25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help

me.

26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

t Mark vii. 24.-u ch. x. 5, 6. 46. Rom. xv. 8.-x ch. vii. 6.

Acts iii. 25, 26; & xiii. Phil. iii. 2.

READER. A woman of Canaan. -We have here an account of mercy exercised in favour of a believing Gentile, an inhabitant of Syro-Phenicia (Mark vii. 26), descended probably from the ancient Canaanites. We may regard this event as an earnest of still greater blessings in store for the whole heathen world. The Lord Jesus Christ is "a light to lighten the Gentiles," as well as "the glory of his people Israel."

Have mercy. Such was the plea of this humble suppliant. She did not depend on any supposed goodness or worthiness of her own, but she cast herself entirely on the Saviour's compassion, and unmerited favour. And so must we.-On me. Parents should regard benefits conferred upon their children as con

ferred upon themselves.-And they should make their children's wants and necessities a subject of their prayers.-O Lord, thou Son of David. This was a direct acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah. And our faith must address itself to him in this his real character, and must look to him for the exercise of those offices of mercy which he has been appointed to fulfil. We must depend upon him in his covenant relation to his believing people.

My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.-Alas, how truly may this be said, in many cases, while the bodily health is good, and few complaints are made! Satan prepares grievous vexation for the soul, even while he allures it by fair promises, and detains it as a willing captive.

But he answered her not a word.—

This may seem strange. "What! is the fountain of mercy dried up? O Saviour! we have often found cause to wonder at thy words, but never till now at thy silence!" But it is no sign that prayer is not heard and accepted, when an answer is not vouchsafed exactly at the time, and in the manner, which we may expect. God sometimes designs in this way to prove, exercise, and increase our faith; and to make us more humble and importunate in suing for the desired blessing. See Ps. xxii. 1, 2; xliv. 23; lxxx. 4; Jer. xiv. 9; Heb. ii. 3. God understands the nature of his people's petitions, the spirit in which they make them, and the time and manner in which to answer them, better than they do themselves.

him, &c.-The disciples interceded

for her, requesting that her case might receive attention, and that she might be dismissed with the grant of her petition. But this, as it appears, was only that they might not be troubled with her cries. The love The love of good men, even in its greatest display, is far inferior to the love of the Saviour, though hidden from our view..

I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.—Our Lord's personal ministry on earth was chiefly confined to the Jews. See Acts iii. 26; Rom. xv. 8. Thank God, we know that the Gospel and the grace of Christ have been sent to the Gentile as well as to the Jew; and that all who believe in the Saviour receive the benefits of his salvation.

Then came she, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me!-Beautiful for simplicity, humility, faith, and fervour, is this short but comprehensive petition. Let it serve, in these respects, as a pattern for our own supplications at the throne of grace. It is sad that these words are often employed as a careless or profane exclamation!

But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs. Here is a still further trial of this good woman's faith. When our Lord vouchsafed to notice her, his answer was, at first, repulsive. And still he is pleased sometimes to exercise strong faith with great trials. When he designs to bestow great favours upon his people, he often sees fit to impress

their own unworthiness. See 1 Pet.

v. 6, 7.

And she said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.-If her heart had been proud, she would not have endured the Saviour's reply; if her faith had been weak, she would have been discouraged;-but now, with an humble mind and a lively faith, she overlooks everything like indignity and discouragement in what she had heard, and fixes her thoughts upon that which could be understood as affording a faint gleam of hope. She remembers that dogs are not wholly rejected and spurned; and upon this she founds the renewal of her modest plea. "An humble, believing, soul, that truly loves Christ, takes everything in good part that he saith and doeth, and puts the best construction upon it." Faith derives comfort from that which unbelief views as an occasion of alarm.— When answer to prayer is deferred, let the delay excite us to importunity, and to increased humility.Crumbs from their masters' table.Let us regard the least of God's mercies as not only worth having, but worth seeking with faith and prayer.

Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith.All that was good and praiseworthy in her conduct was the product of that one principle, faith,—a firm reliance on the goodness and power of him to whom she prayed. The Lord Jesus saw this faith and its operation; he sees the same grace wherever it exists; and whenever he sees it, he

does not fail to reward it with the tokens of his approbation. The greatness of this woman's faith had appeared in the fruits which it produced; in the humility and meekness, the wisdom, the patience and perseverance which had been its manifest result. No mortal tongue can satisfactorily declare to us the existence of this great religious principle within ourselves, nor can we expect to be assured of it by a voice from heaven; but if we find that it produces in our temper and conduct the same results as those which have been displayed in the history before us, we have abundant reason to thank God and take courage.

And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.-The prayer of Christian faith, a prayer which has

for its foundation the promises of a God who cannot lie,-is a prayer which never can be lost. It may be answered in a way that we do not expect; it may be answered at be answered at a time much later than we had hoped; but, in God's own way, and in God's own time, it will infallibly secure to us a blessing.-Let us derive wisdom and encouragement from the eminent success of this woman's distinguishing graces, seriousness, humility, faith, and perseverance in prayer.

HYMN.

O help us, Lord! each hour of need
Thy heavenly succour give;

Help us in thought, and word, and deed,
Each hour on earth we live!

O help us when our spirits bleed With contrite anguish sore;

a

30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:

31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

32¶Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue

with me now three days, and have nothing to eat and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? 34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

e

36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

37 And they did all eat, and were filled and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

§ LIII.

CHAP. XVI. 1—12.

The Pharisees require a sign. Jesus warneth his disciples of the leaven of the

Pharisees and Sadducees.

THE "Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 4 'A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the pro

39 'And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.

y Mark vii. 31.-z ch. iv. 18.-a Is. xxxv. 5. 6. ch. xi.

5 And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take

bread.

6 Then Jesus said unto them, "Take heed and beware

xiv. 19.-e 1 Sam. ix. xiii. Luke xxii. 19-ƒ Mark viii. 10.

For remarks on this passage the Reader is referred to the Commentary on chap. iv. 24, 25, and xiv. 14-21.

and of the Sadducees.

7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

8 Which when Jesus perceiv

ed, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

9 'Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

12 Then understood understood they

how that he bade them not

beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

a Ch. xii. 38. Mark vii. 11. Luke xi. 16; & xii. 54-56. 1 Cor. i. 22.-6 ch. xii. 39.- Mark vili. 14.-d Luke xii. 1.-e ch. xiv. 17. John vi. 9.-f ch. xv. 34.

Reader. The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came.-Here we see men of opposite opinions, and at variance with each other on many points, agreeing in a wicked attempt against Christ and the truth of the Gospel. It was thus that Herod and Pilate were made friends when they became the common enemies of the persecuted Jesus. And still it is no unusual thing for ungodly men, while they are ready to bite and devour one another, to combine in plans and acts of hostility against religion and religious people. So

great is the malice of Satan and his agents against holiness and truth! —They came, we are told, tempting Jesus; that is, pretending to desire a proof of his authority and mission,

but really seeking to entrap and disgrace him. Such is the hypocrisy which wicked men are ready to employ in order to attain their ends.-They asked for a sign from heaven. Many signs had already been given by the miracles which our Saviour had wrought, and these were sufficient to convince men of

humble and candid minds, and were every way worthy of the divine Being who performed them. But proud and unbelieving men desire to have a sign of their own choos

ing; they seek to prescribe terms

to God himself;-they are not satisfied with the proofs which God

is pleased to give, and should he deign to give those which they proudly desire, still they would remain unsatisfied and unconvinced. And this is one instance of the deceitfulness of sin, and of the human heart. See also Luke xvi. 30, 31.— When unbelieving Jews "had signs from heaven, they tempted Christ, saying, Can he furnish a table in the wilderness? (1 Cor. x. 9). Now that he had furnished a table in the wilderness, they tempted him, saying, Can he give us a sign from heaven?"—Let us take warning from these instances of blind and perverse self-will. Let us consider the wisdom, as well as the blessedness, of humility, faith, and devout submission to the teaching and the will of God.