Hence we clearly perceive one identity in the two names Jehovah and Jesus; perfectly one, as essence and form are one. O what boundless love is contained in the words, the Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep! How true is it that "no good will He withhold from them that walk uprightly!" (Psalm lxxxiv. 11.) The Lord gives his life for the sheep, for the meek and gentle; but not for the wolves and bears, the wicked, destructive, and sensual. What can the Good Shepherd give more than his life? Surely no love can be compared with the love of Jesus, who gave himself for his church, and his life for the sheep. Gracious Saviour! Thou who art once the Giver and the Gift, help us to praise, and love, and adore Thee, for ever!
March Ninth.
SPECKLED AND SPOTTED CATTLE.
"The flocks brought forth cattle ring-straked, speckled, and spotted."—Gen. xxx. 30.
THERE are so many extraordinary things recorded in this chapter, that, supposing we were to penetrate no farther than the mere words, we should be at a loss to know how anything spiritual and divine, relating to pure religion and the salvation of men, could be obtained in any part of it; and yet the Word of God, which is purely divine and holy in all its parts, treats—under the varied incidents connected with the histories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all other Scripture characters, whose persons, as well as their actions, are all representative of the Lord—of his creative power and providence, the regeneration of
