future will be like the past-sure to be good. Not aught of any good thing can ever fail, in this world or the next, of all that the Lord hath spoken.

THIS injunction was given to Hezekiah when he was "sick unto death;' but the duty implied in it belongs to the previous time of health, quite as much as it does to the time of sickness; indeed, it is a duty far better done before sickness comes. In general, the "house" ought to be so set in order during life that it will be like the room or home which is well cleansed and kept day by day, and needs little more than the daily ordering, even for some grand occasion. "Set thine house in order" give command concerning thine affairs;

and make known thy last will to thy family. At this time Hezekiah had no son; the crown and the kingdom would have to be disposed of; and although they were not his to bequeath, his dying wishes, if dictated by wisdom and prudence, would have much to do with the settlement of the kingdom, and the peaceable establishment of his successor.

We have not crowns and kingdoms to will away—indeed, they are not very desirable heritages-but each has his own house to "set in order," his or her own affairs to settle, so that if the death-sickness should come suddenly, there may be no hurry and haste about temporal affairs; or if death should come without sickness at all, there may be no confusion, disappointment, anxiety or strife among the survivors.

Have you made your will? Have you settled your affairs as far as they can be settled? It is nothing less than a solemn religious duty for every father, mother, master, trade-partner, or person having anything to leave or to arrange, to complete in good time the disposition or bequest of it, according to principles of justice to all concerned. It is a slur on a good man's memory to leave this thing undone when he is called away; and it is a sad necessity to have all these arrangements to make during the last precious hours, which are all needed for affection, and faith, and prayer, and which ought all to be given to those whom we are leaving, and to those to whom we are going.

Following the history of Hezekiah, we would say further, that when sickness has come, and assumes a serious

aspect, it is right to pray-to pray asking recovery and life from God. Yes, even when physicians say that it is all but hopeless to expect recovery; or even when they say that it is impossible that any recovery should be, or any issue but the deathissue. For physicians are not God. They are sometimes mistaken. They come always short of a perfect judgment of the case, which can only be possessed and held by Him who knows all. Divines and theologians have imperfect and often mistaken views of divinity, natural and revealed; it is mere papal presumption to profess anything else—although it be a Protestant who does so. Physicians,

even the most accomplished, may misinterpret symptoms, and go wrong in the diagnosis of a case; not in any way laying themselves open to blame,