wills to Him, and to 'enter into His sanctuary,' by keeping up such
communion with Him as that, however and wherever occupied, we shall
still 'dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives.'

And the summons to return unto God is addressed to us all even more
urgently than to Israel. God Himself invites us by the voice of His
providences, by His voice within, and by the voice of Jesus Himself,
who is ever saying to each of us, by His death and passion, by His
resurrection and ascension, 'Turn ye! turn ye! why will ye die?' and
who has more than endorsed Hezekiah's messengers' assurance that
'Jehovah will not turn away His face from' us by His own gracious
promise, 'Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.'

The king's message met a mingled reception. Some mocked, some were
moved and accepted. So, alas! is it with the better message, which is
either 'a savour of life unto life or of death unto death.' The same
fire melts wax and hardens clay. May it be with all of us as it was in
Judah--that we 'have one heart, to do the commandment' and to accept
the merciful summons to the great passover!



A STRANGE REWARD FOR FAITHFULNESS

'After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib, king
of Assyria, came.'--2 CHRON. XXXII. 1.


The Revised Version gives a much more accurate and significant
rendering of a part of these words. It reads: 'After these things and