Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

....

In addition to continued watchfulness over their own conduct, and remembrance of Himself, God demands of men a life of self-denial and of active benevolence:

"Watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation.

Lead us not into temptation.

Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters.

...

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give.

Well done thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things."

The picture ceases entirely to be that of a stern, vindictive Judge, and long and patient forbearance in the Father is held up as an example to be followed by men in their dealings with each other. Instead of taking vengeance upon offending towns, destroying men, women, children, and cattle, and even punishing those who fail to do His cruel will, as he is represented in the earlier period of the Jewish history, we now find God merciful to erring nations, and displeased with those who counsel severity. Human

"Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty."

There is already a glimmering of a new tie between Man and his Maker. Often, indeed, there are expressions indicating the absence of a faith in immortality:*

"O that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me; I should have been as though I had not been.

For now should I have lain still and been quiet; I should have slept, then had I been at rest.

Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death . . . the shadow of

...

death without any order and where light is as darkness."

But now and then a negative or a distant hope appears :

"Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep."

And the wicked man it is who most apprehends annihilation:

...

"He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness.
For what is the hope of the hypocrite though he hath gained,
when God taketh away his soul?"

Fitfully the belief in an undying spirit shines forth:

"But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding."

Whilst worldly wealth and pleasure still continue to be high rewards for obedience to God, and their deprivation is the punishment of evil-doers, the greatest treasure of His bestowing is wisdom:

"If they obey and serve him they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures.

* Some of these quotations are from Job, to which book a much greater antiquity is assigned by certain critics.

The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment.

Wait on the Lord and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. . .

I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo! he was not, yea I sought him but he could not be found."

As for wisdom:

"It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire.

....

No mention shall be made of coral or of pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it.”

And in this appreciation of wisdom we have the distinct reflection of the All-Wise himself, for:

"Whence cometh wisdom, and where is the place of understanding? ... God understandeth the way thereof, and knoweth the place thereof. . . . And unto man he said, Behold the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding."

The transition from the Judge to the Parent is presented to us in the Pastor and the Guardian:

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. .. He restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness."

The humble and the penitent possess the greatest claim to His consideration:

"The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way.

Thou delightest not in burnt offering, the sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit. . . .

Offer thy God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most
High."

Gradually mercy and forgiveness are taking the place of angry retribution:

"For his anger endureth but a moment, in his favour is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

As the Divinity becomes milder, more paternal, more beneficent, so do "other gods" disappear, and the faith in the true God is established. To doubt His existence is now no longer treason, it is folly:

"The fool has said in his heart there is no God."

Neither is there a suspicion of Pantheism in the worship of the Deity. After the Psalmist has recounted the wondrous acts of God in nature, he says:

"O Lord how manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast Thou made them all."

Still, sole and mighty as He is depicted, He is peculiarly the God of the Hebrews, their Jehovah. His enemies are theirs and theirs are His, and He is continually invoked to destroy them:

• ...

That men may know that Thou whose name alone is Jehovah
art the most high over all the earth.
Through God we shall do valiantly, for he shall tread down
our enemies.

The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the
heavens.

But our God is in the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he pleased.

....

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. . .
The Lord has been mindful of us, he will bless the house of
Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron.

As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is
round about his people from henceforth for ever and for

ever.

Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel

God, even thy God. . . .

I am

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting."

This, then, is the matured picture of the God of Israel "whose way is perfect." The fierce Warrior-king of Heaven, the stern Judge is now receding from our sight; a holy, wise, and merciful Divinity supplies his place. He is the rock of ages, helping all his creatures, especially the poor, of whom He is the faithful guardian. His glories, to be sung with harp and psaltery and timbrel, are beyond compare; and, co-extensive with the universe, his wisdom sees its utmost bounds. He made the heavens, and so the heavens must laud his majesty. He made the earth, and so should all the earth rejoice and praise Him. He showers his blessings on the righteous; falsifies the expectations of the wicked. Yet He is merciful as well as just; and if He frowns 'tis for a moment, and for Man's well-being; whilst the humble penitent is sure of his forgiveness. Angels in heaven obey and worship Him, but the evil Spirit still defies his government.

This is the God before whom Job repined; whose praises David sang; whom kings adored, and prophets; the God of Israel in the height of her prosperity.