THE KINGS CONQUERED.

He said to Joshua, “ Fear not; for I
am with thee.”

The kings were soon conquered,
and fled from the Israelites; and
many of their soldiers were killed
with hail-stones, which God sent
from heaven to destroy the enemies
of His people. God did a wonderful
thing that day: Joshua and the
Israelites were many hours fighting,
and they feared darkness would come
on, and then they would not know
where to find their enemics. But
Joshua had great faith in God; he
knew He could do everything, and
that He had promised to do great
things for His people; so Joshua
asked God to do a very wonderful
miracle then, a new miracle, never
seen before. What wasit? Joshua
spoke to the Lord, and said, “Sun,
stand thou stillin Gibeon; and thou
moon, in the valley of Ajalon.”
And did the sun and moon obey?
Yes, because it was the will of God
that they should ; it was His power,
not Joshua’s, that made them stand
still, and He gave the command in
answer to Joshua’s prayer. Thesun
and the moon stayed as they were
all that day ; hour after hour-passed,
and the sun and the moon were in
the same place still, until all the
enemies of Israel were conquered.

Lil

How wonderful God is! How great
His power is, and His kindness too,
to His own people! We may safely
trust Him in all dangers, if we love
and serve Him; but we must re-
member that He has power to de-
stroy His enemies, as well as to save
His friends.

The wicked kings fled and hid in
a cave; they thought Joshua could
not find them there ; but they could
not save themselves. Joshua goon

heard where they were, and he com-

manded his people to roll great
stones to the mouth of the cave to
keep the kings in, till all his ene-
mies were conquered. And when
the Israelites had finished fighting,
Joshua brought out the kings and
slew them. The Amorites had
long sinned against God, and now
they must be destroyed God’s
enemies will all perish at last. He
waits a long time for them to repent
and turn to him; but if they will
not, He will cast them away for
ever. Then let us pray God to
make us His people; to give us new
hearts, and to help us, by His Holy
Spirit, to love and serve Him.
And then we shall be safe and
happy, and have God for our friend
for ever.