SO THE SWALLOW. 



vied these birds the privilege of being near that holy 

 place, without being sensible of it, while he, notwith- 

 standing his ardent attachment to that sanctuary, was 

 denied the blessing of attending there. 



Pious people, who are blessed with the privilege of 

 constantly attending worship at the house of God, are 

 often insensible of such a blessing, until they are by 

 some means deprived of it. This seems, in some de- 

 gree, to have been the case with David during his ab- 

 sence, for in another verse he says, " Blessed are they 

 that dwell in thy house ; they will still be praising thee." 



But the holy Psalmist, because he could not possess 

 all his soul desired, did not therefore lie down in for- 

 getfulness of the former mercies he had received ; but 

 while he pleaded that God would hear him, was, at the 

 same time, willing to own his constant goodness and 

 mercy, for in the same chapter he says, " O Lord God 

 of hosts, hear my prayer, give ear O God of Jacob : 

 behold O God our shield, and look upon the face of 

 thine anointed." " For the Lord God is a sun and 

 shield ; the Lord will give grace and glory, no good 

 thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." 



In Jeremiah, 8th chapter and 7th verse, there is an 

 allusion to the return of the Swallow, after her annual 

 migration to the south for the winter. This shews 

 that the habits of this bird have not changed since the 

 days of the prophet, and that they were the same at 

 that time, and in that country, as they are at present in 

 this, and other countries ; for every where the Swal- 

 low changes its place of residence with the change of 

 seasons. The verse is as follows : " Yea the stork in 

 the heavens knoweth her appointed time ; and the tur- 



