Thirty-Third Sabbath-Morning.

DAILY BENEFITS.

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation."-Ps. lxviii. 19.

LET us think of what God is-of what God does -and of what He deserves.

What God is-He is "the God of our salvation." Salvation is divine in its origin. God the Father devised it, making justice and mercy harmonize, and mercy and truth meet together. Darius the Mede could find no way to save Daniel, and at the same time preserve the honour of his decree; hence he was cast into the den of lions; but God hath found out a way by which He is just and the justifier of the ungodly. God the Son executed it. By His sufferings and death, He hath satisfied divine justice, and procured salvation, so that all the divine attributes are seen distinctly, yet harmoniously joined, like the colours of the rainbow, in the salvation of a sinner. God the Holy Spirit applies it. He convinces the sinner of sin-He enlightens the mind-He renews the will-and He persuades to embrace Christ. Thus salvation, from first to last, is of the Lord. He is "the God of salvation." Salvation is comprehensive of all other blessings. It delivers from the guilt of sin-it destroys the dominion of sin-it roots out the

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love of sin-and it rescues from the evil consequences of sin. Yea more, salvation brings to us a free pardon-large peace-honourable adoption-blessed hope-and heaven with all its lasting joys. This salvation is ours by faith. Though it cost Jesus His life, it is freely conveyed to us in the gospel; and when we believe this gospel, and accept of Jesus as our Saviour, salvation in all its extent is ours, and ours for ever. Reader, "to you is the word of this salvation sent."

What God does?" He daily loadeth us with benefits." The benefits are temporal. God feeds us from His storehouse, He clothes us, and gives us home and friends. They come to us in every sunbeam-they are wafted on every breeze-and they descend in every shower. They are spiritual. Our souls are nourished with the bread of heaven and the sincere milk of the word -they are comforted in sorrow-strengthened in difficulty-and cheered with the hope of a blessed immortality. God is the fountain— Christ is the channel-the Holy Spirit's influences are the streams which refresh our soul. These benefits are remarkably abundant. "He loadeth us." Air, land, and water, teem with plenty and variety, to satisfy all our wants. Pity it is that so much should be wasted and abused! Man's gifts are very limited and given often with a grudge, but God gives liberally and upbraideth not, and all that God gives is exactly suited to

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our wants. He who enlarged the handful of meal in the barrel, and multiplied the oil in the cruise, largely supplies us. He who fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes, is inexhaustible in His resources. These benefits are frequent, "Daily." Every day we are the recipients of unmerited bounties; and daily benefits should call forth daily gratitude. I have all things from God, and should therefore enjoy God in all things.

What God deserves-"Blessed be the Lord." God deserves the gratitude of the heart. If we do much for a child, or a friend, and get nothing but ingratitude, the disappointment is galling, and the conduct worthy of reprobation; but shall we get much, and get daily from God, and yet prove our ingratitude, by slighting his mercies and breaking his laws? God deserves thanksgiving, for the word "Blessed" includes this. Ten lepers came to Jesus, and He told them how they would be cleansed. All were cleansed, but only one returned to give thanks and glorify God, and he was a Samaritan. Like this Samaritan, we ought to thank God for all our benefits. We should tell others of what He has done for our souls. He found me a wanderer, and hath brought me into His fold; He found me a sinner, and hath given me salvation; and He found me lying in my blood, and said to me, "Live," and I became His.

Chirty-Third Sabbath—Evening.

THE FRUITFUL TREE.

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."-Ps. i. 3.

A TREE is one of the loveliest objects of nature, and was highly appreciated by every Jew. Living in a warm climate, and exposed to the heat of a burning sun, he delighted in its fine shade; and men in their happiest condition are represented as sitting under their vine and under their fig-trees, none making them afraid. Let us think of the comparison instituted, and the results anticipated.

The comparison instituted—“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water." The righteous man, "like a tree," possesses life, spiritual life. Once he was dead in trespasses and sins, but now he is "alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." He possesses beauty. Trees are generally planted for ornament, and add much to the beauty of every landscape and every house; so the Christian is adorned with the best robe, and has the beauty of the Lord upon him. He possesses stability. While the tree grows, it strikes its roots deeper in the soil, and acquires increasing stability as it increases in age. The righteous man is "like a tree planted." He is naturally a wild olive, but, by the grace and Spirit of God, he is "planted in

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the house of the Lord, and flourishes in the courts of our God." He is one of the trees which the Lord hath planted, and not man. "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up." He is planted in a favourable situation. "By the rivers of water." Trees of all kinds, especially fruit trees, grow best on the banks of large rivers, and the Christian makes best progress when he enjoys most abundantly the means of grace and the dews of heaven. Reader, what a lovely object is a tree planted in a favoured soil! It is a thing of life, a thing of beauty, which claims the pencil of the painter, and the glowing descriptions of the poet! Wilt thou admire the image, and wilt thou not be what it represents, "A tree of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified?"

The results anticipated—“That bringeth forth his fruit in his season." As every tree is known by its fruits, so it is said of Christians, "By their fruits ye shall know them." The fruits of the Christian are, "Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." In the season of spring, the trees bud, and show new life. Buds are the first evidence of life, so the Christian has faith. It is his first grace, the first movement of spiritual existence. As the season advances, blossoms spring from the buds, and fill the air with their