deep, and we have nothing to draw with. But soon the “mystery of God will be finished;” the enigmatical “seals,” with all their inner meanings, opened. When that “morning without clouds” shall break, each soul will be like the angel standing in the sun—there will be no shadow; all will be perfect day!

Believer, be still! The dealings of thy Heavenly Father may seem dark to thee; there may seem now to be no golden fringe, no “bright light in the clouds;” but a day of disclosures is at hand. “Take it on trust a little while.” An earthly child takes on trust what his father tells him: when he reaches maturity, much that was baffling to his infant comprehension is explained. Thou art in this world in the nonage of thy being—Eternity is the soul’s immortal manhood. There, every dealing will be vindicated. It will lose all its “darkness” when bathed in the floods “of the excellent glory!”

Ah! instead of thus being as weaned children, how apt are we to exercise ourselves in matters too high for us? not content with knowing that our Father wills it, but presumptuously seeking to know how it is, and why it is. If it be unfair to pronounce on the unfinished and incompleted works of man; if the painter, or sculptor, or artificer, would shrink from having his labours judged of when in a rough, unpolished, immatured state; how much more so with the works of God? How we should honour Him by a simple, confiding, unreserved submission to His will,—contented patiently to wait the fulfilment of this “hereafter” promise, when all the lights and shadows in the now half-finished picture will be blended and melted into one harmonious whole,—when all the now disjointed stones in the temple will be seen to fit into their appointed place, giving unity, and compactness, and symmetry, to all the building.

And who is it that speaks these living “words,” “What I do?” It is He who died for us? who now lives for us! Blessed Jesus! Thou mayest do much that our blind hearts would like undone,—“terrible things in righteousness which we looked not for.” The heaviest (what we may be tempted to call the severest) cross Thou canst lay upon us we shall regard as only the apparent severity of unutterable and unalterable love. Eternity will unfold how all, all was needed; that nothing else, nothing less, could have done! If not now, at least then, the deliberate verdict on a calm retrospect of life will be this,—

“THE WORD OF THE LORD IS RIGHT, AND ALL HIS WORKS ARE DONE IN TRUTH.”

5th Day.

“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said”—

“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.”—John xv. 8.

The Father Glorified.

When surveying the boundless ocean of covenant mercy—every wave chiming, “God is Love!”—does the thought ever present itself, “What can I do for this great Being who hath done so much for me?” Recompence I cannot! No more can my purest services add one iota to His underived glory, than the tiny taper can add to the blaze of the sun at noonday, or a drop of water to the boundless ocean. Yet, wondrous thought! from this worthless soul of mine there may roll in a revenue of glory which He who loves the broken and contrite spirit will “not despise.” “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.”

Reader! are you a fruit-bearer in your Lord’s vineyard? Are you seeking to make life one grand act of consecration to His glory—one thank-offering for His unmerited love. You may be unable to exhibit much fruit in the eye of the world. Your circumstances and position in life may forbid you to point to any splendid services, or laborious and imposing efforts in the cause of God. It matters not. It is often those fruits that are unseen and unknown to man, ripening in seclusion, that He values most;—the quiet, lowly walk—patience and submission—gentleness and humility—putting yourself unreservedly in His hands—willing to be led by Him even in darkness—saying, Not my will, but Thy will:—the unselfish spirit, the meek bearing of an injury, the unostentatious kindness,—these are some of the “fruits” which your Heavenly Father loves, and by which He is glorified.

Perchance it may be with you the season of trial, the chamber of protracted sickness, the time of desolating bereavement, some furnace seven times heated. Herein, too, you may sweetly glorify your God. Never is your Heavenly Father more glorified by His children on earth, than when, in the midst of these furnace-fires, He listens to nothing but the gentle breathings of confiding faith and love,—“Let Him do what seemeth good unto Him.” Yes, you can there glorify Him in a way which angels cannot do in a world where no trial is. They can glorify God only with the crown; you can glorify Him with the cross and the prospect of the crown together! Ah, if He be dealing severely with you—if He, as the great Husbandman, be pruning His vines, lopping their boughs, stripping off their luxuriant branches and “beautiful rods!” remember the end!—“He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit,” and “Herein is my Father glorified!”

Be it yours to lie passive in His hands, saying in unmurmuring resignation, Father, glorify Thy name! Glorify Thyself, whether by giving or taking, filling my cup or “emptying me from vessel to vessel!” Let me know no will but Thine. Angels possess no higher honour and privilege than glorifying the God before whom they cast their crowns. How blessed to be able thus to claim brotherhood with the spirits in the upper sanctuary! nay, more, to be associated with the Saviour Himself in the theme of His own exalted joy, when he said, “I have glorified Thee on earth!”

“THESE THINGS HAVE I SPOKEN UNTO YOU, THAT MY JOY MIGHT REMAIN IN YOU, AND THAT YOUR JOY MIGHT BE FULL.”

6th Day.

“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said”—

“The very hairs of your head are all numbered.”—Matt. x. 30.

The Tender Solicitude.

What a “word” is this! All that befals you, to the very numbering of your hairs, is known to God! Nothing can happen by accident or chance. Nothing can elude His inspection. The fall of the forest leaf—the fluttering of the insect—the waving of the angel’s wing—the annihilation of a world,—all are equally noted by Him. Man speaks of great things and small things—God knows no such distinction.

How especially comforting to think of this tender solicitude with reference to his own covenant people—that He metes out their joys and their sorrows! Every sweet, every bitter is ordained by Him. Even