12TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever."--JOHN xiv. 16.

Another Comforter.

Blessed Spirit of all grace! how oft have I grieved Thee! resisted Thy dealings, quenched Thy strivings; and yet art thou still pleading with me! Oh! let me realize more than I do the need of Thy gracious influences. Ordinances, sermons, communions, providential dispensations, are nothing without Thy life-giving power. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." "No man can call Jesus, Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."

Church of the living G.o.d! is not this one cause of thy deadness? My soul! is not this the secret of thy languishing frames, repeated declensions, uneven walk, and sudden falls, that the influences of the Holy Ghost are undervalued and unsought? Pray for the outpouring of this blessed Agent for the world's renovation, and thine own. "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh," is the precursor of millennial bliss.

Jesus! draw near, in thy mercy, to this torpid heart, as thou didst of old to thy mourning disciples, and breathe upon it, and say, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." It is the mightiest of all boons; but, like the sun in the heavens, it is the freest of all: "For if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit unto them that ask Him!"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

13TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"All things work together for good to them that love G.o.d, to them who are the called according to His purpose."--ROM. viii. 28.

Providential Overruling.

My soul! be still! thou art in the hands of thy Covenant G.o.d. Were these strange vicissitudes in thy history the result of accident, or chance, thou mightest well be overwhelmed; but "_all things_," and _this_ thing (be what it may) which may be now disquieting thee, is _one_ of these "_all things_" that are _so_ working mysteriously for thy good. Trust thy G.o.d! He will not deceive thee,--thy interests are with Him in safe custody. When sight says, "All these things are against me,"

let faith rebuke the hasty conclusion, and say, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" How often does G.o.d hedge up our way with thorns, to elicit simple trust! How seldom can we _see_ all things so working for our good! But it is better discipline to _believe_ it. Oh!

for faith amid frowning providences, to say, "I _know_ that thy judgments are good;" and, relying in the dark, to exclaim, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!" Blessed Jesus! to thee are committed the reins of this universal empire. The same hand that was once nailed to the cross, is now wielding the sceptre on the throne,--"all power given unto thee in heaven and in earth." How can I doubt the wisdom, and faithfulness, and love, of the most mysterious earthly dealing, when I know that the Roll of Providence is thus in the hands of Him who has given the mightiest pledge Omnipotence _could_ give of His tender interest in my soul's well-being, by giving _Himself_ for me?

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

14TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"All the Paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies."--PSALM xxv. 10.

Safe Walking.

The paths of the Lord? My soul! never follow thine own paths. If thou dost so, thou wilt be in danger often of following sight rather than faith,--choosing the evil, and refusing the good. But "commit thy way unto the Lord, and He shall bring it to pa.s.s." Let this be thy prayer, "Show me _Thy_ ways, O Lord; teach me _Thy_ paths." Oh! for Caleb's spirit, "_wholly_ to follow the Lord my G.o.d,"--to follow Him when self must be sacrificed, and hardship must be borne, and trials await me. To "walk with G.o.d,"--to ask in simple faith, "What wouldst thou have me to do?"--to have no will of my own, save this, that G.o.d's will is to be _my_ will. Here is safety,--here is happiness. Fearlessly follow the Guiding Pillar. He will lead you by a _right_ way, though it may be by a way of hardship, and crosses, and losses, and privations, to the city of habitation. Oh! the blessedness of thus lying pa.s.sive in the hands of G.o.d; saying, "Undertake thou for me!"--dwelling with holy grat.i.tude on past mercies and interpositions--taking these as pledges of future faithfulness and love--hearing His voice behind us, amid life's manifold perplexities, exclaiming, "This is the way, walk ye in it!" "Happy,"

surely, "are every people who are in such a case!" Happy, Reader! will it be for thee, if thou canst form the resolve in a strength greater than thine own: "This G.o.d shall be _my_ G.o.d for ever and ever; He shall be my _Guide_ even unto death!"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

15TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten."--REV. iii. 19.

Love in Chastis.e.m.e.nt.

Sorrowing Believer! what couldst thou wish more than this? Thy furnace is severe; but look at this a.s.surance of Him who lighted it. Love is the fuel that feeds its flames! Its every spark is love! Kindled by a Father's hand, and designed as a special pledge of a Father's love. How many of his dear children has He so rebuked and chastened; and all, _all_ for one reason, "_I love them!_" The myriads in glory have pa.s.sed through these furnace-fires,--_there_ they were chosen,--_there_ they were purified, sanctified, and made "vessels meet for the Master's use;"

the dross and the alloy purged, that the pure metal might remain. And art thou to claim exemption from the same discipline? Art thou to think it strange concerning these same fiery trials that may be trying thee?

Rather exult in them as thine adoption-privilege. Envy not those who are strangers to the refining flames,--who are "_without chastis.e.m.e.nt_;"

rather, surely, the severest discipline _with_ a _Father's love_, than the fullest earthly cup without that Father's smile. Oh! for grace to say, when the furnace is hottest, and the rod sorest, "Even so, _Father_!" And what, after all, is the severest of thy chastis.e.m.e.nts in comparison with what thy sins have deserved? Dost thou murmur under a Father's correcting love? What would it have been to have stood the wrath of an unpropitiated Judge, and that, too, _for ever_? Surely, in the light of eternity, the heaviest pang of earth is indeed "a light affliction!"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

16TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"If need be."--1 PETER i. 6.

A Condition in Chastis.e.m.e.nt.

Three gracious words! Not one of all my tears shed for nought! Not one stroke of the rod unheeded, or that might have been spared? Thy heavenly Father loves thee too much, and too tenderly, to bestow harsher correction than thy case requires? Is it loss of health, or loss of wealth, or loss of beloved friends? Be still! there was a _need be_. We are no judges of what that "need be" is; often through aching hearts we are forced to exclaim, "Thy judgments are a great deep!" But G.o.d here pledges himself, that there will not be one redundant thorn in the believer's chaplet of suffering. No burden too heavy will be laid on him; and no sacrifice too great exacted _from_ him. He will "temper the wind to the shorn lamb." Whenever the "need be" has accomplished its end, then the rod is removed--the chastis.e.m.e.nt suspended--the furnace quenched. "If need be!" Oh! what a pillow on which to rest thy aching head,--that there is not a drop in all thy bitter cup but what a G.o.d of love saw to be _absolutely_ necessary! Wilt thou not trust Him, even though thou canst not trace the mystery of His dealings? Not too curiously prying into the "_Why_ it is?" or "_How_ it is?" but satisfied that "So it is," and, therefore that all _must_ be well! "Although thou sayest, thou canst not see Him, yet judgment is before Him, _therefore_ trust thou in Him!"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

17TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench."--MATT. xii. 20.

Strength in the Weak.