If I would be like the Psalmist, I must _clearly recognize my perils_. He sees the "waters," the "proud waters." He beholds the "enemy," and his "wrath," and his "teeth." He sees "the fowler" with his snare! I must not shut my eyes, and "make my judgment blind." One of the gifts of grace is the spirit of discernment, the eyes which not only detect hidden treasure, but hidden foes. The devil is an expert in mimicry; he can make himself look like an angel of light. And so must I be able to discover his snares, even when they appear as the most seductive food.

And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must _clearly recognize my great Ally_. "If it has not been the Lord, who was on our side!" To see the Ally on the perilous field, and to see Him on my side, gives birth to holy confidence and song. "The Lord is on my side, whom shall I fear?" I must make sure of the Ally, and "victory is secure."

And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must not omit the doxology of praise. When the prayer is answered, I am apt to forget the praise. My thanksgivings are not so ready as my requests. And so the apparently conquered enemy steals in again at the door of an ungrateful heart.

May The Second

_THE HAPPY WARRIOR_

EPHESIANS vi. 10-18.

Here is a portrait of the happy warrior! Let me first look at the warrior, and then at the implements with which he fights.

"You cannot fight the French merely with red uniforms; there must be men inside them!" So said Thomas Carlyle. Well, look at this man.

"_Strengthened in the Lord, and in the power of His might._" There is a secret communion with the Almighty, and he draws his resources from the Infinite. The water in my home comes from the Welsh hills; every drop was gathered on those grand and expansive uplands. And this man's soldierly strength is drawn from the hills of G.o.d; every ounce of his fighting blood comes from the veins of the Lord.

And mark the nature of his armoury. His weapons are dispositions. He fights with "truth," and "righteousness," and "peace," and "faith," and "prayer"! There are no implements like these. A sword will fail where a courtesy will prevail. We can kill our enemies by kindness. And as for the devil himself there is nothing like a grace-filled disposition for putting him to flight! A prayerful disposition can drive him off any field, at any hour of the day or night. "Put on the whole armour of G.o.d."

May The Third

_OTHER G.o.dS!_

"_Thou shalt have no other G.o.ds before Me._"

--EXODUS xx. 1-11.

If we kept that commandment all the other commandments would be obeyed. If we secure this queen-bee we are given the swarm. To put nothing "before"

G.o.d! What is left in the circle of obedience? G.o.d first, always and everywhere. Nothing allowed to usurp His throne for an hour! I was once allowed to sit on an earthly throne for a few seconds, but even that is not to be allowed with the throne of G.o.d. Nothing is to share His sovereignty, even for a moment. His dominion is to be unconditional and unbroken. "Thou shalt have no other G.o.ds beside Me."

But we have many G.o.ds we set upon His throne. We put money there, and fame, and pleasure, and ease. Yes, we sometimes usurp G.o.d's throne, and we ourselves dare to sit there for days, and weeks, and years, at a time.

Self is the idol, and we enthrone it, and we fall down and worship it. But no peace comes from such sovereignty, and no deep and vital joy. For the real King is not dead, and He is out and about, and our poor little monarchy is as the reign of the midge on a summer's night. Our real kingship is in the acknowledgment of the King of kings. When we worship Him, and Him only, He will ask us to sit on His throne.

MAY The Fourth

_A HEALTHY PALATE_

"_How sweet are Thy words unto my taste._"

--PSALM cxix. 97-104.

Some people like one thing, and some another. Some people appreciate the bitter olive; others feel it to be nauseous. Some delight in the sweetest grapes; others feel the sweetness to be sickly. It is all a matter of palate. Some people love the Word of the Lord; to others the reading of it is a dreary task. To some the Bible is like a vineyard; to others it is like a dry and tasteless meal. One takes the word of the Master, and it is "as honey to the mouth"; to another the same word is as unwelcome as a bitter drug. It is all a matter of palate.

But what is a man to do who has got a perverted palate, and who calls sweet things bitter and bitter things sweet? He must get a new mouth! And where is he to get it? Not by any ministry of his own creation; his own endeavours will be impotent. A healthy moral palate depends upon the purity of the heart. Our spiritual discernments are all determined by the state of the soul. If the heart be pure, the mouth will be clean, and we shall love G.o.d's law. If the soul-appet.i.te be healthy, G.o.d's words will be sweet unto our taste. And so does the good Lord give us new palates by giving us new hearts. "Create within us clean hearts, O G.o.d, and renew right spirits within us."

MAY The Fifth

_HEALTHY LISTENING_

"_Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only._"

--JAMES i. 21-27.

When we hear the word, but do not do it, there has been a defect in our hearing. We may listen to the word for mere entertainment. Or we may attach a virtue to the mere act of listening to the word. We may a.s.sume that some magical efficacy belongs to the mere reading of the word. And all this is perverse and delusive. No listening is healthy which is not mentally referred to obedience. We are to listen _with a view to obedience_, with our eyes upon the very road where the obedient feet will travel. That is to say, we are to listen with purpose, as though we were Amba.s.sadors receiving instructions from the King concerning some momentous mission. Yes, we must listen with an eye on the road.

"Doing" makes a new thing of "hearing." The statute obeyed becomes a song.

The commandment is found to be a beat.i.tude. The decree discloses riches of grace. The hidden things of G.o.d are not discovered until we are treading the path of obedience. "And it came to pa.s.s that as he went he received his sight." In the way of obedience the blind man found a new world. G.o.d has wonderful treasures for the dutiful. The faithful discover the "hidden manna."

MAY The Sixth

_THE PERFECTING OF LOVE_

"_Herein is our love made perfect._"

--1 JOHN iv. 11-21.

How? By dwelling in G.o.d and G.o.d in us. Love is not a manufacture; it is a fruit. It is not born of certain works; it springs out of certain relations. It does not come from doing something; it comes from living with Somebody. "Abide in Me." That is how love is born, for "love is of G.o.d, and G.o.d is love."

How many people are striving who are not abiding. They live in a manufactory, they do not live in a home. They are trying to make something instead of to know Somebody. "This is life, to know Thee." When I am related to the Lord Jesus, when I dwell with Him, love is as surely born as beauty and fragrance are born when my garden and the spring-time dwell together. If we would only wisely cultivate the fellowship of Jesus, everything else would follow in its train--all that gracious succession of beautiful things which are called "the fruits of the Spirit."

And "herein is our love made perfect." It is always growing richer, because it is always drawing riches from the inexhaustible love of G.o.d.

How could it be otherwise? Endless resource must mean endless growth. "Our life is hid with Christ in G.o.d," and hence our love will "grow in all wisdom and discernment."

MAY The Seventh

_IN THE WAYS OF OBEDIENCE_

PSALM xix. 7-14.