naught; for I the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, "Fear not, I will help thee, fear not, thou worm Jacob, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the holy one of Israel: behold I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff; thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, for all things are possible to him that believeth; and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the holy one of Israel.”

"How beautiful are thy feet with shoes; O prince's daughter," thou hast dipped thy foot in oil; thy shoes are iron and brass; yea, I have shod thee with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Says Jesus, the Saviour and friend of his church, "It was impossible for thee to walk with me in a state of nature, because it is enmity against me: can two walk together, unless they are agreed? but I have not only slain that enmity by the blood of my cross, but have subdued the power of it in thy heart, bringing home to thy soul that gospel of peace which publisheth salvation, which declares I am reconciled unto thee, by the sacrifice of myself; having communicated to thy heart, my gospel grace, thou art not only able to walk, but run in the ways of my commandments: the dreary waste, through which thou art travelling, abounds with burning sands, rough and uneven places, rugged ways, sufficient to turn thy naked feet out of the way, and to thrust thee down into the bottomless pit of inexpressible perdition; but I have given thee for shoes, the gospel of peace, in

which thou shalt tread on the necks of thine enemies; before it, the rough places shall all become smooth, and every mountain become a plain; safely mayest thou travel through an enemy's land, till thou arrivest on Immanuel's ground; it is an everlasting salvation, shoes that will never wear out."

"Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree, there thy mother brought thee forth, there she brought thee forth that bear thee."....O my beloved, thou that art journeying from time to eternity, that art flying from Babylon, the city of destruction, to that good land overflowing with wine and oil, even the heavenly Jerusalem, the Mount Sion, the city of the living God: thou art not come to Mount Sinai, that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness and tempest, but thou art come to the general assembly and church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven; to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new and better covenant, to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel; that cried from the earth for vengeance; this speaketh peace to the distressed conscience, burdened with guilt, afflicted with a sense of sin. Thou art coming up from a desart place, barren of every good thing; a waste, howling wilderness, full of evils, surrounded with enemies : thou art weak and void of strength, in thee is no might at all, but thou leanest on thy beloved, on him that is mighty to save: fear not then, thou worm Jacob, but still repose on thy Saviour's bosom: cast all

thy fears, thy cares and burdens upon me; repose thy confidence in my faithfulness, willingness and ability to save; depend on my word which endureth forever; remember my covenant which is ordered in all things and sure, and standeth eternally fast....Look unto me, and be ye saved, O thou beloved of my soul, for I am the mighty God of Jacob, thy strong deliverer, thy Almighty friend: I raised thee up from that state of spiritual death in which thou wert by nature immersed; I saw thee in that iniquity wherein thou wert born; that state of darkness, blindness, and total depravity; a slave to thy own deceitful heart, led captive by the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience....I saw thee, I beheld thee in this forlorn, detestable, wretched condition I set my love upon thee from the days of eternity; I looked and there was none to help, and I wondered there was none to uphold; therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; the angel of my presence saved thee; in my love and in my pity, I redeemed thee, and raised thee up in my own appointed time, from the death of sin to a life of righteousness; with a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm, exalting my throne in thine heart, my purchased possession.... set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm thou art graven upon my heart, and upon the palms of my hands: O set me as a seal upon thine, for love is strong as death; yea, my love to thy soul is stronger than death; it hath combated with and overcome that tyrant; it hath drawn his sting, and broken his dart my love is higher than heaven, and deeper than hell; it is from everlasting and to everlasting; it

hath looked over all difficulties, and esteemed them light, that it might redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies, of those that hated, and were sworn to destroy thee, for the joy that was set before me, even of sav. ing thy soul from death, of rescuing thee out of the jaws of hell, I despised the shame and endured the cross, and am now set down in my heavenly kingdom, expecting to see of the travail of my soul; to divide the spoil with the strong, and be abundantly satisfied with the reward of my labor: my love is stronger than death, my jealousy is cruel as the grave; the coals thereof are coals of fire which hath a most vehement flame." I am a jealous God, I will not endure a rival in thy heart; I will not divide and give my glory to another; I will not be satisfied with a divided heart; I must have all or none.

Behold, my beloved, what I have done; behold, my beloved, how I have loved thee; how I have suffered and bled for thy sins; I have betrothed thee to myself in everlasting loving-kindnesses, in righteousness, faithfulness and truth. Canst thou, O canst thou forget thy Saviour; him who hath been a husband unto thee, and place thine affections on any thing else? I know thou canst, thy heart is fickle, light and inconstant as the waves of the sea; but I will not have it so; I am a jealous God, I will hide the light of my countenance from thee; I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall that thou shalt not find thy paths: though thou go after many lovers, thou shalt not overtake them, for they would lead thee to the pit of destruction: though thou dost

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run away from me, thy friend and Saviour, yet my goodness and mercy shall follow thee all the days of thy life, and bring thee back to my feet, though with broken bones and aching heart; for thou shalt find it a bitter thing to depart from the Lord thy God; yet, I will allure thee and bring thee into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto thee; for how shall I give thee up Ephraim, how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? my heart is turned within me; my repentings are kindled together: I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not man, the holy one of Israel, in the midst of thee.

66 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it;" so vast, so strong, so immense is my love to thee, ungrateful, unkind, and prone to backslide as thou art, that neither earth nor hell can decrease or queuch it; not all the affronts thy foolish heart is continually putting upon it, can prevent its infolding thee still in its everlasting arms: not all the floods of thine iniquities, which, wave after wave, are continually arising, put a damp on that bright eternal flame, which burns, and shall burn for ever; it shall never go out, it shall never decay, but uninterruptedly continue the same; in thy joy, in thy sorrow, in thy life and death, during the utmost period of time, and throughout the infinite space of an ever advancing, never ending eternity; when thou shalt be swallowed in that vast ocean of love divine which knows no shore, and shall be able to comprehend what is the

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