These assurances were given to the chosen race on the eve of their return from Babylon. They were timid and reluctant to quit the’ familiar scenes of their captivity; they dreaded the dangers and privations of their way home, and questioned whether the great empire of their captors would ever let them go or allow their city to rise from its ruins. Therefore the Lord’s voice takes on a tone of unusual persuasiveness. Let us ponder his assurances of compassion and contortwven 13, 15,16;

He will lead us with a shepherd’s care, v. 10. He will make obstacles subserve his purpose, v. 11. His love is more than motherhood, v. 15. He treasures the remembrance of his own, v. 16. Zion thinks herself cast away as a derelict, v. 14, but such is not the ease. Even her broken walls are ever before God, with a view to their rebuilding, v. 19, etc. God’s love is stronger

than our strongest enemies, v. 25, etc. Let us hide in it, standing above the fears that compose the cloudland of our soul, in the upper peaks of a strong faith.