" mind, the divine direction with regard to the few remaining duties which he might have to perform. A voice from the glorious Majesty meets his ear: Behold, thy days approach that thou must die : call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge." The summons is instantly obeyed. The divine presence is manifested in the cloudy pillar which stands over the door of the tabernacle. Jehovah addresses Moses, telling him that he shall sleep with his fathers; shall die, and go to be associated with his pious, deceased ancestors, in the abodes of the righteous beyond the grave. He, also, tells him, that the Israelites will go astray after the gods of the Canaanites, and break the covenant which the Lord had made with them; that his anger will be kindled against them; that he will no longer afford them his protection; and that they will endure the severest tokens of his displeasure. Moses is also directed to write a sacred song, to be taught the Israelites, and their descendants, as a traditionary memorial of their obligations to God for all his goodness, and of the deserved judgments which will come upon them, in consequence of their transgressions. It is to be committed to memory, and sung on certain solemn occasions; "And it shall come to pass," such are the words of Jehovah, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware." How often do the sacred songs, the psalms and hymns, and the portions of Scripture, which pious parents have caused their children to learn in their earlier years, afterwards, as they grow older, testify against their wickedness! Are any such, my young friend, treasured up in your memory? Have you not known the occasions, when conscience has been awakened by them, and your sinful desires and purposes reproved? Strive not to banish them from your mind. Still love to repeat them, and to dwell on the holy sentiments which they contain. Call up the tender recollections of a kind father's and mother's counsels, which they are adapted to inspire. Your parents speak to you, again, in these memorials of their affection. They repeat their gentle exhortations, to lead you in the paths of duty and peace, and their affecting warnings, to guard you against sin and ruin! Oh listen to their voice; and forsake not the God of your fathers. CHAPTER LXVI. The song of Moses. He is summoned to leave the world. His last blessing. He ascends Mount Nebo. Under the influence of a divine inspiration, Moses composed the sacred song, as he had been directed; and, ordering the elders of the tribes, and the officers, with the whole congregation to be assembled, rehearsed it in their presence. It is a truly sublime production, exhibiting the majesty of Jehovah, with unrivalled power and grandeur of conception; portraying in terms of exquisite and pathetic tenderness his care over his people; describing their sad defection, with the terrific judgments that should overtake them; breathing a most touching expostulation on account of their folly and guilt; and concluding with a lofty, prophetic strain of what God would yet do for the Israelites in the extremity of their wretchedness, taking vengeance on their adversaries, and causing the Gentile na tions to rejoice with them in their final restoration The solemn service was concluded, and the as sembly dispersed, after a short exhortation on the part of Moses. "Set your hearts," said he, "unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it." It was probably in the evening of the same day, that Moses, having retired from the pressure of his official duties—in some sequestered spot favorable for composure of thought, and communion with God-heard the final summons to depart from his earthly sphere of service. Notwithstanding his expectation of it for some considerable length of time, and the readiness, no doubt, in which it found him to obey the divine mandate, still a strange and mysterious awe, mingled with a thrill of shrinking. apprehension, came over him, as these portentous words fell upon his ear: : Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho and behold the land of Canaan which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people. Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel, at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.” And die in the mount." Moses was to go up into that lonely solitude-unattended-with no earthly friend to lean upon, to soothe and strengthen him with the words of pious consolation in his dying hour. In the full possession of mental and bodily vigor, he was to compose himself for the last struggle, and, in what mysterious way he knew not, suffer the convulsive pang that separates the spirit from its dissolving tabernacle. But God would be with him, his almighty friend; who had already so often sustained and succored him; and who would not forsake him in this last extremity. Perhaps his departure might be a childlike sleep; and serenely sinking away on the bosom of Jehovah, his spirit awake, with delightful surprise, upon the glories of the invisible world. Be the closing scene thus peaceful, or to be invested with some appalling form, the faith of Moses wavered not. It was equal to the occasion. It furnished a sublime exhibition of the moral energy of his soul, strong in the strength of God, and relying on the divine faithfulness. He goes forward, calm and self-possessed, to obey the summons. He has but one remaining public duty to perform: to give his parting blessing to his countrymen. They are assembled for the purpose. Moses stands before them. It is the last time that he will thus ad |