What touching grace shines in these words! "The valley of Achor"--the place of "trouble"--the place of deep sorrow and shame--the place of humiliation and judgment--the place where the fire of Jehovah's righteous wrath consumed the sin of His people--_there_ shall be "a door of hope" for Israel by and by; there, too, she shall sing as in the days of her youth. How wonderful to hear of songs of praise in the valley of Achor! What glorious triumphs of grace! What a bright and blessed future for Israel! "It shall be at _that day_, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi (my husband), and shalt call me no more Baali (my lord). For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.... _And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever_; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies: I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." From this digression to "the valley of Achor" in the future, we now return to our special theme; and in so doing we shall ask the reader to turn with us, for a few moments, to the opening chapters of the Acts. Here we find the same grand results of the presence of God in the midst of His people as we have seen in the opening of the book of Joshua; only in a much more glorious manner, as we might expect. On the day of Pentecost, God the Holy Ghost came down to form the Assembly, and take up His abode therein. This great and glorious fact was grounded on the accomplishment of the work of atonement, as attested by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His glorification at the right hand of God. We cannot attempt to unfold this truth in all its bearings in this brief article; we merely call the reader's attention to the two practical points which have been before us--namely, the privilege and responsibility connected with the Lord's presence in the midst of His people. If He was there to _bless_,--as He most surely was,--He was also, and quite as surely, there to _judge_. The two things go together, and we must not attempt to separate them. And first, then, we see the effect and blessings of the divine Presence in the Assembly: "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, as every man had need." The blessed effect of the realized presence of the Holy Ghost was to bind their hearts together in a holy and loving fellowship; to cause them to let go earthly things, and to lead them to merge their personal interests in the common good.