The Nineteenth of March.

THY MAKER IS THINE HUSBAND --- Isaiah 54:5; 35:10.

"For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name. . . . And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs of everlasting joy upon their heads: . . ." --- Isaiah 54:5; 35:10.

When Cyrus took the king of Armenia, and his son Tigranes, and their wives and children, prisoners, and upon their humble submission, beyond all hope, gave them liberty and their lives, in their return home as they were all commending Cyrus, some for his personage, some for his power, some for his clemency, Tigranes asked his wife, "What thinkest thou of Cyrus? is he not a comely and a proper man, of a majestic presence?" "Truly," said she, "I know not what manner of man he is, I never looked upon him."

"Why," said he, where were thine eyes all the while? upon whom didst thou look?" "I fixed mine eyes," said she, "all the while upon him (meaning her husband) who, in mine hearing, offered to Cyrus to lay down his life for my ransom."

Thus if any question the devout soul, once indeed captivated by the world, but now enamoured of Christ her heavenly Bridegroom, whether she is not charmed with the riches, pleasure, and gaieties of the world? her answer is, that her eyes and her heart are now fixed on a nobler object, even on Him who not only made an offer, like Tigranes, to die in her stead, but actually laid down his life to ransom her; and as her dear Bridegroom is now in heaven, her looks are after him, and she can esteem nothing on earth in comparison of him.