Many years ago there was a faithful, zealous clergyman who preached the Gospel, and warned wicked men so faithfully that he became very popular, and attracted crowds of people to his church. Now as the churches and chapels are filled the ale-houses are usually emptied. It was so in this case, and one very wicked, drunken inn-keeper was so enraged at the loss of his customers, that he swore he would never enter the church or hear the clergyman preach. Some time after this he heard that the singing in church was remarkably good, and as he was very fond of music, he so far departed from his foolish vow as to visit the church and hear the singing, but he declared he would not hear a word of the sermon.

When the singing concluded he put his fingers into his ears that he might not hear a word of either the prayers or the sermon. The minister had only just begun to preach when a large bee or wasp lighted on the inn-keeper's face and stung him sharply. Smarting under the pain, he took his finger away from his ear to drive it off. At that instant the clergyman was repeating the command, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." His attention was arrested, and he determined to listen to a few sentences. By-and-by the other finger was drawn from his other ear, and the sermon he heard under such strange circumstances led to his conversion. He became a sober, intelligent, good man, and to his dying day he thanked God for sending a bee to be the instrument of his conversion.

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform ;

He plants His footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never-failing skill

He treasures up His bright designs,

And works His sovereign will.

God often uses the weak things of this world to confound the mighty. If we are rebellious and refuse to do His will, He is independent of us. He can save mankind and bless the world without our help; but He is pleased to use us in His service, and permit us to do some good in the world.

A little girl went home one Sunday afternoon from school. Her father sat reading the newspaper, and was dressed in his working clothes, instead of being clean and dressed in his Sunday clothes. She went to him, and laying

her hand on his shoulder and looking in his face, she said, "Father, what place of worship do you go to?"

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The question startled him; he made no reply, but put down the newspaper in a thoughtful mood. The child still looked in his face, and said, Father, my teacher has been asking us all in the class this afternoon what place of worship we attend. She asked me where you went, and I said, 'My father goes nowhere.""

The father began to think seriously about what his little girl had told her teacher. It was a sad truth: he went to no place of worship.

He thought about the example he was setting his children, and about the sinfulness and danger of his condition; and the question of that little girl led to his conversion.

God uses strange means to accomplish His will.

The greatest men that God has used in His service have generally been converted in the most unlikely ways; and have come from the most unlikely places. God's ways are not our ways; and yet He is willing to employ us in His service. Weak and feeble as we are, He will find us something to do, and make us useful. He will help us to benefit and bless those about us, to make all around us cheerful and happy, to set a good example, to live a holy life; and when we die to leave the world better than we found it.

God of almighty love,
By whose sufficient grace

I lift my heart to things above,
And humbly seek Thy face.

Through Jesus Christ the just,

My faint desires receive;
And let me in Thy goodness trust,
And to Thy glory live.

LESSON X.

WHAT THE PALM-TREE TEACHES.

Text: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree.”—PSALM xcii. 12.

THE word "righteous" is made up of two Saxon words, right and wise. If you understand what they mean, you can easily put them together, and find the meaning of the word "righteous." The word in our text is used to describe God's people; pious men and women who love Him, and serve Him. They are called "the righteous."

I. God's people are "right." They were wrong when they were sinners, but God pardoned them and gave them new hearts; and so they were set right. When they lived in wickedness all their ways were crooked, but when they were converted they became straight. We have all of us sinned and done wrong. Our hearts are wicked by nature. We need to have new hearts, and begin to live to God, before we can be right and become God's people. Ask God to give each of you a new heart. Pray that He would set you right. 2. God's people do "right." They did wrong when they were sinners, but as soon as they were converted they began to do "right." God's people do right to everybody. They are honest and true, and good to their neighbours They keep God's commandments. They pray to God every day of their lives, and depend on His help. They love, and honour, and serve God, and

are thankful for the good things He gives them. They do "right" to God

and man.

You see, then, that God's people are right, and do right. Now let us see if they are wise.

They don't want to get wrong again. They are often tempted to sin, and to forsake God. They have had bitter experience of sin and wrong, and they remember with sorrow their former wickedness. They are on their guard against sin. They watch it and treat it as an enemy. They pray to God to keep them right. They show their wisdom by avoiding sin. They are wise because they try to keep right.

And they have seen so much misery and pain caused by sin and wrong, that they want everybody else to be right. They want the drunkard to forsake his drink, and the liar to speak the truth, and the thief to be honest, and the sluggard to be industrious. They want all the bad men in the world to be made into good ones. They want all the crooked ways of men to be made straight, and all the wrong in the world to be made right. If they could have their own way, they would drive sin out of the world, and pain, and misery, and poverty, would soon follow. They are wise, because they seek not only their own salvation, but the salvation of every man, woman, and child, in the world.

Now put these two things together. God's people are right and wise. They are safe and right themselves, and they want everybody else to be so. They are righteous.

"The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree."

There are three lessons taught by the palm-tree; the lesson of its growth, its beauty, and its usefulness.

I. We may learn to imitate its growth.

If you were living in the country where palm-trees grow, you would find that they do not change very fast in appearance. They are small when very young, and they grow very slowly and steadily. every day for years you would not know that it was growing at all, unless you

If you saw one of them