with his family to eat bread, and lay all night upon the earth, and earnestly besought the Lord to restore the child, yet he grew worse; and on the seventh day from the beginning of his illness, he died.

And now the servants of the king did not know what to do. They feared to tell their master these sad tidings; they said, " Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken to our voice; how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?" But from the "whisperings," of his servants, the king thought what had happened; and he asked, and they said, "He is dead!"

"Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped; and he came into his own house, and they set bread before him, and he did eat."

And his servants were so much surprised at his conduct, that some of them ventured to say to him, "What is this that thou hast done? Thou didst

fast and weep for the child while it was alive, but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread." And the king replied, "While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, Who can tell, whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

Two things checked his grief, and made him calmly submit to the will of God. One was, that the case was decided, and could not be altered. When a dear child dies, the Divine will is as plain as if a voice from heaven had declared it: and who, then, are we, or any of our they should dare murmur at it?

race, that we or

We should say, as Eli did, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good!""

The other ground of comfort was, that he should ere long go to the dear child, though he could not come back to him. What did he mean? into the grave? No, there would have been no joy in this. No doubt he believed, that the happy spirit of his

dear boy had entered into heaven, where all the family of God are to dwell together for ever. And, surely, with a good hope of soon meeting our children and friends in that blessed society, we may well wipe away our tears, and say, We shall go to them, though they return not again

1. What does God do for those who love him?
2. Why do children suffer, and why are they saved?

3. How did sin and death enter into our world?

4. What has prayer done, and what does it do? 5. Repeat the expressions of David's repentance. 6. Who does God forgive?

7. What should we say when a child or friend dies?

8. What should a good hope of meeting our children and friends in heaven induce us to do and to say?

STORY XVIII.

OBADIAH.

AHAB, the king of Israel, was wicked beyond all the kings that had reigned. Among other ways by which he showed his contempt of God, he set up the idol Baal, and commanded his people to worship this image.

So God said, I'll give them no dew or rain, and let them see whether this image can pour down showers, and give fruitful seasons, or help them. And Elijah, the prophet, prayed that it might be so; not from hatred to them, but that the king and his subjects might see, that none but God could bless, or do them good.'

And so there was no corn to make bread, and the people were dying for want; and there was

no grass or water for the cattle; and so most of them died.

This sad state of things had lasted for more than three years; and Ahab, and his wife, and subjects, were no better for God's judgment; they went on to worship Baal, and sought to take away the life of Elijah; but he fled, and they could not find him.

No words can describe how wretched the people were ; "the vines were dried up, and the fig-trees languished; the pomegranate trees, the palm, the apple, and all the trees of the field, were withered? the fire devoured the pastures, and the flocks were desolate. The nobles sent their little ones to the waters; they came to the springs, but found none, and returned with their vessels empty. The seed rotted under the clods, the gardens were laid desolate, the barns were broken down, and the corn perished. The wild asses stood in the high places, their eyes failed, becauses there was no grass. Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass." And Baal could