ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious-Unto you he is precious" (1 Peter ii. 3, 7).

"And of his

For my flesh

fulness have all we received" (John i. 16). "He that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed” (John vi. 55 and 57).

How refreshing is this fruit to the soul that is hungering and thirsting for God, as the hart panteth after the water-brooks; or as the dry and thirsty land where no water is! "His fruit was sweet to my taste." "How sweet are thy words unto my taste!" (Psalm cxix. 103; Psalm lxiii. 1 ; &c.)

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This is language, alas! that the poor worldling cannot use; instead of seeing in Christ this alldesirable" 'apple tree," he sees only a root out of a dry ground," without form or comeliness. Instead of finding his fruit sweet to his taste, he is content to feed upon "the husks which the swine do eat" (Luke xv. 16).

Ver. 4. "He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love."

Here the figure is changed from the secret enjoyment of private holy retirement, to the more public ordinances in "the banqueting house." "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures!" "A feast of fat things" (Psalm xxxvi. 8; Isaiah xxv. 6).

Such is the provision made by the Lord of Hosts for his poor and needy ones. "In my Father's house," may not each of us say, "there is bread enough and to spare?" Why then do we perish with hunger?

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"He

Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it" (Psalm lxxxi. 10). "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. xxii. 17). brought me to the banqueting house;" for Christ gives to his Bride even as Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba ; "all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty" (1 Kings x. 13; Eph. iii. 8, 16-21; Phil. iv. 19).

It is a royal feast, like that spoken of in Esther i. 3-7, when there was provided "royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king." And as to "the drinking," the king gave commandment to his officers, "that they should do according to every man's pleasure" (ver. 8). "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory!" But there is no carnal rejoicing in Jesus' feast" The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. xiv. 17).

.

Such a feast Christians peculiarly enjoy in the ordinances of the Lord's house, and, above all, in the Lord's Supper. For then they meet together in "the banqueting house," "for the strengthening

and refreshing of their souls," that they may 66 go from strength to strength," and may 66 wax stronger and stronger" (Psalm lxxxiv. 7; Job xvii. 9). This being the gracious purpose of their God concerning them, to lead them on to deeper and yet deeper experience of the rich provisions of his covenant love.

The mention of "the banqueting house" implies a season of great rejoicing: "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips" (Psalm lxiii. 5). "And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And it shall be said in that day, Lo! this is our God; we have waited for him; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation" (Isaiah xxv. 6, 9). Often, at such seasons, can the child of God exclaim with David, "My cup runneth over" (Psalm xxiii. 5). And if such "unspeakable joy" be found in the mere foretaste, what shall it be in heaven, when the transitory communion of a few saints on earth shall be exchanged for the whole company of the redeemed of the Lord in glory for ever and ever! "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev. xix. 9).

How it will then resound from every tongue," He brought me!"-He redeemed my soul from death

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-He led me by the right way-He brought me nigh to God!" He brought me to the banqueting house." Yes; even me;" He gave himself "for me." Oh! how great are the wonders which grace hath wrought!

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But the banner at that feast unfurls the secret

His banner over me was love." It was common at feasts to have the leader's name inscribed upon the banner, and the name of our great Captain is, "God is love." Love gained the victory;-the conflict, the triumph, and the glory were my beloved's. “He loved me and gave himself for me," and if we are conquerors, it is " through Him that loved us" (Gal. ii. 20; Rom. viii. 37; Rev. iii. 21). "Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. xv. 57).

How sweet to repose under such a banner! "His banner over me was love," whilst "underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. xxxiii. 27).

And each believer may say it was 66 over me," for I was rescued by that love from eternal wrath ; I am "a prey taken from the mighty," and a trophy of the victory won by my beloved.

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us."

Ver. 5. "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love."

Such manifestations of the love of Jesus are well

nigh overpowering to the soul, especially of the young believer. "I am sick of love." The visions that Daniel saw so overcame him that "straightway there was no strength in him ;" and John, when he saw the Lord Jesus, "fell at his feet as dead" (Daniel x. 8-19; Rev. i. 12-18; see also Isaiah vi. 5; Gideon, Judges vi. 22; and Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 7).

Yet the Bride, so far from asking their withdrawment, seeks only to be strengthened for yet further manifestations-"to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man (Eph. iii. 16). She would drink yet deeper from the cup of salvation, and feed yet again on "apples" from that apple tree whose fruit was so sweet to her taste. It is like the earnest breathings of David: "O God, thou art my God: I have earnestly contemplated thee (for so the words may be rendered); my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth after thee," &c. (Psalm lxiii. 1). "Like as the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love." "My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord" (Psalm lxxxiv. 2). This is a blessed hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and the promise (Matt. v. 6) shall not be delayed.

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"In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul" (Psalm cxxxviii. 3);-words which were fully realized in the experience of the Bride, for immediately