XIII. THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD. "And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof."-JOSH. xxiii. 14. XIII. THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD. ALL things are changing here below, coming and going on an ever-shifting scene. Disappointment is always shattering our fairest expectations, and failure bringing our brightest labours to nought. The world is too much like a wreck-strewn shore, where hopes and anticipations which promised well lie dashed and broken, to the loss, chagrin and sorrow of those who had conceived and formed them. Experience forces upon men, unwilling as they are to learn, the truth which the Holy Spirit caused Solomon to write, and which that same Spirit shows to the hearts of the children of God, " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." But amid all changing things, God remains unchangeable. In His truth, in His love, in His grace, in the execution of His purposes, He is ever one and the same. With Him" there is no variableness neither shadow of turning." While all below is dying, He is Life; while all else may disappoint and deceive, He is Truth; while circumstances may, and do, perpetually alienate and estrange others from us, He is Love. Eternal life, imperishable truth, everlasting love, these are the characteristics of the Lord our God. Herein lies the strength of the people of God. In themselves weak and insufficient, ever exposed to changes, of themselves subject to change, in Him they can glory as their Rock, their sure Foundation, their undisturbed Rest. It is written of Zion, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of every truly Christian soul: "God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;" and the duty of every believer, of every child of God, is to cry, "My soul wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be moved." In this confidence, their confidence in the immutability of God, they go forward, undertaking anything and all things to which He may call them, regardless of surrounding difficulties and of impediments which present themselves. On this truth they rest as they go, knowing it as a truth, and proving it over and over again amid the various circumstances of their earthly pilgrimage. It has been our interesting occupation to go through the book of Joshua to this point, reviewing God's dealings with the Israelites, and gathering lessons from the pages of sacred history suited to our own case, for instruction in doctrine and for every-day practice. We have seen how, upon the death of Moses, the Lord charged Joshua to take the command of the tribes and lead them into Canaan. We have dwelt upon the mission of the two spies, their reception by Rahab, and the faith which the Canaanitish woman showed in her conduct on that occasion. The crossing of Jordan under the guidance of the Ark of the Covenant; the memorial heaps of stone set up to commemorate that miracle; the halt at Gilgal for the celebration of circumcision and the passover; the fall of Jericho; the sin of Achan; the solemn scene of blessing and cursing on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal; the craft of the Gibeonites, and their doom to constant bondage; the triumph over the five kings at Makkedah; Caleb's hearty following of the Lord his God; the appointment of the Cities of Refuge-each of these in its turn has afforded us a subject for consideration, and served to illustrate that the truth of God, and the lessons which that truth is designed to teach, are one and the same whether preached to the Jews or the Gentiles, whether written in the Old Testament or in the New. And thus the gradual progress of the tribes of Israel, from the banks of Jordan to their final settlement in the promised land, has passed in review before us. We have seen them on the march; have watched them halting now and then; have been by them in the siege and on the open field of battle; have noticed the survey and allotment of the country. We have in this way accompanied them step by step to the termination of their journeyings, and to the accomplishment of the |