heathen lands also, to those yet in darkness and ignorance, a Saviour who is a friend. of sinners.

PRAYER.

O God! make me to be more zealous in Thy service. Give me an earnest desire to do Thy will above all things,-a burning love of Christ,-a longing desire for His glory and the salvation of souls. Save me from the sin of lukewarmness. Give me more of the Spirit of grace and supplication, that I may be more fervent and more earnest in my prayers. Give me deeper views of the hatefulness of sin, and the awful end of sinners, that I may anxiously desire and labour to snatch them from the fire, and to warn them to flee from the wrath to come. Grant me to be more deeply rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, that I may be more strongly and constantly inclined to bear witness of Him, and shew my zeal for Him wherever I am. May I ever be stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that my labours shall not be in vain in the Lord, for Jesus' sake. AMEN.

JOASH AND JEHOIADA.

"And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

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"But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

"And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house. "Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

"And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, aud served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass." 2 CHRON. xxiv. 2, and 15-18.

As we proceed in the history of the Jews, the accounts of blood-shedding and cruelties multiply The reason is that the fear of God and true religion grew less and less among them. Thus their sins brought their own punishment, until at last they reached to that degree of wickedness, that the wrath of God came upon them to the uttermost, and they were cast away.

We have seen how much blood had been

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shed by Jehu, who executed God's wrath against the house of Ahab. We now have an account of the blood shed by a wicked queen, Athaliah. Her son was Ahaziah, a king of Judah, who was slain by Jehu. Whereupon she sat upon the throne, first endeavouring to kill all the heirs of the kingdom.

Sad indeed is the account of both mother and son. We read, "He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab; for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly." What shall we expect of the child when the mother leads it astray, and influence which is the greatest is also the worst? How dreadful will be the account such a parent will have to give of the influence she has used! And how awful must be the reflections of the mother, if not beyond all feeling, to whom the son will point at the last day, and say, it is from my mother's advice and evil influence, that my soul and body are lost to all eternity. By nature every child looks to its mother for guidance, how dreadful if that guidance is to hell and not heaven!

But this was not all the sin that Athaliah was guilty of. Except Jezebel we read of no worse character in Scripture. "When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that

her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah."

She was also the great patroness of idolatry and the great hinderer of God's worship. "For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of God, did they bestow upon Baalim." (2 Chron. xxiv.)

But in all this let us observe how utterly vain are all men's attempts to hinder and obstruct God's purposes. Such "people imagine a vain thing," when they "take counsel against the Lord."

Thus, as we have seen, when God determined Ahab's posterity should all be destroyed, although he had seventy sons carefully guarded by the elders and rulers of the kingdom, yet not one escapes death. And now when God had determined there should yet be one descended from the loins of David to sit on his throne, in vain does this wicked queen plan the death of all the seed royal. She doubtless thought she had effected her purpose. But Jehoshabeath the wife of Jehoiada the priest, and daughter of the late king, stole Joash from among the king's sons that were slain, and hid him from Athaliah that she slew him not. And he was hid in the house of God six years.

So it was Moses was preserved, when Pharaoh was slaying all the men children born to the Israelites; because God's purpose was that he should live.

So even with the Lord Jesus when a child, and Herod had aimed at his life. God's

purposes must stand. The Lord reigneth and will perform His will, although “the kings of the earth and their rulers may counsel against Him and His anointed."

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When the young prince was seven years old, Jehoiada the priest thought it time to give him his rightful throne, and to bring to an end all the wickedness of Athaliah the unlawful queen. Hence we have an account of these two events, the anointing, crowning, and placing of Joash on the throne, and the slaying of Athaliah. (2 Kings xi.)

There were some good things happened in the reign of Joash, yet he was himself no good character, as his last years proved too plainly. His reign was remarkable for a partial restoration of the temple. Great sums of money were subscribed for this purpose; and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders that wrought upon the house of the Lord. "So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it." (2 Chron. xxiv.)