faithful prayers of "the holy church throughout all the world," when she cometh up to the help of the Lord against the mighty; "beautiful as Tirsah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners!"

HIS DEEDS FIRST AND LAST.

2 CHRON. XXXv, 26, 27.

"Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the Lord, and his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah."

HEZEKIAH, the amiable and pious king of Judah, was succeeded by his son Manasseh, who, although he had the advantage of the early training, and bright example of his excellent father, grew up to be a notoriously bad man, and a most cruel monarch, for "he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel; and he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnon; also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards; he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger; moreover, he shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another." His impions and attrocious crimes, however, at length aroused the indignation of the Most High; and the Divine judgments overtook him; the Assyrian army invaded his country; and, seizing him among the briars and thickets in which he vainly sought to hide himself; they took him prisoner, put fetters on his hands and feet, and carried him to

Babylon. "And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him, and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem, into his kingdom.” And he now set himself to redress, by all the means in his power, the great mischief he had formerly done to his kingdom. He died at Jerusalem, at the age of sixty-seven years, A.M. 3361; and Amon his son reigned in his stead; and he followed all his father's vices, but did not humble himself before the Lord, as his father had done, but "trespassed more and more;" but after a short reign of two years, his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house; and he was succeeded by his son Josiah, upon whose excellent character I proceed to make some observations.

I. His early piety. "Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one-andthirty years. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand nor to the left; for in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images." Considering the ungodly character of his father, it is truly astonishing how this youth attained to such a high state of grace, and light, and zeal. His name signifies the fire of the Lord; and perhaps it was suggested prophetically by his penitent grandfather. His father was slain in his own house by some of his servants or nobles, who probably meant to exclude the family of David, and seize the throne for themselves; but this was contrary to the purpose of God, and met with due punishment from the people of the land, who "slew all them that had conspired against king Amon." These "people of the land" doubtless included a majority of the nobles and great men; and they were friendly to the line of David, and men that feared God; and they probably took great interest in the moral training of the young prince. Perhaps his mother, too, was a pious woman,

who sowed the good seed in the tender mind of her son; and very likely his education would be superintended by Hilkiah, the high priest, who appears to have been a scmewhat good and pious character; and the prince himself must have been of a very docile and susceptible disposition, for he soon began to seek after the God of hit father David, and to cleave to him with purpose of heart. He began well, continued well, and ended well; so that he was one of the best, if not the best, of all the Jewish kings since the time of David. Youths and maidens, look here! Did you, while you were yet young, begin to seek after the God of your fathers? Did you, at the age of twenty, try to induce your friends and neighbours to come to Christ, that they might find rest, and by repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, be purged from dead works, to serve the living God? Josiah had an impious father, and many disadvantages; bnt some of you have godly parents and teachers, and every privilege. Deeply consider, and ardently imitate, the conduct of young Josiah, the youthful and devoted king of Judah.

II. His respect for the house of God. In the eighteenth year of his reign he sent the scribe, the governor of the city, and the recorder, to the high priest, with orders to repair the breaches of the house of the Lord; and the priest was to sum the silver which had been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the doors had gathered of the people to repair and mend the house of God. As Josiah began to seek the Lord as soon as he began to reign, we may naturally conclude that the worship of God, which was neglected and suppressed by his father, was immediately restored, and the people began their accustomed offerings to the temple. Ten years, therefore, had elapsed since these offerings began, and these, together with other special contributions of the people, were given to the workmen who dealt faithfully, as men every way worthy of public confidence; and they restored and beautified the house of God, and made it fit for its solemn and holy services. "How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord! my heart and my flesh crieth out for the

living God! Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, they will be still praising Thee. A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Such was the language of the pious Psalmist, and such were the feelings of young Josiah's heart. He could not rest till the house of the Lord was made a fit habitation for Him to dwell in. And every one that is godly loves the house of God; that sanctuary from which prayer and praise ascends to heaven; that place where the name of the Lord is recorded is always dear to every child of God, to every lively saint of the Most High, to every spiritual worshipper.

III. His regard for the Word of God. “Hilkiah, the priest, found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses," and he delivered it to Shaphan, the scribe, who carried it to the king, and read it before him; and Josiah rent his clothes, and said,-"Great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the Word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this Book." As Hilkiah called it a book of the law of the Lord, given by Moses, it was most likely the autograph of Moses, comprising the xxviii, xxix, xxx, and xxxi chapters of Deuteronomy, which contain most terrible threatenings against the corrupters of God's Word and worship. "The Word of the Lord is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even unto the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Such Josiah found it to be, and such it will ever prove to all those to whom the commandment comes home with power; yet the king loved and revered the law of the Lord; and every child of God loves His Word, and meditates in it day and night, because it is sweet to his spiritual taste. He loves it, although it is profitable for reproof and correction, as well as for doctrine and instruc tion. Good is the Word of the Lord.

IV. His acceptance with God. He was so deeply affected by the view which he had of the national sin, and the consequent "fury poured out," that he sent Hilkiah and others to Huldah, the prophetess, to inquire

of the Lord; and she told them that the Lord would certainly bring evil upon Judah and Jerusalem, on account of their idolatry and crime; but with respect to king Josiah, she said,-"Thus shall ye say to him:Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast heard:-Because thine heart. was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against the place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me, I have heard thee, saith the Lord; behold, therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered unto thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again." Josiah was not forty years old when he died; and the burning of Jerusalem took place within twenty-three years after, so that he might have lived to that time according to the ordinary course of nature; but as his piety and zeal could not avail to prevent it, he was mercifully taken away from the evil to come. There are kinds and degrees of guilt which the Lord will not pardon either in individuals or nations; they must be visited in some way; but a tender, broken, and contrite heart, and the earnest prayer for mercy, will never be rejected by Him who has said,-" Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee." Whatever such persons may fear, suffer, or witness, or in whatever way they may be removed out of the world, they shall be gathered to the grave in peace, and shall enter into the rest which remains for the people of God.

V. The covenant which he made. "The king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all their heart, and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in