salem, and the Bible revelations of mercy from God to man,
continue for ever. But most particularly does this psalm, taken with the
circumstances there before our eyes, point out the difference made
between Ammon and Israel, and the reason for it, as predicted in Ezek.
xxv., 1-7:--"The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man,
set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them; and say
unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord
God; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was
profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and
against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; behold,
therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession,
and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in
thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. And I
will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching-place
for flocks; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. For thus saith the
Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the
feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of
Israel; behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and
will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off
from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I
will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord."

_Sunday_, 13_th_.--Dew on the grass; but it was the morning dew, which,
like human goodness, was soon exhaled.

After meditating on the chapters in Numbers and Deuteronomy which refer
to the conduct and destinies of Ammon and Moab, and reading Jer. xlviii.
and xlix. within "the flowing valley" of the 4th verse of the latter, I
was summoned to divine service in a tent fitted up for the
purpose,--carpets on the floor "honoris causa;" a table covered with
simple white, and a serious congregation of Englishmen before it, each
with his own Bible and prayer-book. Thank God that to carry such books
about in the wildest deserts is a characteristic of my countrymen!

This city of _'Amman_ is "the city in the midst of the river" of Joshua
xiii. 9; and "Rabbah of the children of Ammon"--the royal city--"the city
of waters" of 2 Sam. xii. 26, 27:--to the siege of which Joab invited
King David, "lest he should take it, and it should be called after his
name." Here was also deposited the huge iron bedstea