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stormy elements of passion, to moderate the vehemence of desire, to throw off the load of dejection, to suppress every repining thought, when the dearest hopes are withered, and to turn the wounded spirit from dangerous reveries and wasting grief, to the quiet discharge of ordinary duties? Is there no power to put forth when a man, stripped of his property, of the fruits of a life's labors, quells discontent and gloomy forebodings, and serenely and patiently returns to the tasks. which Providence assigns?

ORD, I would fain be still

And quiet behind my shield;
But make me to love Thy will,
For fear I should ever yield.

Nothing but perfect trust,

And love of Thy perfect will, Can raise me out of the dust, And bid my fears be still.

VI.

WM. E. CHANNING.

Waiting for the Lord.

Hold still to

Delight thyself in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in His way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.— Psalm xxxvii. 4, 5, 7.

T is my fervent hope that these words of mine may touch a heart here and there weighted with anxieties or filled even with lawful desires for some temporal

good. Let them, if possible, get a higher craving still for God and His love, and for more perfect obedience to His blessed will; let them try to submit and to resign their most ardent wishes so only that God may do with them just what He likes, and that they may freely place themselves to be dealt with even unto sacrifice in the way which seemeth to Him good; and we may safely assure them that they will taste of a happiness. which they never knew before, and their burdens will fall off them and their hearts be lightened and their faces shall not be ashamed; for in His presence there is fullness of joy and at His right hand there are pleasures which never fade, even on this poor earth below.

CHARLES VOYSEY.

HOU Power supreme! whose mighty scheme

These woes of mine fulfill,

Here firm I rest; they must be best,

Because they are Thy will!

Then all I want (O do Thou grant

This one request of mine!)

Since to enjoy Thou didst deny,

Assist me to resign.

VII.

The Blessedness of Prayer.

Now, O Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in Thee. I am silent, I open not my mouth, for Thou didst it.-Psalm xxxix. 7, 9.

THAT prayer which does not succeed in moderating

our wish, in changing the passionate desire into still submission, the anxious, tumultuous expectation

into silent surrender, is not true prayer, and proves that we have not the spirit of prayer. That life is most holy in which there is least of petition and desire, and most of waiting upon God; that in which petition most often passes into thanksgiving. Pray till prayer makes you forget your own wish, and leave it or merge it into God's will. The Divine Wisdom has given us prayer, not as a means whereby to obtain the good things of earth, but as a means whereby we learn to do without them; not as a means whereby we escape evil, but as a means whereby we become strong to meet it.

ET then, from all my grief, O Lord,
Thy mercy set me free,

Whilst in the confidence of prayer

My soul took hold on Thee.

Give me, O Father, to Thy throne access,
Unshaken seat of endless happiness;

Give me, unveiled, the source of good to see,
Give me Thy light, and fix my eyes on Thee.

F. W. ROBERTSON.

VIII.

The Power of Prayer.

Yet the Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me and my prayer unto the God of my life.Psalm xlii. 8.

HE desire for prayer is as old as the first dawn of intelligence in man; it is found with the savage,

prostrated before a tree, a stone, or an image, as well as with the saint in his ecstatic communion with the Infinite. It is the first uplifting of the child's heart at the entrance of life, and the last thought of the dying at the portal of the grave. When we have accustomed ourselves to begin every day with a devout thought of God-no matter in what form we do it-do we not feel its influence during the day? Can the young man become a prey to his passions, who is held to his moorings by the anchor of his daily prayer? Test it in an assembly; what other power will so speedily and so surely subdue all hearts as that of an earnest invocation to God, uttered by one whose piety entitles him to the high prerogative of mediator between earth and heaven. Make thine own heart thy palace,

Lest the world become thy dungeon,

warns an Eastern sage, and there is nothing more helpful to this end than true soul-prayer, and the worshipful thought of the living God.

IRST worship God: he that forgets to pray,
Bids not himself Good-morrow, nor Good-day.

G. G.

IX.

Prayer-An Experience.

...

I poured out my complaint before God; I showed before Him my trouble . . . I said: Thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.-Psalm cxlii. 2, 5.

HE truth of Prayer is an intuition, and its verifica

tion universal experience; and it is on truths of this nature that the deepest and holiest life of the soul rests. Two young people meet, and (as we suggestively say) fall in love with each other; can they give any reason for their love? for their belief that they were created for each other, and, unless made One, their hearts would break? Friendships can never be manufactured. A person may lavish no end of kindness on us, without gaining a touch of personal attachment, whilst another, taking no trouble to win it, receives it as a free gift from us. It is a bad sign for children to begin questioning, on what ground, and to what extent, they are bound to conform to the wishes of their parents. True love, which is a mystery of the soul, shrinks from such a discussion. Conscience is simply consciousness of duty, and right, and honor. Who will define it? Yet men deeply affected by that sense, rather than forfeit it cast their lives away. Why not let prayer rest on the same foundation, and, without too curious questionings, accept the blessedness it is able to bestow?

G. G.

'O the path of life to win us,

Thou, O God, didst plant within us

Aspirations high and bright;

Bring us to Thy presence nearer,
Let us see Thy glories clearer,

Till all mists shall melt in light.

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