Part 23

He guides our feet, He guards our way, His morning smiles bless all the day; He spreads the evening veil, and keeps The silent hours while Israel sleeps.

I. WATTS.

We sleep in peace in the arms of God, when we yield ourselves up to His providence, in a delightful consciousness of His tender mercies; no more restless uncertainties, no more anxious desires, no more impatience at the place we are in; for it is God who has put us there, and who holds us in His arms. Can we be unsafe where He has placed us?

FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.

One evening when Luther saw a little bird perched on a tree, to roost there for the night, he said, "This little bird has had its supper, and now it is getting ready to go to sleep here, quite secure and content, never troubling itself what its food will be, or where its lodging on the morrow. Like David, it 'abides under the shadow of the Almighty.' It sits on its little twig content, and lets God take care."

MARTIN LUTHER.

March 25

I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people.--PS. lxxxv. 8.

There is a voice, "a still, small voice" of love, Heard from above; But not amidst the din of earthly sounds, Which here confounds; By those withdrawn apart it best is heard, And peace, sweet peace, breathes in each gentle word.

ANONYMOUS.

He speaketh, but it is with us to hearken or no. It is much, yea, it is everything, not to turn away the ear, to be willing to hearken, not to drown His voice. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." It is a secret, hushed voice, a gentle intercourse of heart to heart, a still, small voice, whispering to the inner ear. How should we hear it, if we fill our ears and our hearts with the din of this world, its empty tumult, its excitement, its fretting vanities, or cares, or passions, or anxieties, or show, or rivalries, and its whirl of emptinesses?

E. B. PUSEY.

March 26

Are they not all ministering spirits?--HEB. i. 14

May I reach That purest heaven, be to other souls The cup of strength in some great agony, Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love, Be the sweet presence of a good diffused, And in diffusion ever more intense! So shall I join the choir invisible Whose music is the gladness of the world.

GEORGE ELIOT.

Certainly, in our own little sphere it is not the most active people to whom we owe the most. Among the common people whom we know, it is not necessarily those who are busiest, not those who, meteor-like, are ever on the rush after some visible charge and work. It is the lives, like the stars, which simply pour down on us the calm light of their bright and faithful being, up to which we look and out of which we gather the deepest calm and courage. It seems to me that there is reassurance here for many of us who seem to have no chance for active usefulness. We can do nothing for our fellow-men. But still it is good to know that we can be something for them; to know (and this we may know surely) that no man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle, pure, and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.

PHILLIPS BROOKS.

March 27

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us.--I JOHN iv. 12.

And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.--I JOHN iii. 24.

Abide in me; o'ershadow by Thy love Each half-formed purpose and dark thought of sin; Quench, ere it rise, each selfish, low desire, And keep my soul as Thine, calm and divine.

H. B. STOWE.

The Spirit of Love must work the works, and speak the tones, of Love. It cannot exist and give no sign, or a false sign. It cannot be a spirit of Love, and mantle into irritable and selfish impatience. It cannot be a spirit of Love, and at the same time make self the prominent object. It cannot rejoice to lend itself to the happiness of others, and at the same time be seeking its own. It cannot be generous, and envious. It cannot be sympathizing, and unseemly; self-forgetful, and vain-glorious. It cannot delight in the rectitude and purity of other hearts, as the spiritual elements of their peace, and yet unnecessarily suspect them.

J. H. THOM.

March 28

Giving thanks always for all things unto God.--EPH. v. 20.

For blessings of the fruitful season, For work and rest, for friends and home, For the great gifts of thought and reason,-- To praise and bless Thee, Lord, we come.