the same time that he combined it with the name of Jehovah? Then mark the direct falsehood and folly of his excuse-" There came out this calf!" Had he no hand in making it a molten calf? Had the fire such miraculous power to fashion it? Had he not himself used the graving tool in order that his work might have more credit in the eyes of Israel? Alas! for the crookedness of the heart, when it seeks to vindicate itself before man or God! But if Aaron thus desired to shield himself, he had in the sequel to learn, in another and far more sorrowful way, not to spare his own flesh-for the sons of Levi girded on their swords, and knew neither the nearest or dearest kindred in the slaughter that followed. See Deut. xxxiii. 9.

Let us next turn to 1 Sam. xv. Saul had been commanded utterly to destroy Amalek; but instead of doing so he spared Agag their king, and the best of the sheep and oxen, &c.; in fact all that was good he retained, but every thing that was vile and refuse he destroyed. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said unto him, "Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord." Here Saul boldly declares that he has obeyed God's command, whereas he had just done enough to set his own conscience at rest, and had at the same time fully gratified his own selfish desires. "And Samuel said, what meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" When thus de

tected in his act of disobedience by Samuel he has his excuse ready-"They have brought them from the Amalekites for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed." With what wonderful facility does this evil man alter his speech? Before he is convicted of evil he says, "I have performed the commandment of the Lord;" he takes all the credit of the obedience to himself. When detected in his sin he casts the blame of the disobedience entirely on the people, "They have brought them;" at the same time adding another falsehood, namely, that the sole object in sparing the cattle had been for the sake of sacrifice; and he adroitly concludes his sentence by now claiming part of the credit of having utterly destroyed the remainder-"the rest we have utterly destroyed." But this is not all. When at length obliged to own he has sinned, in verse 24, then he has another excuse, "because I feared the people and obeyed their voice." When did Saul ever act from fear of the people? When did he ever fail to do according to his own will? And what is confession of sin worth before God when it is mingled with such hollow excuses, and when it is extorted by necessity rather than being the humble acknowledgment of error in His sight?

Let us probe our own souls and take warning from these instances; not attempting self-vindication in any case where there has been direct sin or failure,

and even where we ourselves are unconscious of error and are falsely accused, leaving it to God to justify us in due time.

In

It is refreshing to turn from these sorrowful disclosures of the waywardness and folly of our hearts, to one bright instance of honest confession, which is recorded for our example on all occasions of failure. the chapter alluded to above, Samuel said to Saul, "The Lord hath given the kingdom to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou;" and in nothing did David more display his superiority over Saul than in his immediate and unreserved confession of sin, when convicted of it by Nathan the prophet. "I have sinned against the Lord," is the short but deeply touching sentence. He estimates at once his sin in the right place, "before the Lord;" this closes his mouth as to any excuse or palliation. Had he walked before the Lord, he would not have sinned before the Lord; at the same time he is able thus freely to confess, because he is conscious of the Lord's abounding grace. And what a Psalm pours forth from his heart on this occasion, the 51st. In that he again utters the same truth, namely, that he has sinned before the Lord, and also that his sin was against the Lord. "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." Let us keep the two great truths in mind, which are contained in this short verse; namely, that sin, all sin, is before the Lord, and is against the Lord; so that the real depth

of evil consists, not in the way in which it affects others here, but in its being an offence perpetrated in the sight of God, and a direct act of disobedience and rebellion against His majesty and holiness. Then again David traces sin to its real source, so that the soul is left without excuse. It is not the power of temptation, or the pressure of external circumstances, that origi nates sin; but, "behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." It is the birthplague with which we enter this world; and temptation only presents some opportunity for its manifestation.

This is an instructive subject for our soul's meditation, especially as it necessarily leads us to that precious blood which alone cleanseth from all sin.

True confession will therefore be unmingled with excuses; will not seek to cast the blame on another; will proceed from a soul which has estimated sin as an offence against God, and that weighs it in the presence of God; at the same time this must always be accompanied with a deep sense of the value of Him, "who now once in the end of the world hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

May we cultivate this habit of humble and sincere confession before the Lord-a habit of truthfulness in His presence; conscious indeed that we are shapen in iniquity, but with full, unreserved confidence in the love and eternal mercy of our God and Father, and in that precious blood that cleanseth, and in the living intercession of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.

THE SHEAF OF FIRST-Fruits.

Lev. xxiii. 9-14. Luke xxiv. 44-53.

THE sheaf of first-fruits was, typically, Christ risen. "On the morrow after the Sabbath" it was wavedand that was the first or resurrection day.

In the ordinance of waving it, we observe the following particulars:-1st. The Jew, i. e., Israel as a nation, was to bring the sheaf to the priest. 2nd. The priest was to wave it before the Lord, to be accepted for Israel. 3rd. Israel was then to offer a burnt offering, with its meat and drink offerings. 4th. Israel was not to eat of the new corn in any shape till this was done.

This ordinance, very simple in its materials, was very significant of the way of a believer, or of the church, touching the resurrection of Christ, as we see that way presented to us in Luke xxiv. 44-53.

1st. The disciples bring the sheaf, i. e., they apprehend and believe the fact of the resurrection. 2nd. Christ, the true Priest, teaches them that this resurrection was for them—that the sheaf was accepted of the Lord for them--and he gives them a blessed pledge of this. 46-51. 3rd. They make their offerings because of this offerings of worship and joy. 52. 4th. They