Many and searching are the lessons for saints today to be found in the records of God's beloved children of old:" Men of like passions with us "-possessors of a common nature, as also, by new birth, of a common divine life-they may be our instructors as we ponder the annals of their walk on earth.

In the life of the godly king Hezekiah there are two incidents standing out in vivid contrast, upon which we may meditate with profit.

When Jerusalem was besieged by Rabshakeh, the general of Sennacherib's Assyrian army, his impious blasphemies against the Lord of Hosts drove Hezekiah to his knees. God heard and answered, turning the ungodly persecutor of His people back to his own land. Later, a second invasion occurred, and this time Rabshakeh sent "letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel," in the name of Sennacherib, full of threatenings and denunciation (2 Chron. 32:17). The king of Judah was in sore straits, but we are told that '' Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it:and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord" (2 Kings 19:14).

This was surely the right and proper thing to do. The letter of blasphemy was spread out in the presence of God. To Him the king turned for guidance and direction, looking to Him to vindicate His own name. In answer, "the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand:and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword" (2 Kings 19:35-37). Thus had God delivered His servant and vindicated His own majesty. He had said, '' Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." In faithfulness He had fulfilled His word, and Hezekiah had proven that it was no vain thing to wait upon Him.

Following this, we have the account of the king's sickness and healing. The news of the miracle seems to have penetrated to Babylon; for we are told that the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon were sent unto him '' to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land" (2 Chron. 32:31). They brought "letters and a present unto Hezekiah" (2 Kings 20:12). How will Judah's king act now ? The letter of blasphemy he had spread out before the Lord. Will he do the same with the letters and a present ?

The record says that God left him to try him, to know what was in his heart. Alas, it was soon made manifest! In the day of his trouble he turned to the Lord. Now he is exultant and careless. In easy-going self-confidence he receives the ambassadors, and, without consulting Jehovah at all, he shows them all his treasures. Isaiah comes in after they have gone, to show him his dreadful mistake, and to tell him that all the treasures of which he had been so proud should one day be carried to the land of Shinar, and the people likewise.

Momentous were the consequences for neglecting to ask counsel of the Lord God of Israel. Had he treated the letter and present in the same way as he treated the letter railing against the Lord, how different might have been the result! It is, comparatively, a common thing to find saints going to God in their troubles. Distress and affliction are not nearly so dangerous for the average Christian as prosperity.

Let some one viciously malign me, attacking my character and spurning my ministry; ah, how ready I am then to spread all out before the Lord, and to cast myself upon Him for counsel and help! But if, instead of being set at naught, I am flattered and praised; if, in place of the letter of blasphemy, I am the recipient of a letter with a present attached to it, how likely I am to speak or act in self-confidence, without referring it to the Lord at all!

"The gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous" (Exod. 23:8). It is hard indeed to act for God if I take a gift from one who deserves to be reproved in His fear. How important, then, to refer all my affairs to Him who has declared, " If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light" ! H. A. I.