GUIDE me, O Thou great Jehovah ! Feed me till I want no more. Open Thou the crystal fountain, · Lead me all my journey through; Be Thou still my strength and shield. When I tread the verge of Jordan, I will ever give to Thee! WILLIAMS. XXVIII. THE PROMISES FOR THIS LIFE. THE right use of the promises that ripen into fruitage under these lower skies is of great moment, not only to our present interests, but to our higher and everlasting. To lean too much on them for outward blessings, or not to lean enough on them, or to forget that their denial may often be greater kindness than the granting them, is only too easy, and often prevents the benefits God intends for us. What could free us so much from the cares and distracting anxieties of our daily affairs, as an abiding remembrance that One, higher and wiser than we, is making all things work together for our good, and that all our steps are ordered by Him, in unerring love? We fret and worry ourselves as if everything depended on our own abilities, and industry, and judgment; as if we had nothing to which to trust, for days of trouble, or for age, but what we ourselves can gather; forgetful of the counsels of our Saviour to look to Him who clothes the lily, and feeds the raven, and cares for the sparrow. If we could only come to feel that God means what He says, and that He will guide us unto death, and never leave us nor forsake us, this life would, to the end, be much like that of happy, trustful childhood, which never fears for the future, but takes for granted that its father will supply all its wants. There would be fewer furrows in the brow, and less paleness in the cheeks, and more brightness in the eye, if we could even approach the realisation of this constant tender care for all our needs. To have such a trust, and to accept as a fulfilment of it, whatever God sends us, would have the further good of leading us to a more joyful confidence in the promises that affect the life hereafter. For, if we feel that He is daily caring for the wants of the body, can we doubt that He will duly provide for those of the soul; that, if He give us our daily bread here, He will be with us in the world to come? If we feel that He makes our whole life a witness to his love and faithfulness, we must needs believe that He will crown our journey's end that if He thus guide us to death, it must be, that, according to his word, He may conduct us to glory. How would it lead us to accept, with a hidden joy which others cannot share, whatever is vouchsafed us! "Does my Heavenly Father send me this ?" we should say “How ought I to honour a gift from his hand-how ought I to rejoice in the proofs that He does not forget me, nor think me beneath his regard!" The gift of a king, if only a ribbon or a badge, is prized, not for its own value, but for its source, as the token of favour in high places. But how much greater the least gift of the glorious God! Favour with Him, however shown, brings with it the earnest of we know not what greater bounty, to follow. It is the pledge of a love that will leave no want unsatisfied, and that has heavenly riches to rejoice us for ever. Nothing can more effectively keep us from fleeing to unworthy courses than the conviction that God is our friend, and that He will provide for us in every strait. To trust in the promises |