December 14

Luke xv. — 11. And he said, A certain man had two sons:

12. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

13. And, not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

14. And, when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

15. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

16. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him.

17. And, when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough, and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18. I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

19. And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

20. And he arose, and came to his father. But, when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

21. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

22. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet;

23. And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

24. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

25. Now, his elder son was in the field; and, as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.

26. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.

27. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf because he hath received him safe and sound.

28. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him.

29. And he, answering, said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make mercy with my friends:

30. But, as soon as this thy son was come which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

31. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me; and all that I have is thine.

32. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

The simple pathos of this parable speaks to the heart without an interpreter. To represent upon canvas the meeting of the prodigal with his father would be as difficult as to picture the sacrifice of Isaac or the agony of Gethsemane. Yet the picture moves before us; rather, it lives within us. We see the human heart, in its self-will and self-sufficiency, turning away from God, and, in the flush of worldly pleasure, abandoning itself to the enjoyment of the present. We see this heart disappointed, emaciated, beggared, wrung with the feeling of want; we see it for a while fighting the sense of want with the sense of shame, and, rather than confess its sin, accepting a lower humiliation: then, at last, conscience and reason awake, and with the remembrance of God's goodness comes the first feeling of penitence, and the determination to

go to the Father with an unreserved acknowledgment of folly and sin. That decision turns the scale. The penitent, seeking nothing but forgiveness, finds in God nothing but love: hardly waiting for his confession, that love meets him in advance, and overwhelms him with favor. So touchingly does man's deepest extremity illustrate the mercy of God in seeking and recovering the lost! Who could resist the love of such a Father!

The "husks" were the pods of the Horodance, the common food of swine, and sometimes used for human food, having a dull, sweet taste. They represent the lowest forms of want and misery, to which men often sink when they have spent themselves in serving the world and the flesh. The law of sinful indulgence is from bad to worse

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 117, 147, 160.

O Lord Jesus! we do hunger for thy Word; we do thirst for thy Spirit. Weak, empty, perishing, in ourselves, we cry unto thee for the bread of heaven, for the water of life. With longings for good that this world can never satisfy, we turn to thy fulness that we also may be filled. Confessing our folly in forsaking thee, mourning our sin in grieving thee, we come with broken and contrite hearts, and entreat thee to grant us forgiveness, comfort, and peace. Oh! strengthen us to re-

sist temptation, to overcome evil, to renounce the world. May we be followers of God as dear children! Have compassion, O Lord! upon the erring, the outcast, and the sorrowing. Grant us grace to endure with patience any trials and afflictions that may come upon us, and to conquer the world by faith. O Lord our Preserver, who hast kept us through the perils of the night! keep us from evil this day and always: and finally bring us unto thy heavenly kingdom, through Jesus Christ. Amen.