There arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He was asleep.

S. MATTHEW viii. 24.

THIS of itself may be a real comfort to us, that a dangerous storm and great distress may happen to the best of men; such things are no proof that we are deserted of God, or that He is displeased with us. Christ being in the ship did not prevent the storm. And this applies to many of our troubles and perplexities, especially such as occur to the Church; which is indeed that sacred vessel which contains Christ and His people, and is almost always, as it were, in jeopardy, and covered with the waves. And Christ within her is often, as it were, asleep, trying our faith and waiting for our prayers.

ISAAC WILLIAMS.

'Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.

REV. S. J. STONE.

All these things are against me.

GENESIS xlii. 36.

If they

THOU wilt find, if thou art Christ's, that after all, even at this day, endurance, in a special sense, is the lot of those who offer themselves to be servants of the King of sorrows. have drunk of Christ's Cup and tasted His Bread in sincerity, it is not with them as in time past. They came as for a blessing, and they have found a work. They are soldiers in Christ's army, they fight against "things that are seen," and they have all these things against them. simple soul, is it not the law of thy being to endure? Why camest thou but to endure? Why didst thou kneel beneath His Hand, but that He might leave on thee the print of His wounds?

DR. NEWMAN,

O Love, Who once in time was slain,
Pierced through and through with bitter woe;

O Love, Who wrestling thus didst gain
That we eternal joy might know;

O Love, I give myself to Thee,
Thine ever, only Thine to be.

GERMAN HYMN.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. I CORINTHIANS xiii. 12.

SIGHT will not gladden him in his home, whom faith consoleth not by the way.

S. AUGUSTINE.

Our birth is but a sleep and à forgetting:
The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar ;
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, Who is our Home.

Heaven lies about us in our infancy.
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing boy,

But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy;

The youth who daily further from the east
Must travel, still is nature's priest,
And by the vision splendid

Is on his way attended;

At length the man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.

WORDSWORTH.

The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

PROVERBS xiv. 10.

LORD, I speed to Thee, Who knowest all things, to Whom all my inward thoughts are open, and Who alone canst perfectly comfort and help me. Thou knowest what most I stand in need of.

Do Thou for me turn all earthly things into bitterness, all things grievous and contrary into patience, all things low and created into contempt and forgetfulness. Lift up my heart to Thee in heaven, and do not send me to wander over the earth.

THOMAS À KEMPIS.

O Thou from Whom all goodness flows,

I lift my soul to Thee;

In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes,

Good Lord, remember me.

When trials sore obstruct my way,

And ills I cannot flee,

Then let my strength be as my day :

Good Lord, remember me.

T. HAWEIS.

With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not go wrong out of Thy commandments.

PSALM CXix. 10.

OUR confidence in God depends greatly on our knowledge of God. Meditation on the attributes of God and the mysteries of Jesus are the chief means of gaining the grace of confidence. Neither thought nor reading nor theology will ever adequately bring home to us the breadth of redeeming grace, or the depth of the unsearchable riches of the Incarnation. Is it not our own experience that the more we think, the harder salvation seems; while the more we pray, the easier it seems? In order to have confidence, we must know God. But this is not enough; we must know Him in Jesus Christ. It is only eternal life to know Him, when we know also His Son Whom He has sent.

F. W. FABer.

My God, how wonderful Thou art!

Thy majesty how bright!

How beautiful Thy mercy-seat,
In depths of burning light!

Father of Jesus, love's reward,
What rapture will it be,

Prostrate before Thy throne to lie,

And gaze, and gaze on Thee!

F. W. FABer.