February 5.

Let thine heart keep my commandments; for length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee. PROV. iii. 1, 2.

IF

F obedience were entire and love were perfect, then would the revelation of the spirit to the soul of man be perfect too. There would be trust expelling care, and enabling one to repose; there would be a love which could cast out fear; there would be a sympathy with the mighty all of God. Selfishness would pass, isolation would be felt no longer; the tide of the universal and eternal life would come with mighty pulsations throbbing through the soul.

OBEDIENCE.

F. W. ROBERTSON.

OH, thou, so weary of thy self-denials,
And so impatient of thy little cross,

Is it so hard to bear thy daily trials,

To count all earthly things a gainful loss?

Poor wandering soul! I know that thou art seeking
Some easier way, as all have sought before,
To silence the reproachful inward speaking,
Some landward path unto an island shore.
The cross is heavy in thy human measure,
The way too narrow for thy inward pride;
Thou canst not lay thine intellectual treasure
At the low footstool of the Crucified.
In meek obedience to the Heavenly Teacher,
Thy weary soul can only find its peace;
Seeking no aid from any human creature,
Looking to God alone for His release.

February 6.

And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? MATT. viii. 26.

NEVER should we so abandon ourselves to God as

when He seems to abandon us. Let us enjoy light and consolation when it is His pleasure to give it to us, but let us not attach ourselves to His gifts, but to Him; and when He plunges us into the night of Pure Faith, let us still press on through the agonizing darkness.

DOST THOU NOT CARE?

I LOVE and love not; Lord, it breaks my heart
To love and not to love.

Thou veiled within Thy glory, gone apart
Into Thy shrine which is above,
Dost Thou not love me, Lord, or care
For this mine ill?

I love thee here or there,

I will accept thy broken heart, lie still.

Lord, it was well with me in time gone by
That cometh not again,

When I was fresh and cheerful, who but I?
I fresh, I cheerful; worn with pain
Now, out of sight and out of heart;

O Lord, how long?

I watch thee as thou art,

I will accept thy fainting heart, be strong.

"Lie still, be strong," to-day; but, Lord, to-morrow, What of to-morrow, Lord?

Shall there be rest from toil, be truce from sorrow,

Be living green upon the sward

Now but a barren grave to me,

Be joy for sorrow?

Did I not die for thee?

Do I not live for thee? leave me to-morrow.

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI.

February 7.

And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. - Ex. xxxiii. 14.

Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid. -JOB. xi. 19.

IT

T is a noble thing, at once to participate in the frailty of man and the security of a god.

SENECA.

I KNOW not what men are doing, still at work, when they might better sit still, troubling themselves and all about them, and cannot well tell for what. Oh, the sweet peace of believing and obeying God! They truly conquer, sitting still,-"sedendo vincebant." In all times, they are safe under the shadow of the Almighty; are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

EVENING HYMN.

ANOTHER day its course hath run,
And still, O God! Thy child is blest;
For Thou hast been by day my sun,
And Thou wilt be by night my rest.

Sweet sleep descends, mine eyes to close;
when all the world is still,

And now,

I give my body to repose,

My spirit to my Father's will.

JOHN PIERPONT.

February 8.

And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. — REV. vii. 14.

IT

T is the cross that makes the peace so sweet. Amid the tears of grief, peace keeps her silent place like the rainbow upon the spray of the cataract.

BONAR.

THE best way to bear crosses, is to consecrate them all in silence to God.

AFTER THE STORM.

FLETCHER.

ALL night, in the pauses of sleep, I heard
The moan of the snow-wind and the sea,
Like the wail of Thy sorrowing children, O God!
Who cry unto Thee.

But in beauty and silence the morning broke,
O'erflowing creation the glad light streamed;
And earth stood shining and white as the souls
Of the blessed redeemed.

O glorious marvel in darkness wrought!
With smiles of promise the blue sky bent,
As if to whisper to all who mourned

Love's hidden intent.

HARRIET MCEWEN KImball.

February 9.

I

Pray without ceasing. 1 THESS. V. 17.

THAT
desire exist, never ceases to pray. Love, hid in
the bottom of the soul, prays without ceasing, even when
the mind is drawn another way. God continually be-

HAT heart in which the true love of God and true

holds the desire which He has Himself implanted in the soul, though it may at times be unconscious of its existence; His heart is touched by it; it ceaselessly attracts His mercies; it is that spirit, which, according to Saint Paul, helpeth our infirmities and maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

FÉNELON.

PRAYER.

FROM the recesses of a lowly spirit,

Our humble prayer ascends; O Father! hear it.
Upsoaring on the wings of awe and meekness,
Forgive its weakness!

We see Thy hand, it leads us, it supports us;
We hear Thy voice, it counsels and it courts us;
And then we turn away; and still Thy kindness
Forgives our blindness.

Oh, how long-suffering, Lord! but Thou delightest
To win with love the wandering; Thou invitest,
By smiles of mercy, not by frowns or terrors,
Man from his errors.

Father and Saviour! plant within each bosom
The seeds of holiness, and bid them blossom
In fragrance and in beauty bright and vernal,
And spring eternal.

JOHN BOWRING.

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