288 JOSIAH.

was not counted. The king and | money; for they were the servants |
the priests knew that the workmen | of God, and -remembered always

were faithful and honest, and that | that His eye was upon them.

they would not steal nor waste the

       
 

ene o.oo ene
CXOVIIL.
} OSIAH. :
Ve ySc7| HEN Hilkiah, the priest, | ners read the Bible now, there is
S i VA) went into the house of | much to make them tremble too.
yi "f/| the Lord to bring out the! We read there that “all have sin-
Lr ina’ money, he found there the | ned,” and “the soul that sinneth it

 

book of the law of God;
and he carefully brought it out, and
sent it to the king. Josiah honored
this book very much, because it was
the book of God; His holy law was
written in it. Josiah told one of
his servants to read the book to
him ; and he listened to it very at-
tentively, and very reverently. This
is what we ought to do when we
have the Bible read to us; and
when we read it to ourselves, we
should remember that it is God’s
word, and attend to it very solemn-
ly, and seek to understand it. But
when Josiah had heard the book
read, he began to weep; and he rent
his clothes, and was in very great
trouble. Why was this? What
did God’s law say to him to make
him so unhappy? It told him of
God’s holiness and hatred of sin,
and of His anger against those who
disobey his commands. Josiah felt
that he and his people had many
times disobeyed God; and he was
afraid that soon God might punish
them, because they had done so
much to make Him angry. This
thought made Josiah tremble and
rend his’ clothes. And when sin-

 

 

shall die.” Hzekiel xviii. 20. This
is very fearful indeed. Must we all
perish, perish for ever in hell? We
all deserve to perish; the Bible tells
us so; but this is not all the Bible
says. It tells us also of God’s
mercy; it tells us how sinners may
be saved; “Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim.
1.15. He “was once offered to bear
the sins of many.” Hed. ix.28. His
blood “cleanseth us from all sin.”
1 John 1. %. The Bible says to
every one of us, “Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved.” Acts xvi. 31.

There was a good woman living
at Jerusalem, named Huldah. She
was a prophetess; and God honored
her very much in making known
His will to her, by His Spirit.
When Josiah was in so much
trouble after reading God’s law, he
sent messengers to Huldah to ask
her advice. God had seen all Jo-
siah’s trouble; He knew all his
thoughts, and He had sent a mes-
sage of comfort for him to the pro-
phetess Huldah. She told the mes-
sengers, that God was indeed angry
with the people of Judah, and that