Priest, although he had already grown to manhood in the wilderness. How patiently God dealt with this people, delivering them when they had so quickly fallen into sin, and into such depths of sin.

ABBA, FATHER.

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. iv. 6).

Father! by that dear name my heart is stirred,
And child-like homage renders at the word;
No other name can give such sweet repose,
So full a solace for our many woes.

With joy unspeakable I hear Thy voice,

Which says,

66

At all times in My love rejoice."
I need not bring Thee words- My son, thy heart,"
Is Thy demand. And often, when apart
In sorrow, brooding o'er some heavy care,
'Tis soothing and relief to feel Thee near;
And though in broken tones my utterance be,
Father! I call, and Thou dost answer me.

Draw me! I will run after Thee, will seek
To hear obediently what Thou wilt speak;
And step by step the blessed path would trace
Of Thy beloved-full of truth and grace.
Thou hast but One who ever pleas'd Thee well,
Of Him we love to hear, and Thou to tell.
Our deep desire, our highest aim to grow
Into His likeness-all His grace to know.

The grace that brought Him from Thy bosom, where
The Fount of Life is, and all pleasures are,
To gain a name, our hearts adoring own
The name of Jesus-and a royal crown.
His and our Father! O the depth and height,
The love surpassing knowledge, 'tis too bright.
Faith nearly staggers at the mysters-
The mystery of love: yet though o'erpower'd,
Our trembling hearts can trust Thy faithful word,
The Spirit with our spiritt witnesses,
Children we are, and He our Fatheris!

PERSONNE.

No. XVII.

RUTH.

THE Book of Ruth tells us also of the days of the Judges, when there was no king in Israel; but it shows' us the fair side of those days, in the operations of the grace of God, who, blessed be His name! never failed to work in the midst of the evil, as, also, in the steady progress of events towards the fulfilment of his promises in the Messiah, whatever may have been the simultaneous progress of the general evil.

Ruth, a stranger, seeking shelter by faith under the wings of the God of Israel, is received in grace, and the genealogy of David, king over Israel according to grace, is linked with her. It is the genealogy of the Lord Jesus himself, after the flesh.

This book appears to me to set before us, in type, the reception in grace of the remnant of Israel in the last days; their Redeemer (the kinsman, who has the right of redemption), having taken their cause in hand.

Eli-Melech (which signifies God the King) being dead, Naomi (my delight, my pleasure), becomes a widow, and eventually loses her children also. She typifies the Jewish nation, who, having lost her God, is like a widow, and has no heir. Yet there shall be a remnant, destitute of all right to the promises (and, therefore, prefigured historically by a stranger), who will be received in grace-similarly to the Gentiles and the Church-who will faithfully and heartily identify itself with desolate Israel. God will own this remnant, which, poor and afflicted itself, will in heart obey the commands given to the people.

Naomi, who, in her destitution, is a type of the nation, acknowledges her condition; she calls herself Mara (bitterness).

He who was nearest of kin, who would willingly have redeemed the inheritance, refuses to do so, if Ruth must be taken with it. The law was never able (nor the Church either) to re-establish Israel in their inheritance, nor to raise up, in grace, the name of the dead.

Boaz (in him is strength), upon whom the remnant had no direct claim, (and who typifies Christ risen, in whom are the sure mercies of David), undertakes to raise up the name of the dead, and to re-establish the heritage of Israel. Acting in grace and in kindness, and encouraging the patient, humble faith of the remnant, the meek of the earth, he shows himself faithful to fulfil the purposes and the will of God, with respect to this poor desolate family. Nothing can be more touching and exquisite than the details given here. The character of Ruth, this poor woman of the Gentiles, has great beauty. "Naomi took the child that was born to her, and laid it in her bosom ;" and they said, "There is a son born to Naomi." In fact, the heir of the promises will be born unto Israel, as a nation, although the fulfilment of the promise affects the remnant only, which, fully identi fying itself with the interests of God's people, has sought neither the rich nor the poor; but, in faith and obedience has kept the testimony of God amongst the people, in the path appointed by him.

Thus, if on one side, the Book of Judges shows us the falling away of the people of Israel, and their failure under responsibility, even when God was their helper ; on the other side, this touching and precious book sets before us, as the dawn of better things, grace acting in the midst of difficulties, securing the fulfilment of promise, and embellishing this scene of misery and sin by lovely and beautiful instances of faith, precious fruits of grace, whether in weakness and devotedness, or in strength and kindness, and always in accordance with the perfect will of God.

In the succeeding books, we shall see prophecy, and the history of God's dealings, developing the body of events which tended to the fulfilment of His designs, the first principles, the elements of which are laid down in that which will be shown us in him. For Ruth furnishes a kind of intermediate link between the fall of Israel under God's immediate government, and the future fulfilment of His purposes.

Prophecy, which unfolds these purposes, and gives moral proof of this fall, begins with Samuel: we learn

this from the lips of Jesus, who is himself the object of prophecy.

Eli, the last judge and priest, departs, his family is to be cut off, the Ark of the Covenant is taken by the Philistines, and Samuel, consecrated to God in a new and extraordinary manner, comes in with the special testimony of the Lord.

BIBLICAL RESEARCHES:

OR OCCASIONAL CRITICISMS UPON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, TEXTS, WORDS, ETC., IN SCRIPTURE.

INTRODUCTION.

"Familiar acquaintance" and "thorough knowledge," though akin, are different; they may sometimes even be contrasted the one to the other. Thus, few persons have a thorough knowledge of their native tongue or language, although they have, of course, familiar acquaintance with it.

As to the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek languages, I pretend not to either "familiar acquaintance" or to "thorough knowledge"-properly so called. Yet, having long felt that it was a needless dishonour to myself, when God had put into my hand a revelation, from and of Himself, written therein, not to know these tongues at all, I have sought with some diligence, and at least much labour, to use the Scriptures in my private reading as they were written.

The Lord, who confounded the language of men, that they should not understand one another's speech,-when the iniquity of the post-diluvian age was ripe enough to combine in independency of Him, has condescended to make his revelation in three languages, vouchsafing also a very good translation of the whole in our mother tongue, and more or less correct translations into the languages current in the various countries of Christendom. I could not be satisfied, where intercourse was frequent, to speak to my brethren in the Lord, or even to men, merely through the medium of an interpreter; much less could I be satisfied to allow a translation of the Bible into my own tongue to stand between me and the Bible as it was written. I thought (and do think still) that a child of God

might plead with Him for help to read His WORD as He wrote it; and so, at least, be ready to estimate aright any suggested emendation, and acquire competency to see through the many false glosses, of which ignorance and self-sufficiency are the parents; at all events, enough to detect the want of kindredship between "improvements" and "alterations"; for while every needless alteration, as such, is to be deprecated, doubtless faith and humility may find defects, and, therefore, room for improvement in every translation made by uninspired men.

The

In pursuing this course, one could not divest one's own mind of its previous knowledge of the English authorised version ; but then one gained the power to examine its value, and to mark and guard against any bias it might contain. result has been an increased sense:-1st, Of individual ignorance; 2ndly, of the difficulty of making a good translation of any, but especially of such, a book as the Bible; and, 3rdly, of the value of our English authorised version.

In cultivating wisdom-that wisdom which, while it dwells in us and is practical in our walk, consists in the appropriation of Heavenly light by the renewed affections—we ought not either to refuse to weigh a criticism; or, when assured of its value, refuse to communicate it to others. With what measure we mete, it shall be measured to us again. That good measure pressed down and running over, may be measured into my own bosom is my desire. I would, therefore, give freely, yet with reverence, before God, as seeking not to handle the word of God lightly or deceitfully. If I desire that those to whom I write should, by the word and by the testimony,

prove all things," and hold fast that only which is truth,— I trust, also, that God may vouchsafe so much of light as to produce, on both writer and reader, the feeling of "Who is sufficient for these things?" as contrasted with that feeling of empty conceit which a little light sometimes produces.

My object is not display but edification; he who can only read English will find (if God prospers my effort) that which will help him in the Scriptures; and they that have the balances of the sanctuary-the Truth-with them, and know how to use them, may return, in some other form of blessing, that which they read; for there is unity in Scripture; and thus the elucidation of a very little point will often open a very large portion to us; even as, also, ignorance of or misunderstanding of large portions of Scripture grows out of error in some small detail.