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 Thoughts for weary hours 
 
THOUGHTS 
 
 "WEARY HOURS 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL SOCIETY FOR THE PRO- 
 MOTION OF EVANGELICAL KNOWLEDGE, 
 BIBLE HOUSE. 
 
"To all those who in this transitory life 
 are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any 
 other adversity," this Volume is affectionately 
 dedicated. 
 
PEE FACE 
 
 The following papers have appeared in the 
 Parish Visitor during the last few years. They 
 have been received with much favor, and their 
 republication in book form has been frequently 
 requested. With the hope that they may ac- 
 complish much good, they are issued in the 
 present shape. 
 
55hauflhts far ^Vaxx} poiw, 
 
 I. 
 
 GOD'S SCHOOL. 
 
 SoijKow is (Jo<rs scliool. Even God's 
 own Soil was not made perfect without it. 
 Thouoli a Son, yet learned Jle oV)edienee 
 l>y tlie tilings lie suffered. Many of the 
 hriglitest virtues are like stars — there 
 nnist l)e nisjht, or they can not shine. 
 Without suffering thei'e could be no for- 
 titude, no patience, no compassion, no 
 sympathy. Take all sorrow out of life, 
 and you take away all richness and 
 depth and tenderness. Ought we to 
 pray for sorrow, then ? T do not say so, 
 yet the Master says, " ]>U^ss('d are they 
 
f, rn<n (iiirs lof; wkaiiv ihmi.'s. 
 
 tliMt iii<)in-ii ; '' not 1)1('ss(m1 arc tlicy tii:it 
 prosper. So lieaveii and earth (litter in 
 their judgments. With every cross 
 some perversity or sin has been subdued, 
 some chain unbound, some good purpose 
 perfected. "No trial /'or the prei^e/ff 
 seemeth joyous, but afterward it yield- 
 eth peaceable fruit." Have faith in this 
 (ifferward. The Captain of our salva- 
 tion was made perfect through suffei-inii. 
 Our Father is the God of nil consohi- 
 tlon. Our Teacher is named the "'Com- 
 forter." 
 
 IT. 
 
 DISAPPOINTMENT. 
 
 WiiKX any disappointment lia-^ come 
 upon us, and the cherished desire of cnw 
 hearts — upon which all our hopes, ])lans, 
 and happy anticipations have been placed 
 — has been suddenly remove<l out of our 
 reach, and we find that our Pleaveidy 
 Father is leading us away Worn the \y,\\\\ 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 7 
 
 of our own choosing into another which 
 he has chosen for us, oh ! how we mourn 
 and himent, how reluctantly and rebel- 
 liously we turn our feet toward the 
 Lord's way. It is perhaps one we 
 shrink back from, and cry : " Not this, 
 not this, my future path, O Lord !" Ah ! 
 how hard then to say : *' Thy will, not 
 mine, be done." We feel that the strug- 
 gle is too difficult for us, and we are in- 
 clined to cast ourselves despairingly 
 down and cry : " Who is sufficient ?" 
 But then comes the thought — no, the 
 blessed certainty — we are children of 
 God; and what then? O the prom- 
 ises! the promises! How they throng 
 around the believer. Hark ! they whis- 
 per to us : " Your heavenly Father know- 
 eth your needs — He will lead you — He 
 will guide you." " Mest on the Lord." 
 ''Wait for Him." "He will keep thee 
 in perfect peace." " Cast your care 
 upon Him." " Commit your way unto 
 Him ;" and all things will work together 
 
8 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 for your good. AYlioin He loveth^ He 
 cliasteiietli. 
 
 III. 
 
 ENDURANCE. 
 
 The lesson of endurance — the best oi 
 all lessons. But how is this lesson learn- 
 ed? Ah! through bitter teacliing, liard 
 to be understood and obeyed, till the 
 hand of the great Teacher is recognized 
 clearly through it all. 
 
 IV. 
 
 A LIPE-SONG. 
 
 As God leads me will I go, 
 
 Nor choose my way ; 
 Let Him choose the joy or woe 
 
 Of every day ; 
 They can not hurt my soul, 
 Because in His control ; 
 I leave to Him the whole— 
 
 His children may. 
 
 As God leads me, I am still 
 Within His hand ; 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 Though His purpose, my self-will 
 
 Doth oft withstand. 
 Yet I wish that none 
 But His will be done, 
 Till the end be won, 
 
 That He hath planned. 
 
 As God leads I am content ; 
 
 He will take care. 
 All things by His will are sent 
 
 That I must bear. 
 To Him I take my fear, 
 My wishes while Tm here ; 
 The way will all seem clear 
 
 When I am there ! 
 
 As God leads me, it is mine 
 
 To follow Him ; 
 Soon all shall wonderfully shine, 
 
 Which now seems dim. 
 Fulfilled be His decree ! 
 What He shall choose for me, 
 That shall my portion be, 
 
 Up to the brim ! 
 
 As God leads me, so my heart 
 
 In Faith shall rest ; 
 No grief nor fear my soul shall part 
 
 From Jesus' breast. 
 
10 THOUGHTS FOR WEAKY IIOUES. 
 
 In sweet belief I know 
 "What way my life doth go — 
 Since God permitteth so — 
 That must be best. 
 
 y. 
 
 "MY SOUL IS AMONG LIONS." 
 
 There are times of such overwhelming 
 grief, that the soul passing through tlieni 
 would answer to every assurance of the 
 possibility of peace and joy in religion : 
 " I can not feel it.'*^ A person in this 
 state becomes aware of the mystery of 
 grief, and would look at the most power- 
 ful arguments of comfort as only so 
 many varied proofs of her peculiar 
 wretchedness, since they fail to comfort 
 her ; she would cry out in bitterness : " I 
 believe in the love of God. It is as much 
 as I can do by the greatest stretch of 
 faith ; to feel it is not in my power." 
 Yet even then, when the poor soul out 
 of the depths cries, and cries aloud as if 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 11 
 
 her Father were out of hearing — when, 
 by the inscrutable purjDOse of the Al- 
 mighty, we lie prostrate in darkness, 
 ready for the enemy to insult with terri- 
 ble suggestions of unbelief, even then let 
 us take the word which God has given 
 us, and plead with Him still. Though 
 noways uttered except by sighs and 
 groans, the petition of the feeblest be- 
 liever Avill not be disregarded. He clear- 
 ly discerns all our affliction and all our 
 dismay, and is as near and mighty to 
 save, when the due time of trouble is 
 ended, as He seems to be in those calm 
 hours of prayer, when before we have 
 done speaking lie answers, and infuses 
 comforts more than equal to the sorrow 
 which has but wetted the cheek and in- 
 tensified the ardor of supplication. 
 
12 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 YI. 
 
 "EVERLASTING JOY SHALL BE 
 UPON THEIR HEADS." 
 
 Ah! whatever our secret trouble, 
 whatever our cross, even if we anticipate 
 it a life-long trial, still there comes this 
 conforting thought, it is but for this 
 life ; with respect to our whole existence, 
 when once we are proved to be faithful 
 servants of God, how inexj^ressibly un- 
 important may be the happiness or un- 
 happiness of our stay on earth. If we 
 now regret that on our fifth or sixth 
 birthday, a rainy day made it impossible 
 to enjoy the out of doors part of our 
 birthday amusements, Ave may hereafter 
 remember with a sigh the disappoint- 
 ments and sorrows of this world. " O 
 eternity ! thou art very long. What is 
 it, that a soul must a little while be 
 sorrowful, and afterward have eternal 
 joy?" 
 
THOUGHTS FOR ^VEARY IIOLKS. 13 
 
 VII. 
 
 "TKUST IN" THE LORD." 
 
 Shall I not trust my God, 
 "Who doth so well love me ? 
 Who as a Father cares so tenderly ? 
 
 Shall I not lay the load 
 "Which would my weakness break 
 On His strong hand, who never doth forsake ? 
 
 He doth know all my grief 
 And all my heart's desire, 
 He'll stand by me till death, through flood and fire. 
 
 And he can send relief; 
 My Father's love so free. 
 Till the new mornmg shall remain to me. 
 
 "Who doth tlie birds supply, 
 "Who grass, and trees, and flowers, 
 Doth beautifully clothe, through ceaseless hours ? 
 
 Who hears us ere we cry ? 
 Can He my need forget ? 
 Nay, though He slay me, I will trust Him yet. 
 
 "When I His yoke do bear, 
 And seek my chiefest joy 
 But in His righteousness and sweet employ, 
 
 He makes my soul His care ; 
 Early and late doth bless. 
 And crowueth work and purpose with success. 
 
14 TUUUGHTS FUli WEAKY IIUUKS. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE CROOK IN THE LOT. 
 
 All have a crook in the lot, a skeleton 
 at the feast ; all have a conflict to main- 
 tain with contending duties, and per- 
 plexing difficulties, and intricate posi- 
 tions — with cares, strifes, and sorrows. 
 It is the Christian only, who going forth 
 at his own charges, can engage in the 
 life-battle successfully. He struggles 
 against despondency. He conquers dif- 
 ficulties, he rises above sorrows and dis- 
 appointments, that his Father may be 
 glorified in him to the utmost, and that 
 by so doing he work a work of faith and 
 patience. 
 
 IX. 
 
 "GO ^work: to-day." 
 
 Realize what God has given you to 
 do to-day^ and do not look beyond it. 
 Strength is promised according to your 
 
THOUGHTS FOK WEARY llOUKS. 15 
 
 day^ but not according to your mor- 
 row. Every-day work requires evcry-day 
 grace, and every-day grace requires ev- 
 ery-day asking. Whatever your work 
 is, take it first to God. Before you 
 begin, kneel and implore His blessing. 
 Ask Him for a fresh diligent spirit. Ask 
 Him for a spirit of patience and meek- 
 ness in contending with all the little 
 wearisome difficulties and annoyances 
 connected with it. Ask Him to enable 
 you not only to hear the daily cross, but 
 to "take it up," denying yourself and 
 following the footsteps of the Lord Je- 
 sus. Then put your whole might to it — 
 the might that you have borrowed from 
 a mightier than yourself — for that is the 
 secret of real work. Do it as if your 
 Master were standing before you. Do 
 not ofler to God a spirit dreaming of 
 the great things you could do, or may 
 do at some other time, but ofler to 
 Him your wakeful, rejoicing present en- 
 ergies. 
 
16 THOUGHTS fou weaiiy houks. 
 
 X. 
 
 Those who wish to bestow the years 
 of their life upon God, must also give 
 Hhn the days, the hours, and the mo- 
 ments. Only think of 7>re5e;i^ duties, 
 the mome?ifs worh. Our life is given 
 to us in moments^ and we shall have joys 
 for each. 
 
 XI. 
 
 W^ORK FOR GOD. 
 
 Is there nothing, however small, that 
 you can do with your pen and your 
 knowledge ? Is there no little tract to 
 be written ; no simple volume which 
 might reach some hearts, and find en- 
 trance into some homes ? Try ; see for 
 yourselves what you can do. " She hath 
 done what she could," is world-wide 
 encouragement. "Work for God, and not 
 for yourself. Your work will soon iind 
 its place in the vineyard of the Lord. 
 
THOUGHTS FOK WEARY HOURS. 17 
 
 xn. 
 
 God never put one man or one wo- 
 man into the world, without giving 
 each something to do in it, or for it — 
 some visible, tangible work, to be left 
 behind them when they die. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Labor is worshijD ; yea, labor for 
 God is happiness. 
 
 XIY. 
 
 Let not one of your talents nist for 
 want of use. If you have hut one^ do 
 not bury it ; let it be said of you : " She > 
 hath done lohat she could.'''* 
 
 XV. 
 
 THE FIGHT OF FAITH. 
 
 IToLTXESS, the result of faith, does 
 not enter the heart quietly and gently, 
 tliough it brings joy and peace ; it 
 
18 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 causes a hard struggle, a fierce A^arfare 
 with the old, unholy mhabitants of the 
 heart. We may fully trust in an earthly 
 friend or father, and there is none to 
 hinder us; we may pour devoted love 
 upon beings like ourselves, and all within 
 the heart is in unison ; but we can not 
 confide in Him who beseeches our confi- 
 dence, without contesting every inch of 
 ground Avith fierce foes from within ; 
 we can not love Him who is the Lover of 
 our souls, without heart-rivals starting 
 up to dispute the supremacy. Where 
 is the human heart that has not its be- 
 setting sin — its chosen idol ? The idol- 
 breaking Avork in each individual is as 
 much of reality as the iconoclastic work 
 of bygone centuries ; the idols that are 
 unseen are as real as the Juggernauts 
 of India, and the images of Rome. 
 Every time, however, that the Holy 
 Spirit enables us to dethrone the usurp- 
 er, to bear the suffering, to love the Lov- 
 ing One, to trust in the true Friend, we 
 
THOUGHTS FOR AVEAKY HOURS. 19 
 
 are gaining ground in holiness — the chief 
 end of the new creation — and we are 
 working the work of God. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 CHRISTIAN COURTESY. 
 
 Cultivate a loving manner. How 
 mucli harm is done by a disagreeable 
 Christian. Oh ! it is a sad thing to fold 
 np in a naj^kin the talent of manner, to 
 lose the key of the casket, to forget the 
 sesame to the hearts of men. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 HOME-LIGHT. 
 
 The sunbeam is composed of mil- 
 lions of minute rays ; so home-light 
 must be constituted of little tender- 
 nesses, kindly looks, sweet laugliter, 
 lovinir words. 
 
20 THOUGHTS FOIl AVEARY HOURS. 
 
 XYIU. 
 
 CHEERFULNESS. 
 
 Remember when tlie desolate, aeli- 
 ing void enters your heart, and casts a 
 gloom over your face — rememher that 
 it is a comfort to others to see a cheer- 
 ful spirit, a sunshiny face, a merry 
 tongue, an even temper. Look upon 
 the briMit side of all thincjs. Believe 
 that the best oifering you can make to 
 God is to enjoy to the full what He 
 sends of good, and bear Avhat He allows 
 of evil ; like a child who, when once 
 it thoroughly believes in its fiither, 
 believes in all his dealings with it, 
 whether it understands them or not. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 "LORD, INCREASE OUR FAITH." 
 On ! for a faith that will not shviuk, 
 Thouf^h prcssctl by niHiiy a foe ; 
 That will not tremble on the brink 
 Of any earthly woe ; 
 
THOUGHTS FOR T^TIAEY HOUES. 21 
 
 That Avill not murmur nor complain, 
 
 Beneath the chastening rod, 
 But, in the hour of grief or pain, 
 
 Will lean upon its God. 
 
 A faith that shines more bright and clear, 
 
 "When tempests rage without ; 
 That, when in danger, knows no fear. 
 
 In darkness feels no doubt. 
 
 That bears unmoved, the woi'ld's dread frown, 
 
 Xor heeds its scornful smile ; 
 That seas of trouble can not drown. 
 
 Nor Satan's arts beguile. 
 
 A faith that keeps the narrow way 
 
 Till life's last hour is fled. 
 And with a pure and heavenly ray 
 
 Lights up the dying-bed ! 
 
 Lord, give us such a faith as this, 
 
 And then whate'er may come. 
 We'll taste, e'en here, the hallowed bliss 
 
 Of our eternal home. 
 
22 THOUGHTS FOK WEARY HOUES. 
 
 XX. 
 
 . "I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU COM- 
 FOKTLESS." 
 
 "Life is full of Aveary clnys;" but 
 these need not be comfortless, even 
 though it is our lot to walk through it 
 alone. Is not our eternal life already 
 begun? Grief and inactivity belong 
 to death. We can, indeed, suffer our- 
 selves to be buried in the dying 
 things of a dying world, to remain for 
 a length of time sleeping for sorrow ; 
 but this is not the lot appointed to us 
 by our Father : not this the peace to 
 Avhich we were called by Him avIio has 
 overcome the world, and therefore 
 bids us be of good cheer. Surely 
 those who do not rejoice, are ill able 
 to advance Avitli intrepidity against 
 those enemies of his and ours that en- 
 compass every earthly position ; for 
 how can we show forth His glory, of 
 testify of His goodness, unless we feel 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 23 
 
 tliat to Its He has been very gracious ? 
 and liow can Ave feel this, if every 
 day is a burden to us, to be borne 
 Avearily Avithout use or joy? 
 
 XXI. 
 
 "SEEKEST THOtr GREAT THINGS? 
 SEEK THEM NOT.' 
 
 We need not go througli the days 
 of our life seeking for our Avork ; God 
 places it Avithin our hands. Yet hoAV 
 often do A\"e make the mistake of ask- 
 ing for a life AAdiich shall in its form 
 and outward course be more spiritual 
 and divine than that w^hich we are 
 obliged to live. We think that if we 
 could devote ourselves entirely to Avhat 
 are called labors of philanthropy, to 
 visiting the poor and sick, that Avould 
 be well and worthy — and so it Avould 
 be. But let me tell you that the mil- 
 lion occasions Avill come, ay, and in 
 the ordinary paths of life — in your 
 
24 THOUGHTS FOR AVEAIIY HOURS. 
 
 houses and by your firesides — wlierciu 
 you may act as nobly as if all your 
 life long you visited beds of sickness 
 and pain. Yes, I say the rnillion oc- 
 casions will come, varying every hour, 
 in which you may restrain your pas- 
 sions, subdue your hearts to gentleness 
 and patience, resign your own interest 
 for another's advantage, speak words 
 of kindness and wisdom, raise the 
 fallen, and cheer the f anting in spirit, 
 and soften and assuage the bitterness 
 and weariness of the mortal lot. These, 
 indeed, can not be Avritten on your tombs, 
 but in them you may discharge offices 
 not less glorious for yourselves than the 
 self-denials of the far-famed Sisters of 
 Charity, than the labors of Howard and 
 Oberlin, or than the suiferings of the 
 martyred host of God's elect. They 
 shall not be written on your tombs, but 
 they are written deep in the hearts of 
 men — of friends, of children, of kin- 
 dred all around you ; they are written 
 
TnOUGHTS FOK WEAKY IIOUKS. 25 
 
 ill tlie Secret Book of the Great Ac- 
 
 OOllllt. 
 
 " "We need not bid, for cloistered cell, 
 Our neighbor and our work farewell, 
 Nor strive to wind ourselves too high 
 For siufiil man beneath the sky. 
 The trivial round, the common task, 
 Would furnish all we ought to ask — 
 Room to deny ourselves ; a road 
 To bring us daily nearer God," 
 
 " Daily struggling, though inclosed and lonely, 
 Every day a rich reward will give ; 
 Thou Avilt find by hearty striving only. 
 And truly loving, thou canst truly live." /> 
 
 XXII. 
 
 " I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL 
 LIFE." 
 
 Our life is an infancy and commence 
 ment of eternal life. 
 
 Wlien we think of the eternal life 
 which through Christ we inlierit, we 
 are too apt to regard it as a state so 
 entirely future, that we hinder ourselves 
 
26 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 from deriving from it the strength and 
 peace which it could afford us while 
 surromided by the pettinesses of daily 
 life. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 "'WAIT ON" THE LORD." 
 
 " Wait on the Lord." Trust in Ilini. 
 " Commit thy way unto Him." All this 
 requires great strength of grace ; but 
 if God be our God, that love which 
 engaged Him to bind Himself to ns in 
 precious promises, will furnish us like- 
 wise with grace needful for this. He 
 will give us the grace to Avait upon 
 Him, the strength to trust in Him and 
 commit our way to Him. And oh ! He 
 will give us that rest^ that unspeakable 
 peace, which follows this perfect faith 
 and trust. Grace and 23eace go together. 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 27 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 "HOPE THOU IN GOD." 
 
 " Why art tliou so disquieted, O my 
 soul! and why art thou so cast down 
 Avithin me ? Hope thou in God." 
 
 Why hope in God ? What grounds 
 liave I for this hope and trust ? Because 
 God is your God in covenant, making 
 Himself so to you in His choicest favors, 
 doing that for you which none else can 
 do, and which He doeth to none else 
 tliat are not His. 
 
 Why must I wait so long in trust- 
 ing? 
 
 Light is sown for the righteous; it 
 comes not upon the sudden. We must 
 not think to sow and reap both at once. 
 If trouble be lengthened, lengthen thy 
 patience. 
 
 What good will come of this ? 
 
 God will wait to do you that good for 
 which you shall praise Him. He will 
 
28 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 deal graciously ■with you ; he will show 
 you His salvation. And new favors 
 will stir you up to sing new songs. 
 
 But in the mean time, my heart is op- 
 pressed and cast down ; every thing is 
 dark to me. 
 
 God, in Ilis own time, which is best 
 for you, will deliver you. He will com- 
 pass you about witli songs of deliver- 
 ance, and make it appear at last that 
 He cares for you. 
 
 But why does it seem now as if my 
 prayer, though offered up in earnestness 
 and sincerity, was not heard ? 
 
 God would have you follow after Him 
 ^s'ith stronger faith and j^rayer ; He with- 
 draws Himself, that you should be more 
 earnest in seeking Him. God speaks 
 sweetest comfort to the heart in the 
 wilderness. Perliaps you are not yet 
 humble enougli, or your submission and 
 faith are yet too weak. Your affections 
 are not yet firmly enough fixed upon 
 Him, and therefore it will not yet ap- 
 
THOUGHTS FOK WEARY HOUliS. 29 
 
 pear that it is His good will to deliver 
 tliee. 
 
 AYere you a fit subject for mercy, 
 God would bestow it ou you. Perse- 
 A'ere, therefore, in earnest, believing 
 l)rayer. Seek after the spirit which 
 ju-omi^ts these words : " Although the 
 fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall 
 fruit be in the vines ; the labor of the 
 olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield 
 no meat ; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 
 I will joy in the God of my salvation." 
 " My strength and my heart faileth ; 
 but God is the strength of my heart, 
 and my portion forever." 
 
 XXV. 
 
 A TKUST SONG. 
 
 What within mo and without 
 Hourly on my spirit weighs, 
 
 Burdening heart and soul with doubt, 
 Darkening all my weary daj's ? 
 
 In it I behold Thy will, 
 
 God, who givcth rest and peace ; 
 
30 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 And my heart is calm and still, 
 Waiting till Thou send release. 
 
 God, Thou art my rock of strength. 
 
 And my home is in Thine arms ; 
 Thou wilt send me help at length, 
 
 And I feel no wild alarms. 
 Sin nor death can pierce the shield 
 
 Thy defense has o'er me thrown ; 
 Up to Thee myself I yield. 
 
 And my sorrows are Thine own. 
 
 When my trials tarry long. 
 
 Unto Thee I look and wait, 
 Knowing none, though keen and strong, 
 
 Can my trust in Thee abate. 
 And this faith I long have nursed. 
 
 Comes alone, God ! from Thee ; 
 Thou my heart didst open first. 
 
 Thou didst set this hope in me. 
 
 But hast thou some darling plan 
 
 Cleaving to the things of earth ? 
 Leanest thou for aid on man ? 
 
 Thou wilt find him nothing worth. 
 Rather trust the One, alone, 
 
 Whose is endless power and love. 
 And the help He gives His own 
 
 Thou in very deed shalt prove. 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEAKY IIOUKS. 31 
 
 On Thee, my God ! I rest, 
 
 Letting life float calmly on ; 
 For I know the last is best, 
 
 When the crown of joy is won. 
 In Thy might all things I bear, 
 
 In Thy love find bitter sweet ; 
 And with all my grief and care, 
 
 Sit in patience at thy feet. 
 
 my soul ! why art thou vexed ? 
 
 Let things go e'en as they will ; 
 Though to thee they seem perplexed, 
 
 Yet His order they fulfill. 
 Here He is thy strength and guard ; 
 
 Power to harm thee here has none. 
 Yonder will He each reward 
 
 For the work he here has done. 
 
 Let Thy mercy's wings be spread 
 
 O'er me ; keep me close to Thee. 
 In the peace Thy love doth shed, 
 
 Let me dwell eternally. 
 Be my all ; in all I do, 
 
 Let me only seek Thy will. 
 Where the heart to Thee is true, 
 
 All is peaceful, calm, and still. 
 
32 THOUGHTS FOR WExVIlY UOUES. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 ATTBACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 
 
 To Avliat did you pledge yourself, 
 when in the days of youth you Iieard 
 the voice of the Saviour calling you, and 
 you arose and followed Him ? Day 
 by day to give up your old waking 
 dreams — things that you have pictured 
 out and acted over in your imagination 
 and your hopes. To let them all go, 
 with a saddened but willing heart. 
 You feel as if you had follen under some 
 irresistible attraction, which is hurrying 
 you into the unseen world. 
 
 Before, you only heard of the mys- 
 tery ; now you feel it. He has fasten- 
 ed on you His look of love, even as on 
 Peter and Mary ; and you can not choose 
 but follow : and in following Him, 
 altogether forget both yourselves, and 
 all your visions of life in this present 
 world. 
 
TIIOUGUTS FOR AVEARY HOURS. 33 
 
 Lead, Saviour, lead. Amid the encircling gloom, 
 
 Lead thou me on. 
 The night is dark and I am far from home ; 
 
 Lead thou me on. 
 Keep thou my feet. I do not ask to sec 
 The distant scene ; one step's enough for me. 
 
 I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou 
 
 Shouldst lead me on : 
 I loved to choose and see my path; but now 
 
 Lead thou me on. 
 I loved the glare of day ; and, spite off ears, 
 Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years. 
 
 So long Thy power hath blessed me ; sure, it still 
 
 Will lead me on, 
 O'er vale and hill, through stream and torrent, till 
 
 The night is gone, 
 And, with the morn, those angel-faces srailc 
 Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 TRIALS . 
 
 Ax hour ill our life will surely come 
 when we shall be enabled to say that 
 we have not had one trial too much, not 
 one that could have been spared ; and 
 
34 THOUGHTS FOR "WE^VRY HOURS. 
 
 the heart will become burdened with 
 the sense of an aAvful reality, a percep- 
 tion of that wonderful fact that the 
 events of life are in themselves nothing ; 
 that they are but the body destined to 
 decay; yet that each, however trifling, 
 bears within it the seed that is to exist 
 for eternity ; and we will feel that we 
 can yield ourselves passively to any cir- 
 cumstances, whether happy or unhappy ; 
 neither wearying ourselves with regrets 
 for the past, nor burdening ourselves 
 with cares for the future ; so only that 
 the present moment might add its grain 
 of faith and holiness to the treasure gar- 
 nered in the hand of God against the 
 great day of account. 
 
 XX vm. 
 
 ""WHO GIVETH SONGS IN THE 
 NIGHT." 
 
 We tliink too much that external 
 facts and circumstances govern happi- 
 ness. Thougli strongly ailecting fuel- 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 35 
 
 ing, wliich certainly alters as circum- 
 stances alter, yet by no arrangement 
 of circumstances can feelings be gov- 
 erned or insured. In all our hopes and 
 fears, in every anticipation, we ought 
 to think more of our Heavenly Father, 
 who aiiects the spirit of man in what- 
 ever way He will, and can give us happi- 
 ness or grief, v>'ithout regard to causes. 
 Did we more entirely trust the power 
 and love of God, we might look for- 
 ward to life's uncertainties with calm- 
 ness, knowing that as by His will plen- 
 tiful refreshment can be brought out of 
 the most stony rock in our journey 
 through the wilderness, so by the same 
 Avill the fruitful land may be made bar- 
 ren, and we may be smitten with woe 
 when all around us is smiling in un- 
 clouded prosperity. 
 
 *' How can I sink with such a prop 
 As my eternal God, 
 Wlio bears the earth's huge pillars up, 
 And spreads the heavens abroad ? " 
 
3G TUOUGUTS FOR WEAKY HOUES. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 "GK01?V IN GRACE." 
 
 Faith and submission, though given 
 in answer to our prayers, are tlie result 
 of a long and laborious conflict, and 
 they are well worthy of it. God will 
 have us labor to attain them. Adam 
 says, in his JPHvate Thoughts: " Nothing 
 is more easy than to say the words of 
 a prayer ; but to pray hungering and 
 thirsting is the hardest of all works." 
 It is by being often upon our knees, 
 by reiterating our prayers, by show- 
 ing God that we feel the value of f\\ith, 
 and by adding to i^rayer the exercise of 
 it, that w^e receive, in answer to a first 
 prayer, a little faith by which -we are 
 encouraged to more fervent prayer, 
 which will again obtain a new measure 
 of it, that we shall attain to the free 
 measure of faith. 
 
 To grow in faith, we have three things 
 to do — to ask it, to exercise it, and to 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. Si 
 
 contemplate exam})les of it in the great 
 saints by the study of the Scriptures. 
 And furthermore we must gather faith 
 for the future. We must hibor to-day, 
 to have the faith we may require in five, 
 ten, twenty years. "We must gather 
 day by day the spiritual provision, so 
 that, surrounded by the most abundant 
 gifts of God, we have only to open our 
 eyes and stretch out our hands ; for 
 wlien the time of trouble and sorrow 
 comes, the drooping spirit will need all 
 this strength for the terrible struggle. 
 Therefore, grow daily in grace, that 
 you may have provision against the day 
 of trouble. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 ,. FOR PATIENCE. 
 
 Sweet Patience, come ! 
 With long distress my spirit faints, 
 And my heart breaks with its complaints ; 
 And eager Pain to find relief, 
 Solicits even change of grief; 
 
38 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 And Unbelief disturbs my trust, 
 And shakes my hopes, as, with a gust, 
 Spring blossoms flutter from the stalk, 
 And withering lie upon the walk. 
 Sweet Patience, come ! 
 
 Sweet Patience, come ! 
 Not from a low and earthly source, 
 Waiting till things shall have their course ; 
 Not as accepting present pain 
 In hope of some hereafter gain ; 
 Not in a dull and sullen calm ; 
 But as a breath of heavenly balm, 
 Bidding my weary heart submit 
 To bear whatever God sees fit. 
 Sweet Patience, come ! 
 
 Sweet Patience, come ! 
 Tell me my Father hath not shed 
 One grief too many on my head ; 
 Tell me His love remembers still 
 His children, suffering at His will. 
 How excellent a thought to me 
 His loving-kindness then shall be ! 
 Then, in the shadow of His wings, 
 ril hide me from all troublous things. 
 Sweet Patience, come 1 
 
THOUGnXS FOR WEARY HOURS. 89 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 WORK FOK GOD, 
 
 Whex you awake in the morning, and 
 wlien that heavy pain wakes up too, oh ! 
 so sharply ! and the burden of a monot- 
 onous life falls down upon you, or rises 
 like a dead, blank wall before you, mak- 
 ing you turn round on your pillow long- 
 iuG^ for another nii^ht instead of an un- 
 supportable day, rouse yourself. Re- 
 member what you are — a child of God ; 
 say, " What have I got to do to-day ?" 
 not, " What have I to enjoy or suffer ?" 
 but, " What have I to do T' Don't try 
 to be happy, but try to work ; work for 
 God, and happiness will come. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 A woman's work lies close under her 
 feet. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to 
 do, do it with thy might. Question it 
 not. Philosophize not over it, but do 
 it : only do it thoroughly and complete- 
 ly, be it ever so great or small. 
 
40 THOUGHTS FOR WEAKY HOURS. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 THINK NOT OF TO-MORROW. 
 
 It is a blessed attainment to live for 
 each day, and for each day only. We 
 have grace promised to bear present 
 evils, but none to bear anticipated ones. 
 
 If thou foredate the day of woe, 
 Then thou alone must bear the blow." 
 
 " I think not of to-morrow, 
 
 Its trial or its task, 
 But still, with child-like spirit. 
 
 For present mercies ask. 
 With each returning morning, 
 
 I cast old things away ; 
 Life's journey lies before me, 
 
 My prayer is for to-day." 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 P E A C E . 
 
 If we would have peace, we must 
 leave our selfish wishing and planning 
 — take our heart's desire, and lay it 
 down at our Master's feet, saying: 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 41 
 
 *'Thy will, not mine." Every disciple 
 of Jesus has a cross to bear, a conflict 
 to wage, a victory to strive after. 
 What is mine? The subduing of my 
 will to God's will. Every idol must be 
 overthrown — every rebellious murmur 
 stilled. The Lord must reign supreme. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 "THY "WILL BE DONE." 
 
 A GREAT and wonderful work is to be 
 wrought in every one who will submit 
 to be guided by Infinite Wisdom. The 
 feeble creature is to will what God 
 wills ; to be raised from all its little per- 
 ishing interests ; and to seek the glory 
 of God and the good of His creatures, 
 (not excluding self,) as a portion of His 
 glory. Whatever sorrow or bereave- 
 ment befalls is a fresh j^roof that this 
 exaltation is still designed for us. Do 
 you reject it, and set your hearts upon 
 a lower good ? Still God is stronoc and 
 
42 THOUGHTS FOE WEARY HOURS. 
 
 patient ; still He waits to be gracious. 
 Observe liow He gently strives with 
 our foolish j^ropensity to go down 
 lower. Mental pursuits, noble and 
 good though they be, can not console 
 you, and will not prosper, if you begin 
 to treat them as ultimate ends. Nor 
 will the objects of your most self-sacri- 
 ficing love flourish, if you idolize them ; 
 even j^lans for doing good to other peo- 
 ple will be frustrated, if every purpose 
 and wish is not subordinated, without 
 reserve, to the faithful service of your 
 Master. 
 
 Nothing but perfect trust 
 And love of Thy perfect will, 
 
 Can raise me out of the dust 
 And bid my fears be still. 
 
 Even as now my hands, 
 
 So doth my folded will 
 Lie waiting Thy commandg, 
 
 Without one anxious thrill. 
 
 But as with sudden pain 
 My hands unfold and clasp, 
 
TnouGirrs for weaky hours. 43 
 
 So doth my will start up again, 
 And taketh its old, firm grasp. 
 
 Lord, fix mine eyes upon Thee, 
 And fill my heart with Thy love ; 
 
 And keep my soul till the shadows flee, 
 And the light breaks forth above. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 REST IN THE LORD. 
 
 Rest in the Lord. What is this? 
 Not physical repose; no, for, however 
 sweet, however salutary, the rest of the 
 body is but the feeble type of that truer 
 rest which David means when he says : 
 ''Return unto thy rest, O my soul." 
 Ah! it is a rest sweeter than sleep — 
 deeper than death — it never ceases, 
 never satiates. When doubt and disbe- 
 lief are banished from the heart, Avhen 
 Faith reigns, when the object of life is 
 found in Christ, when God becomes the 
 sure portion and sweetest joy of the 
 heart and the spirit within us, then is 
 
4-1 THOUGHTS FOK WEARY IIOUES. 
 
 the true rest of man — the stiUness of tlie 
 weary spirit in the everlasting arms. 
 "When we can look calmly and steadily 
 on hopes fading away, expectations dis- 
 appointed, plans frustrated ; when we 
 can meekly bow the head to mortifica- 
 tion and sorroAV, hecaiise it is the lot ap- 
 l^ointed to us by the Lord, and entirely, 
 sincerely, yea, gladly surrender our will 
 to our Father in heaven, then " He giv- 
 eth Ilis beloved sleep ;" then His peace 
 keepeth heart and mind. Yes, the peace 
 of the holy mind is the result of self-con- 
 quest — the bringing of every thought in 
 subjection to Christ. 
 
 How is this attained? By a long- 
 protracted process of holy discipline ; 
 by many a weary hour of inward con- 
 flict ; fainting, striving, falling, reviving, 
 yet ever on the whole growing in con- 
 formity to the will of God. And when 
 that glorious end is gained ; when Christ 
 gives us the victory, and self is quelled, 
 and duty reigns supreme within the 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 45 
 
 breast ; wlieii " the immortal soul be- 
 comes consistent in self-rule," then the 
 weary strife of frail humanity is at an 
 end, and a repose — oh ! how deep, how 
 tranquil, how sublime ! — diffuses itself 
 til rough the sj^irit — a repose in which 
 tliere is at once calmness and power, the 
 sweet serenity of an infant's slumber, 
 yet the strength of an angel of God. 
 
 XXX YII. 
 
 THE LIVING GOD. 
 
 Do you know what it is to exult in 
 God as a living God ? Not to think of 
 Him as some mysterious essence, who, 
 by an almighty fiat, impressed on matter 
 certain general laws, and retiring into 
 the solitude of His own being, left these 
 to work out their OAvn processes. But is 
 there joy to you in the thought of God 
 ever nigh^ compassing your path and 
 your lying down ? Do you know of one 
 
4G TIIOUGnXS FOR WEARY UOURS. 
 
 brighter tlian the brightest radiance of 
 the visible sun, visiting your chamber 
 with the first waking beam of the morn- 
 ing; an eye of infinite tenderness and 
 compassion following you throughout 
 the day ; a hand of infinite love guiding 
 you, shielding you from danger, and 
 guarding you from temptation — the 
 " Keeper of Israel," who " neither slum- 
 bers nor sleeps " ? 
 
 And if gladdening it be at all times 
 to hear the footsteps of this living God, 
 more especially gladdening it is in the 
 season of trial to think of Hun, and to 
 own Him in the midst of mysterious 
 dealings, as one who personally loves 
 you, and who chastises you because He 
 loves you. 
 
 The world, in its cold vocabulary, in 
 the hour of adversity, speaks of Provi- 
 dence, " the will of Providence, the 
 strokes of Providence." Providence ! 
 what is that ? Why dethrone a living 
 God from the sovereignty of His owu 
 
THOUGHTS FOll WEARY HOUllS. 47 
 
 world ? Why substitute a cold, dcatli- 
 liko abstraction in place of a living one, 
 an acting one, and, to as many as He 
 loves, a rebuking and chastening one? 
 How it would take the sting from many 
 a goading trial, thus to see, as Job did, 
 nothing but the hand of God, and to say, 
 like David : " I was dumb ; I opened not 
 my mouth, because Thou didst it." Oh ! 
 seek to live more under the habitual 
 thought of God's presence ! 
 
 In dark ^^assages of our earthly his- 
 tory, we know how supporting it is to 
 enjoy the sympathy of kindred human 
 friends. What must it be to have the 
 consciousness of the presence and support 
 and nearness of the Being of all beings ? 
 Would you weather the tempest of life, 
 and sit calm and unmoved amid the noise 
 of its many waters ? Let your eye rest 
 on a living God, a loving Father, a hea- 
 venly Pilot. See Him guarding the ves- 
 sel of your temporal and eternal des- 
 tinies ! Let Faith be hoard raising her 
 
48 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 triumpliant accents amid tlie pauses of 
 the storm : " O Lord our God, wlio is a 
 strong Lord like unto thee ! Thou rulest 
 the raging of the sea. When the waves 
 thereof arise, Thou stillest them." 
 
 Above all, be it yours to enjoy what 
 David knew perfectly — the conscious 
 nearness of a living Saviour, a Brother 
 on the throne of heaven, Christ our life, 
 God in our nature, the man Christ Jesus, 
 susceptible of every human sympathy, 
 capable of entering with infinite tender- 
 ness into every human want and Avoe, 
 bending over us with His j^itying eye, 
 marking out for us our path, ordering 
 our sorrows, filling or emptying our 
 cups, providing our pastures, and mak- 
 ing all things work together for our 
 good. The words at this moment are 
 as true as when, eighteen hundred years 
 ago, they came fresh from His lips in 
 Patmos : " I am the living One ! Behold, 
 I am alive for evermore." 
 
THOUGHTS FOK AVEARY HOURS. 49 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 WHY ART THOU CAST DOWN?" 
 
 Lord ! I pray Thee comfort me, 
 In this my sore and deep distress ; 
 
 And let my troubled spirit see 
 The wonders of Thy faithfulness ! 
 
 Shine on this barren ground, that I 
 
 Lose not the fruits which should spring up ; 
 
 Let me not pass Thy mercy by, 
 Nor miss the sweetness in my cup. 
 
 Sweetness there is. I know it, Lord ; 
 
 And otherwise it can not be. 
 It is my Father's hand that poured 
 
 This mixture in the cup for me. 
 
 But much I fear lest my self-will, 
 
 So disappointed and so blind. 
 Should overlook the sweet, or spill, 
 
 And nothing but the bitter find. 
 
 What is it, Lord? Dost Thou intend 
 That patience should take root in me ? 
 
 Is it Thy will my will to bend, 
 That I more like a child may be ? 
 
 Is it to raise my heart above 
 All earthly joy and earthly pleasure, 
 
50 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 And loose ray hands from earthly love, 
 To fill them full of heavenly treasure ? 
 
 To hinder this poor mortal-clinging, 
 
 And set my heart from earth-bonds free ? 
 
 God ! my spirit art Thou bringing 
 Nearer to leaving all for Thee ? 
 
 Whatever be Thy gracious thought, 
 Let me not lose its sweet design ; 
 
 Since Jesus hath the blessing wrought, 
 Oh ! for His sake, may it be mine ! 
 
 Alas ! my unsubmissive heart, 
 Believing its own aching sense, 
 , Saith sweetness here can have no part. 
 
 Or e'en that God hath caught it thence. 
 
 Ah ! Lord, my lesson lieth here ! 
 
 Faith should be eyes when eyes are dim ! 
 Say to my doubts: " Thy God is near ! " 
 
 Say to ray grief: "Hope thou in Him." 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 "IN EVERY THINa GIVE THANKS." 
 
 "When the hour of anxiety and trial 
 comes, lay the desire of your heart be- 
 fore the Lord, and wait to see what He 
 
TUOUGUTS FOR WEAllY IIOUKS. 51 
 
 will do for yoii ! Do not i:)ine and 
 grieve over an uncertain portion, Avlien 
 the best is secured to you — I mean 
 God's grace ! Be like a little child that 
 lies on the grass and looks up at the sky. 
 That is enough for it; and when it is 
 hungry and cries, its mother comes and 
 nourishes it from her breast. And so 
 does our gracious God to us. Ilis ways, 
 to be sure, are wonderful, so that we 
 can not imderstand them, and often 
 think a heavy misfortune has befallen 
 us ; yet when we close our eyes and fol- 
 low softly in the way He leads, we find 
 that in the end it turns out all for our 
 good ! 
 
 I have often tormented myself with 
 anxious cares during my whole life, and 
 it never helped me forward ; on the con- 
 trary, the very things I was most afraid 
 of, have generally proved my best help- 
 ers when they occurred. All God's 
 dealings with us are messengers ap- 
 pointed to tell us His will, if we could 
 
52 TUOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 but understand it. We are told in tlie 
 Bible that when the angel came to the 
 Shepherds, bringing them the best news 
 earth ever heard, "they were sore afraid." 
 And is it not often the same with us ? 
 But if we listen rightly, the Lord's mes- 
 sengers ever reply in the same words : 
 "Fear not." And so do you be still, 
 and let God send you what He will. 
 AVhen a dark thunder-cloud draws on, 
 it looks black and terrible ; but when it 
 has passed by, the brightest rainbow 
 is painted on it ! and in like manner, 
 every affliction looks quite different be- 
 fore and behind. We must remember 
 that all things come to us back-foremost, 
 so that we can never see them right in 
 the face, so as to understand what they 
 are really like, until they are gone by. 
 Ah! never forget that heaven reaches 
 down close, quite close to earth, so that 
 whoever raises his head in a right man- 
 ner, is sure to find himself in heaven 
 with our gracious God and all His holy 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 53 
 
 angels, even tliougli our blind eyes can 
 not perceive them. And never forget 
 also to thank God for every thing. j 
 
 XL. 
 
 SUBMISSION. 
 
 The essence of Christianity is self-re- 
 nnnciation, and the discipline that brings 
 lis to feel our child-like dependence is 
 the perfecting of our piety. Grief after 
 grief brings us to joy. Broken in spirit 
 we are made whole, humbled we are ex- 
 alted. We gain the great victory 
 through a succession of defeats. Pres- 
 ently after Saul was stopped in the city 
 to hear the word of God, Ave are told 
 " he was led up into the hill of the 
 Lord ;" so we are struck down, that we 
 may ascend into the mount ; troubled, 
 that we may have peace ; worried into 
 the rest of our Father's arms. We sin 
 when we chafe against the providential 
 conditions of our lot. Submission is a 
 
54 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 brave achievement. There is no state 
 wliere you may not win acceptance, be- 
 cause there is none where you may not 
 give your affections, and "rest in the 
 Lord and wait patiently for Ilim." If 
 we are obedient in all the gentleness of 
 faith to the voice that says, " Be still, 
 and know that I am God," then will 
 Christ do for us more than Samuel for 
 Saul, showing us His word, giving us 
 another heart and anointing and crown- 
 ing the least of us, not princes and cap- 
 tains of armies here, but "kings and 
 priests unto God," because servants of 
 Himself. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 "THOU SHALT REMEMBER ALL THE 
 WAY WHICH THE LORD THY GOD 
 LED THEE." 
 
 Go back in memory to the days of 
 long ago. Recall the wind tempered to 
 the shorn lamb — the strong wave of 
 temptation breasted — the hurtful thing 
 
THOUGHTS FOE WEARY IIOUKS. 55 
 
 to whicli your soul clung removed out 
 of your patli — the right way chosen for 
 you instead of the wrong way chosen 
 of yourself — the measure of affliction 
 meted out which you required — the 
 friends selected Avhom your soul need- 
 ed—the breathing-times granted which 
 your tired and struggling spirit yearned 
 for ; oh ! thank your God for it all ! He 
 it is who has been your guide through 
 the waste, howling Avilderness, and the 
 brightener of all green places with His 
 smile. Go deep into the chambers of 
 your soul. See there the bright hope 
 smiling, and the light shinmg, and the 
 new heart struggling, and the old sins 
 stafi-o-ering and falling. Listen there to 
 the voice which whispers all tender 
 things of the love "unspeakable." 
 
 *' When all Thy mercies, my God ! 
 My rising soul surveys, 
 Transported with the view, I'm lost 
 In wonder, love, and praise." 
 
56 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 XLH. 
 
 ACCEPTING THE CROSS. 
 
 When dejection of spirit at bitter dis- 
 appointment comes upon you, do not en- 
 courage a resentful spirit, that vents 
 itself in words hopelessly sad, or in con- 
 fessions of a universal distrust, or in a 
 sullen cold reserve, calling the ordering 
 of the Almighty fate^ or a forced hard- 
 ness or indifference which has been 
 called " philosophy." Learn the will 
 of the Lord, meekly accept the cross He 
 sends. You must be detached from every 
 earthly object, that in the least degree 
 separates from God; and yet you are 
 not to turn away from these objects alto- 
 gether, because they are His gifts. He 
 smites your pleasant things and leaves 
 you lonely in a desert laud, in order that 
 you may better hear His voice, and de- 
 sire His love, and feel that He is indeed 
 your God. Thank Him for the empti- 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 57 
 
 ness of your present life, for only thus 
 could your hungry soul be urged to sat- 
 isfy itself with things that shall endure. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 RENEWED CONSECRATION". 
 
 This crossing of our Avills must be re- 
 ceived in an humble and docile spirit. 
 There should be no gloomy looks, no 
 peevish complaining. It is our Father 
 who sends it. That name is enough for 
 us. Remember that those who are 
 walking the same Avay with us must be 
 cheered, not discouraged. No matter 
 how sick the heart, nor how fierce the 
 warfare within, keep a cheerful face, 
 have a comforting word for those around 
 you. The very effort to do so will 
 bring a blessing with it. 
 
 How often do I give myself to God, 
 yield up my Avill to His, and as quickly 
 take myself back again, and fall away 
 from Ilim ! Begin again. Give thvself 
 
68 THOUGHTS FOK WEARY HOURS. 
 
 to Him afresh. Trust thyself to the 
 power of tliy Father, who has all power 
 and might, and whose presence thou 
 hast so often and so plainly felt, and art 
 yet made to feel every day and hour. 
 Trust Him wholly, and seek His right- 
 eousness ; for therein is His righteous- 
 ness shown, that He abideth ever with 
 those who heartily seek Him, and make 
 Him their end, and give themselves up 
 to Him. In such He reigns, and all 
 vain care falls away of itself, in those 
 who keep thus close to God, in true 
 self-surrender. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 "LOOKING UNTO JESUS." 
 
 Ah ! when we return night after night 
 to our room — the home of our truest 
 being, and feel too sick-hearted with 
 daily vanities to lift up even a sigh to 
 the Physician of our souls, what depres- 
 sion of spirit ! Avhat longings to escape 
 from every surrounding ! Day after 
 
Tn OUGHTS FOR WEA.RY HOURS. 59 
 
 day we have prayed ere we went forth 
 imto the woHd, tliat the thoughts of our 
 hearts might be sanctified and our steps 
 uphekl in the narrow way, and yet how 
 often when at night we call ourselves to 
 account, do we have to record broken 
 resolves, unholy thoughts, words and 
 deeds ! 
 
 At such times we shrink from 
 prayer — it seems like a mockery of 
 holiness. But let us not, oh ! let us not 
 deprive ourselves of the only remaining 
 help ! There is 7io der/ree of sin or folly 
 that can make it wrong for us to cry 
 out — "Lord, if thou wilt thou canst 
 make me clean !" lie can— oh ! entreat 
 that He will, and do not for a moment 
 doubt that He can bring us back to 
 peace. 
 
 Can the Saviour withhold His pity, 
 His aid. His prevailing love, from 
 one of His flock who humbly cries to 
 Him for succor ? Even Jonah, who had 
 not the fullness of promise granted to 
 
GO THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 US, said, after his act of direct disobedi- 
 ence : " I am cast out of Thy sight ; yet 
 I will look again toward Thy holy 
 temple." We can look unto Jesus, the 
 propitiation for our sins, "the same 
 yesterday, to-day, and forever." The 
 most sin-stricken heart may look to Him 
 and be saved. He alone discovers by 
 what a complete tissue of vanity, guilt, 
 and evil influence, the devil ensnares us, 
 and makes our weakness both the veil 
 and the instrument of sin. He who 
 knows all, yet loves us better than He 
 knows, still tenderly regards our pros- 
 trate souls, and may yet find a way for 
 their escape. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 UNKESTRAINED PRAYER. 
 
 The comfort of imrestrained prayer is 
 not sufficiently prized by many, even of 
 those whose prayers are habitually per- 
 severing and true. Suppose that in the 
 course of some uninteresting day you 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 01 
 
 come lip to your own room longing for 
 any sensation of spiritual life. Feeling 
 none, you kneel. If you use a formula 
 of prayer to which your lips are accus- 
 tomed, it is too likely that they only 
 will pray, and not your heart. If you 
 truly express your prese?it feeling, your 
 heart will go with your lijDs. Try if it 
 will not be so. Look back to the things 
 which have touched you since your last 
 praying ; a slight provocation — a pain- 
 ful train of thought suggested by a 
 casual remark. Try to draw out these 
 impressions from vagueness, and repre- 
 sent their accompaniments of weakness 
 and fear to Almighty God. 
 
 In the mid silence of the voiceless night, 
 When chased by airy dreams the slumbers flee ; 
 Whom in the darkness doth my spirit seek, 
 God ! but Thee ? 
 
 And if there be a weight upon my heart, 
 Some vague impression of the day foregone; 
 Scarce knowing what it is, I fly to Thee 
 And lay it down. 
 
62 THOUGHTS fok weary hours. 
 
 Or if it be tlic heaviness that comes 
 In token of anticipated ill — 
 My bosom takes no heed of what it is, 
 Since 'tis Thy will. 
 
 For oh ! in spite of past and present care, 
 Or any thing beside — how joyfully 
 Passes that almost solitary hour, 
 
 My God, with Thee ! 
 
 More tranquil than the stillness of the night, 
 More peaceful than the silence of that hour, 
 More blest than any thing, my bosom lies 
 Beneath Thy power. 
 
 For what is there on earth that I desire 
 
 Of all that it can give or take from me ? 
 
 Or whom in heaven doth my spirit seek, 
 
 God ! but Thee ? 
 
 XLYI. 
 
 THE FUTUKE. 
 
 "When dejectedly looking forward to 
 tlie future, you are apt to think that it 
 can not hold the happiness for which you 
 have hoped hitherto ; that it must neces- 
 sarily be a wearisome continuation of 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WE ART HOURS. 03 
 
 the present. Perhaps it may be so in 
 its external features, (though that is not 
 often likely,) but we know little of the 
 infinite resources of rrovidence, and 
 the expansive faculties of an immortal 
 spirit, if we think that years can pass by 
 without causing a renovation of its ac- 
 tivity and a plentiful growth of new in- 
 terests and new pleasures. 
 
 However dark and profitless, however 
 })ainful and weary existence may have 
 become ; however any man, like Elijah, 
 may be tempted to cast himself beneath 
 the juniper tree and say. It is enough, 
 now, O Lord ! life is not done, and our 
 Christian character is not finished, so 
 long as God has any thing left for us to 
 sufler, or any thing left for us to do. 
 
 XL VII. 
 
 REST AND LABOR. 
 
 Two bands upon the breast- 
 
 And labor's done 
 Two pale feet crossed in rest — 
 
 The race is won ; 
 
64 THOUGHTS FOR AVEARY II0UK5. 
 
 Two eyes with coin-weights shut — 
 
 And all tears cease : 
 Two lips where grief is mute — 
 Anger at peace ! 
 So pray we oftentimes, mourning our lot : 
 God in His kindness answereth us not. 
 
 Two hands to work addrest 
 
 Aye for His praise ; 
 Two feet that never rest, 
 
 AYalking His ways ; 
 Two eyes that look above, 
 
 Through all their tears ; 
 Two lips still breathing love, 
 
 Not wrath nor fears ! 
 So pray we afterward low on our knees ; 
 Pardon those erring prayers ! Father, hear these I 
 
 XLYIII. 
 
 -WRONG THOUGHTS. 
 
 "We ought to be more careful in onr 
 expenditure of thought. We all practi- 
 cally underrate their importance, and 
 yet an allowed thought is the deed of 
 tlie spirit. Could we see all the calami- 
 ty brought on ourselves by entertaining 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 65 
 
 thoughts that are foolish and wrong, we 
 should be more careful to keej:) them 
 in a right channel. I call it a foolish 
 thought which consciously reverts to an 
 irremediable sorrow for no other pur- 
 pose than self-pitj. Why are we not in 
 this respect as considerate of our own 
 peace as we are of the peace of any 
 other heart? By common politeness 
 we are used to avoid subjects that are 
 painful to our companions, when no 
 good is to be gained by alluding to 
 them; might we not advantageously 
 practise the same sort of tact with our- 
 selves, and avoid all profitless self-an- 
 noyance, all meditation on sorrowful 
 questions which admit of no answer, but 
 the " so be it " of sighing resignation ? 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 PAST ERROBS. 
 
 It is wise to forget past errors. 
 There is a kind of temperament which, 
 when indulged, greatly hinders growth 
 
66 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 in real godliness. It is that rueful, re- 
 pentant, self-accusing temper which is 
 always looking back, and microscopical- 
 ly observing how that which is done 
 might have been better done. Some- 
 thing of this we ought to have. A 
 Christian ought to feel always that he 
 has partially failed, but that ought not 
 to be the only feeling. Faith ought 
 ever to be a sanguine, cheerful thing, 
 and perhaps in practical life we could 
 not give a better account of faith than 
 by saying that it is, amid much failure, 
 having the heart to try again. Our best 
 deeds are marked by iinj^erfection ; but 
 if they really were our best, we should 
 " forget the things that are behind." 
 We shall do better next time. 
 
 Oh ! we want every thing that is hope- 
 ful and encouraging for our work : for 
 God knows it is not an easy one. And 
 therefore it is that the Gospel comes to 
 the guiltiest of us all at the very outset 
 with the inspiring news of pardon. 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 67 
 
 You remember how Christ treated 
 sin : sin of oppression and hypocrisy 
 indignantly, but sin of frailty — " Hath 
 no man condemned thee ?" " No man, 
 Lord." *' Neither do I condemn thee ; 
 go, and sin no more." As if He would 
 bid us think more of what we may be, 
 than what we have been. 
 
 There was the wisdom of life in the 
 power with which the widow of Tekoah 
 pleaded for tlie restoration of Absalom 
 from banishment from before David. 
 Absalom had slain his brother Amnon. 
 Well, Amnon was dead before his time, 
 but the severity of revenge could never 
 bring him back again. " We must all 
 die," said the wise woman, *' and are as 
 water spilt upon the ground, which can 
 not be gathered up again." 
 
 Christian brethren, do not stop to 
 weep over spilt water. Forget your 
 guilt, and wait to see what eternity has 
 to say to it. You have other work to 
 do now. 
 
C8 THOUGHTS FOK WEARY HOURS. 
 
 L. 
 
 DISTKUST AND INGKATITUDE. 
 
 If we lead a life of discontent and re- 
 pining at our life-burdens, what will we 
 feel when death conies, and we find that 
 it was Mercy which loosened every tie 
 to earth, making us glad and thankful 
 to approach the home of pardoned 
 spirits ? How bitter will be our regrets, 
 our self-accusations, our shame for previ- 
 ously mistrusting the infinite love of 
 God ! Surely the state of one who be- 
 gins to trust entirely only because the 
 veil is being withdrawn, will have its 
 anguish. Have you ever felt the tide of 
 self-reproach that sets in upon the heart 
 when some great proof of a friend's dis- 
 trusted affection has put your doubts to 
 shame ? Have you known the pang of 
 remorse for having waited to be afiec- 
 tionate, grateful, and confiding till the 
 time for sho\ving a noble trust in your 
 friend had quite passed by ? Such keen 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 69 
 
 remorse as this, in far greater measure, 
 is wliat I suppose we all shall feel, even 
 after a humble Christian life, whenever 
 the close of earthly trial brings with it 
 the just expectation of eternal glory. 
 How may we then long to have again 
 some of our unprized, joyless days in 
 which to prove, with warmer zeal, our 
 love, and loyalty, and devotion to the 
 Saviour who gives us the victory! 
 
 If your days are weary and joyless 
 now, look on to that day which hastens 
 toicards you^ when, if you are His, He 
 will wipe away all tears ; when you will 
 then see that in the whole course of your 
 pilgrimage on earth God did not do 
 without cause, all that He has done in 
 it. He did not cause you to shed one 
 needless tear. 
 
 Ah ! faith is weak now, but the time 
 will come when, looking back upon the 
 scene of our probation, we shall say, 
 with astonishment at our past ingrati- 
 tude : " What could have been done 
 
70 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 more for ns tliat lie liath not done ? 
 How could our eternal welfare have 
 been better secured ? Pain, and sorrow, 
 and disappointment, have done more for 
 us than joy and happiness ever did." 
 
 LI. 
 
 "MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND." 
 Father, I know that all my life 
 
 Is portioned out for me, 
 And the changes that are sure to come 
 
 I do not fear to see ; 
 But I ask Thee for a present mind, 
 
 Intent on pleasing Thee. 
 
 I ask Thee for a thoughtful love. 
 Through constant watching, wise, 
 
 To meet the glad with joyful smiles, 
 And to wipe the weeping eyes ; 
 
 And a heart at leisure from itself, 
 To soothe and sympathize. 
 
 I would not have the restless will 
 
 That hurries to and fro. 
 Seeking for some great thing to do, 
 
 Or secret thing to know ; 
 I would be treated as a child, 
 
 And guided where I go. 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 1l 
 
 Wherever in the world I am, 
 
 In whatsoe'er estate, 
 I have a fellowship with hearts 
 
 To keep and cultivate ^ 
 And a work of lowly love to do 
 
 For the Lord on whom I wait. 
 
 So I ask Thee for the daily strength 
 
 To none that ask denied, 
 And a mind to blend with outward life 
 
 While keeping at Thy side ; 
 Content to fill a little space, 
 
 If Thou be glorified. 
 
 And if some things I do not ask 
 
 In my cup of blessing be, 
 I would have my spirit filled the more 
 
 With grateful love to Thee ; 
 More careful not to serve Thee trnicfi 
 
 But to please Thee pcrfectl)/. 
 
 There are briars besetting every path. 
 
 That call for patient care ; 
 There is a cross in every lot. 
 
 And an earnest need for prayer ; 
 But a lowly heart, that leans on Thee 
 
 Is happy anywhere. 
 
 In a service which Thy will appoints 
 There are no bonds for me, 
 
72 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 For my inmost heart is taught the truth 
 That makes Thy children /ree, 
 
 And a life of self-renouncing love 
 Is a life of liberty. 
 
 LH. 
 
 "DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD." 
 
 By the simple intention of doing all 
 things, whether little or great, to the 
 Lord. And from love to Him, even the 
 smallest things become important, and 
 earth is tnrned into gold. The picking 
 up of a straw with an intention to please 
 God, is of greater value than the re- 
 moval of mountains without such inten- 
 tion. 
 
 LIII. 
 
 "YE HAVE DONE IT UNTO ME." 
 
 There is a class of texts in Scripture 
 which plainly teach that tlie privilege of 
 personal administration to Christ was 
 not limited to the generation that lived 
 
THOUGHTS FOE WEARY 11 CUES. V3 
 
 in Judea eighteen centuries ago, hut 
 that whatever act of kindness and liber- 
 ality you do, with a desire to please and 
 honor Him, it is, in reality and effect, 
 the same as if you had done it to Him 
 personally. In describing, for instance, 
 the awards of final judgment, our Sa- 
 viour represents Himself as saying to 
 certain persons : " I was a hungered, and 
 ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye 
 gave me drink," etc. If He had left 
 these words without further explanation, 
 we might in our unbelief be tempted to 
 sui:)pose that they were not meant for all 
 believers to the end of time, but only 
 to those to whom they were then ad- 
 dressed. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 "SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE 
 COULD." 
 
 Common happiness is sustained, not 
 by great exertions which are in the 
 power of a few, and happen scarcely 
 
li THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 even to them, but by great numbers 
 doing every one a little; every one 
 something in his particular province, 
 to his particular neighborhood. This is 
 the way in which Providence intended 
 society to be carried on, and benevo- 
 lence to be exercised. 
 
 LV. 
 
 RETROSPECTION. 
 
 Where am I to-day in the course of 
 this earthly pilgrimage? Do I go on 
 daily in paths of holiness and peace? 
 Can I believe myself humbler, and liolier, 
 and happier to-day than I was this time 
 last year ? Has any bud become a blos- 
 som, has any blossom turned to fruit ? 
 I can only tremble and weep as I in- 
 quire. Ah ! it is not for me to say that 
 I have advanced in holiness. It is only 
 for me to seek to do so, to press for- 
 ward. 
 
 O Lord ! " I count not myself to have 
 apprehended." Teach me to reach forth 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 15 
 
 to those things which are before me ; to 
 press towards the mark for the prize of 
 the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 
 My sinfulness is my oic?i and his who is 
 the enemy to all human souls. My right- 
 eousness I would not have it my own, 
 even if that were possible. Let it be 
 felt deeply by me that it is of Thee, my 
 Saviour. Oh ! bring me more and more 
 under the guidance of that power which 
 worketh in Thy children botli to will 
 and to do of Thy good pleasure. Every 
 day teach me to pray for a clean heart. 
 Our outward man requires daily wash- 
 ings as it becomes unclean and offensive 
 even to ourselves, and can the inward 
 man go on day after day without need- 
 ing its daily cleansings ? Oh ! sanctify 
 me, purify me, my Saviour, with Thy 
 Holy Spirit ! 
 
 " All that I was — my sin, my guilt, 
 
 My death was all my own ; 
 All that I am, I owe to Thee, 
 
 My gracious God, alone." 
 
1Q THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 LYI. 
 
 •« NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE." 
 
 It is the work of a long life to become 
 a Christian. Many, oh ! many a timo 
 are we tempted to say, " I make no pro- 
 gress at all. 'Tis only failure after fail- 
 ure ; nothing grows." Now look at the 
 sea when the flood is coming in. Go 
 and stand by the sea-beach, and you ^\'ill 
 think that the ceaseless flux and reflux is 
 but retrogression equal to the advance. 
 But look again in an hour's time, and 
 the whole ocean has advanced. Every 
 advance has been beyond the last, and 
 every retrograde movement has been an 
 imperceptible trifle less than the last. 
 This is p7'0(/ress to be estimated at the 
 end of hours, not minutes. And this is 
 Christicm progress. Many a fluctuation, 
 many a backward motion, with a rush at 
 times so vehement that all seems lost. 
 But if the eternal work be real, every 
 failure has been a real gain, and the next 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 77 
 
 does not carry us so far back as we were 
 before. Every advance is a real gain, 
 and part of it is never lost. Both when 
 we advance and when we fail, we gain. 
 We are nearer to God than we were. 
 The flood of spirit-life has carried ns up 
 higher on the everlasting shores, where 
 the waves of life beat no more, and its 
 fluctuations end, and all is safe at last. 
 "This is the faith and patience of the 
 saints." 
 
 LYn. 
 
 "SLEEP ON NOTV.'* 
 
 There is a day in our future lives 
 when our time will be counted not by 
 years, nor by months, nor yet by hours, 
 but by minutes — the day when unmistak- 
 able symptoms shall announce that the 
 messengers of death have come to take 
 us. That startling moment will come 
 which it is in vain to attempt to realize 
 now, when it will be felt that it is all 
 over at last — that our chance and our 
 
78 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 trial are past. The moment that we 
 have tried to think of, shrunk from, put 
 away from us, here it is, going too, like 
 all other moments that have gone before 
 it. And then, with eyes unsealed at 
 last, you look back on the life which is 
 gone by. 
 
 There is no mistake about it. There 
 it is, a sleep, a most palpable sleejD — self- 
 indulged unconsciousness of high desti- 
 nies, and God, and Christ. A sleep when 
 Christ was calling out to you to watch 
 with Him one hour — a sleep when there 
 was something to be done — a sleep 
 broken, it may be, once or twice, by rest- 
 less dreams, and by a voice of truth 
 which looidd make itself heard at times, 
 but still a sleep which was only rocked 
 into deeper stillness by interruption. 
 And now, from the undone eternity, the 
 boom of whose waves is distinctly audi- 
 ble upon your soul, there comes the same 
 voice again — a solemn, sad voice — but 
 no longer the same word, " Watch :'* 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 19 
 
 Other words altogether — " You may go 
 to sleep." It is too late. There is no 
 science in earth or heaven to recall time 
 that has once fled. 
 
 Lvni. 
 
 THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE. 
 
 " He that liveth and believeth in Me 
 shall never die." How mucb» happier 
 would Christians be, did they realize 
 more vividly the great truths made 
 known to them in the Gospel. Christ 
 came to " destroy death and him that 
 hath the power of death, that is, the 
 devil ; and to deliver them who, through 
 fear of death, were all their lifetime 
 subject to bondage." How very seldom 
 is death, as such, spoken of in the New 
 Testament. The writers seem to regard 
 it as annihilated in the case of the be- 
 liever. We live here sorrounded by 
 many mercies, but exposed to many sor- 
 rows, and conscious of much imperfec- 
 tion ; and surely that great event in our 
 
80 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 history which transports us to the full 
 2)Ossession of the promised inheritance 
 where no element of grief shall mingle 
 in the cup of gladness ; where no lin- 
 gering corruption shall interfere with 
 our obedience, and defile our worship; 
 where no temptation shall ever demand 
 vigilance and conflict ; where no weari- 
 ness shal^suspend our service, but cease- 
 less activity shall be the rapture of re- 
 pose, and Avhere death being forever ex- 
 cluded, eternity will be stamped on 
 every enjoyment. Surely the event which 
 introduces us to such a state of being 
 can not correctly be designated death. 
 No, it is rather life. The dead are those 
 who are left behind, not those who thus 
 depart, and the moment of dissolution is 
 the birth of the soul. 
 
 " It is not death to die, 
 
 To leave this weary road, 
 And 'midst the brotherhood on high. 
 
 To be at home with God." 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 81 
 
 /. LIX. 
 
 'the "wakm hand of sympathy. 
 " He can he touchedP Till we have 
 reflected on it, Ave are scarcely aware 
 how much the sura of human happiness 
 in the world is indebted to this one feel- 
 ing — sympathy. We get cheerfulness 
 and vigor, we scarcely know how or 
 when, from mere association with our 
 fellow-men, and fi-om the looks reflected 
 on us of gladness and enjoyment. We 
 catch inspiration and power to go on, 
 from human presence and from cheerful 
 looks. The workman works with added 
 energy from having others by. The full 
 family circle has a strength and a life 
 peculiarly its own. The substantial good 
 and the efl^ectual relief which men extend 
 to one is trifling. It is not by those, 
 but by something far less costly, that the 
 work is done. God has insured it by a 
 much more simple machinery. He has 
 given to the weakest and the poorest 
 
82 THOUGHTS FOK WEARY HOURS. 
 
 power to contribute largely to the com- 
 mon stock of gladness. The child's 
 smile and laugh are mighty powers in 
 this world. When bereavement has left 
 you desolate, what substantial benefit is 
 there which makes condolence accepta- 
 ble ? It can not replace the loved ones 
 you have lost. It can bestow upon you 
 nothing permanent. But a warm hand 
 has touched yours, and its thrill told 
 you that there was a living response 
 there to your emotion. One look, one 
 human sigh, has done more for you than 
 the costliest present could convey. 
 
 LX. 
 
 "I SHALL BE SATISriED." 
 
 Not here ! not here ! not where the sparkling 
 waters 
 
 Fade into mocking sands as we draw near, 
 Where in the wilderness each footstep falters, 
 
 " I shall be satisfied " — oh ! not here. 
 
 Not here, where all the dreams of bliss deceive us; 
 Where the worn spirit never gains its goal ; 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 83 
 
 Where haunted ever by the thoughts that grieve U3, 
 Across us floods of bitter memory roll. 
 
 There is land where every pulse is thrilling 
 
 With rapture earth's sojourners may not know ; 
 
 Where heaven's repose the weary heart is thrilling ; 
 And peacefully life's time-tossed currents flow. 
 
 Far out of sight, while yet the flesh enfolds us, 
 Lies the fair country where our hearts abide ; 
 
 And of its bliss is naught more wondrous told us. 
 Than these few words: " I shall be satisfied." 
 
 Satisfied ! satisfied ! The spirit's yearning 
 For sweet companionship with kindred minds, 
 
 The silent love that here meets no returning, 
 The inspiration which no language finds — 
 
 Shall they be satisfied ? The soul's vague longing, 
 The aching void which nothing earthly fills ? 
 
 Oh ! what desires upon my soul are thronging, 
 As I look upward to the heavenly hills ! 
 
 Thither my weak and weary steps are tending. 
 
 Saviour and Lord ! with Thy frail child abide ; 
 Guide me towards home, where, all my wandering 
 ending, 
 
 I shall see Thee, and ^' shall he satisfied P^ 
 
84 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 LXT. 
 
 " THIS IS NOT YOUR REST." 
 *' Arise and depart, for this is not 
 yonr rest " — it is written on every eartli- 
 ly thing. The moment we phice our 
 wishes and affections on things of the 
 earth, the moment we come to consider 
 our scheme of living satisfactory, our 
 schedule of performances perfect, some 
 unexpected resolution breaks in like a 
 whirlwind to disturb this complacency, 
 and set us into larger and perhaps plain- 
 er rooms, where we can drink in more 
 light and gain a deeper wisdom if we 
 will. 
 
 LXII. 
 
 A TOUCHSTONE. 
 
 When the heart is really made new, 
 and is filled with all the holy life of its 
 Lord, it matters nothnig what the out- 
 ward place or scenery may be. Then 
 there is no restless thirst for novelty, no 
 contempt or complaint of commonplace 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 85 
 
 task-work. Then, even in the new coun- 
 try, the old and familiar has to be taken 
 back. There is much in common be- 
 tween the forms of the old life and the 
 forms of the new. The same people 
 have to be met, and served, and endur- 
 ed. The same body has to be fed, cloth- 
 ed, exercised, and kept under. The 
 same crosses of temper, self - disgust, 
 baffled aspiration have to be borne. iN'o 
 emigration transports us out of the reach 
 of mortal annoyance and infirmity. If 
 the old duties look small, the old labors 
 irksome, and the old places incapable of 
 religious grandeur, it is probably a sign 
 that the new heart is not really in us, 
 but only some specious and vain imag- 
 ination instead. It is rest we are seek- 
 ing, then ; and that rest is not here. We 
 are breaking from Providence. After 
 His high communion in the temple, 
 Jesus, the Lord of souls, went back to 
 Xazareth, content with the companion- 
 ship of his childhood for eighteen years 
 
86 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 more, cheerful with a vilhxge reputation, 
 and subject to Joseph and Mary. 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 "SHALL NEVER THIRST." 
 
 Ox all the world's fountains, drink of 
 them as you may, thirst again is written. 
 Of the world's mountains, climb them as 
 you may, you will never say, I have 
 reached the coveted summit. It is 
 enough. Men go sighing on, drinking 
 their rivers of pleasure, and climbing 
 their mountains of vanity. They feel, 
 all the while, some undefined, inarticu- 
 late, nameless longing after a satisfying 
 good ; but it is a miserable travesty to 
 say that it has been found, or can be 
 found in any thing here. " Who will 
 show us any good?^'' Avill still be the cry 
 of the groping seeker, till he has learned 
 to say : " Lorcl^ lift Thou upon me the 
 light of Thy countenance.^'' 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 87 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 "JUST AS I AM." 
 
 Let it be yours to say : Lord, I come ! 
 Thou art all I need, all I require in sick- 
 ness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, 
 in time and through eternity. And when 
 death is sealing my eyes, and the rush 
 of darkness is coming over my spirit, 
 even then will I take up the old exile 
 strain — the great sigh of weary human- 
 ity — and blend its notes with the song 
 of heaven : *' As the hart panteth after 
 the water brooks, so panteth my soul 
 after Thee, O God !" 
 
 LXV. 
 
 A HEAVENLY EMBLEM. 
 
 Remember, God does not say that 
 " good work " is never to be impeded. 
 He has never given promise in Scripture 
 of an unclouded day, uninterrupted sun- 
 shine, a waveless, stormless sea. No ; 
 *' the mornins: without clouds " is a 
 
88 TUOUGIITS FOR WEAKY HOUES. 
 
 heavenly emblem. The earthly one is 
 " a day, in which the light shall neither 
 be clear nor dark." (Zech. 14:6.) But 
 it is written : " At evening time it shall 
 be light." The sun may wade all day 
 through murky clouds, but he will pil- 
 low his head at night on a couch of ver- 
 milion and gold 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 "NONE OF US LIVETH UNTO HIM- 
 SELF." 
 
 No stream from its source 
 
 Flows seaward, how lonely soever its course, 
 
 But what some land is gladdened. No star ever 
 
 rose 
 And set, without influence somewhere. Who knows 
 What earth needs from earth's lowest creature ? 
 
 No life 
 Can be pure in its purpose and strong in its strife, 
 And all life not be purer and stronger thereby. 
 The spirits of just men made perfect on high 
 The army of martyrs who stand by the throne 
 And gaze into the face that makes glorious their 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEAKY HOURS. 89 
 
 Know this surely at last. Honest love, honest sor- 
 row, 
 
 Honest work for the day, honest hope for the mor- 
 row, 
 
 Are these worth nothing more than the hand they 
 make weary, 
 
 The heart they have saddened, the life they leave 
 dreary ? 
 
 Hush ! the sevenfold heavens to the voice of the 
 Spirit 
 
 Echo, " He that o'ercometh, shall all things in- 
 herit." 
 
 LXYII. 
 
 "WORK WHILE THE DAY LASTS." 
 
 The sun sets, the autumn fades, life 
 hastens with us all. But we stand yet 
 in our Master's vineyard. All the days 
 of our aj^pointed time let us labor righte- 
 ously, and wait and pray till our change 
 comes, that we may change only from 
 virtue to virtue, from faitli to faith, and 
 thus from glory to glory! 
 
 What have I yet to do ? 
 Day weareth on, 
 
90 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 Flowers, that opening new, 
 Smiled through the morning dew, 
 Droop in the sun. 
 
 'Neath the noon's searching glare 
 
 Fainting I stand ; 
 Still is the sultry air, 
 Silentness everywhere 
 
 Through the hot land. 
 
 Yet must I labor still 
 
 All the day through, 
 Striving with earnest will 
 Patient my place to fill, 
 
 My work to do. 
 
 Long though my task may be, 
 
 Cometh the end, 
 God 'tis that helpeth me ; 
 This is the work, and He 
 
 New strength will lend. 
 
 He will direct my feet, 
 
 Strengthen my hand, 
 Give me my portion meet. 
 Firm in His promise sweet, 
 
 Trusting I stand. 
 
 Up, then, to work again I 
 God's word is given, 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS, 91 
 
 That none shall sow in vain, 
 But find His ripened grain 
 Garnered in heaven. 
 
 Longer the shadows fiill — 
 
 Night conieth on ; 
 Low voices softly call 
 " Come, here is rest for all ; 
 
 Labor is done." 
 
 LXYIIL 
 
 THE BELIEVER'S CHARM. 
 
 * "To him that overcometh will I 
 give a white stone, and in the stone a 
 new name written, which no man know- 
 
 * It was an ancient custom connected with the 
 public games, that the victor, " he that overcom- 
 eth," among other honors, was presented with a 
 white stone — tessera — with his name inscribed on it. 
 Such a stone was often of two parts, each bearing 
 a portion of the name, and was thus used as a talis- 
 man or sacred token between friends or families. 
 None but the two parts made for each other com- 
 pleted the device. Each, whenever presented, in 
 whatever part of the world, would instantly match 
 
92 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 eth saving he that receiveth it." (Rev. 
 2 : IV.) He that overcoraeth — every vic- 
 torious soul prevailing by faith and 
 righteousness in the long and patient 
 battle of life — shall have secret satisftic- 
 tions springing up in his heart, known 
 only between himself and his Lord. 
 
 They will not consist in outward ap- 
 plauses, in visible successes, in any 
 worldly compensation whatever. The 
 chief of them all will be the silent assur- 
 ances of His personal affection, who is 
 the purest, highest, holiest. The testi- 
 mony of His friendship will be the best 
 reward. The token of His favor will be 
 the inestimable good. 
 
 into its place, and constitute the bearer's passport 
 to kindness and favor with the liindred of its fel- 
 low's owner. The original cause or incidents of 
 the alliance, were the secrets hidden by the em- 
 blem, hidden to all but the holders. And the rights 
 of hospitality secured by this badge, seem to be the 
 occasion of that other allusion in the same verse to 
 the " hidden manna," thus filling out the metaphor. 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 93 
 
 So much light docs advancing excel- 
 lence always cast on old forms of truth — 
 a deeper life ever illuminating even 
 familiar oracles — that the very name of 
 Christ shall have a new meaning. It 
 shall be a new name. It shall have a 
 personal charm and preciousness to each 
 several believer. Xone shall know it 
 as he knoweth it that receiveth it. No 
 man ever knows the meaning of our 
 deeper experiences, or of the words that 
 express them, as we know them our- 
 selves. Just as the Almighty said to 
 the great Jewish leader and lawgiver 
 when he declared to him His memorial 
 name, " By that name thy fathers did 
 not know me," though they had used 
 that name for hundreds of years — mean- 
 ing that in their less luminous state and 
 backward education, they did not com- 
 prehend or realize what the name con- 
 tained — so, to each growing nature of 
 man, the significance of every sacred 
 word gains depth and clearness at every 
 
94 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 Step of his way. What was dark to un- 
 belief was briglit to faith. What was 
 perplexing to the beginner in Christian 
 living is simple and radiant if he per- 
 severes. 
 
 The very name of the Source and 
 Spring of the world's only perfect spir 
 itual illumination, Christ, has no attrac- 
 tion and no interest to those whose 
 daily habit is alien from Him. But let 
 any walk in His way, adopt His spirit, be 
 joined to His society, and then another 
 feeling shall invest that name, give it 
 beauty, and open its gracious meaning, 
 and make it a name above every name — 
 a new name, to which every knee must 
 bow — known only to him that reoeiv- 
 eth it. 
 
 " that my Saviour would impart 
 Some token of His love, 
 And comfort my desponding heart, 
 And make it mount above." 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 95 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 "COULD YE NOT "WATCH "WITH 
 ME ONE HOUR?" 
 
 The night is dark ; behold the shade was deeper 
 
 In the old garden of Gethsemane, 
 When that calm voice awoke the weary sleeper — 
 
 *' Could' st thou not watch one hour alone with 
 me?" 
 
 thou so weary of thy self-denials ! 
 
 And so impatient of thy little cross, 
 Is it so hard to bear thy daily trials, 
 
 To count all earthly things a gainful loss ? 
 
 What if thou always suffer tribulation, 
 And if thy Christian warfare never cease ; 
 
 The gaining of the greater habitation 
 Shall gather thee to everlasting peace. 
 
 But here we all must suffer, walking lonely 
 The path that Jesus once Himself hath gone ; 
 
 Watch thou in patience through this hour only. 
 This one dark hour before the eternal dawn. 
 
 The captive oar may pause upon the galley, 
 The soldier sleep beneath his plumed crest, 
 
 And Peace may fold her wing o'er hill and valley, 
 But thou, Christian ! must not take thy rest. 
 
96 TIIOUGinS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 Thou must walk on, liowevcr man upbraid thee, 
 With Him who trod the wine-press all alone ; 
 
 Thou wilt not find one human hand to aid thee, 
 One human soul to comprehend thine own. 
 
 Heed not the images forever thronging 
 
 From out the foi-egone life thou liv'st no more ; 
 
 Faint-hearted mariner, still art thou longing 
 For the dim line of the receding shore ? 
 
 "Wilt thou find rest of soul in thy returning 
 To that old path thou hast so vainly trod ? 
 
 Hast thou forgotten all thy weary yearning 
 To walk among the children of thy God ? 
 
 Faithful and steadfast in their consecration. 
 Living by that high faith to thee so dim, 
 
 Declaring before God their dedication, 
 So far from thee, because so near to Him. 
 
 Canst thou forget thy Christian superscription — 
 "j5e7ioZ(/, we count them happy which endure " ? 
 
 What treasure would'st thou in the land Egyptian, 
 Repass the stormy water to secure ? 
 
 And wilt thou yield thy sure and glorious promise, 
 For the poor fleeting joys earth can afford ? 
 
 No hand can take away the treasure from us 
 That rests within the keeping of the Lord. 
 
TnOUGIITS FOR WEARY HOURS. 97 
 
 Poor wandering soul, I know that thou art seeking 
 Some easier way, as all have sought before, 
 
 To silence the reproachful inward speaking, 
 Some landward path into an island shore ! 
 
 The cross is heavy in thy human measure, 
 The way is narrow for thy inward pride, 
 
 Thou canst not lay thine intellectual treasure 
 At the low footstool of the Crucified. 
 
 Oh ! that thy faithless soul one hour only 
 
 Would comprehend the Christian's perfect life. 
 
 Despised with Jesus, sorrowful and lonely, 
 Sit calmly looking upward in its strife. 
 
 For poverty and self-renunciation. 
 
 Their Father yieldeth back a thousand fold ; 
 
 In the calm stillness of regeneration, 
 Cometh a joy they never knew of old. 
 
 In meek obedience to the heavenly Teacher 
 Thy weary soul can only find its peace. 
 
 Seeking no aid from any human creature, 
 Looking to God alone for his release. 
 
 And He will come in His own time and power. 
 To set His earnest-hearted children free ; 
 
 "Watch only through this dark and painful hour. 
 And the bright morning will yet break for thee. 
 
98 THOUGHTS FOR AVEARY HOURS. 
 
 //' 
 
 LXX. 
 
 ALONE I YET NOT ALONE. 
 
 Each one knows tliat he must die 
 alone. How few realize that, for the 
 most part, it is God's appointment that 
 each one should live alone and suffer 
 alone. Each one must "bear his own 
 burden," (Gal. 6 : 5,) feel his own incom- 
 municable grief, which often lies like 
 lead upon the heart. 
 
 Solitude and a sense of isolation are 
 not peculiar to sickness. They who walk 
 abroad in the busy world have their own 
 " loneliness of heart," and " find it truly 
 hard to bear." 
 
 This deep weary sense of isolation is 
 a call to tlie sick to sympathize with, 
 and better to understand, the trials of 
 those in health. There is in every heart 
 more or less craving for sympathy; a 
 restless craving in those who have not 
 learned where to turn for true sympa- 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 99 
 
 tliy, and that One only and only One 
 is enough to satisfy all their yearnings. 
 
 There are few who do not think it 
 hard that their lot of woe is not more 
 borne by others. They think it ought 
 to be ; they expect it ; they crave for it. 
 They cry out in their pangs that their 
 lot is hard and peculiar ; that it is not 
 so with others. They go on crying till 
 so loud and constant becomes their 
 voice, that they do not, excej^t occasion- 
 ally, hear " the still small voice" Avhich 
 is speaking to them, and saying : '•'' Listen 
 to ^6." 
 
 When they do listen, it tells them 
 that their lot is not peculiar, but the 
 common lot of all ; that each one after 
 his own manner (or rather that manner 
 that God sees fitted to his character) is 
 living alone — some more, some less so. 
 That there is a meaning in it all ; an 
 absolute necessity. That those who do 
 " hear the rod and who hath appointed 
 it " then cease to be alone in their lone- 
 
100 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 liness. That the whole end is to drive 
 them away from creatures — from them- 
 selves, from all earthly craving — and 
 to drive them to seek for God alone, and 
 to dwell in Him. 
 
 The lesson is the same in all cases, 
 but there are different ways of learning 
 it. The path in which each man walks 
 is untrodden by any other. He can not 
 judge of its roughness, or how many 
 thorns there may be in it. No one can 
 fully see the extent and details of the 
 trial which another is called to bear. 
 One comes near and says words of 
 sympathy for one part of the trial ; 
 another for some other part ; a third 
 sees no trial in it at all ; a fourth thinks 
 it must be much less trying than some 
 other form of suffering, or than his own. 
 No one but the sufferer sees it in all its 
 bearings and forms of inward suffering ; 
 no one else feels the acute pain of heart, 
 and all its throbbings. Each one leaves 
 some disappointment behind, or else 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEAKY HOUES. 101 
 
 makes the sufferer say : " I should be 
 quite alone, or at least only very ini 
 perfectly understood, if I had my fellow- 
 sufferers only to depend on. Each one 
 seems Avrappcd in his own sorrow ; his 
 eyes too intently fixed on it to see mine, 
 except very dimly. I must ' appeal to 
 the world where all things are under- 
 stood,' and to Him who ' weigheth the 
 spirits.' " 
 
 The weight of life, the burden of do- 
 ing, are hard to bear; still more so, 
 perhaps, when borne in conjunction with 
 sickness, the weary longing for work ; 
 the toilsome days which all seem spent 
 for self, and in which you seem never to 
 do any thing for others, but merely to 
 add very much to their burdens ; and 
 you grow sadder and more hopeless as 
 time goes on and brings no relief. 
 
 As each morning dawns, it seems but 
 to open another day of selfishness. It 
 seems to you that you could do some- 
 thing, v'Jiat you can not exactly tell, 
 
102 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 where to tiivn for work you do not 
 know. Your friends, perhaps, think 
 you unfit for any exertion. In their 
 kindness, as they suppose, they do every 
 tiling for you: remove all work from 
 you ; tell you that you are not wanted ; 
 that there are plenty of people who can 
 supply your place. They mean it in 
 true kindness, hut you do not see it so ; 
 you think that if they would only find 
 some niche for you, you should be very 
 thankful. 
 
 That thought of being necessary to no 
 one is part of your weary burden. You 
 can not truly see the love which has 
 led your friends to speak and act thus. 
 
 Wait a little. Do not writhe ; lie still. 
 Do not say : " I am cut oflT from work. 
 There is nothing left for me to do ; no 
 place to fill up." If it be so at pres- 
 ent, it may not always be so. 
 
 Do not lose the blessing of your pres- 
 ent state, in reaching after something 
 cither future or imaginary. Seek to find 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 103 
 
 out wlmt are your present duties; at 
 least, there are some. Do not ask to 
 have your world enlarged ; do your pres- 
 ent work. You may help and be a great 
 blessing to your attendant, even if you 
 can not speak much. If she sees you 
 meek and i">atient, submissive to your 
 trials, bearing pain patiently, receiving 
 the various circumstances of life cheer- 
 fully, not murmuring or repining, she 
 may learn a lesson which may sink deep 
 into her heart, and bring forth fruit an- 
 other day. 
 
 You have relative duties, also. Per- 
 haps you have parents, or brothers, or 
 sisters, or children in the house with you. 
 The mere receiving them cheerfully, mak- 
 ing them feel that they are always wel- 
 come, that you are ever ready to bear 
 their burdens, and to sympathize with 
 them, to share their joys as well as their 
 sorrows, may make your sick-room the 
 "place of blessing " to all the household. 
 
 In this busy, bustlhig Avorld, many 
 
104 THOUGHTS FOR WEAKY ROUES. 
 
 " seek some place of refrevshment," where 
 they may leave behmd them the jarring 
 of this life, and draw nearer to reality. 
 Do not then say that you have no work, 
 but lie still, and let Ilini " work in you 
 to will and to do of His good pleasure." 
 Ask Him to make you so like unto Him- 
 s elf, that others may "take knowledge 
 of you that you have been with Jesus." 
 Seek to comfort others with " the com- 
 fort wherewith you are comforted of 
 God." You have a great work to do, to 
 " deny yourself and worldly lu«ts," and 
 to " walk humbly with God." This work 
 is " laudable, glorious, and honorable." 
 Do not despise it, lest in so doing you be 
 " found replying against God ;" lest you 
 tempt Him to withdraw it from you. 
 
 Besides, even if it were true that you 
 have nothing to do— no outward work— 
 you have one stone at least in the temple 
 to polish and keep in its place. This 
 time is given you in which to do it. 
 Look on it as a time of preparation for 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEAET HOURS. 105 
 
 something, although you know not for 
 what : it may be for life, or it may be for 
 death. Do not pass it by ; do not waste it 
 in murmuring, or by crying out for some 
 change. He who sees your heart knows 
 that it is very trying to you, and He is 
 very " pitiful and of tender mercy ;" but 
 He sees that you need just this very dis- 
 cipline, and He will give you no other, 
 until this has done the work for which 
 He sent it. 
 
 Xever forget that all your circum- 
 stances, even tlie most minute, are in the 
 hands of God. Look at them only in 
 this way, and not on each circumstance 
 as an accident which may be removed. 
 Receive it as your present lot — as the 
 expression of the will of God toward 
 you ; and then you will find that as it is 
 His " yoke," He will make His yoke easy 
 and His burden light, " if it is borne in 
 His name and for His sake." 
 
 If any other lot would have been 
 equally good for you, if any other disci- 
 
106 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 pVme would have taught you as much of 
 the evil of your own heart, or of the love 
 of God, dej^end upon it He would have 
 "given you the lighter, and kept back 
 the heavier." Do not argue with the 
 Tempter. Do not let him persuade you 
 that they are bad circumstances, unsuited 
 to you ; but say at once : " Get thee be- 
 hind me, Satan. God placed me here. 
 It is His will. God is love." This an- 
 swer will serve for every lot in life, for 
 every trial. 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 WISDOM OF THE DIVINE ECONOMY 
 
 " All things work together for good to 
 them that love God." This is a truth of 
 the sweetest and holiest import, and is 
 daily recurring to me; for how many 
 are the things in common life which, in 
 the dictates of our own poor wisdom, we 
 would gladly have otherwise ! 
 
 I doubt not you have learned, to a 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEAKY HOURS. 107 
 
 great extent, to depend on God day by 
 day for your daily bread. This lesson I 
 desire to learn. How sweet it is to be 
 directed from hour to hour, with scarce 
 a ray of light beyond! The darker the 
 future, the brighter often is faith, and 
 the more firmly do we rely on that 
 Arm which can never fail. 
 
 I have often found myself attempting 
 to preserve the manna till morning, but 
 have never succeeded. How wise is the 
 economy of Providence and the economy 
 of grace ! How should we rejoice that 
 we can not lay up stores for ourselves, 
 either of wisdom or faith. 
 
 Surely it is good to commit our way 
 wholly unto God, without fear and with- 
 out compromise. Then the pillar of 
 cloud or of fire will go before us, though 
 we may not always be able to recog- 
 nize it. 
 
 I have often said to myself that if there 
 should come to me a permanent cause for 
 sadness, cither constitutional or other- 
 
108 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 wise, I must just as resignedly bear it as 
 1 liave carried my cheerful tendencies. 
 Yes, be willing to be sad — nay, subdued, 
 rather ; for we can smile through tears. 
 Let the tears come, if they must ; they 
 can not last forever. We must look 
 sunward, and do our duty, and in 
 God's good time we shall walk in light. 
 
 I fear I shall be ashamed of myself, 
 when, an inhabitant of the other life, I 
 look back upon this, and see that I was 
 not ready and willing to bear the seem- 
 ing ills I could not cure. Only for that 
 little time^ we shall say to ourselves, and 
 having the Infinite Father to hold our 
 destiny ! " O thou of little fiiith, where- 
 fore didst thou doubt ?" 
 
 Heaven keep us from such reproaches, 
 when the clouds of our short pilgrimage 
 have passed, and we see face to face the 
 wisdom of the way by Avhich we have 
 been led. 
 
THOUGHTS FOK WEaVKY HOUES. 109 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 *'W1E1 ARE SURE THOU KNOWEST 
 ALL THINGS." 
 
 Thou knowest, Lord, the ■R'earmcss and sorrow 
 Of the sad heart that comes to Thee for rest ; 
 
 Cares of to-day, and burdens for to-morrow, 
 Blessings implored and sins to be confessed — 
 
 I come before Thee at Thy gracious word, 
 
 And lay them at Thy feet. Thou knowest, Lord. 
 
 Thou knowest all the past. How long and blindly 
 On the dark mountains the lost sheep had 
 strayed ; 
 How the Good Shepherd followed, and how kindly 
 
 He bore it home, upon His shoulders laid ; 
 And healed the bleeding wounds, and soothed the 
 
 pain, 
 And brought back life and hope and strength again. 
 
 Thou knowest all the present. Each temptation, 
 Each toilsome duty, each foreboding fear ; 
 
 All to myself assigned of tribulation. 
 
 Or to beloved ones, than self more dear ; 
 
 All pensive memories, as I journey on ; 
 
 Longings for vanished smiles and voices gone. 
 
 Thou knowest all the future. Gleams of gladness, 
 By stormy clouds too quickly overcast ; 
 
110 THOUGHTS FOR AVEARY HOURS. 
 
 Hours of sweet fellowship and parting sadness, 
 
 And the dark river to be crossed at last. 
 Oh ! what could hope and confidence afiford, 
 To tread that path, but this : Thou knowest, Lord ! 
 
 Thou knowest not alone as God, all-knowing ; 
 
 As man, our mortal weakness Thou hast proved ; 
 On earth with purest sympathies o'erflowing, 
 
 Saviour ! Thou hast wept, and Thou hast loved ; 
 And love and sorrow still to Thee may come, 
 And fiud a hiding-place, a rest, a home. 
 
 Therefore I come, Thy gentle call obeying, 
 And lay my sins and sorrows at Thy feet. 
 
 On everlasting strength my weakness staying. 
 Clothed in Thy robe of righteousness complete ; 
 
 Then rising, and refreshed, I leave Thy throne, 
 
 And follow on to know as I am known. 
 
 Lxxm. 
 
 "AS MAWY AS I LOVE I CHASTEN.' 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 The shadows fall upon our sunny hours ; 
 
 Darkness and sorrow move 
 Amid our treasures, iu our joy-built bowers ; 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. Ill 
 
 Yet this sweet comfort ever may be ours — 
 As many as I love ! 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 To human eyes God's dealings oft seem dark ; 
 
 But He would only prove 
 The sunlight where the cloud alone we mark ; 
 lie says — if wounded souls would only hark — 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 burdened, sorrowing heart ! this is for thee ; 
 
 Thy Father's hand above 
 Is meting out these trials, but to be 
 The measure of a good thou canst not see ; 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 Oh ! earth's affections are but poor to this 
 
 "Which reaches from above ! 
 They — mortal frailties — change, and fade, and miss, 
 But this one thought gives everlasting bliss — 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 These loved ones are the bearers of the cross ; 
 
 Their Christian faith to prove, 
 All earthly gain is counted but as loss, 
 When God says — clearing from the dross — 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 
112 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 As many as I lore ! 
 When life, work, pain, and waiting all are o'ei, 
 
 • Our earth-tied feet shall move 
 Up golden streets on the celestial shore ; 
 And we shall sing with saints for evermore — 
 
 As many as I love ! 
 
 Lxxiy. 
 
 BEST AT EVENING. 
 
 When the weariness of life is ended, 
 And the task of our long day is done, 
 
 And the props on which our hearts depended, 
 All have failed or broken, one by one ; 
 
 Evening and our sorrow's shadow blended, 
 Telling us that peace is now begun : 
 
 How far back will seem the sun's first daAvning, 
 And those early mists, so cold and gray ! 
 
 Half forgotten e'en the toil of morning, 
 And the heat and burden of the day : 
 
 Flowers that we were tending, and weeds scorning, 
 All alike withered and east away. 
 
 Tain will seem the impatient heart, which waited 
 Toils that gathered but too quickly round : 
 
 And the childish joy, so soon dated 
 
 At the path we thought none else had found ; 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 113 
 
 And the foolish ardor, soon ab;ited 
 Cy^the storm which cast us to the f:jround. 
 
 \";\in those pauses on the road, each seeming; 
 
 As our final home and resting-place ; 
 And the leaving them, while tears were streaming: 
 
 Of eternal sorrow down our face, 
 And the hands we held, fond folly dreaming 
 
 That no future could their touch efface. 
 
 x\ll will then be faded. Night will borrow 
 Stars of light to crown our perfect rest ; 
 
 And the dim, vague memory of faint sorrow 
 Just remain to show us all was best; 
 
 Then melt into a divine to-morrow. 
 Oh ! how poor a day to be so blest ! 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 A PSALM OF LIFE. 
 
 All as God wills, who wisely heeds 
 
 To give or to withhold. 
 And knoweth more of all my needs 
 
 Than all my prayers have told ! 
 
 Enough that blessings undeserved 
 Have marked mv orrinjj track. 
 
114 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOUKS. 
 
 That wheresoe'er my feet Viave swerved 
 Uis chastening turned me back. 
 
 That more and more a Providence 
 
 Of love is understood, 
 Making the springs of time and sense 
 
 Sweet with eternal good. 
 
 That deatli seems but a covered way 
 
 Which opens into light, 
 Wherein no blinded child can stray 
 
 Beyond the Father's sight. 
 
 That care and trial seem at last, 
 Through memory's sunset air, 
 
 Like mountain ranges over-past, 
 In purple distance tair. 
 
 That all the jarring notes of life 
 Seem blending in a psalm, 
 
 A.nd all the angles of its strife 
 Slow rounding into calm. 
 
 " And so the shadows fall apart, 
 And so the west winds play; 
 And all the windows of my heart 
 T open to the day." 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WKARY HOURS, 115 
 
 LXXVI. 
 
 "I WILL FEAR NO EVIL." 
 
 Thy way, not mine, Lord ! 
 
 However dark it be. 
 Lead me by Tliine own hand ; * 
 
 Choose out the path for me. 
 
 Smooth let it be, or rough ; 
 
 It will be still the best. 
 Winding or straight, it matters not ; 
 
 It leads me to Thy rest. 
 
 I dare not choose my lot ; 
 
 I would not, if I might. 
 Choose Thou for me, my God ; 
 
 So shall I walk aright. 
 
 The kingdom that I seek 
 
 Is Thine ; so let the way 
 That loads to it he Thine ; 
 
 El.se I must surely stray. 
 
 (/hoose Thou for me my friends, 
 
 My sickness or my health ; 
 Choose Thou my cares for me, 
 
 My poverty or wealth. 
 
116 THOUGHTS fOli WEARY HOURS 
 
 Take Thou my cup, and it 
 With joy or sorrow till, 
 
 As best to Thee may seem. 
 Choose Thou my good and ill. 
 
 LXXVII. 
 
 THE PEACE OP GOD. 
 
 We ask for peace, Lord ! 
 Thy children ask Thy peace ! 
 Not what the world calls rest — 
 That toil and care should cease ; 
 That through bright, sunny hours. 
 Calm life should fleet away 
 And tranquil night shoidd fade 
 In smiling day. 
 Tt is not for such peace that we would pra^ 
 
 We ask for peace, Lord ! 
 Yet not to stand secure, 
 Girt round with iron Pride, 
 Contented to endure : 
 Crushing the gentle strings 
 That human hearts should know, 
 Untouclicd by others' joys 
 Oi- others' woe. 
 Thou, dear Lord ! wilt nc\er te^ich us so. 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 117 
 
 We ask Thy peace, Lord ! 
 Til rough storm, and fear, uud strife, 
 To light and guide us on 
 Through a long struggling life, 
 While no success or gain 
 Shall cheer the desperate fight, 
 Or nerve what the world calls 
 Our wasted might ; 
 Yet pressing through the darkness to the light. 
 
 It is Thine own, Lord ! 
 Who toil while others sleep ; 
 Who sow with loving care 
 What other hands shall reap. 
 They lean on Thee entranced, 
 In calm and perfect rest. 
 ■ Give us that peace, Lord ! 
 Divine and blest, 
 Thou keepest for those hearts who love Thee best. 
 
 LXXVIII. 
 
 RECONCILED. 
 
 YEARS, gone down into the past ! 
 
 What pleasant memories come to me. 
 Of your untroubled days of peace 
 
 And houra of almost ecstasy ! 
 
118 THOUGHTS FOR WEAIiY HOUIIS. 
 
 /'Yet would 1 have no moon stand still, 
 W here life's most pleasant valleys lie ; 
 Nor wheel the planet of the day 
 
 Back on his pathway through the sky. 
 
 For though, when youthful pleasures died, 
 My youth itself went with them too ; 
 
 Tod ly, ay, even this very hour, 
 Is the best hour I ever knew. 
 
 Not that my Father gives to me 
 
 More blessings than in days gone by, 
 
 Dropping in my uplifted hands 
 
 All things for which I blindly cry ; 
 
 But that His plans and purposes 
 
 Have grown to me less strange and dim ; 
 
 And, where I can not understand, 
 I trust the issues unto Him. 
 
 And, spite of many broken dreams, 
 This have I truly learned to say — 
 
 Prayers, which I thought unanswei'cd once. 
 Were answered in God's own bett way. 
 
 And, though some hopes! cherished once, 
 Perished untimely ere their birth, 
 
 Yet I have been beloved and blest 
 Bevond the measure of mv worth. 
 
THOUGHTS FOR WEAKY HOURS 119 
 
 And sometimes, in my hours of grief, 
 For moments I have come to stand 
 
 Where, in the sorrows on mc hiid, 
 I felt the chastening of God's hnnd. 
 
 Then learned I that the weakest ones 
 Are kept securest from life's harms ; 
 
 And that the tender Iambs alone 
 Are carried in the Shepherd's arms ; 
 
 And sitting by the way-side, blind, 
 
 He is the nearest to the light 
 Who crieth out most earnestly, 
 '• Lord, tliat I might receive my sight !" 
 
 O feet ! grown weary as ye walk. 
 
 Where down life's hill my pathway lies, 
 
 What care I, wliile my soul can mount 
 As the young eagle mounts the skies ! 
 
 eyes ! witli weeping faded out, 
 
 What matters it how dim ye be? 
 My inner visions sweep untired 
 
 The reaches of eternity ! 
 
 death ! most dreaded power of all ! 
 
 When the last moment comes, and thou 
 Darken'st the windows of my soul, 
 
 TI)rough which I look on nature now 
 
1 20 THOUGHTS FOR WEARY HOURS. 
 
 Yea, when mortality dissolves, 
 
 Shall I not meet thine hour uiiawod ? 
 My house eternal in the hoavcns 
 ' Is lighted bv the smile of Go<l. 
 
 A. ^ ■ /^^^ 
 
Pnncelon Theologicil Semmflry-Speer Library 
 
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