thy thirst with living water, and will gently lead thee as thou hast strength for the journey; but I can take thee by no other road." So he brings me up the steep crag; and when I reach the summit, and find myself refreshed instead of exhausted by the climb, and breathe the exhilarating mountain air, and enjoy the wide-spread landscape, and catch glimpses of the dear home to which I am travelling, and see how much nearer I am to it than if my request had been granted just as I wished, then I acknowledge that God has fulfilled His promise, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."

3. The promise is finally and always fulfilled when the Lord removes us out of the reach of all trouble, and when in heaven we glorify Him forever. If we call upon Him "in the day of trouble," He promises to "deliver" us. Our trouble, however protracted, is but for a day-a short, fleeting day. The longest life, compared with eternity, is infinitely shorter than the shortest day compared with the longest life. Let us, during this "day of trouble," call on the Lord, and we may be sure that He will deliver s; if in no other way, in this by calling us to that home of bliss, where all tears shall be wiped away, and where, in His presence, there are "pleasures forevermore."

us

Yes, there is an end to all trouble. Sharp it may be, but short it must be. Our afflictions are not only "light," compared with the "weight of glory" which will follow,they are also "for a moment," compared with the glory which is "eternal." The most tedious journey seems short when looked back upon from the happy home we have reached; and the longest life of anguish will diminish to a point when surveyed from the many mansions of our Father's house. There is a necessity for the trials which we endure at present; but being needed no longer, they will cease when we land on the other side of Jordan.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Blessed morning! Morning without cloud dawn of an endless day. No bodily pain will cause trouble yonder; "the inhabitant shall no more say, I am sick." No difficulty of circumstances, no unkindness of friends, no losses and disappointments, no anxieties and fears, no mental despondency, no spiritual distresses, no fierce conflicts with the foe, no temptations, and no sins will ever give occasion for us to "call upon God in the day of trouble;" but the promise, "I will deliver thee," being fulfilled to the uttermost, we shall praise our Deliverer throughout eternity; and by perfect love and perfect service, the assured result will follow in the case of each child of God, "Thou shalt glorify me."

In conclusion, I would say, Let us not neglect God till the day of trouble comes, and delay to seek Him till we need some temporal gift or deliverance. Rather let us be so much in the habit of prayer that, when special trials visit us, we may, by a holy instinct, by a habit which is a second nature, fly to Him as our all-sufficient HELPER.

Therefore let us first of all seek God for deliver. nce from a trouble worse than any that can arise from earthly causes. We can never be in such danger as from the consequences of unforgiven sin. There are no enemies whom we have such reason to dread as temptation. No earthly trial is capable of causing so much distress as a conscience convinced of guilt. I remember once being sent for to the bedside of a very old and very poor laboring man. His agony was such that for a considerable time I felt I could only sit still and silently pray for him. After a while the pain seemed less, for he ceased to groan. Then I said, "This pain is hard to bear." He replied, "This isn't the biggest pain I've known." "What, then, my friend, is that?" "O, the biggest pain I know is that I've ever sinned against my dear Lord Jesus."

Let sin be our trouble; or, if our heart does not grieve on this account, let our insensibility be a trouble. Let us ask deliverance from this. Let us pray both for repentance and remission of sins. Let us call upon God in our day of guilt, and darkness, and helplessness. "Lord, save me; I perish; Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me; O Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon me." However great our guilt, He can pardon it. However hard our heart, He can soften it. However deep our anguish, He can allay it. However dark our despair, He can dispel it. He will change our mourning into dancing, and fulfil His precious promise, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."

II

VIII.*

THE CHOICE OF MOSES.

AM thankful for the opportunity thus kindly granted to me of addressing the members of a university so celebrated, and possessing such influence in the forming of the minds and characters of the generation soon to occupy the place of the one passing away. With a heart full of sympathy I appeal to you, young men, this day. No longer young in years myself, I still retain most of the feelings of youth. I understand your impulses, instincts, aspirations, yearnings, and temptations. I know the ambition, the noble ambition, which animates many of you to act your part well in the great drama of life. I know also that I am addressing a congregation which will furnish men to occupy some of the highest stations in the Republic, whether as Statesmen or Clergymen, whether in the Exchange or the Forum, the Senate or the Church. How can your powers be best cultivated and best employed? Is there any act on which depend the true nobility and usefulness of all your future? And as you naturally desire happiness as well as distinction, is there something which is essential to happiness, something which can be secured by you while in these seats of learning, where not only knowledge is being acquired, but

* Preached in Yale College Chapel, to the students of the University, New Haven, on Sunday, October 20, 1867.

where character is being formed, and the complexion of your whole after-life being determined?

There is! Your highest welfare, your real nobility, your true happiness, are dependent on the choice you make between holiness and sin, between Christ and the world, between God and the devil. Youth is the principal choosing time. In the course which the stream takes now, it will, in all probability, continue to flow. How important is it that you should choose aright! To aid you in such choice, permit me, with all plainness, earnestness, and affection, to ask your consideration of the choice of Moses, thus described by the apostle :

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward."- Heb. xi. 24-26.

Another king had arisen, "who knew not Joseph." The children of Israel groaned beneath their cruel burdens. Oppression and cowardice are twin-brothers, and the tyrants feared their slaves. To check the rapid increase of the hated race, orders were issued that all male infants should be slain. But Moses was hidden by his parents. Beneath the robe of the princess beat the heart of a woman, and Pharaoh's daughter adopted the tiny tenant of the ark of bulrushes. Nourished for a time by his own mother, the boy afterwards grew up in the palace as the grandson of the mighty ruler of Egypt. But amidst the splendors and luxuries of the court he did not forget the lessons of his childhood; nor could he witness with indifference the indignities and wrongs which his own race were suffering.