The great

of the Lord, to prepare his ways.” * preacher of repentance himself applied this passage in the same manner, when he was asked to declare his own character and office.t

In calling my Saviour Jehovah, according to the tenor of the Holy Scriptures, I ascribe to him, what can be ascribed to no created being, however exalted, “necessary, independent, and eternal existence.” And what are my most exalted notions of a being so surpassing all the powers of thought? They resemble a bubble, endeavoring to expand itself to embrace the universe. Yet this most sublime appellation belongs, in all its unbounded amplitude, to Him in whom " dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Blessed Saviour, assist my feeble endeavors to meditate on thy glorious essence thy adorable and amiable perfections. The very contemplation, aided and sanctified by thee, has a transforming efficacy. For, “ with open face beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, I am changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” \ If this is the present effect of beholding thy glory, O Lord, reflected from the mirror of thy word, what will be the result of the beatific vision, when I shall see thee face to face! That result is intimated to me by St. John's language : “When he shall appear, we shall be LIKE HIM, for we shall see him as

he is."*

I AM! - Creation turns her listening ear,

To learn the mystery, hidden deep and long; For never yet did minds angelic hear,

In full, what boundless attributes belong

To Him whose praise inspires their endless song : To man, debased, how low! now raised, how high!

Higher than highest heaven's sublimest throng, That circles round the throne — to human eye Jehovah now reveals his awful Deity.

I am!— Hell hears and trembles at the sound,

Owns all he is, midst fires that ever flame, And cries that ever wail their echoes round,

And tears that ever fall, and shameless shame,

And curses loud that ever curse His name, Whose love was slighted, and whose wrath defied:

Ah! now they own his erst rejected claim Of fear and homage due:- in sin they died, Victims of daring lust, and unbelief, and pride.

I AM! - Within an earthly temple's shrine
Jehovah makes his glorious nature known;
To earth - low earth, heaven's habitants incline
Their wakeful ears, and, turning from the throne,
Fix their fond gaze upon the cross alone,

In their sublimer lore unwrit― unknown,
JEHOVAH in his full-orbed glory shines,
And opens up his love's unfathomable mines.

TWENTY-FIRST MEDITATION.

JUDGE.

MY SAVIOUR is my JUDGE. One of the first thoughts of the awakened soul respecting God, invests him with the awful character of a Judge. "Could I with safety and hope approach him, I would confess my guilt, and 'I would make supplication to my Judge.'"* When hope springs up in the mind, and some view is caught of the gospel plea, provided for sinners, the soul utters its feelings again in words like those of Job: "O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat; I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. So should I be delivered forever from my Judge." + This, perhaps, was once the very utmost of my expectations. Deliverance from the wrath of Him that sitteth on the throne, by his mercy, exercised for the sake of Christ, in some

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way that I did not clearly understand, was the sum total of my hopes.

But what was the joy of my heart, when the revealing Spirit of God exhibited to me the great privileges of the soul, that is come by faith unto Mount Sion, and has escaped the terrors of “the mount that might be touched” only at the penalty of death! * I saw that it was one of those privileges to come unto “God the Judge of all” with humble, joyful confidence. For round the burning throne I saw " the blood of sprinkling," quenching the flame of wrath, and diffusing the sweetest fragrance, at once refreshing and inviting to the suppliant soul. And then I saw, between me and the 66 fiery law," “ Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant,” making intercession for me.

As faith is strengthened, like the sight, it obtains a nearer view of its object. I now perceive that my very Judge is my “Advocate," my “ Counsellor,” and my Saviour. He advises me what plea to put in before his own tribunal, in bar of judgment; and that plea is his own obedience to his own law in my stead. Lest I should Cail in pleading my cause, though provided by

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