to thee with thanksgiving for the joy of another day; for vigor for its duties, appetite for its pleasures, and readiness for its opportunities of good. Bless us in our labors, keep us pure in our enjoyments, incite us to do thy will; and oh! we beseech thee, preserve us from harm, from temptation, and from sin. Keep us from that love and that fear of this world which would estrange us from thee.

Seeing that we know not what a day may bring forth, we pray, that, if trials and disappointments

hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand; and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

16. And he divided the three hundred men into three companies; and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.

17. And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise; and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be, that as I do, so shall ye do.

18. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

19. So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.

20. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal; and they cried, The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

21. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran and cried and fled.

As Jehovah had punished, so now Jehovah would deliver in a way to manifest his glory. Gideon's army was reduced to a number ridiculously small in a military point of view; but these three hundred picked men, were alert and resolute. A panic in an army is contagious, and soon becomes incontrovertible. This is notably true of the great, motley, undisciplined hordes of an Eastern army. The stratagem of Gideon caused such a panic. Startled in the night by the sound of trumpets and the glare of torches on all sides of the camp, and by a war-cry echoing along the hills, the Midianites supposed themselves surrounded, and in the darkness and fright fell upon one another, and fled in a complete rout. So the Lord can make all our enemies to flee before us.

Prayer.

[Nos. 133, 149, 193.

shall come, we may have grace to meet them and to profit by them; that in all events we may see the hand of our Father, and may say, "Thy will be done." Conscious of our weakness, humbly confessing our sins, we cast ourselves upon thine infinite grace in Christ our Saviour for pardon, strength, and sanctification. May we as a family honor thee in our daily walk and conversation! May old and young alike know the beauty of holiness, the joy of consecration to Christ! Grant thy grace to all who are dear to us; and grant us grace to hold all men dear for Christ's sake, and to win them to the knowledge of his gospel. And to him, with the Father and the Spirit, be glory forever. Amen.