out His face; so He has brought you down into the valley to be alone with Him, and it may not be long before you will come up out of the valley leaning upon your Beloved One, and He will be more to you than ever before.

"Teach me to live and find my life in Thee, Looking from earth and earthly things away. Let me not falter, but untiringly

Press on, and gain new strength and power each day."

"DOWN INTO THE VALLEY."

"As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest."-Isaiah lxiii. 14.

"Down in the valley or upon the mountain steep,
Close beside my Saviour would my soul ever keep;
He will lead me safely, in the path that He has trod,
Up to where they gather on the hills of God."

T is ever a going down into the valley, but God leads His own children. He never asks them to go alone. If it be

the desert-place apart, it is "Come," not "Go." (Mark vi. 31.) If the mountain-top, "He taketh with Him." (Mark ix. 2.) How does a beast go down into the valley? Very carefully and gradually. Why? Because the springs are in the valleys. "They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst." (Ps. civ. 10, 11.) God leads with His glorious arm. "He led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble." He

brought them safe to a place of rest in the valley; the Spirit of the Lord caused . . . to rest. As God in the march through the wilderness provided resting-places and refreshment for the children of Israel, so now does He lead His children down into the valley to find rest in Him, to find refreshment which He gives. How gently He leads, how firmly He supports, how lovingly He speaks as we go down into the valley. Who is it that leads us? "Our Father, our Redeemer." (z. 16.) We are His children, His servants, His tenants, His people. (vv. 16, 17.) Then surely we need not fear where He leads us if we can truly say, "We are Thine." (v. 19.)

"Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
However dark it be:

Lead me by Thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.

"Smooth let it be or rough,
It will be still the best :
Winding or straight, it leads
Right onward to Thy rest.”

"As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even for ever." (Ps. cxxv. 2.) Special all-round protection for the valleys and their inhabitants.

The Valley of Achor;

OR,

THE VALLEY OF GUILT AND GRACE.

THE VALLEY OF ACHOR;

OR,

THE VALLEY OF GUILT AND GRACE.

"THOU art my only hope: I have no claim
Upon Thy mercy, I am so defiled;
But I will dare to call Thee by Thy Name,
I am a prodigal, but still Thy child."

"I will arise and go to my father."-Luke xv. 18.

"Prisoner of hope thou art-look up and sing
In hope of promised spring."

"Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope."-Zech. ix. 12.

"He that into God's kingdom comes,

Must enter by this door."