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joy, they wept for sorrow. And
then they thought why they had
been sent to this strange land; and
they remembered that it was be-
cause of their sins and idolatry that
God punished them. Many of them
felt very much humbled, and re-
pented, and turned to God, and
asked Him to forgive and pity
them. And did God hear them?
Yes; He had not forgotten His
people; He had not forsaken them
for ever. Before they went to Baby-
lon, God promised that their capti-
vity there should last only seventy
years, and that, at the end of those
seventy years, He would bring them
back to their own land again.
This promise comforted the captives
in their trouble; but still they
could not forget their sorrow; and
many of them, who were old, could
not hope to live to the end of the
Seventy years, and to go to their
home again. They found it hard
to sing their joyful psalms of praise,
while they were away from their
happy country. They could not

sing for weeping; but they wrote
- many beautiful psalms, and tried to
praise God as well as they could in
this strange land. They said, “By
the rivers of Babylon we sat down ;
we wept when we remembered
Zion. We hanged our harps upon
the willows that are therein. Those
that carried us away captive asked

THE SEVEN YEARS’ CAPTIVITY,

of us a song; they said, Sing ug one
of the songs of Zion. But how cap
we sing the Lord’s song in a strange
land? How can we forget Jeru-
salem? We love Jerusalem more
than any earthly joy.” But then
they remembered God’s promise;
and wiped away their tears, and
said, “God is our help; unto thee
we lift up our eyes, O thou that
dwellest in the heavens. Have
mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy
upon us. Our help is in the name
of the Lord who made heaven and
earth. Let us trust and hope in
Him; for with Him there is mercy,
and He will save us from all our
troubles.”

How pleasant for the faithful
Jews to have God’s promise to
comfort them in a strange land!
The people of God are now liv-
ing in a strange land, far distant
from their own home, the Hea-
venly Jerusalem. Like the poor
captives in Babylon they have much
sorrow, and pain, and_ trouble.
But this will not last for ever. God
will soon bring them home to that
happy land where all tears are
Wiped away, and where there is no
more sorrow. And He is always
with them now; He can see all
their trouble; and He can comfort
them by His Spirit, and by the
promises He has given them in His
word,