over the waters. We must be prepared to ascend the mount, so that at any moment we hear the Divine voice saying,-Come up, and "I will make all my goodness pass before you," we may go up and see the glory. We must walk in the light, as He is in the light, that we may have fellowship one with another.

The text suggests to us that we may feel though we do not see the presence of the spiritual. How often you have involuntarily thought or spoken of some friend, and most unexpectedly the next minute you see him. You cannot account for the suggestion, why, "or ever you were aware," your mind went after him. Circumstances are often suggestive. A walk by the sea-shore, a look from some passer-by, the tones of a voice, a thousand things, may recal the past, and stir our hearts to their depths. If spiritual, we shall be prepared to avail ourselves of all circumstances. If in the Spirit, we shall often hear a voice talking with us; and turning to "see the voice," we shall see one like unto the Son of Man." We live in a world filled with Divine manifestations. The world is not opaque, but like a richlypainted window, through which the light comes to us. The world is full of symbols; we hear solemn voices, we see glorious sights. Every tree, every flower, may be a revelation; every trill of song, a voice.

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We live in a world where Christ has been, where He lived, where He died, where He was buried, and from

whence He ascended. All life seems to bring us into contact with Christ; our sins lead us to clasp His feet, our sorrows to seek for His sympathy, our temptations to ask for His succour; and in the prospect of death we believe that He will "show us the path of life." We go to the Sanctuary to see Him, to the "Table" to meet with Him, to the Word to hear Him.

Some men are prepared for all spiritual things. Let such give thanks to the Father, who hath made them meet to be translated at any moment. Some of you must be conscious that you are wanting in spiritual thoughts and affections. Oh! sense-bound, earth-bound men, awake! You want a new-a Divine life. The only way to obtain it, is through your whole nature receiving, loving, and obeying the truth. Life is in Christ-Life is yours, through believing in His name.

THE SPECIAL MEANING OF COMMON THINGS.

“And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.”—2 SAM. v. 23, 24.

"AND David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake." In what respects did he differ from the leaders of armies who have won their way to a throne? He had popular sympathy on his side. He had fought great battles, and won great victories. It does not seem as if any striking or miraculous event had led to his exaltation. He was a valiant man, renowned for his courage, and the captain of a band of brave and adventurous men. Saul and Jonathan were dead, and the throne was vacant-might not any ambitious man, who, availing himself of propitious circumstances, had seized on a kingdom, and who had strength enough to retain it, say that the Lord had given it to him, if David had a right to use such language?

He could not have perceived that the Lord had made him king, if he had made himself. He had seen the Divine hand in all the steps of his history, and had recognised the Divine will.

No sooner did the Philistines hear that David was anointed king, than they came up against him, and David inquired of the Lord if he should go up against them—“Shall I go up to the Philistines, wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the Lord said unto David, Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand." He goes, assured of success, and obtains a decisive victory.

The Philistines come a second time, and David again “inquired of the Lord." It is to the events connected with this second victory that we purpose directing your attention. The king was not to go up, but to "fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees." There was a movement in the tops of the trees, the leaves were stirred as if a storm passed by, there was a sound as of angels' feet, a noise as of an invisible army, as if God's host had come from heaven to earth; there was the sound as of a going-the march of the leader and guide of Israel to victory.

Our subject is "the special meaning of common things." What a different world this would be if we believed that God governed it-that He was in it— that He was at work in it-that His footsteps were still on its mountains-that He walked amidst its

trees, and rode on the wings of the winds,-if we realised His presence, and ascertained and saw in the ordinary things of every day life the indications of His will. We believe there was a time when God was in the world, but it seems to us now like a forsaken world-like a world without God; for we act as if God had nothing to do in it or with it.

What a different Church there would be if we recognised spiritual influences, recognised them in all their variety and modes of manifestation,-if the Church felt that all its movements were to be regulated and determined by them, and instantly obeyed Divine impulses-if every "sound of a going," like the wind on the day of Pentecost, led to activity, and caused spiritual men to bestir themselves.

Divine interpositions do not interfere with human agency. They are the Divine intimations of man's duty, the pledges and assurances of success, filling him with strength and energy, and yet teaching him that it is "not by might nor by power," but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts.

Some men are always waiting—always looking for signs and wonders, for the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens-looking for outpourings, for baptisms of the Holy Ghost, for Pentecostal seasons. They do not see the meaning of common and ordinary things, they do not avail themselves of the means at their disposal. There is a "stir," and again, there is "a sound as of a going." May this lead us to bestir