February 10

Exodus xvii.1. And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephi-din; and there was no water for the people to drink. 2. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? 3. And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou snotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the peo

ple may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not? 8. Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill, with the rod of God in mine hand. 10. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and, when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going-down of the sun. 13. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

"Why chide ye with me?" Because it is so much easier to find fault with man than to put faith in God; so much more natural to complain than to pray. To complain is to take the attitude of demanding one's rights; to pray, that of entreating for favors. In all this the children of Israel only acted out our common human nature; and the most humiliating moral of the story is, that the multiplication of favors tends to render the recipient exacting, and even querulous, when things do not altogether suit him. The people grew arrogant and violent; and Moses was driven to the last extremity of faith. He was near the scene of the burning bush,

where first his rod was made the symbol of Jehovah's power. Without that rod he could work no miracle; for it was also the symbol of his own dependence, reminding him that he must never detach himself from God, or assume to do any thing in his own name and strength. Hence, in the battle with the Amalekites, the fierce descendants of Esau, while Joshua and his picked men must fight out the day, the victory was made to depend upon the exaltation of Jehovah by the uplifted rod. The stream here opened proved an unfolding supply; and Paul makes the rock a type of Christ, from whose ever-present, all-satisfying fulness our souls may daily drink.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 3, 50, 193.

This is the day which the Lord hath made: we will rejoice and be glad in it. Draw thou near to us, O God our Saviour! as we draw near to thee. Whom have we in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that we desire besides thee. May we this day see thy glory as we have seen thee within thy holy temple! May our manifold privileges further our sanctification! May the fountain of living waters comfort and refresh our souls! and may it cheer us through all the pilgrimage of life! May every temporal mercy which gladdens our lot be sweetened and hallowed and endeared by the thought that it comes to us through Jesus! May blessings and trials, comforts and crosses, health and sickness, joy and sorrow, bring us only nearer him, and redound to the glory of his great name! Subdue whatever is inconsistent with his mind and will; repress all vain imaginations; crucify every lingering sin. May our hearts become holy temples, and our lives living sacrifices!

We bless thee for all the mercies of the week that is now past. Day by day thou hast supplied our wants; night by night thou hast watched over us and defended us. Oh! give us hearts of thankfulness, as the children of thy love.

We pray for the poor, the afflicted, the bereaved, and the dying. O thou Comforter of all that are cast down! do thou heal their sorrows, bind up their wounds. To the friendless do thou prove a friend. In the multitude of their thoughts within them, may thy comforts delight their souls!

We commend our friends, and all belonging to us, implicitly to thy sovereign care. May the pillar of thy presence go continually before them! Guide them by thy counsel. Fit them for living and for dying. May all our souls be consecrated with their undivided energies to the glory of Him who gave himself for us!—to whom, with the Father and the Spirit, be glory everlasting. Amen.