ing, O thou dear Master of thy people, thou Lord of all, thou hast felt my weariness and weakness, have mercy upon me, and let it obtain a rest for my soul in the kingdom of God, when the days of the years of my pilgrimage are ended.

O forget not, that once the good Shepherd of Israel walked about the world, and his limbs and feet were often tired and weary when he came down to seek and save you, like sheep that he had lost. He travelled on foot and was fatigued, that you might be carried home in his bosom; he was a pilgrim in his own world, to purchase for us," a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

While he was resting himself, the woman came with the water-pot to fetch water from the well; and now Jesus said to her, "Give me to drink;" the woman wondered at his request, because he was a Jew; but doubtless the angels of heaven wondered more, to see the Creator ask a little water of a creature. This was indeed great humiliation, and should make us loath all pride and highness, all resentment and haughtiness for ever.

Here a poor suffering man, a person who is reduced to want and penury, may also be comforted, since God his Saviour once was poor in the world, and asked an enemy for a little water. Thus we read, he was at another time so hungry, that he would have been glad of a few figs to stay his hunger, when he sought them at a fig-tree but found

none.

We cannot be poorer, meaner, more hungry and thirsty, or more reduced, than he stooped to be, whose poverty shall make us rich in this world, and that which is to come.

The Samaritans and Jews had no dealings together, because of their differences in religious matters, and that made the woman wonder most, because a Jew

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would

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would speak to her. She little thought that the Lord of Jews and Greeks was sitting before her, who both loved those in Jewry and those in Samaria, and was come to make both one fold under one Shepherd. Here we may learn how ill and weak it is to suffer our prejudices to run so high as to reject any one because his religious sentiments differ from ours. If our Saviour had not more patience with us than we have with one another, or did not love us better than we love one another, we should none of us be saved at last; but he pities and bears with us in our mistakes and failings, and judges not according to our insight into points of doctrine, or manner and form of worship. "His eyes try the heart and the reins," and where he is beloved, there all is well.

The Jews believed the temple of Jerusalem was the right place of worship, and therefore cried, "The temple of the Lord! he temple of the Lord!" The Samaritans thought the mountain of Samaria, where Jacob worshipped, was the right place, and would not receive the prophets because they worshipped in Jerusalem, and only adhered to the five first books of Moses, and their boast was, "The mountain of the Lord! the mountain of the Lord of hosts!" This made such a division between them, that they of Samaria hated the Jews; and the Jews, when they could give no worse name, called men Samaritans. Here we may see what mischief bigotry and zeal for one's own church or party can make in a land, whereas often the real difference is not material, nor can be, where both sides heartily believe in Jesu's divinity, and are partakers of his Holy Spirit in their hearts; and however we may think otherwise, we shall find in that day souls with the Lord," redeemed out of every nation, kindred and people, and tongue, who have all washed their

robes

robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, and therefore shall they stand before the throne and go no more out." If none could be saved but such as are allowed to be right by all sorts, then none could be saved at all. Let us then have patience with one another in religious matters, and know that whoever persecutes, or is bitter, is wrong, let who will be right; and such a spirit, whether for or against our party, must not be encouraged, for it cannot be of Christ,-When the children of Israel, at their great festivals, went up to worship at Jerusalem, they went up in their tribes and families apart, and perhaps mingled not till they entered the temple, and then all joined in one solemn rejoicing and prayer. All had their eyes to one offering, adored one God, and were properly one stock; so now the different companies of christians go up apart, and all retain their little peculiarities; but when the whole shall enter the New Jerusalem, I mean all out of every congregation and tribe, who have believed in Jesus and are saved, they shall blush that the best have been so ignorant and mistaken, and agree for ever and ever to worship and give glory to the Lamb that was slain, and his one great offering, his merits and love, shall be the subject of our one song when time is no more. Now let us, who have found mercy, remember, we are one man's sons, we have one Father, one Saviour, one faith, one baptism, one sincere view, namely, to love and live only to him, and let us see that we fall not out by the way.

We may learn yet one thing more from the woman of Samaria's wondering that Jesus, a Jew, would speak to her, and that is, if she could wonder when she only looked on him as a man, how much ought we, who know he is the "high and lofty One who dwelleth in the high and holy place," and yet condescends to speak with sinners, and this he does even

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now:

now; What he says to her he says to us, "If thou knewest who it is that speaketh with thee, thou wouldest ask of him, and he would give thee living water." Had she indeed known her Lord and Saviour was there, or guessed that the Stranger with whom she was speaking was no other than the same God who aforetimes so met her father Jacob, and blessed him, she would not have been long before she had prostrated herself at his feet with tears, and obtained of him water from the well of life; she would have asked of him, and he would have given it to her but she did not know who he was; she thought, as many in our time do, that he was only a man, and not God blessed for ever; for else both she and they would make all their prayers to him, till all had found in him eternal life: Therefore, because she understood him not, she reasoned what water he spoke of: she said again, "Thou hast nothing to draw with, the well is deep, from whence hast thou this living water? I hope thou dost not think thyself greater than our father Jacob that gave us this well, and drank of it himself, his children and cattle." Here we may see what she thought of Christ, and these her mean thoughts were the only cause of her being so far from receiving eternal life at his hands. Our Saviour perceived her ignorance and stupidity, and yet willing to save her, said, "Whoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again; but whoso drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him, a well of water springing up into everlasting life." One should have thought, however dull and unawakened she was before, she could have understood that he spoke of somewhat divine and heavenly; but she was still the same, and thought perhaps he had some water which had the peculiar quality to stay the thirst, and there

fore

go

fore asked it of him, but did not receive it, because she asked amiss, and neither did her heart thirst or feel the want of his redemption; but she wanted the water only to save her the trouble of coming so often to the well to draw; and when she had said this, our Saviour altered his manner of speaking, and bid her and fetch her husband." He was not angry at her great stupidity in spiritual things, nor was displeased because she was such a stranger to the scrip→ tures, wherein is so frequent mention, of living wa ter; but he pitied her, and indeed she needed pity, "for the god of this world had blinded her eyes," and stopped her ears; nor did our Saviour thus behave for her sake alone; but to teach us, the servants of the Lord must not strive, but be meek, and gentle, and patiently labour and watch for souls, "as the husbandman waiteth for the early and latter rain," so neither when he was about to convince her of her sad condition (for she was then living in uncleanness and whoredoms) did he begin roughly, or thunder against her the curses of the law, but meekly said, "Go call thy husband and come hither;" the woman answered, "I have no husband:" Jesus said, "thou hast said well, for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband, in that saidst thou truly." In this tender manner he brought her under convictions, and told her of her sinful and unchaste life, and forces her, as it were, to feel he was no common person; for she, struck with the answer of our Saviour, said directly "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet; and as it is likely she had often wished to see one who could satisfy her which was the right place of worship, she now proposes it to him, and then he assured her, that although the Samaritans were to blame, and that the " salvation should come out of the Jews," yet he told her, "neither in Sa

maria,