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Brought me lower, whilst I whispered,

'Less of self, and more of Thee.'

"Higher than the highest heavens,

Deeper than the deepest sea,

Lord, Thy love at last hath conquered;

Grant me now my spirit's longing,

'None of self, and all of Thee.'"

1 Kings 19:13

"Wrapped his face in his mantle." He was afraid to look upon God (Exodus 3:6; cf. Genesis 3:10, "I hid myself"). "Conscience makes cowards of us all." Besides, no man can see His face and live (Exodus 33:20). The beatific vision is too much for our poor mortality, too much for the angelic powers (Isaiah 6:2). It is in mercy that God is veiled from our view. The seeing God as He is belongs to the times of restitution (Matthew 5:8; Hebrews 12:14; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 22:4; 1 Corinthians 13:12).

1 Kings 19:14

"I have been very jealous," etc. The same question, and precisely the same words in reply. But everything was not the same. The man and the manner wore alike changed (cf. 1 Samuel 10:6). He has heard the "still small voice," and it has hushed his own. How true it is, "It is not the words we say, but the manner and spirit in which we say them, gives them their force and significance."

1 Kings 19:15

"Go, return." This is God's answer to the question, "What doest thou here?" "Thou hast now no business here. Thou hast a work to do elsewhere. Thou art not left alone, nor has God ceased to watch over and care for His Church. His ministers of wrath are already nominated; it is for thee to call them to their work." Which of God's servants has not desponded like Elijah? Who has not been tempted to think his work a failure? Who has not had to complain of a gainsaying and disobedient people? How many have been induced to desert their posts? But no man's work can be a failure unless he is a failure himself. Our work is to witness, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. If they forbear, who shall say that that work is not successful? And it may be suggested here that work is often the very best remedy for despondency and doubt. The diligent sour has no time for self. torture. Its eye is fixed on others. There is a quaint legend which tells how, some years after the event, St. Thomas was again troubled with agonizing doubts as to our Lord's resurrection. He sought the apostles, and began to pour his soul's troubles into their ears. But first one, then the other, looked at him in astonishment, and told the unhappy doubter that he was sorry for him, but really he had so much to do he had no time to listen to his tale. Then he was fain to impart his woes to some devout women. But they, as busy as Dorcas and in like employment, soon made him understand that they had no leisure for such thoughts as these. At last it dawned upon him that perhaps it was because they were so busy that they were free from the doubts by which he was tortured. He took the hint; he went to Parthia; occupied himself in preaching Christ's gospel, and was never troubled with doubts any more.

1 Kings 19:18

"Yet have I left me seven thousand." There is always a remnant (Romans 11:4, Romans 11:5). The gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church. God has His secret ones, unknown to men. The number of the elect must be accomplished. (Revelation 7:4). The prophets have been too much given to pessimist views. "God's faithful ones are often his hidden ones" (Psalms 83:8).

"Yet in fall'n Israel are there hearts and eyes,

That day by day in prayer like thine arise,

Thou know'st them not, but their Creator knows."

Archbishop Ussher used to say to say that in the great Assize, if the King should set him on His right hand, three things would surprise him. First, to find himself there; secondly, to find that numbers of whose salvation he had always been confident were not there; thirdly, to find that thousands of whose salvation he had always despaired were there after all.

1 Kings 19:19

"Found Elisha… ploughing." God never calls an idle man. "If ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" (Luke 16:11.) The man who will not plough by reason of the cold (Proverbs 20:4), if he put his hand to the gospel plough, will presently look back (Luke 9:62), and go not to the work (Acts 15:38). The apostles were called from their ships, their nets, the receipt of custom, etc; none from the market place or the street corners. They only exchanged one department of God's work for another, for "the man who makes two blades of grass grow where only one grew before is a fellow worker with God. "Laborare est orate."An honest calling in the world does not at all put us out of the way of our heavenly calling." "In all labour is profit."

1 Kings 19:20

"He left the oxen." No service without sacrifice. Sometimes it is only ships and nets (Mark 1:20), sometimes it is houses and lands, father and mother, wife and child (Matthew 19:29).

"Go back again." Why should he not kiss his father and mother? "For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother," and it is not for the greatest of the prophets to make the commandment of God of none effect (Matthew 15:4-6). Religion developes and intensifies the domestic affections. Ties of flesh become stronger and closer when cemented and consecrated by grace. It would be strange if the religion of love made husband or wife, parent or child, love each other less.

1 Kings 19:21

"Took a yoke of oxen and slew them." He has done with earthly pursuits. He burns his ships behind him. It would be well for the Church of Christ if her ministers acted in like manner. The temptation to eke out a scanty income by trade, especially among missionaries, must be great; but a man cannot be half a clergyman, and must not be entangled with the affairs of this life. Some of the Swiss pastors have become hotel keepers, but if they have been the gainers, religion has not. Of all masters, religion and business are the two which can least be served together.

HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD

1 Kings 19:1-8

Elijah's Prayer for Death.

How erratic have been the movements of this prophet! Our first introduction to him is at the court of Ahab, whence, as soon as he utters his prophecy, he is away to Cherith in the east, among the wilds of Gilead. Next we find him in the north, at Zarephath of Zidon. Then he meets Obadiah, probably in the plain of Esdraelon, whence he passes over to Carmel in the west. From Carmel he runs before Ahab's horses to the entrance of Jezreel. The next day finds him on his way to Beer-sheba in the extreme south of Judah. The day following he is pushing his way into the wilderness of Sinai, where we now find him under a shrub, requesting for himself that he may die. Let us consider—

I. THE OCCASION OF THIS PRAYER.

1. Jezebel had threatened his life.

2. To save his life hefted.

3. Alone with God he asks to die.

II. THE ANSWERS GIVEN TO IT.

1. They come in the form of physical refreshment.

2. They came to him in spiritual blessing.

1 Kings 19:9-18

Elijah at Horeb.

Elijah went in the strength of the refreshment he had received from the Angel-Jehovah a forty days' journey to Horeb. He was now on holy ground. It was the "mount of God" on which Moses had seen the Angel-Jehovah in the bush, and was within sight of Sinai, memorable for the giving of the law. On Horeb he lodges in a cave, perhaps the very recess from which Moses witnessed the Shechinah (see Exodus 32:22), and here becomes the subject of Divine communications and revelations. Consider now—

I. HIS INTERCESSION AGAINST ISRAEL.

1. Observe the occasion.

2. The matter of the accusation.

II. THE ANSWER OF GOD UNTO HIM.

1. This was first given in symbol.

(a) First, "a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord." Here was a sign of wrath upon the rulers and people, through invasion. (Compare Jet Hebrews 4:11-15; Ezekiel 6:2; Amos 4:1).

(b) "And after the wind an earthquake." This is a sign of revolution, whether in things civil, ecclesiastical, or both. (Compare, Psalms 68:8; Revelation 6:12; Revelation 16:18).

(c) "And after the earthquake a fire. This is the symbol of judgments more immediately from God (see Deuteronomy 4:24; Psalms 18:12-14; Psalms 66:12; Jeremiah 48:45).

2. It was afterwards expounded in words.

1 Kings 19:19-21

The Call of Elisha.

After the visions of Horeb, and in pursuance of the commission there received, Elijah returned from the wilderness and re-entered the land of Israel. Whether he went round by Damascus, and in his course anointed Hazael to be king over Syria, as Samuel had anointed David long before he ascended the throne of Israel, we are not informed. It is not necessary for the fulfilment of his instructions (1 Kings 19:15) to suppose that he did so; for prophets are said to do things which they predict. (See Jeremiah 1:10; Ezekiel 43:3; Romans 4:17.) The reason is that their predictions are sure to be accomplished; and upon the same principle a true faith in the promises of God is said to be the "substance" or subsistence of "things hoped for" (Hebrews 11:1). It is certain that Elisha made provision for the anointing of Jehu; Elisha also informed Hazael that he should be king over Syria (see 2 Kings 8:13; 2 Kings 9:1-3). The call of Elisha was by the hand of Elijah.

I. THE CALL OF ELISHA WAS FROM GOD.

1. Elijah threw his mantle over Elisha.

2. Elijah acted under Divine direction.

II. THE RESPONSE OF ELISHA WAS TO GOD

1. He accordingly renounced the world.

2. He followed Elijah.

Observe:

1. Elisha, though evidently a great man at Abel-Meholah, could handle the plough. There is no disgrace in honest labour. It is even honourable.

2. While in pursuit of his business he was called of God. Business will not be honest if it prevent us from hearing God's voice.

3. He returned to kiss his father and mother and make a farewell feast with his household before following Elijah. Natural affection and social endearments, within proper limits, are respected by religion.

4. Elisha's parents do not seem to have hindered him. Those parents incur fearful responsibilities who, under worldly influences, hinder their sons from responding to a call of God to enter His ministry.—J.A.M.

HOMILIES BY J. WAITE

1 Kings 19:1-18

The Desponding Prophet.

A marvellous change has come over Elijah. It is difficult to imagine a more complete contrast than is presented by his moral attitude in this and the previous chapters. He who just before has so boldly confronted the proud king, and defied the priests of Baal, standing without fear before his flaming altar, and sternly carrying out the judgment of God on the corrupters of His people, is now filled with dismay, and flies from the post of duty and of danger. So unstable are the grandest forms of human virtue, and so weak are the noblest of men when God is pleased for a while to leave them to themselves. Consider

I. THE PROPHET'S STATE OF MIND. It is one of deep despondency. Fear of the queen's revenge is not enough of itself to explain it. There is disappointment at the apparent result of the events of the previous day, weariness of life, disgust at the condition of the land, a sense of powerlessness before the difficulties of his position, perhaps doubt as to the wisdom of what he has done. He speaks and acts as a dispirited, broken-hearted man. Note some of the manifest causes of this despondency. We can never thoroughly understand the feelings of a man unless we take into account the sources and occasions of them, and try to put ourselves in his place.

1. Physical exhaustion. His bodily frame was worn and weary. animal spirits had had a great strain upon them, and now suffered a corresponding relapse. Unwonted exertion of strength was followed by unwonted weakness. The relation that exists between the state of the body and the state of the mind is very mysterious, but very real. The elation or depression of our religious feeling depends far more on mere physical conditions than we often imagine. A diseased body will often cause a dark cloud to come over the spirit's firmament; much that is morbid in the religious thoughts and emotions of good men needs to be dealt with by the physician of the body rather than of the soul.

2. Loneliness. He was without the companionship and sympathy of those who would share his labours and perils. "I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to destroy it." It is a single-handed conflict in which he is involved. There are none to stand by him, none whom he can trust. Such isolation is the severest possible test of fidelity, As the rock never appears more majestic than when seen standing alone, with the ocean billows rolling round it, so with one who is "faithful found among the faithless," cut off from all natural and human supports, isolated in a surrounding sea of indifference or iniquity. (Think of Paul: "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all forsook me," 2 Timothy 4:16; above all the Christ. "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me," Isaiah 63:3.) Supernatural help will often come for special emergencies, and will make the soul sublimely independent of external aid; but it is hard to carry on a long, patient conflict with difficulties alone.

3. Want of success. His ministry, seems all in vain. His words are but as the dreams of the false prophets. The solemn testimony given on Carmel has passed away without effecting any real change in the condition of things. The fire that consumed his sacrifice has gone out. Righteous vengeance has been inflicted on the idolatrous prophets, and the Kishon has swept away their blood. The drought has done its work, and the rain has returned upon the land. And now all seems to be going on just as it was before. Ahab and Jezebel are as hostile and treacherous and full of cruel hate as ever; and as for the people, there is no kind of security for their constancy to their recent vows. Surely he is living his sad life in vain! That dreariest of all thoughts to a man of high and holy purpose—that his labour is utterly fruitless—sweeps like a withering wind through his soul, and he wishes he were dead. "O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers."

4. The sense of having forsaken the post of responsibility. It may have been a natural impulse that moved him to "fly for his life," but no wonder his despondency deepened as he lost himself in the solitudes of the wilderness. His was the inward disquietude which will always be the penalty of a man's having weakly or wilfully deserted the path of duty. When good men place themselves in a false position, they must expect the shadow of some morbid condition of feeling to fall upon their spirits. When the hands of those who ought to be busy about some work for God are idle, their hearts are left a prey to all sorts of evil influences. Religious activity is one of the main secrets of religious health. What is our grand business in this world but just to battle against the weaknesses of our own nature, and the force of adverse circumstances? And when the difficulties of our position gather thickest about us, then is the time to cast ourselves most fearlessly on the Divine power that will enable us to overcome them and listen to the voice that says, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life."

II. GOD'S WAY OF DEALING WITH HIM. Taking a general view of the Divine method, we see that each successive step is wisely adapted to the prophet's need.

1. Physical refreshment. An angel is sent with food for the nourishment of his exhausted frame; not to talk with him, not by remonstrance or persuasion to chase away his morbid feelings, but to feed him. The disease of the mind is to be cured by first removing the weakness of the body, which was one of its causes. It is a suggestive incident. Our physical nature is as truly an object of Divine thought and care as the spiritual. God will not fail to supply the meaner wants of His children. The beneficent ministries of His providence are ever auxiliary to the higher purposes of His grace.

2. A significant revelation of the Divine presence and power. The remarkable phenomena described in the eleventh and twelfth verses on doubt had a symbolic meaning. The wind, the earthquake, and the fire were emblems of the conspicuous and extraordinary manner in which Elijah probably expected the work of God to be carried on. The "still small voice" that followed taught him that God's chosen way of working was rather one that is calm and noiseless. The stirring events that had recently taken place were only preparatory to the silent but mightier energy of His spirit working through the voice of the prophet. We are apt to overestimate the power of that which "cometh with observation." Why should the wind, and the fire, and the earthquake be God's only instruments? Is He not equally in the gently dawning light, the soft-whispering breeze, the silent, secret forces of nature? Your path of usefulness may be obscure, your influence unobserved, its issues slowly developed. But be not disheartened. Remember the "still small voice" breathing in the ear of the prophet at the mouth of the cave when the tumult was over and learn that it is by a feeble instrument and a quiet, patient process that God will accomplish His grandest work in the moral sphere. This is the method of the world's Redeemer. "He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets, etc. (Isaiah 42:2, Isaiah 42:8, Isaiah 42:4).

3. Words of rebuke and encouragement. "What doest thou here, Elijah?" "Go, return on thy way." "Yet have I left me seven thousand in Israel," etc. Thus does God reprove him for the faithlessness that lay at the root of his despondency. If the veil that hid the secret life of Israel could at that hour have been uplifted, he would have seen how little real reason there was for it. Seven thousand living witnesses might have come forth from their obscurity to show that his work was not in vain. We little know what God is doing beneath the surface, at the secret heart of society, when appearances seem most unfavourable. Let us be true to ourselves and to Him, doing faithfully the work He has given us to do in storm or in calm, and leave it to Him to bring about the glorious issue. "Be ye therefore steadfast, immovable," etc. (1 Corinthians 15:58).—W.

1 Kings 19:19-21

The Call of Elisha.

It was by an express Divine command that Elijah summoned Elisha to the prophetic office (1 Kings 19:16). And yet we may discern a purely human element in this. He did it by the impulse of natural feeling. Stern, rugged, self reliant as he was, he needed sympathy and companionship. He yearned for the society of a kindred spirit. He could not bear to live alone. Whether he had any previous personal knowledge of Elisha we know not; but it is certain that, totally different as the two men were, he found in him a faithful friend and servant. And scanty as the materials of the narrative may be, there is enough to show how deep and tender an affection existed between them. Note in reference to this call—

I. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE DIVINE CHOICE. No indication is given as to why Elisha particularly should have been called to this office. So it has generally been in the case of those who, in the olden times, were raised up to occupy distinguished positions in the development of the Divine plan. (Abraham, Moses, Saul, David, etc.) So was it in Christ's choice of the inner circle of His disciples; as when to the sons of Zebedee mending their nets, and to Matthew at the receipt of custom, He said, "Follow me." But the elections of God are never arbitrary and capricious. He chooses whom He will to be the instruments of His purpose, "taking one of a city and two of a family" as it pleases Him (Jeremiah 3:14). But there is always some deep and sufficient reason for this, though we may not be able to trace it. Every man who has done any great work for God in the world has been more or less deeply impressed with this sense of a special Divine call and commission. And it has given a dignity to his bearing and strength and courage to his spirit that nothing else could give. Every true Christian finds highest inspiration in the thought that God has singled him out from the crowd and summoned him to the service of a consecrated life. "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you," etc. (John 15:16).

II. THE SACRED PERSONAL RELATION IT ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE PROPHET AND HIS SERVANT. Elijah's throwing his "mantle" upon him as he passed by was a symbolic act indicative of this. It was the sign of their common prophetic vocation, the seal and bond of the new relation existing between them. It betokened

(1) some kind of adoption to sonship. "My Father, my Father" (2 Kings 2:12).

III. THE COMPLETENESS OF ELISHA'S SELF SURRENDER. Natural feeling for a moment throws an obstacle in the way. "Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother." It was a hard task for him at once to loosen himself from family ties, and relinquish the comforts of what was probably a prosperous pastoral life, and cast in his lot with the wandering prophet. Elijah's answer seems to disown the exercise of any undue constraint upon him, and simply leaves him free to choose. But the loyalty of his spirit to the Divine authority soon settles the alternative, and aider an act expressive of his entire abandonment of the associations of his former life, "he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him." We are reminded of the way in which Christ called on men to surrender their all and follow Him (Luke 9:57-62). Fidelity to Him demands complete self-sacrifice. The strongest fascinations, and even the dearest ties of earth, will give way to the realized sovereignty of His claims. "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:37).—W.

HOMILIES BY J. WAITE

1 Kings 19:1-18

The Desponding Prophet.

II. GOD'S WAY OF DEALING WITH HIM. Taking a general view of the Divine method, we see that each successive step is wisely adapted to the prophet's need.

1 Kings 19:19-21

The Call of Elisha.

(1) some kind of adoption to sonship. "My Father, my Father" (2 Kings 2:12).

HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART

1 Kings 19:1-8

The Prophet's Despair.

I. ELIJAH'S WEAKNESS.

1. His disappointment. With the hand of the Lord upon him he had come to Jezreel (1 Kings 18:46). Was it not because a further success for God awaited him there? Could Carmel's wonders and the mercy of God in the rain now flooding the earth be resisted? Jezebel's message, displaying only determined and increased hostility, rudely dispels the dream. The blighting of the long-expected fruit of prayer and waiting and mightiest effort is worse to bear than all the hardships which went before. Other trials may depress, but under this the spirit is utterly broken.

2. His flight. He shows no trust in Him who was mightier than Jezebel tie flees to the south of Judah. Even there it does not seem to him that he is in safety, and he goes a day's journey into the wilderness; but neither at Jezreel nor at Beer-sheba does he seek direction from the Lord. The overthrow of hope is also the overthrow of faith. Ceasing to hope in God we cease to wait on God.

3. His prayer.

II. HOW GOD BINDS UP THE BROKEN HEARTED.

1. He gives rest. "He lay and slept." Even in the desert to which we flee unbidden, God gives shelter and rest. "For so he giveth his beloved sleep."

2. He imparts strength for the onward way to where light will break upon the darkness and a new mission will be given. Elijah is fed once and again with angel food, and in the strength of it goes "forty days and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God." We are revived with tender heavenly ministrations: we see His goodness in the land of the living, and pass onward to the place where we shall meet with Him and hear His voice.—J.U

1 Kings 19:9-18

Elijah at Horeb.

I. How GOD DEALS WITH THE DESPAIRING.

1. Elijah's mistake. Because Jezebel's enmity remained unsubdued the straggle was at once given over as hopeless; "and he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there." The same mistake is made by those who labour on with unexpectant toil, whose wrestling with God is given up, whose feeble thought and listless tones proclaim their hopelessness: by those who have laid down the work to which God called them—preachers in retirement or in other spheres, teachers, etc.—and those who have ceased to strive against their own sin.

2. God's remedy.

II. THE PATH OF DELIVERANCE FOR THE HOPELESS.

1. The vision of God. Elijah's thoughts of God's way were corrected.

2. The recognition of ourselves as only part of the manifold agency of God. Other hands as well as his were to carry on the work of judgment and of mercy (1 Kings 19:15-17). To feel our brotherhood with the servants of God fills us with joy and power.

3. The assurance that God never works in vain (1 Kings 19:18). The results may be hid from us, but they are known to Him.—J.U.

1 Kings 19:19-21

The Prophet's Call.

I. THE CALL TO SERVICE.

1. Where it found him—in the field engaged in laborious, careful toil. The Master chooses servants for higher trusts who have been faithful in lower.

2. How it came. The mantle cast upon him was a sign of adoption. It was a call to share the prophet's home and love. Elijah was to find a son in the newly-called servant of God, and Elisha a father in the great prophet of Israel. We pass into God's service through union with His people.

II. INDECISION REBUKED (1 Kings 19:20).

1. The request. He "ran after Elijah," yet with entreaty for permission to go back and kiss father and mother. The new ties and the old were both binding him, and the vain attempt was made to comply with both. God's call must from the first have the mastery. The seeming severity which we are called upon to exercise will yield fruits of joy. God, fully chosen, will be fully known; and the breaking of lower ties may preach the claims of God to those we love best.

2. The answer. "Go back again, for what have I done to thee?" The gift neglected is taken away. As we value it and sacrifice for it, in that measure is it given to us. Treat God's grace as nothing, and to you it becomes nothing.

III. THE CHOICE MADE.

1. The past was broken with. His own yoke of oxen were slain, the instruments of his toll consumed.

2. It was done with gladness. He made a feast for the people.

3. He took the place which God meanwhile assigned him. "Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him." Humble, loving companionship with God's people is preparation for taking up their work.—J.U.

HOMILIES BY E. DE PRESSENSE

1 Kings 19:4 - 21

Return of Elijah to the Desert.

It is well for us to recognize that the great servants of God are men like ourselves, that they were formed of the same clay, and that they share our infirmities. Elijah had no time to magnify himself after his triumph on Mount Carmel. It was at this very moment God allowed him to pass through the most terrible mental conflict. Led into the bare and arid solitudes of Horeb, he fell into a state of depression bordering on despair, and, throwing himself down under a juniper tree in the wilderness, he cried, "O Lord, now take away my life!" (1 Kings 19:4.) spiritual crisis like this comes in the life of most men of God, and may be explained by two reasons.

1. There is a spiritual necessity for it. The man of God who has gained the first great victory is apt to think that it is decisive and final, and that he may now cease to fight. And behold, the evil that was vanquished yesterday lifts up its head again, and the conflict has to be begun anew. "I hare been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant" (1 Kings 19:10).

2. This painful crisis is permitted by God, who will not have His servants uplifted in their own eyes, even by the most splendid triumphs of the cause which it is their honour to maintain. This is the explanation of the mysterious thorn in the flesh with which St. Paul was buffeted (2 Corinthians 12:7). This is the cause of the momentary despondency of John the Baptist, which prompted that utterance of a faltering faith, "Art thou he that shoed come?" (Matthew 11:3.) To the same source we may trace the anguish of Luther in the Wartburg. He who is pleased thus to exercise the soul of his children is Himself their only efficient Comforter. God raises His downcast servant Elijah by means of a glorious vision. The Lord is not in the wind, not in the earthquake; these are but the symbols of His awful majesty. He is in the still small voice, which whispers the name afterwards to be proclaimed to the whole world by the beloved disciple, and written in letters of blood upon the cross: "God is love" (1 John 4:16). Let us not forget, however, that if God is not in the stormy wind and earthquake, these manifestations of His severity necessarily preceded the manifestation of that love which is His true essence. It was needful that the reed which had presumed to lift up itself against God should be bent, that the hard heart, like the stone, should be broken in order that the still small voice might gain an entrance to it. Repentance must come before the deliverance and joy of pardon. It is by this path through the desert that God leads every soul of man; it was thus that He led His servant Elijah. His overwhelming anguish of soul was like the whirlwind which prepared the way for the soft whisper of heavenly peace. This desert of spiritual desolation is to be made to blossom like the rose under the re. riving breath of the Lord (Isaiah 35:1). Elijah comes forth from it with renewed strength and courage, after the wholesome discipline of humiliation, a witness to us of the truth of the Divine assurance uttered by the lips of Christ Himself: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4).—E. de P.

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