ness,

Smiles in earnest of the Spring, And the March wind, charmed to stillLists to hear the laverock sing; Life looks green from slope and meadow, And serene from tenderer skies, And the larks' song makes a music O'er a myriad mother-cries.

Myriad bleatings down the mountain,

Myriad bleatings in the vale-
So the new life of the Spring time
Tells again the good old tale:
All these thousand infant voices
Make a carol to the ear-
Past the Winter, dim and dreary,
Past the travail of the year!
The sheep-mothers turn fond faces
To each feeble foolish cry,
To their ears no music sweeter

Of the earth or from the sky:
Is the cry of want? They love it,

Bleating back in instant heed-
Love to know their children need them,
As they love to meet their need.

VOL. IX.- -NO. 111.

But not yet the world is Eden,

Free again from fear and ill-
One poor mother hears no bleating,
One fond heart is cold and still:
Who shall hear her orphans wailing
On the hill-side left alone?
Other mothers hearing, hear not,
Hearing, loving but their own.
Let the little mountain maiden
Mother be with gentle hand,
To the orphans ministering

Like an angel in the land:
Angel for the Lord of angels

Who Himself, the Shepherd-Friend, Gathers with His arms the lost lambs, And will love them to the end. Maiden! some day wife and motherBy the grace of this your deed, Never may your deathful silence

Bring your darlings unto need:
But if change or chance come coldly,
And they cry in vain to you,
With them then be such an angel,

Near them then the Shepherd tree!
D 2

UR subject is the Broken

Heart-the

sense of sin, and the deep sorrow which we ought all to feel for it. I propose, if God permit, to take as the ground-work of our study this remarkable passage in the prophet Zechariah, descriptive of the deep conviction of sin which will one day be brought about by God Himself in the Jewish people. The fulfilment of the prophecy has not yet taken place, nor will it do so till after the return of the Jews to Palestine. But the great principles of God's dealings are always the same; so that we may study God's future action amongst the Jews, and learn therefrom what to expect in His present treatment of ourselves. I propose therefore to examine into the conviction of sin that will one day be wrought by God in the hearts of the Jewish people, and learn from it what we may expect Him to do with us when in boundless mercy He bestows the Broken Heart. Let us first examine into the light thrown on the character of the broken heart, and then consider how it is brought about, and to what result it leads. May the Lord touch all our hearts by His Spirit!

I. The Broken Heart.

We may observe, in the first place, that the deep conviction here described will be widespread, and, we may say, national, in its character. It will spread through different districts: it will affect all classes, priests and people, and infuse a holy solemnity over both tribes and families.

There is nothing therefore to be wondered at when a whole neighbourhood becomes deeply affected by the sense of sinfulness before God, and when an earnest spirit of inquiry spreads through a district. Such mighty movements of the Spirit's power may be expected, and ought to be prayed for by God's people.

But though the movement will be general, it will also be personal and individual. It will not be merely the rush of a crowd, but the solemn sense of sin in each individual conscience. The sound heard will not be the roar of the multitude but the quiet outpourings of the soul in the secret chamber before God. Those who feel their sin will retire alone to con

fess it, and to pray. I cannot understand that kind of repentance which leads persons to travel about telling others the various crimes which they committed in their unconverted state. The broken heart leads a person to go alone in humiliation before God; to retire, to shut to his door, and there to pour out his soul before the Father, and say, "I am heartily sorry for these my misdoings." Those who deeply feel their sin will be glad to go apart and acknowledge it before God.

And when they are apart, what will be. the character of their cry? What will God hear in the secret prayer? Not the language of fear: not even such a cry as that of the publican, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." I see no sign of the dread of judgment, nor even any cry for mercy. It is sorrow that will fill their heart, sorrow as tender "as when one mourneth for his only son," and they "shall be in bitterness

for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."

Here is the difference between a terrified conscience and a tender heart. The jailer suffered from a terrified conscience when he came trembling, and cried, "What must I do to be saved?" But Peter's was a tender heart, when he caught the eye of his Blessed Saviour, "and went out and wept bitterly."

And if you look again at this sorrow you will see it will be sorrow such as we ought to feel ourselves; for it is sorrow for the pierced Saviour. The change of person is very interesting in the clause, "They shall look on Me and mourn for Him." It seems to show that He who spoke in the prophecy was the same as He who suffered on the cross. And it proves clearly that the deep sorrow of these broken hearts will be because of the wrong done to their Crucified Saviour.

Can

Does not this teach us a lesson? any of us look on Him as our Sinbearer, as bowing down that Sacred Head,-"the Lord laying on Him the iniquity of us all," -without the deep sense of heartfelt sorrow that our sin should have involved such a sacrifice, and brought on Him who so loved us such a burden? Ye that believe that He was your Substitute, your Atonement, your Sinbearer, look at Him, "enduring the cross, despising the shame," and tell me, while we rejoice in the perfection of His atoning work, should we not also be going alone into our chamber, and mourning for what our sin has brought on Him?

Now there is nothing more difficult to bring about than this sorrow for sin. You may argue about the corruption of human nature as long as you like, and bring as many texts as you please to prove it, but do no more towards softening the heart, than if you had been pouring water on a granite rock. I always think that if the heart is broken the victory is practically won. But

here lies the difficulty. How can it be broken? Who is to break it?

II. Let us then consider from the passage how this Broken Heart will be brought about amongst the Jews.

It will not be by trouble, or calamity.

All the troubles of the Jews for these 1800 years have done nothing towards softening their hearts. And I believe that as a general rule, the effect of calamity is to produce fear rather than tenderness. Still there are cases, yea many, very many, when, in the time of trouble, of sickness perhaps, or affliction, the heart is softened. and Christ welcomed. But this is not one of these for the Jews are described as being in the height of their prosperity, after their restoration, when these sobs of heartfelt sorrow are heard in the midst of them. Oh! how beautiful a thing it is when persons in the fulness of their health and strength, when all is bright and prosperous around them, have their hearts opened to see their deep need, and are led with sorrow of heart to throw themselves at His feet for pardon!

Nor will it be, as far as we are taught in the prophecy, the result of any special agency.

There have been cases in which particular prophets have been raised up for certain purposes at particular times. So Haggai and Zechariah were raised up to awaken the returning Jews to exert themselves for the building of the Temple. So we believe that God very often raises up special agencies for special purposes in our own times. We have little doubt that these Missions, such as that which has recently taken place in London, are just such special agencies for the awakening of slumbering professors. But we do not see any allusion to anything of the kind here.

As far as we can gather from the text, the nation will be going quietly on its way. The inhabitants of Jerusalem will be living at peace, with the house of David at their

head, when, through some mysterious power, a deep and holy solemnity will pass over their minds. They will no longer be able to live as they have done. They will not be able any longer to turn their backs on their Messiah. They will look on Him whom they pierced, and that look will break their heart.

So long as they go on without looking at Him, their hearts remain unchanged. They build their houses, they make comfortable homes, they heap up fortunes, and they live pleasant lives. But when this great change passes over them, and they look to the Pierced One, there is a new scene in their ceiled houses. They discover their sin. In the different rooms different individuals retire alone to pray; the husband in one, the wife in another, the son in a third, the daughter in a fourth, and the servant in a fifth. They are all touched in heart under the sense of sin, and all gone quietly to weep for it before God. Oh! what a heart-softening power there is in the cross of Christ!

Now, what will be the mysterious power that will bring about all this? What will turn the eye to the Cross? and what will produce that look?

The text must answer the question; for in it God says, "I will pour upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplications." That clause explains the secret. It will be God the Holy Ghost poured forth, or visiting the people. He is described as "the Spirit of grace and of supplications." Of grace, because He Himself is the great Gift of grace; and because the grace of God which bringeth salvation can only be applied by Him to the soul of the sinner. And of supplications: because when He puts forth His power it is sure to lead to prayer. If he leads a soul, He is certain to lead him to the throne of grace that there he may pour out his heart before God.

It is God the Holy Ghost then that will

lead these persons to gaze on the Pierced One, and so convince them of their sin. The prophecy therefore exactly corresponds to the words of our Lord Himself. In St. John xvi. in verse 8, He says, "He will convince the world of sin." And in verse 14, "He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you."

And does not this teach us all a lesson ? I am sure we must all acknowledge that we want a far deeper, keener, and more tender, sense of sin. Some do not seem to feel it at all. In their own eyes they are satisfied, and have never yet shed a tear for a fault. Some are deeply troubled because they feel it so little, and are ready to weep, because they never weep. And all who have ever looked on the Pierced One have wondered with the deepest humiliation at the coldness and deadness of their own hearts, which could look on such a Saviour and be so little moved at the thought of their own utter unworthiness of His grace.

What then is to quicken us? What is to arouse a sense of deep conviction in those whose consciences are still in a deep sleep? What is to awaken them to the lively sense of utter need? Ah, more! what is to lead on believers to more humble thoughts of self, and to clearer and fuller views of the Lord Jesus?

The passage teaches us that we are not to wait for an affliction, a sorrow, a sickness, a deathbed; but that God may grant it in the day of prosperity as well as the day of trouble. It teaches us also that we need not wait for extraordinary efforts like those of a Mission Week; but that now, in our own quiet, regular, undisturbed ministry, we may earnestly hope that the God of grace will pour on ourselves the "Spirit of grace and of supplications:" that He will even now lead unsoftened hearts to look at the Pierced One and to begin to weep for sin.

all

Oh! then, let none wait till the Lord