God.

The promises of God are always preceded by his commands, and the faith
which clings to the promises is to be tested by the obedience which
alone can make them availing. And when the words of the angel came to
the desolate soul of the woman in the desert, there were admonition,
reproof, and command mingled with promise and blessing. "Return to thy
mistress." Return to thy duty, is the first requirement made of those
God seeks out.

And Hagar humbled herself and obeyed the voice of the Lord. She
returned to her mistress. Trying as it must have been to one so
aggrieved, she submitted to her authority, and again became a member of
the household of Abraham. Had she disobeyed the angel, she and her child
had doubtless perished in the wilderness; but in yielding her proud and
arrogant temper, she secured the future blessing to her race, and
insured the safety of her child, while her submission and gentleness
must have won back Sarah to a kinder temper, to a more forbearing
treatment.

After the birth of Ishmael, there intervened years--long years--in which
Hagar tasted the bitterest cup ever presented to the lips of woman. A
wife unloved, neglected--a mother disregarded--a woman held in bondage
by one who had made her a rival--dwelling in the presence of him who had
put her from him! Her very presence brought reproach and sorrow to
Sarah and Abraham--the violation of the divine institution ever
entailing its penalty.

The wife deserted, neglected, whose hopes have been crushed, ever turns
to her offspring for comfort and sympathy; and ardent was the love,