But let us see what it is that leads to this touching display of grace. “And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, ‘We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you; come thou with us and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.’ And he said unto him, ‘I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred.’ And he said, ‘Leave us not, I pray thee, forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes.’” Now, if we did not know something of our own hearts, and the tendency thereof to lean on the creature rather than upon the living God, we might well marvel at the above. We might feel disposed to inquire, What could Moses possibly want with Hobab’s eyes? Was not Jehovah sufficient? Did not He know the wilderness? Would He suffer them to go astray? What of the cloud and the silver trumpet? were they not better than Hobab’s eyes? Why, then, did Moses seek for human aid? Alas! alas! we can but too well understand the reason. We all know, to our sorrow and loss, the tendency of the heart to lean upon something that our eyes can see. We do not like to occupy the ground of absolute dependence upon God for every step of the journey. We find it hard to lean upon an unseen arm. A Hobab that we can see inspires us with more confidence than the living God whom we cannot see. We move on with comfort and satisfaction when we possess the countenance and help of some poor fellow-mortal; but we hesitate, falter, and quail when called to move on in naked faith in God. These statements may seem strong; but the question is, are they true? Is there a Christian who reads these lines that will not freely own that it is even so? We are all prone to lean upon an arm of flesh, and that, too, in the face of a thousand and one examples of the folly of so doing. We have proved, times without number, the vanity of all creature-confidences, and yet we _will_ confide in the creature. On the other hand, we have, again and again, proved the reality of leaning upon the Word and upon the arm of the living God. We have found that He has never failed us, never disappointed us—nay, that He has always done exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think; and yet we are ever ready to distrust Him, ever ready to lean upon any broken reed, and betake ourselves to any broken cistern. Thus it is with us; but, blessed be God, His grace abounds toward us, as it did toward Israel on the occasion to which we are now referring. If Moses will look to Hobab for guidance, Jehovah will teach His servant that He Himself is all-sufficient as a guide. “And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days’ journey, _to search out a resting-place for them_.”