How many are the girdled trees that seem only to await their fall! To strip the young twigs from the vine, and the young bark from the fig tree, is the analogy to the loss of children.

Is. xl. II. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Very often by taking the lambs into his "upper fold," and thus laying up these treasures in heaven, he leads the parents there also.

Is. xlix. 21. "I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro."

II.

Homes" removed to and fro"; grief, making us desolate and bringing us into captivity—these are the frequent results of the loss of children.

“Cf. Eli's sons, 'In one day they shall die.'-1 Sam. ii. 34. Jeroboam's son, 'When thy feet enter the city, the child shall die.'-1 Kings xiv. 12. The widow's son, Art thou come to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my son?'-1 Kings xvii. 18. The Shunamite's son, 'Sat on her knees till noon and died.'-2 Kings iv. 20. Joh's children, 'The house fell, and they are dead.'Job i. 19. The Ruler's daughter, 'My daughter is even now dead.'-Matt. ix. 18. The widow of Nain's son, The Lord said, Weep not.'-Luke vii. 13."-Seed-Thought.

IN EARLY LIFE.

1 Sam. ii. 33, 34. "And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon

thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die, both of them.'

A dead grief is better than a living one.

(Cf. Samuel's own children, 1 Sam. viii.)

Luke vii. 11-13. "And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.

And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not."

The "only son of a widow." When we say, Weep not," it is of little use. But when Christ says, "Weep not," the tears are dried. He, who had compassion on Mary at the cross, had compassion on this mother.

'We read that 'there came a fear on all,' at Nain, when the young man was raised. What then shall be the feelings of mankind, when all the dead are raised at once?"-Ryle. Mark v. 23, 39. "And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

An only daughter, twelve years of age. Lit. "My dear little daughter."

Gen. xxii. 12. "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me."

An only son, and his surrender a test of love to God.

Gen. xxxvii. 30. “And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?"

In bereavement we must turn somewhere, and where but to Him by whom we are smitten? He hath smitten, and He can heal.

Gen. xxxvii. 34, 35. "And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him."

A persistent, resistant grief. We do not know what the grave is, but we would go there rather than be separated. But is this the remedy?

Gen. xlii. 36.

And Jacob, their father, said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me.

Repeated bereavement, and Jacob's mistake.

66

It proved otherwise, that all these things were for him,

yet here he thinks them all against him."-M. Henry.

Gen. xliv. 20. "And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him."

A "child of old age.' Note: the junction of Judah and Benjamin in later years.

2 Sam. xiv. 7. "So they shall quench my coal which is left."'

The last child of a household.-The woman of Tekoah, sent by Joab to David.

Ps. cii. 24. "I said, O my God, take me not away in

the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all gen

We prefer our "days" to God's "years"; the visible is more to us than the eternal. Note: this clinging to life may be either very noble or very base. We may desire to do more for God on earth, or we may love our pleasures too much to leave them.

III. DEATH IN THE FAMILY.

Num. xx. I.

Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there.'

A sister.-1. Miriam was Moses' watcher (Ex. ii. 4). 2. The singer (and composer) of a sacred song (Ex. xv. 20). 3. A leader among the women (Ex. xv. 20, 21). 4. Healed by the prayer of Moses (Num. xii. 13). 5. Respected by Israel (Num. xii. 15).

2 Sam. xxi. 8-10. "But the king took the two sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel, the son of Barzillai, the Meholathite. And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night."

The story of Rizpah is the most sorrowful of those records where the heart refuses to be comforted. It is the essence of maternal grief.

2 Sam. xiii. 39. "And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom : for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead."

Better increasing care for the living, than unavailing sorrow for the dead.

"The cross which had brought God nearer had made man more dear.”—Dora Greenwell : “Colloquia Crucis.”

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1 Kings xiv. 12-18. "Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house : and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day but what? even now. For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger. And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah : and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died; and they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet."

The children of wicked parents are, no doubt, often taken away from the evil to come.