poser. She had long considered Elijah as the great leader and life of Jehovah's worshippers: he, therefore, was immediately singled out as the first object of her vengeance. And not being able to conceal her murderous intentions, she dispatched to the prophet the following threatening message -So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them, by to-morrow about this time.

Here then we have the cause of Elijah's alarm; the avowed purpose of an unprincipled and exasperated woman, whose power was not to be controlled, and whose agents were prepared to execute, without hesitation, all her bloody designs.

Let us now proceed to notice the immediate effect of this alarm.

The first effect produced by this alarm, was an instantaneous flight from Jezreel. Never was the presence and example of Elijah more necessary to the establishment and support of his brethren than in this season of persecution and distress. At this trying period, they stood in need of instruction, confirmation, and encouragement: and,

in these circumstances, their eyes were naturally turned upon him, whose praise was in all the congregations of the Lord's people. All were convinced of his superior piety, his exalted attainments, and his ardent devotion to God. He had spoken to them the word of the Lord without fear; he had discovered every where a wonderful degree of intrepidity in the righteous cause of Jehovah, and had suffered many things for his name's sake. From such a man nothing was too great or too difficult to be expected. The attention of all Israel was fixed upon him; and not a doubt was entertained, that he would stand stedfast and immoveable through every change that might take place. Such was the universal expectation concerning Elijah; and it must be acknowledged, that it became his high character to abide by the Church amid all its disasters-even as the apostles of Jesus did, who in the severe persecution that followed the martyrdom of Stephen, determined rather to die at their posts than to abandon the cause of their glorified Master.

But behold here a striking instance of human weakness! After all that this ex

traordinary person had done and suffered for the support of a declining Church, we see him agitated and put to flight upon the first notice of Jezebel's merciless intentions towards him. In a state of the most unbeseeming confusion and hurry he bent his course to the wilderness of Sinai, on the borders of which he thought it necessary to dismiss his servant, through the apprehension that a single witness of his retreat might endanger his safety. And going a day's journey into the desert, he there gave himself up to the deepest dejection of spirit, considering the cause of God as wholly deserted, and the circumstances of his people as utterly hopeless. The report he makes of all his disheartening feelings and fears to the Lord Jehovah, we find recorded in another part of this chapter, and it is given in the following terms—I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only am left; and they seek my life to take it away. In these circumstances the despairing prophet seems to have had no thought of making any fur

ther attempt for the restoration of Israel; but, sinking feebly down into a state of despondency and languor, he requested for himself that he might die.

To a righteous man the thought of death is both familiar and consolatory. His prospects on this side the grave are always uncertain, and frequently clouded; but his views beyond it are luminous and cheering. His richest treasure is laid up in heaven; and where his treasure is, there his heart is also. He longs to be at home. Here he looks for little else than labours and conflicts; but there, he expects to put off the warrior's arms, and to put on the conqueror's crown. How blessed a change is this, whereon to occupy our thoughts, while we urge our painful passage through the dangers and temptations of this variable state! Well might the Apostle Paul, amid fightings without and fears within, express an earnest desire to depart and to be with Christ-and, with such a prospect before him, well might Elijah long for a speedy deliverance out of the hands of unreasonable men. The prophet's earnest request on this occasion might probably have in it some

mixture of impatience: but could he have foreseen the splendours of his approaching transit, how totally would every impatient feeling have been swallowed up and lost in a hope full of immortality!

But without enlarging any further on the effects of Elijah's alarm, I will now, in the last place, point out the consolations which speedily followed.

He who knoweth whereof we are made, will never forsake his children in seasons of distress. He bears their griefs and carries their sorrows, though they know it not. Through the whole sacred volume, the feeblest of his servants are encouraged to cast all their cares upon Him, who can never cease to care for them, and who will never fail to send forth deliverance in the fittest time and manner. All the choicest sources of consolation are in his hand, and he lays them open from time to time, and causes them to flow forth in rich abundance, according to the successive exigencies of his people. He hath a thousand different ways of comforting those who mourn; and for that purpose he employs a great variety of means.