Would that I could more clearly see
His love an heritage for me;

More surely know, more meekly own,
His bounteous grace, my strength alone!

And much I wish-but I will pray
For wisdom that the lowly find;
And, O my Saviour! every day,

More of Thy meek and quiet mind.
The comfort of a mind at rest
From every care Thou hast not blest;
A heart from all the world set free,
To worship and to wait on Thee.

NOVEMBER 18.

66

Only be strong, and of a good courage.' Josh. i. 18.

Take courage, prisoner of time, for there be many comforts!

Not few nor light are the burdens of life; then load it not with heaviness of spirit;

Sickness, and penury, and travail,—there be real ills

enow;

The tide is strong against us; good oarsmen, pull or

perish,—

If your arms be slack for fear, ye shall not stem the

torrent.

A wise traveller goeth on cheerily, through fair weather or foul;

He knoweth that his journey must be sped, so he carrieth his sunshine with him.

Calamities come not as a curse

Struggle-thou art better for the strife, and the very energy shall hearten thee;

And wisdom will go bravely forth to meet the chastening scourge,

Enduring with a thankful heart that punishment of

Love.

Proverbial Philosophy.

NOVEMBER 19.

"I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope."-Ps. cxxx. 5.

My Saviour, on Thy word of truth,

In earnest hope I live;

I ask for all the precious things

Thy boundless love can give.

I look for many a lesser light
About my path to shine;
But chiefly long to walk with Thee,
And only trust in Thine.

In holy expectation held,

Thy strength my heart shall stay;
For Thy right hand will never let
My trust be cast away.

Yea, Thou hast kept me near Thy feet,
In many a deadly strife,

By the stronghold of hope in Thee,—
The hope of endless life.

NOVEMBER 20.

The lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place: yea, I have a goodly heritage.”—Ps. xvi. 6.

To me fair memories belong,
Of scenes that erst did bless,
Yet no regret, but present song
And lasting thankfulness :-
And very soon to break away,—
Like types,-in fairer things than they.

I shall have hopes that never fade,
For flowers the valley yields;

I shall have peaceful thoughts, instead
Of silent dewy fields;

My Saviour, and my God, shall be
My upward hill, my boundless sea!

NOVEMBER 21.

"Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"-St. John, vi. 5.

The wilderness, indeed, is in itself as bare as ever; but to him who in it has met with The Christ, it has become full of an unearthly presence. In His presence all earthly things are changed into that which is above their own nature. He is in all His gifts to the heart which loves Him. To such an one, every earthly joy is changed into something of an heavenly nature. Even earthly anguish is transfigured by this heavenly glory. The sad heart which turns with loathing from the best comfort which is merely of this world, can rest here, in calmness, if not in joy, its heaviest burdens. There is a healing for every wound, a balm for every disappointment. Nothing is lost to us which He takes to keep for us; nothing

missed by us, if instead of it He give Himself unto us. He, and He only, is the true answer to the weary question: "Whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness ?"

BISHOP WILBERFORCE.

NOVEMBER 22.

"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"—Rom. viii. 32.

Fear not to trust a Maker's love, nor a Saviour's

ransom:

He drank for all-for thee-and me, the poison of our deeds.

He, from the waters of oblivion, raised the drowning

race,

Lifting them even to Himself, the baseless Rock of

Ages.

Proverbial Philosophy.