PRESENTED TO THE LIBRABY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BY j|V[ps. Ale^dandef Ppoudfit. BV 4832 .M18 1853 Macduff, John R. 1818-1895 The morning watches, and Night watches ^.^i^ii^. ^4 ^^^yi^irt^ •■^^^ -..^^'^r-Af'S? THE MORI^OG WATCHES NIGHT WATCHES. BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE FAITHFUL PJROMISER." NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS No. 285 BROADWAY. 1853. T. B. SMITH, STEREOTYPER, B. CRAIGHEAD, PRIN'TEl 216 William Street, New York. 53 V< L-eeu THE MORNING WATCHES ' Come near, and blesa us when vre wake, Ere through the world onr way we take ; Till, in the ocean of Thy love, We lose ourselves in heaven above P itfy Sou iiiq iieli) fol- }[)e 3L01^^ WoU Ih^fl jl)ey 11)^1 iti^icl} fol- Jhe lOi^imia!" Ps. oxxx. 6. 1* THE MORNING WATCHES. This little volume is designed to form, by the Divine blessing, an humble auxiliary in promoting what is pronounced in the best of all manuals of de- votion to be " a good thing" — the showing forth of God's " loving-kindness in the morning]'* and His " faithfulness every nighf^ — (Ps. xcii. 2). It may not be out of place to remark, regarding the verse which forms the key-note to each petition — '•'• O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee" — that the word " direct," in the original Hebrew, may literally be rendered, " set in order." It refers to the setting in order of the wood for the burnt-sacrifices in the temple of old. While the heart of the believer, according to this beautiful al- lusion, is represented as a spiritual altar, on which, morning after morning, he offers the oblation of prayer, this motto-verse may also serve as a magnet VUl THE MORNING WATCHES. to keep the eye fixed, in each successive petition, on the great Antitypical Sacrifice, through whom alone it is that " the words of our mouths and the medita- tions of our hearts" are " acceptable" in the sight of God. Though more strictly designed for private devo- tion, and therefore expressed in the first person, it is hoped, by the substitution of the plural pronoun, that the following pages may not be inappropriate for the family altar. Deoembea 26, 1861. FOR PARDON OF SIN. "For Thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine in- iquity ; for it is great." — Ps. sxv. 11. God, I bless Thee that Thou hast permit- ted me to lie down in sleep, and to awake this morning in safety. Thou hast dispersed the darkness of another night : may no shadow of sin obscure the sunshine of Thy favor and love. May the returning light of day be to me the type and emblem of that better radi- ance with which Thou visitest the souls of Thy people, when they are enabled, in Jesus, to behold a pardoning God seated on a throne of reconciliation and grace. 1 come to Thee, acknowledging my trans- gressions in all their heinousness. I have nothing to i3lead in extenuation. Warnings \ iO THE MORNING WATCHES. have been abused, providences slighted, grace resisted. Thy Spirit grieved. It is of the Lord's mercies I am not consumed — that Thou hast not long ere now consigned me, with all this load of unpardoned guilt, to that place where pardon is unknown. But I do rejoice to know that " there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared" — that I can bring my great sins to a great Saviour. May I be enabled to feel that this all-glorious name of a reconciled God in Christ is " a strong tower," into which I may " run and be safe." G-ive me grace, in self- renouncing lowliness, to disown every other ground of confidence or hope of mercy, and to cast myself, a broken-hearted, humbled penitent, at the feet of Him on whom was laid the burden of all my transgressions. May mine henceforth be the blessedness of those " whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." May life's joys be sweet- ened, and life's sorrows sanctified, and life's terminating hour gladdened, with the as- FOR PAEDON OF SEN". 11 surance, "I am at peace with my God." May Thy favor brighten every scene, and the sweet sense of Thy reconciling love be interfused with all my occupations. If sorrow should cloud or darken, may I be brought to feel that there can be no true sor- row or disquietude to the soul which has found its rest in the finished work of Jesus, and which has attained that blessed peace here which is the prelude of glory hereafter. Give me grace to walk more closely with Thee in the time to come. Being forgiven much, may I love Thee all the more. May my life be one habitual effort of self and sin crucifixion, seeking to consecrate my soul's best energies to Him who is willing to " blot out as a thick cloud" all my transgressions. Overrule the discipline of Thy providence for promoting within me this death of sin, and this life of righteousness. Amid earth's man- ifold disquietudes, its crosses and its losses, enable me with joy to look forward to that blessed hour when there shall be no more sin. 12 THE MOKNING WATCHES. and therefore no more sorrow — when every tear shall be wiped from every eye, and when I shall be permitted to know all that is comprehended in the holy beatitude, how " blessed" indeed are " the pm'e in heart," who are to " see God." Direct, control, suggest, this day, all my designs, and thoughts, and actions, that every power of my body, and every faculty of my mind, may unite in devotedness to Thy sole service and glory. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. "CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MOENING^ FOE IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOB BENEWAL OF HEABT. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit -witliin me." — Pa. li. 10. Almighty God, who hast mercifully pre- served me during the unconscious hours of slumber, I desire to dedicate my waking mo- ments and thoughts to Thee. Do Thou pre- occupy my mind with hallowed and heavenly things. May I be enabled throughout this day, by the help of Thy Holy Spirit, to ex- clude all that is vain, and frivolous, and sin- ful, and to have my affections centred on Thee, as my best portion and chiefest joy. As Thy Spirit of old did brood over the face of the waters, may that same blessed Spirit descend in all the plenitude of His heavenly graces, that the gloom of a deeper moral 14 THE MOENING WATCHES. chaos may be dispersed, and that mine may be the beauty and happiness and gladness of a soul that has been transformed " from dark- ness to light, and from the power of sin and Satan unto God." Forbid, blessed Lord ! that I should be resting in anything short of this new creation. May my old nature be crucified ; and, as one alive from the dead, may I " walk with Jesus in newness of life." May the new life in- fused by Thy Spirit urge me to higher attain- ments and more heavenly aspirations. May I be enabled to see the world in its true light — its pleasures fading, its hopes delusive, its friendships perishable. May I be more sol- emnly and habitually impressed by the sur- passing magnitude of " the things not seen." May I give evidence of the reality of a re- newal of heart by a more entire and con- sistent dedication of the life. May my soul become a temple of the Holy Ghost ; may " Holiness to the Lord" be its superscription. May I be led to feel that there can be no true FOK RENEWAL OF HE^^JRT. 15 joy but what emanates from Thyself, the fountain and fulness of all joy — the God in whom " all my well-springs" are. Whatever may be the discipline Thou art employing for this inward heart-transforma- tion, let me be willing to submit to it. Let me lie passive in the arms of -Thy mercy, saying, " Undertake Thou for me." May it be mine to bear all, and endure all, and re- joice in all — adoring a Father's hand, and | trusting a Father's faithfulness — feeling se- cure in a Father's tried love. Blessed Jesus ! anew would I wash in the opened Fountain. The new heart, like every i holy blessing I can ask, is the purchase of ; that blood which Thou didst so freely shed. May it be sprinkled on my guilty conscience. May I know ever what it is to be living on a living Saviour, bringing all-emptiness to all- fulness — the unworthiness of infinite demerit to the worthiness of all-sufficient, all-abound- ing, grace and mercy. Do Thou shine upon my ways. May I this 16 THE MORNING WATCHES. day get nearer heaven. May I feel at its close that I have done something for God — something to promote the great end for which existence was given me — the glory of Thy holy name. Bless all my beloved friends. Unite us together in bonds of holy fellowship here ; and at last, in Thy presence, may we be permitted to drink together of the streams of everlasting love. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. " CATJSJE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST.*' FOa SANCTIFYING GEACE. "I am the Lord tJiat doth sanctify you." — Exq-d. xxxi. 13. Most blessed God, Thou hast permitted me in Thy great goodness to see the light of an- other day. May I be enabled to receive every returning morning as a fresh token of Thy love — a renewal of my lease of existence — a fresh grant of mercy from the Author of all being. May I seek, this day, and every day, to consecrate the life spared by Thy bounty more and more to Thy praise. Lord, I come anew with my burden of sin. It is Thy marvellous forbearance that does not make every succeeding morning my last. I bless Thee that there is still the cleansing blood, the " Wonderful Counsellor," the all- 2* 18 THE MORNING WATCHES. gracious Spirit. Give me to know, ere I go forth into the world, what it is to have the sense of Thy reconciled love. Whether in public or in private, in the intercourse of life or in the seclusion of solitude, may I realize Thy presence. May it be to me the sweetest and most blessed of all thoughts, that a cov- enant God is " compassing my path" — that by Him I am defended, guided, supported — safe ! Heavenly Father, it is the unholiness of my heart which mars the joys of my communion with Thee. It is my especial prayer that Thou mayest impart largely to me of the sanctifying influences of Thy grace and Spirit. Let sin be crucified more and more. Let self be subjugated more and more. Under the transforming power of new affections, may God become all in all. May it be mine to know, in growing experience, the happiness of true holiness. May I jealously avoid all that is likely to estrange me from Thee, and zealously cultivate all that is calculated to FOB SAlTCTIFYINa GRACE, 19 draw me nearer towards Thee. " Thy favor is life" — O show me that to lose Thy favor is death indeed ! This blessed work of inward sanctification is Thine. Alas ! I feel my constant prone- ness to wander from Thee, and to seek my happiness in the perishable. My best resolu- tions, how frail ! my warmest affections, how languid and lukewarm ! my hoKest moments, how distracted with vain thoughts and worldly cares ! — my whole life, how stained with sin ! But do Thou strengthen me with all might, by Thy Spirit, in the inner man. My daily cry would be, " More grace ! more grace !" There is no sufficiency in myself ; but hast Thou not promised to make Thy grace suffi- cient ? May I make it my grand ambition to be marking, day by day, my Zionward pro- gress — my growing conformity to the holy character of a holy God. For this end, overrule all the dispensations of Thy providence. May I hear a voice in each of them proclaiming, " Be holy." May 20 THE MOENINO WATCHES. I be led to bear them all, and to rejoice in them all, if they thus be the means of l3ring- ing me nearer Thyself. I commend to Thy fatherly protection all my beloved friends, and all for whom I ought to pray. " Sanctify them through Thy truth." May they all be presented unblama- ble before Thee in the day of Christ's ap- pearing. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God, and the communion and fel- lowship of the Holy Ghost, be with me now and ever. Amen. "cause MK to hear thy LOVma-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR SUPPORT IN TEMPTATION. "Hold Thou me up, and I shall "be safe." — Ps. cxix. 117. Most gracious God, give me grace to begin a new morning with Thee. Ere entering on the world, I invoke Thy blessing. Before I hear the voice of earthly friend, or mingle in earthly society, may I have a aonscious filial nearness to Thee, my Father in heaven. O Thou better, tenderer, dearer than all on earth, give me the sweet assurance of Thy presence and favor. With this, all the day's joys will be joys indeed — with this, the sting will be extracted from the day's sorrows. In q[uiet confidence I will repose on Thy cov- enant faithfulness. I need no other benedic- tion, Lord, if I have Thine. Other portions 22 THE MOENma WATCHES. may fail me, but I am independent of all, if " Thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion forever." I adore and bless Thy holy name for every past token of Thy kindness and forbearance. The retrospect of life is a retrospect of love. I am a wonder to myself that Thou hast spared me — that mercy is remembered when nothing but wrath is deserved. " Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had long ere now dwelt in silence." On that same arm I would desire still to lean. I am compassed about with a great fight of afflictions, and the sorest and saddest of all are my sins. But I fly to Thee, thou helper of the helpless. Give me to know what it is to dismiss all my own guilty mis- givings, and to rest my simj^le faith on a tried Redeemer. It is mistrust of Him that has been the cause of many a bygone fall. I have been dwelling more on the strength of my temptations than on the strength of my Saviour. O " hold Thou me up, blessed Je- FOR SUPPORT IN TEMPTATION. 23 sus ! and I shall be safe." Whenever in the way of sin, give me to realize the all-suf- ciency of Thy grace. May every hurricane of temptation drive me more under the shel- ter of the Eocb. May the loss of every earthly prop lead me to Thyself— the only abiding refuge. No step in the wilderness- journey would I take without Thee. No loss would I mourn when sustained at Thy bid- ding. No enemy would I fear if Thou art on my side. Hold Thou me up, and then in- deed I shall be safe — safe for time — safe for eternity. And the same support I ask for myself, I beseech Thee to vouchsafe to all near and dear to me. May the Lord God be tlieir " sun and shield." May they experience no temptation " above what they are able to bear ;" or, with the temptation, grant them grace that they may be able to bear it. And when all earthly dangers, and toils, and trials are over, may we all be enabled to meet in glory, and trace there, Avith adoring gratitude 24: THE MOENING WATCHES. and joy, the way in which Thy mercy through life " has held us up." Anew I commend myself, body and soul, to Thee this day. For Thy dear Son's sake, forgive all my sins. My sole trust is in the atoning blood. May I feel this to be the best preservative against temptation and sin, that all I am, and all I have, is not my own, but belongs to the Lord who died for me. Hear these my unworthy supplications, and grant me an answer in peace, for His sake. Amen. * CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." liftlr llarniitg. FOR HELP IN TROUBLE. " Ttiougb. I walk in the midst of troulDle, Thou wilt re- vive me." — Ps. cxxxviii. 7. Most blessed Lord, who hast again permit- ted me to approach a throne of grace, do Thou this day shine into my heart. Anew may I enter on another day's duties and trials, with a soul calm and peaceful amid all other disquietudes, by being at peace with Thee. I bless Thee that I can ever " sing of mercy" as well as of " judgment." Thy dealings might have been all in unmixed wrath, but the severest of them are tempered with gracious love. O that they may have their designed effect of driving me to the only true 26 THE MORNING WATCHES. rest for the soul, in the bosom of its God ! May the breaking of cistern by cistern only endear to me the more the great Fountain- head. How often dost Thou send tribulations, that Thy people may see more of Thy gracious hand ! How often, when the waters are troubled, do we recognize the presence of the great Covenant-angel himself, and experience the plenitude of His upholding grace and mercy ! Lord, my earnest prayer is, that every trial may serve to unfold to me more of the preciousness of Jesus. As prop by prop, which was wont to support me on earth, may be giving way, may I know what it is to lean my whole weight iijpon Him, and leave my whole case with Him, repairing to Him as the friend that " sticketh closer than any ])rother" — into His sympathizing bosom to confide my every want — from His inexhaust- ible treasury to draw every consolation — and on His upholding arm confidingly and habit- ually to rest. FOR HELP IN TROUBLE. 27 What, O blessed Saviour, are my troubles to Thine ! What are my bitterest tears and most aching heart in comparison with what Thou didst so freely endure for me ! May the remembrance of this Thy fellowship in my suffering, and my fellowship in Thine^ reconcile me patiently to endure whatsoever Thou seest meet to lay upon me. Give me grace ever to see that my bitterest trial is my sin, that my heaviest cross is the cross of my ] wandering treatjherous heart. When I think of that blessed time when God shall termi- nate the tears of a weeping world, may this be my loftiest ground of rejoicing — that there | will be then no more sin to cause them. Humbly I would lie at my Saviour's feet, disowning all trust save in Him — exulting in His finished work, and meritorious righteous- ness, and all-prevalent intercession. I rejoice to think of the redeemed multitude before His throne, " whom no man can number," and to feel that His ability and willingness " to save unto the uttermost" are still the same. 28 THE MOKNING WATCHES. Command, O Lord, thj richest blessing this day on all whom I love. May all my rela- tives be related to Thee in the common bonds of the gospel. Though separated by distance from each other on life's highway, may we enjoy the consolation that we are all tread- ing the same invisible road Zionward — that earth's dearest and tenderest ties will, at the end of the chequered journey, be strengthened and perpetuated in the full vision and fruition of Thee our God. May the grace of the Lord Jesus, and the love of God, and the fellowship and commu- nion of the Holy Ghost, be with me this day and ever. Amen. " CAUSE MB TO HEAR THY LOVINO-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR COMFORT IN BEREAVEMENT. "Turn Thee unto nae, and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted." — Ps. xxv. 16. O God, I come to Thee this morning, re- joicing in the simple but sublime assurance that " the Lord reigneth." Thy judgments are often " a great deep." May it be mine ever to own Thy sovereignty, and to rest sat- isfied with the assurance, " Be hath done all things well." It is indeed my oomfort to know that " my times" are not in my own hands, but in Thine. When in vain I seek to explain the mystery of Thy inscrutable doings, may I be enabled implicitly to trust Thine unswerving rectitude and faithfulness. The kindest and best of earthly parents may err — they may be be- 30 THE MOENING WATCHES. trayed into unnecessary harsliness and sever- ity — but Thou, O unerring Parent, wilt not, and canst not inflict one unneeded stroke. I can own Thy wisdom where I cannot discern it. I can trust the footsteps of love where I cannot trace them. I look back with adoring wonder on all Thy marvellous dealings towards me in the past. "When my foot slipped. Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up." How many tear-drops have been dried by Thee ! How many sorrows have been soothed by Thee! How many dangers have been averted by Thee ! In- stead of wondering at my trials, I have rather reason to marvel at Thy forbearance. What are my heavkst afflictions in compar- ison with the deserts of sin ? Lord, if they had been in proportion to my guilt, I could not have had one hour of joy. Give me grace not only to bear all, and to endure all, but to glory in all which Thy chastening love sees meet to appoint. Afflic- tion is Thine own appointed training-school FOB COMFORT IN BEREAVEMENT. 31 &5 for immortality. If I need such training Lord, withhold it not. Eather subject me to the severest ordeal of fatherly discipline, than leave me to vex Thee more with my guilty departures and backsliding. I will confide in the tenderness of Thy dealings — that Thou wilt conduct me by no rougher path than is really needful. Thou hast given Thy Son for me ! After such a pledge of Thy love, may it never be mine to breathe one murmuring word. For all in sorrow. Lord, I pray that they may take their sorrows to the " Man of sor- rows." May they be willing to forget their own light afflictions as they behold His bleed- ing wounds. Blessed God, what a source of joy to the whole family of the afflicted, that the exalted Head and elder brother has Him- self tasted sorrow's bitterest cup ! Lord Je- sus, Thou who hast suffered so much for me, grant that by patience and unrepining sub- mission I may be enabled to " glorify thee in the fires." 32 THE'-MOENING WATCHES. All my beloved friends I commit to Thy care. May the Lord be their everlasting por- tion. Forbid that I should have to mom-n in them what would be bitterer than the pang of all earthly bereavement — that they are be- reft of Thy favor. Make them Thine, and in the midst of life's vicissitudes and changes, may we all look forward to that better time, and that better world, where sorrow and sighing shall forever flee away. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. ** CAUSE MB TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MOENING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR LIGHT IN DARKNESS. "Unto the apright there ariaeth light in the darkness." — Ps. cxii. 4. Eternal, everlasting God, I bless Thee for the privilege of access into Thy presence. What am I — a guilty, unworthy sinner, de- serving only of condemnation — that I should be permitted, with holy boldness, to approach the footstool of Thy throne, and call Thee " my Father in heaven !" I rejoice to know, when " my heart is over- whelmed, and in perplexity," that I can ever look unto Thee as a " Rock that is higher than I" — that, amid all the ebbings and flow- ings in the tide of my own fitful frames and feelings. Thou, great Rock of ages, remainest fixed and immovable. Thou hast never failed 34 THE MORNING WATCHES. me in the past. "When " deep has been call- ing to deep," and many "waves and billows have gone over me," '' the Lord has com- manded His loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night His song has been with me, and my prayer nnto the God of my life." And I will trust Thee in the future. In the midst of baffling and mysterious providences I will be still — hushing every murmur, and breathing in lowly resignation the prayer, " divinely taught," " Thy will be done." It is my comfort to know that the darkest cloud is fringed with covenant love. I can repose on the blessed assurance thsit present discipline is needed discipline, and that all which is mystery now will be cleared up here- after. May it be mine cheerfully to follow the footsteps of the guiding Shepherd through the darkest, loneliest road, and amidst thick- ening sorrows may I have grace to say, '' Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Lord, increase my faith — let it rise above FOE LIGHT IN DARKNESS. all difficulties and all trials. Let these drive me closer to Him who has promised to make me " more than conqueror." Let them quicken my longings for the true home of my soul above. May it be my grand am- bition here to be a "pilgrim" in everything — to be pitching my tent day by day nearer heaven, imbibing every day more of the pil- grim character, and longing more for the pil- grim's rest. May I be enabled to say, with an increasingly chastened spirit, of a passing world, "Here I have no continuing city." May this assurance dry all tears, and recon- cile to all sorrows — " I am journeying unto the place of which the Lord hath said, I will give it you." Blessed Jesus, hasten Thy coming and Thy kingdom. Scatter the darkness which is now covering heathen nations. Stand by Thy missionary servants. May they exercise a simple faith on Thine own sure word of prom- ise. " Strong in the Lord and in the power of His might," may every mountain of diffi- 36 THE MORNING WATCHES. culty be made a plain, and " the glory of the Lord be revealed." God of Bethel, I commend to Thee all my beloved friends. Shield them by Thy pro- tecting providence. Give them every needed blessing in the present life, and in the world to come life everlasting. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST," FOB HOPE IN DISCOUBAGEMENT. "■Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and -why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God." — Ps. xliii. 5. O God, in Thine infinite rnercy Thou hast again spared me to approach Thy blessed presence. May each morning find me better prepared for the glorious waking-time of im- mortality, when " the day shall break," and earth's shadows shall forever " flee away." May I seek to rise this day in newness of life, breathing more of the atmosphere of holi- ness, and partaking more of the character of heaven. Thou art ever, by the salutary dispensa- tions of Thy providence, reminding me that "earth is not my rest." It is well, Lord, 4 38 THE MORNINa WATCHES. that it should be so ; that, by Thine own gracious and needed discipline, the world be disarmed of its insinuating power, and I be weaned from what is precarious at the best, and which ultimately must perish. O my God, I feel heavily burdened by reason of sin. I mourn my guilty proneness to temptation. How anything and every- thing seems often enough to drive me from Thee, and to lead me to seek my happiness in created good, rather than in Thyself, the infinite fountain of all excellence ! How sad have been my backslidings ! — how have solemn vows been broken ! — how have aban- doned and forsworn sins threatened again to have dominion over me ! How little tender- ness of conscience has there been ! — how lit- tle dread of an uneven walk ! How often, on the heart which I have consecrated to Thee as an altar for the perpetual sacrifice of praise, and gratitude, and love, has there been burning incense to strange gods ! Lord, when I look to my inner self, I have FOB HOPE IN DISCOURAGEMENT 39 good cause indeed for misgivings and despon- dency. Conscience repeats, over and over again, a sentence of condemnation, and I have naught to extenuate my guilt or palliate my sin. Whitlier can I flee ? Where can I look but to Thee, O Lamb of God, thou sin- bearing and sin-forgiving Saviour ! Enable me to be living more from moment to moment on Thy grace — to rely on thy guiding arm with more childlike confidence — to look with a more simple faith to Thy finished work, disowning all trust in my own doings, and casting myself, as a poor needy pensioner, on the bounty of Him who hath done all, and suffered all, and endured all, for me. Thus relying on the unseen arm of a covenant-God, when the hour of darkness and discouragement overtakes me — when trials multiply, and comforts fail, and streams of earthly blessing are dried up — may I have what compensates for the loss of all, " Thy favor, which is life, and Thy loving-kindness, which is better than life." " I will go in the 40 THE MORNING WATCHES. strength of the Lord God." "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Be the God of all near and dear to me. May all my relatives be able to claim a spiritual relationship with Thee, that so those earthly bonds of attachment, which sooner or later must snap asunder here, may be re- newed and perpetuated before the throne. Compassionate all who are in sorrow. Com- fort the feeble-minded. May "the joy of the Lord be their strength." May valuable lives be prolonged. May those appointed imto death be prepared for their great change. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. "cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the moening, FOR IN thee do I TRUST." FOR WISDOM IN PERPLEXITY. " Cause me to kno'w tlie ■way ■wlierein I should "walk, foi I lift up ray soul unto Thee." — Ps. cxliii. 8. ETEENAL Lord, whose nature and whose name is love, I bless Thee that I am again invited into Thy presence. "What am I, that I should be permitted to speak to the infinite God ! I might have been left through eter- nity a monument of Thy righteous vengeance. I might have known Thee only as " the con- suming fire." But " Thy ways are not as man's ways;" mercy is remembered when wrath might have come upon me to the utter- most. 1 desire to begin this day, blessing and praising Thee for "Thine unspeakable gift," Jesus the Son of Thy love. Adored be Thy 4* 42 THE MOENING WATCHES. name, that the guilt of my sin, which the holiness of Thy law could not suffer other- wise to be cancelled, has to Him been trans- ferred — that, as the scape-goat of His people. He has borne the mighty load into the land of oblivion, ne-ver more to be remembered. May I be enabled to show forth my lively grattitude to Thee for this wondrous token of Thy love, not only by lip-homage, but by heart and life devotion. Sanctify and seal me in body, soul, and spirit ; and present me at last " faultless before the presence of Thy glory with exceeding joy." O my God, I rejoice to know that my in- terests for time and eternity are confided to Thy keeping. Though often "wonderful in counsel," Thou art ever " excellent in work- ing." Thou art " God only wise" — " right- eous in all Thy ways, and holy in all Thy works." I commit my way and my doings unto Thee. " Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe." May I trust Thy wisdom and faith- fulness, even amid crosses, and losses, and FOR WISDOM IN PERPLEXITY. 43 frowning providences. Make them all work together for my good. If my path be in any way now hedged up with thorns, " undertake Thou for me." " Guide me with Thy counsel." Let me take no step, and engage in no plan, unsanctioned by Thine approval. Let it be my grand aim and ambition, in all the changes of a chang- ing life, to hear Thy directing voice, saying, " This is the way, walk ye in it ;" and then shall all life's trials be sweetened, and life's burden lightened, by knowing that they are the appointment of infinite wisdom and un- changing love, and that, though man may err, God never can. May Thy Holy Spirit lead me this day into all the truth. May all its duties be pervaded by the leavening power of vital godliness. While in the world, may I seek to feel and to exhibit that I am not of it. May I give evidence, in my walk and conversation, of a renewed nature, and of a nobler destiny. Hasten, blessed Jesus, Thy coming and Thy 4:4 THE MOKNING WATCHES. kingdom. "How long shall tlie wicked triumph ?" " Save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance ; feed them also, and lift them Tip forever." Let the voice of salvation be heard in the households of all I love. May theirs be the dwellings of the righteous. May this be their name, " The Lord is there." May they know Him who hath said, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." And "now. Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in Thee." Hear and answer these un- worthy supplications, for Jesus' sake. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS. My strength is made perfect in weakness." — 2 Cor. xii. 9. O THOU high and mighty God, inhabiting eternity, do Thou draw near unto a poor un- worthy sinner, who ventures anew this morn- ing to approach the footstool of Thy throne. Vouchsafe me now the gracious aids of Thy gracious Spirit, that out of much weakness I may be made strong. It is Thine own gra- cious assurance, that " they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." I would rely on the faithfulness of a promising God. May my own utter emptiness drive me to all fulness. May my own conscious weakness wean me from all earthly props, and confidences, and refuges, to " abide un- der the shadow of the Almighty." 46 THE MORNING WATCHES. Lord, I confess this day with shame and confusion of face my manifold infirmities, my coldness and lukewarmness, my distrust of Thy providence, my insensibility to Thy love, my murmuring at Thy dealings, my tampering with sin, my resisting of Thy grace. How often, like the slender reed, have I bent before the blast of temptation, my best resolutions proving " as the morning cloud and early dew !" And yet, gracious Father, Thou hast not broken "the bruised reed" — Thou hast not " quenched the smoking flax." I am here this morning a marvel to myself that Thou art still sparing me. " Thy ways are not as man's ways." Had it been so. Thou wonldst long since have grown weary. But it is uLc prerogative of the everlasting God that " He fainteth not, neither is weary." Thou art this morning giving me fresh grants of mercy, renewed proofs and tokens of unmerited love. I am receiving " at the Lord's hand double for all my sins." FOR STRENGTH IN AVEAKNESS. 47 I rejoice to Imow, blessed Jesus, tliat it is Thy burdened ones Thou hast specially prom- ised " gently to lead." Thou wilt conduct me by no rougher road than is necessary. " Undertake Thou for me." May the wilder- ness journey be this day resumed and re- newed with a more simple, and childlike, and habitual leaning on Thee. Do Thou put this new song into my mouth, " The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer ; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust." Say unto me, in the midst of my weakness, "Fear not, thou worm Jacob." With the pillar of Thy presence ever before me, " I will go from strength to strength." Keep me this day from sin. May no evil thoughts, or vain imaginings, or deceitful lusts, obtrude on my walk with God. May an affecting sense of how frail I am, keej) me near the atoning sacrifice. May the '' horns of the altar" ever be in sight. Blessed Je- sus, my helpless soul would hang every mo- ment upon Thee. 48 THE MOENING WATCHES. Look down in Thy kindness on all connect- ed with me by ties of earthly kindred. May the blessing of the God of Bethel rest on every heart and household I love. May we all be journeying Zionwards, and be so weaned from earth as to feel that Zionwards is homewards. If pursuing different paths, and separated, it may be, far from one an- other, may the journey have one blessed and happy termination. May we meet in glory, and meet with Thee. And all I ask is for the Redeemer's sake. Amen. "cause me to hear thy lOving-kindness in the morning, FOR IN thee do I trust." FOR GRATITUDE FOR MERCIES. " What shall I render unto the Lord for all His henefita towards me ?" — Ps. cxvi. 12. O God, I adore Thee as the Author and Giver of every good and every perfect gift. Thou art daily loading me with Thy benefits. Every returning morning brings with it fresh causes for gratitude — new material for praise. I bless Thee for Thy temporal bounties — " how great has been the sum of them !" While others have been pining in poverty, or wasted by sickness, or racked in pain, or left friendless and portionless. Thou hast been making showers of blessing to fall around my dwelling. I laid me down last night and slept — I awaked, for the Lord sustained me. I might never have seen the morning light. 5 50 THE MORNING WATCHES. Mine miglit have been the midnight sum- mons to meet a God in whose righteous pres- ence I was all unmeet and unprepared to stand. And yet I am again spared a monu- ment of Thy goodness. Oh, do Thou enkin- dle a flame of undying gratitude to Thee, on the clay-cold altar of my heart. I mourn and lament that I am so little and so feebly af- fected by the magnitude of Thy mercies, and especially by the riches of Thy grace and love manifested in Jesus ; — that my affec- tions are so little alive to the incalculable obligation under which I am laid to Him who hath " loved me with an everlasting love." I am doubly Thine. Creation and redemption combine in claiming all I am, and all I have, for Thee and Thy service. Good Lord, preserve me from the sin of insensibil- ity to Thine unwearied kindness — of taking Thy mercies as matters of course, and thus living in a state of independence of Thee. May my whole existence become a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving — may all my do- FOR GRATITUDE FOR MERCIES. 51 ings testify the sincerity and devotion of a heart feelingly alive to every gift of the great Giver ; and, especially, may I be so brought under the constraining influence of redeem- ing love, as to consecrate every power of my body and every faculty of my soul to Him who so willingly consecrated and shed His very life's blood for me. Lord, this day shine upon me with tlie light of Thy countenance ; may every mercy I ex- perience in the course of it be hallowed and sweetened by the thought that it comes from God. And, while ever mindful and thankful in the midst of present mercies, teach me to keep in view the crowning mercy of all — the hope of at last sharing Thy presence and full fruition, and of joining in the eternal ascrip- tion with the ransomed multitude above, who cease not day nor night to celebrate Thy praises. Bless all near and dear to me. Defend them by Thy mighty power. Give tliem^ too, gratitude for mercies past, and the sure and 52 THE MORNING WATCHES. well-grounded hope of a glorious inheritance in that better world, where mercy is unmixed with judgment, and joy undarkened by sor- row. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR CRUCIFIXION OF SIN. "I die daily."— 1 Cor. sv. 31. Heavenly Father, who hast permitted me, in Thy great mercy, to see the light of an- other day, enable me to begin and to end it with Thee. Let all my thoughts, and pur- poses, and actions have the superscription written on them — " Holiness to the Lord." Give me to know the blessedness of recon- ciliation — what it is, as a sinner, and the chief of sinners, to come "just as I am, with- out one plea," to that blood "which cleanseth from all sin." I desire to take hold of the sublime assurance, that Jesus is " able to save unto the uttermost" — that He has left noth- ing for me as a suppliant at Thy throne — a 5* 54 THE MORNING WATCHES. pensioner on Thy bounty — but to accept all as the gift and purchase of free, unmerited grace. While I look to Him as my Saviour from the j>enaUy^ may I know Him also as my De- liverer from the power of sin. I have to la- ment that so often I have yielded to its solici- tations — that my heart, a temple of the Holy Ghost, has been so often profaned and dis- honored by the " accursed thing," marring my spiritual joy, and sorely interrupting com- munion with the Lord I love. Give me grace to exercise a godly jealousy over my traitor affections — to live nearer Thee — to have the magnet of my heart more centered on Thj^- self — to keep the eye of faith more steadily on Jesus — to live more habitually under " the j)owers of the world to come." Thou knowest my hesetting sin— the plague of my heart, which so often leads to a guilty estrangement. Lord, cut down this root of bitterness. Let me nail it to Thy cross. Let me be ever on the watch-tower, ready to resist the first as- FOR CRUCIFIXION OF SIN. 55 sault of the enemy. Let it be to me at once a precept and a promise — " Sin shall not have dominion over you." Oh show me that my strength to repel temptation is in Jesus alone. Put me in the cleft of the rock when the hurricane is passing by. May I be as willing to surrender all for my Saviour — my heart- sins and life-sins — as He willingly surren- dered His all for me. May I be enabled to say, " Lord, I am Thine." Every idol I utterly abolish. Save me, blessed Saviour, from a deceitful heart and a seductive world. Let me see more and more the beauties of holiness. Let me ever be basking in the rays of Thy love — approach- ing nearer and nearer Thee, thou " Sun of my soul." May Thy loveliness and glory eclipse all created beams, and may I look forward with bounding heart to that time when all that helps to lighten up earth's pathway shall be obscured in the shadow of death, and I shall be ushered into the glories of that better and brighter scene, where " the sun shall no 56 THE MOENING WATCHES. more go down, neither shall the moon with- draw itself, but where the Lord my God shall be my everlasting light." And what I ask for myself, I desire in be- half of those near and dear to me. Do Thou " sanctify them wholly." May they, too, crucify sin, and " die daily." May this be the happy history of all of us — " Being made free from sin, and having become the servants of God, we have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVINa-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." ®|irtnnt|r S^^^nttg. FOR GROWTH IN HOLINESS. " Grow in grace." — 2 Pet. iii. 18. O God, draw near to me in Thy great mercy. Another peaceful morning has dawned upon me. May it be mine to know the happiness of those who walk all the day in the light of Thy countenance. O thou best and kindest of beings, teach me to know, amid the smiles and the frowns, the joys and the sorrows, of an ever-changing world, what it is to have an unchanging ref- uge and portion in Thee. I can mourn no blank, I can feel no solitude, when I have Thy presence and love. If I have naught beside — stripped and denuded of every other 68 THE MORNING WATCHES. blessing — I have the richest of all, if I be at peace with God. I desire to dwell with devout contempla- tion on the infinite loveliness of Thy moral nature. Lord, I long to have this guilty, err- ing soul, moulded and fashioned in increas- ing conformity to Thy blessed mind and will. Let my great concern henceforth be, to love, and serve, and please Thee more and more. May all Thy dealings with me, of whatever kind they be, contribute in promoting this growth in holiness. May prosperity draw forth a perpetual thank-offering of praise for unmerited mercies. May adversity purify away the dross of worldliness and sin. May every day be finding the power of sin weaker and weaker, and the dominion of grace stronger and stronger. Living under the powers of a world to come, may I look for- ward with joyful expectation to the time when sin shall no longer impede my spiritual growth — when Satan shall be disarmed of his power, and my own heart of its deceitfulness FOR GROWTH IN HOLINESS. 59 — when every faculty of a glorified and ex- alted nature shall be enlisted in Thy service in a world of eternal joy. O thou blessed Advocate within the veil — i Thou who art even now interceding for Thy tried and tempted saints, " that their faith fail not" — do Thou impart unto me a constant supply of Thy promised grace. IS'ot only ! sprinkle my heart with Thy blood, but con- I quer it by Thy love. Fill me with deep con- ! trition for an erring past — inspire me with I purj^oses of new obedience for the future. May I know, in my sweet experience, that I " Thy yoke is easy, and Thy burden- light" — I that, growing in holiness, I am growing in i happiness too. Give me an increasing ten- derness of conscience about sin — lead me, with more filial devotedness, to cultivate a holy fear of ofiending so gracious a Father. i Habitually realizing my new covenant rela- tionship to Thee, may I ever be ready to ex- claim, with joyful sincerity, " O Lord, truly I am Thy servant !" 60 THE MOENING WATCHES. Revive, blessed God, Thine own work everywhere. " Take unto Thee Thy great power, and reign." Hemove all hardness and blindness of heart — all contempt of Thy Word. May it have free course and be glo- rified. Bless my dear friends. However far sep- arated from one another, we can ever meet at the same throne of the heavenly grace, plead- ing the same " exceeding great and precious promises." May we all be following the same path of grace now, and meet amid the end- less joys of glory hereafter. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." I ianxttnt\ P^rning* 1 FOR VICTORY OVER THE WORLD. ''"Whatsoever is "born of God orercometh ttie world," — 1 John v. 4. ETERNAL, everlastiiig God, Thou art glo- rious in holiness, fearful in praises, contin- ually doing wonders. Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory. Thou, the almighty keeper of Israel, never slumberest. There is not the moment I am away from Thy wakeful vigilance. In the defenceless hours of sleep, as well as amid life's activities and toils, Thou art ever the same — " compassing my path and my lying down, and intimately acquainted with all my ways." 1 rejoice to think that I have the assurance of such unwearying watchfulness and care, 62 THE MOENINQ- WATCHES. in a world " lying in wickedness." Blessed Jesus, in the world Thou hast forewarned me to expect tribulation, but, nevertheless, I will "be of good cheer, for Thou hast overcome the world." Thou hast traversed its wilder- ness-depths — Thou hast passed through the shadow of its darkest valley. I cannot dread what Thou hast trodden and conquered. But, alas ! I have to mourn that the world which crucified Thee, should be so much loved by me — that its pleasures should be so fasci- nating — its pursuits so engrossing. Wean me from it. Break its alluring spell. Strip it of its counterfeit charms. Discover to me its hollowness — the treachery of its promises — the precariousness of its best blessings — the fleet- ing nature of its most enduring friendships. I take comfort in the thought, " The Lord God is a sun and shield.-' The world has deceived me, but Thou never hast. Guide me by Thy counsel. Saviour-God, let me come up from the wilderness leaning on Thine arm, exult- ing, amid its legion-foes, that greater is He FOR VICTORY OVER THE WORLD. 63 that is with me than all they that can be against me. O Thou who, in Thy last prayer on earth, didet so touchingly say of Thy pilgrim people, ' ' These are in the world ;" do Thou still bend Thy pitying eye upon me, as I travel, burden- ed with sin and sorrow, through the valley of tears. Do Thou so " sanctify me through Thy truth," that, though in the world, I may not be of it — not conformed to its sinful practices and lying vanities. Bring me to say, with regard to all in it that was once so fascinat- ing, "My soul is even as a weaned child." With my face Zion wards, may I declare plain- ly that I seek " a better country." Grant that this day, in all my worldly in- tercourse, I may have the realizing sense of Thy presence and nearness. May I set a watch on my heart, and keep the door of my lips. May cherished feelings of love and de- votedness to Thee be intermingled with all life's duties and engagements. May I know that a simple faith in Jesus is the great se 64 THE MOENING WATCHES. cret of victory over the world. O may the trembling magnet of my vacillating affections be ever pointing to Him, and then I shall be made " more than conqueror." Through His all-prevailing merits and ad- vocacy, hear my prayer. In His most pre- cious blood, forgive all my sins. By His in- dwelling grace, sanctify my nature, that my whole body, soul, and spirit may be preserved blameless until His coming. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MOKNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR DEEPER VIEWS OF SELF. " Search me, O God, and i:no"w my heart." — Pa. cxxxix. 23. O ETEKNAL, evei'lastmg God, who hast once more enlightened my eyes, and suffered me not to sleep the sleep of death, bestow upon me this day the riches of Thy grace and love. Morning after morning is dawning upon me, with new tokens of Thy mercy. Oh, may these be bringing me nearer the glorious day which is to know no night — that eternal noon- tide when all shadows and darkness are for- ever to flee away ! Lord, I am unworthy to come into Thy pres- ence, and yet I have to mourn that I do not feel this deep unworthiness as I ought. I am unwilling to see into the unknown depths of 6* 66 THE MORNING WATCHES. my sin. I do not know myself. I have no de- pressing consciousness of the desperate wick- edness of my own evil heart. I have buried many bypast transgressions in oblivion. I have deluded myself with the thought, that many were too trivial and unimportant to in- cur Thy disapproval. Even any imperfect good which Thy grace has enabled me to per- form, I have been too prone to take the merit to myself, instead of ascribing all the praise to Thee. There has been pride in my humil- ity. There have been mingled motives in my best services. My best resolutions have been fitful and transient. My purest and most dis- interested actions could not stand the scrutiny of Thine eye. The holiest day I ever spent, were I to be judged by it, would condemn me. O Thou who " sear chest Jerusalem with lighted candles," do Thou " search my heart." Bring me to the publican's place of peniten- tial sorrow, exclaiming, in self-renouncing humility, " God be merciful to me a sinner !" FOR DEEPER VIEWS OF SELF. 67 I would seek to make a more entire and undivided surrender of all I am and have to Thee. Give me such an awful and affecting sense of my vileness, that I may never feel safe but when close by the atoning Fountain, drawing out of it hourly supplies. May mine be a daily heart and self and sin crucifixion — an eternal severance from those bosom traitors which have so long separated between me and my God. Make me more zealous for Thy honor and glory — " Cleanse Thou the thoughts of my heart, by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit" — " Let no iniquity obtain dominion over me." But may it be my daily ambition to become more like to Thee, reflecting more of the image, and imbibing more of the spirit, of my Divine Eedeemer, that thus the atmos- phere of holiness and of heaven may be dif- fused all around me. May my own soul be pervaded with lofty and purified aspirations. May I be enabled to exhibit to the world the felt happiness of close walking with God. And do Thou, gracious Father, " send forth bo THE MOENING WATCHES. thy light and thy truth" to a darkened world. May Thine own ancient people be speedily gathered in with the fulness of the Gentile nations, that all ends of the earth may see the salvation of God. Bless all my dear friends, near or distant. May they have the heritage of those that fear Thy name. Defend them now by thy mighty power, and at last number them with thy saints in glory everlasting. Amen. "cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning, FOE in thee do I trust." 3x^tttnt\ Hunting* / OR BRIGHTER VIEWS OF JESUS. "That I may know Hira." — Phil. iii. 10. Blessed Jesus ! — Sun of my soul ! — Light of mj life ! — do Thou shine upon me this morning with the " brightness of Thy rising." May I enjoy this day union and communion with Thee. May a sense of Thy favor per- vade all its duties, sanctify its blessings, and lighten its trials. May it be to me the sweet- est and holiest of all thoughts, that Thou art ever with me — that, though unseen to the eye of sense, the eye of faith can discern Thy gracious presence and the manifestations of Thy nearness and love. May the realized as- surance, that Thou art thus at my side, dispel every misgiving, and dry every tear. May I 70 THE MORNIXG WATCHES. liear Thee, even now, saying unto me, " Lo, I am with you" — I am with you now — I shall be with you "alway" — and when the world is ended, "I will" that you "be with me where I am, that you may behold my glory !" O adorable Saviour, how sadly is Thy beauty obscm*ed from my view, by reason of my own sin ! How feebly do I apprehend the mystery of Thy love — the glories of Thy person — the perfection of Thine atonement. Hide me in the clefts of the rock, and while there, " I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory." May every fresh glimpse of " the great love wherewith Thou hast loved me" rebuke the lukewarmness of my own. May I covet a closer walk with Thee. May my existence be one continued Emmaus journey — its hours passing joyously by, because happy in the presence and converse of a risen Redeemer. Blessed Jesus, " abide with me," for the day is "far spent." Let me walk with Thee in newness of life. May I breathe Thy spirit of holy submission — of cheerful obedience — FOR BRIGHTER VIEWS OF JESUS. 71 of patience under injuries. May I not repine at bearing the cross, so meekly borne for nie ; nor murmur at my trials, when I think of Thine. May I be enabled to make every lineament of Thy spotless "character my daily study, 80 as gradually to be transformed into the same image, from glory to glory — looking forward to that blessed time when I shall see Thee without one stain of remaining sin to dim the contemplation, and when I shall be permitted to bathe in the ocean of Thine eter- nal love. I thank Thee for the mercies of the bypast night. Give me to reckon every new day a fresh gift of Thy dying grace — to regard all its hours as redeemed hours — ewery moment as " bought with a price." May these days, and hours, and moments, thus stamjDed with the cross, be consecrated more than ever to Thy praise. Again, I beseech Thee, '' abide with me." "Where Thou goest I will go, and where Thou dwellest I will dwell." Abide with me 72 THE MORNING WATCHES. from morning to evening, and from evening to morning again. " Without Thee I cannot live" — " without Thee I dare not die." Liv- ing or dying, Lord, I would seek to be Thine. Forgive all my many sins, and when the feeble glimpses of a feeble love on earth are at an end, bring me at last to enjoy brighter views of Thee in glory everlasting. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOE NEARER VIEWS OF HEAVEN. " They siiall "behold the land that is very far off." — Isaiah xxxiii. 17. O God, in the multitude of Thy mercies I am again permitted to see the light of a new day. With another rising morn do Thou scatter all the clouds of sin and unbe- lief from my soul. Unfold to my view bright glimpses of Thyself — sweet foretastes of those jo^^s which " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard." Here, Lord, I have " no continuing city" — ■ change is my portion in this the house of my pilgrimage — " I would not live alway." I am " willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Wean me from this uncertain world, Bring 7 74 THE MORNING WATCHES. me to live under the powers of a world to come. I rejoice to think of the happy myriads already in glory — " clothed in white robes, with palms in their hands' ' — safe in the presence of the Master they love, with every tear-drop wiped away. I rejoice to know that the blood and grace to which they owe their crowns are still free as ever. O may I be enabled, with some good measure of triumphant assurance, to say, " Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous- ness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." May the thought of that endless, sinless, sorrowless immortal- ity reconcile me to all earth's severest disci- pline. Let me not murmur under the heaviest cross in the prospect of such a crown. Let me not refuse to pass cheerfully through the hottest furnace which is to refine and purify me for this " exceeding weight of glory ;" but bear with calm equanimity whatever Thou seest meet to lay upon me. " Weep- FOK NEARER VIEWS OF HEAVEN. 75 ing may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Lord, grant that the approach of eternity may urge me to greater diligence in Thy ser- vice. May I have my loins girded and my lamp burning. May I spend each day, and this day, as if it were to be my last. "When the shadows of evening gather around me, may I feel that I have spent a day for God. Nearer a dying hour — may it find me nearer heaven. What I ask for myself I would seek in be- half of all my beloved friends. Sprinkle each heart with the blood of the covenant. May every eye be directed to Jesus, and every footstep be pointing heavenward. Though severed from one another now, may we not be found gathered in different bun- dles on the great reaping-day of judgment. Lord, unite Thine own people more and more. "Why should we be guilty of such sad estrangements, crossing and re-crossing one another on life's highway with alien and 76 THE MOENING WATCHES. jealous looks, when professing to be sprinkled with the same blood, to bear the same name, and be heirs of the same inheritance ? Let me live near to Jesus, and then I shall live near all His people, looking forward to that blessed time when we shall see eje to eye, and heart to heart — no jarring or discordant note to mar the everlasting ascription of " blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever." Amen. "cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning, FOE IN thee do I trust." FOR WEANEDNESS FROM THE CREATURE. " There is none upon eartli tliat I desire "besides Thee." — Ps. Ixsiii. 25. Lord, Thou blessed fountain of all hap- piness and joy, do Thou draw near to me this morning in Thy great mercy. All creature- comforts are emanations from Thee. Thy fa- vor is life — ^Thy displeasure is worse than death. In losing Thee, we lose our all— in having Thee, we can want nothing. 1 have to acknowledge, with shame and confusion of face, that I have not thus been seeking my true enjoyment in Thee. I have been in pursuit of fleeting shadows, which one by one have eluded my grasp. I have been worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator, who is " God over all, 7# 78 THE MORNING WATCHES. blessed for evermore." Lord, bring me to see that nothing short of Thyself can satisfy the longings and desires of my immortal nature. Wean me from what is perishable. Let me reverentially acquiesce in whatever means Thou mayest employ to bring my wandering heart back to Thee, O thou alone-satisfying portion of my soul. Rather, Lord, would I submit to the hardest discipline than listen to the withering words, " Ephraim is joined to idols : let him alone." Let me feel that Thy presence and love can compensate for the loss of all earthly joys. As prop after prop which has gladdened my pilgrimage totters and falls, may I know what it is to "dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty." As Thou art ever proclaiming over creature- confidence, " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," may I know what it is to cleave to One who is better and surer than the nearest and dearest on earth — the Friend that never fails, and never wearies, and never FOE WEANEDNESS FKOM THE CREATURE. 79 dies — " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." Blessed Saviour, I devolve my every care on Thee. Thou art noting now on the throne the pangs and sorrows of every burdened heart. All other love is imperfect. All other sympathy is selfish but Thine. May my af- fections be consecrated to Thee. May it be my joy to serve Thee — my privilege to follow Thee, and, if need be, to suffer with Thee. May every cross lose its bitterness by having Thee at my side. May I feel that nothing but absence from Thee can create a real blank in my heart. Thy presence takes the sting from all afflictions, and imparts security in the midst of all troubles. Living or dying, may I be Thine. Sprinkle me this new morning with the blood of the covenant. May I feel all through- out the day the joy of being reconciled to God. May my heart be made a little sanctu- ary of praise. May I breathe the atmosphere of heaven. May God himself be so enthroned 80 THE MORNmG WATCHES. in my affections, that I may be enabled to say, in comparison with Him, of all that the world can give, " There is none upon the earth that I desire besides Thee." Heavenly Father, I leave all that belongs to me to Thee — " Undertake Thou for them." Bless them and make them blessings. " Hide them under the shadow of thy wings" until earth's " calamities be overpast." Hear this my morning supplication ; and when thou hearest, forgive. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR LOWLINESS OF MIND. ' He giveth grace unto the durable." — 1 Pet. v. 5. O God, Thou art "the high and the lofty One who inhabiteth eternity." There is no being truly great but Thee. All other excel- lence and glory is derived — Thine is unde- rived. All else is finite — ^Thine is infinite. The burning seraph nearest Thy throne is the humblest of all Thy creatures, because he gets the nearest view of the majesty of Thy glory. Lord, fill my soul this morning with suita- ble views of Thy greatness, and a humbling estimate of my own nothingness. I would lie low at Thy feet — ^in wonder and amazement that dust and ashes should be permitted to 82 THE MOENING WATCHES. approach that Being whom angels worship with folded wings, and in whose sight the very "■ heavens are not clean." Repress every proud, self-glorying imagination. Let me feel I cannot abase myself enough in thy presence. " Lord, I am vile ; what can I an- swer Thee?" My best thoughts, how pol- luted ! — my best services, how imperfect ! — my best affections, how lukewarm ! — my best prayers, how cold ! — my best hours, were I judged by them, how would I be condemned ! I desire to take refuge at the cross of a cru- cified Saviour. Here, Lord, give me that grace Thou hast promised to the lowly. Self- renouncing and sin-renouncing, I would seek to be exalted only in Jesus, crying out " God be merciful to me a sinner !" In broken-heart- edness of soul, I mourn the past. Distrustful of the future, I look only to Thee. Full of my own unworthiness, I turn to the infinitely wor- thy One. I seek to be washed in His blood — ■ sanctified by His Spirit — guided by His coun- sel — depending on Him for every supply of FOR LOWLINESS OF MIND. 83 grace — and feeling that without Him I must perish. May I take the humility and gentleness of Jesus as my pattern. Like Him, may I be meek and lowly in heart. Give me grace to avoid ostentation and pride, haughtiness and vanity, envy and uncharitableness. " In low- liness of mind, may I esteem others better than myself." Let me realize every moment that I am a pensioner on Divine bounty — that I am alike " for temporals and spirituals" dependent on Thee — and that it well becomes me to be " clothed with humility." O let me meekly and submissively lose my own will in Thine, in childlike teachableness, saying — " What wilt Thou have me to do ?" May no murmur escape my lips at Thy dealings. May this lowliness of spirit lead me rather to wonder at thy sparing mercy, that the great and holy Being I have provoked so long by my rebellion has not " cut me down." Bless all connected to me by endearing bonds. May nature's ties be made doubly 84: THE MOENING WATCHES. st' ong by those of covenant grace. Bless 7hy cause and kingdom in the world. May Thy Spirit descend "• like rain upon the mown grass, and showers that water the earth." I commit myself unto Thee, and to the word of Thy grace. Guide me this day by Thy counsel. May I spend it as if it were to be my last. And when my last day does ar- rive, may it be to me the eve of a happy eter- nity. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR SIMPLICITY OF FAITH. "Only believe." — Mare v. 36. ETERNAL, evei'-blessed Jehovah — ^Foun- tain of all light — Source of all happiness — • " God of all grace" — ^look down upon me this morning with that love which " Thou bearest to Thine own," as I venture anew into Thy sacred presence. Let me enjoy a sweet season of fellowship with Thee. Let the world be shut out, and may I feel alone w4th God. " Under the shadow of Thy wings would I rejoice." 1 come in the nothingness of the creature, standing alone in the fulness of Jesus. I come, "just as I am, without one plea" — as a sinner, and as the " chief of sinners" — to 8 S6 THE MORNING WATCHES. Thee, Thou almighty Saviour. I seek to dis- own all creature-confidence, and, with all the burden of my guilt, to cast myself, for time and for eternity, at Thy feet. "Lord, save me, else I perish." I cannot stand in myself. I can stand only in Him who has stood so wil- ling a Surety for me — who is still at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, presenting my name, and my j^rayers, and my plea, before the throne. I have no other confidence, and I need no other. Jesus, I am complete in Thee. Let me not look inwardly on myself, where there is everything to sink me in despondency and dismay ; but let me look with the undivided and unwavering eye of faith to Thy bleeding sacrifice. I rejoice to think of the many robes in the Church triumphant Thy blood has already made white. I rejoice to know that the same blood is free as ever — the same invitation is ad- dressed as ever — the promise and the Prom- iser remain " faithful" as ever — " Him that Cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." FOB SIMPLICITT OF FAITH. 87 Lord, I come — I plead Thv word. I come, irrespective of all I am, and all I have been. Magnify Thy grace in me. Show me my ut- ter beggary and wretchedness by nature — that every step to glory is a step of grace ; and while, with childlike faith, I rest on the finished work of Jesus, may I have the same simple trust and confidence in all His deal- ings towards me. May I feel that the Shep- herd of Israel cannot lead me wrong — that His own way must be the safest and the best. Lord, " undertake Thou for me" — " I will fol- low Thee to prison and to death." Take me — ^lead me — use me, as Thou seest good. If I need chastisement, give me chastisement. If I need rebuke, let me not repine under the rod. Let me trust a Father's word — a Father's love — a Father's discipline. " Though Thou slay me, yet will I trust in Thee." And as for myself, so for all dear to me. I pray that it may please Thee, of Thine in- finite mercy, to visit them with Thy salvation — ^to guide them by Thy counsel — to overrule 88 THE MOKNING WATCHES. all life's changes, and vicissitudes, and trials for their well-being, and at last to bring them safe to Thine eternal kingdom, through Jesus Christ — to whom, with Thee, O Father, and Thee, O eternal Spirit, three in one in cove- nant for our redemption, be ascribed all bless- ing, and honor, and glorj, and praise, world without end. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAE, THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOa IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR CONSISTENCY OF WALK. "Walk -worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing." — Col. i. IC. O Lord, Thou art the heart-searching and the rein- trying God. To Thee all hearts are open — from Thee no secrets are hid. Cleanse Thou the thoughts of my heart this day, by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit. I would seek to begin its hours with Thee. May all its business and employments be perfumed with the fragrance of " the morning sacri- fice.'' O Thou great origin and end of all things, be Thou to me the Alpha and the Omega of my daily being. May I feel existence to be a blank without Thee. May I feel that I can only be truly happy when a sense of Thy 8* 90 THE MOENING WATCHES. favor, and friendship, and love is sweetly in- termingled with life's duties — thus lessening every burden — hallowing every trial — dimin- ishing every cross ! I come to Thee once more, an unworthy sinner, to cast myself at my Saviour's feet. What am I, that Thou shouldst have borne with me so long ! The axe " laid at the root of the trees" might long ago have cut me down ; but I, a guilty cumberer, am still spared. The retrospect of existence, while a retrospect of patience and forbearance on Thy part, is one of mournful rebellion and in- gratitude on mine. I have had a " name to live," but how much spiritual death in my best frames ! I have had a form of godli- ness ; how little have I lived out and acted out its power ! More careful have I been to appear to be a Christian than really to he a Christian. How much unevenness in my walk — how much proclaimed and professed by the lip has been undone and denied in the life ! FOR CONSISTENCY OF WALK. 91 I come this morning to ask anew for mercy to pardon, and grace to lielp me. Especially do Thou give me the grace of a holy consis- tency, doing all for Thy glory, having bold- ness to speak for Thee in the world. May my walk and conversation be the living ev- idence and expression of the sincerity and reality of the inner life. For this end may I live more on Jesus. May my life be " hid with Christ in God." May I grow more and more out of myself, and into my living Head. Self-humbled and self-emptied, may I be ever resorting to the all-fulness of an all-sufficient Saviour. May this be my habitual feeling — " Without Him I can do nothing." May this be my constant prayer — "Help me. Saviour, or I die." May I be enabled this day, in His strength, to do something for God. However lowly my lot, however humble my abilities, may I feel, Lord, that Thou hast work for me in Thy vineyard. Let me not bury my talent in the earth ; may I " occupy it till Thou come,'^ 92 THE MORNING WATCHES. that " Thou may est receive thine own with usury." Have mercy on Thy whole Church. Pour out on all its members and office-bearers the spirit of meekness and zeal, of power and love, and of a sound mind. May " Holiness to the Lord" be written on its portals ! Hasten the blessed period when the love of Jesus, being enthroned in every heart, and every Church, " we all shall be one." And all I ask is for the Kedeemer's sake. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MOENING^ FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." ®tontt5-su0n^ Iteming, FOR SINGLENESS OF EYE. " This one tMng I do." — Phii.. iii. 13. My Father who art in heaven, teach me, in childlike faith and confidence, to draw near this morning to Thy throne of grace. Vouch- safe me the blessed influences of Thy Holy Spirit, that I may wait on Thee undisturbed by worldly distractions, and enter on the du- ties of another day with my mind " stayed on God." Blessed Jesus ! — Thou who didst so freely give Thyself a ransom for many — save me, else I perish ! I have no peace but in Thy pardoning, reconciling love. May Thy blood and righteousness be to me "a glorious dress," arrayed in which I may now and ever 94 THE MORNING WATCHES. stand fearless and undismayed. I bless Thee, O God, if I have in any degree felt the preciousness of the Saviour, and His adapta- tion to all the wants and weaknesses of my sinful, and sorrowful, and tempted nature. 1 thank Thee if Thou hast already hidden me in the clefts of the smitten Rock. M.y prayer is, that Thou mayest keep me there — that I may lean upon Jesus more than ever, and seek my happiness more exclusively in His service. May I every morning be drawn more closely by the cords of His love, and be led to fight more faithfully under His ban- ner. O for greater singleness of aim! — more self-emptying and self-abasing — that He may be all in all ! Lord, I am conscious often of mingled motives, that would not stand the test of Thy pure eye and Thy holy Word. How often do I forfeit the joys of assurance by admitting rival claimants to the throne of my afi'ections. How often are the surpassing interests and glories of eternity dimmed and FOR SINGLENESS OF EYE. 95 obscured by the engrossing things of time and of sense ! How mixed with imperfection, and earthliness, and self-seeking are my best attempts to serve Thee ! If weighed in the balance, how would my holiest services be found wanting ! Give me more of this unity and simplicity of purpose. Give me to make salvation more the one thing needful. Let all other love be subordinated to Thine. Do Thou be my " chiefest joy." May Thy service be my delight. May my heart become a little sanc- tuary, whence the incense of praise, and love, and thanksgiving is ascending continually. May it glow with holy zeal to promote Thy cause, and testify of Thy grace. Eemem- bering all that Thou hast done for me, may I be animated to make a more entire consecra- tion and surrender of all I am and have to Thy glory. Let me feel that whatever my rank, or sta- tion, or circumstances are, I have some mis- sion to perform for Thee. How often dost 96 THE MORNING WATCHES. Thou choose " the foolish things of the world to confound the things that are mighty !" Let me not think my talent too trifling to trade upon. May I " occupy it till my Lord comes." Let me not squander fleeting mo- ments, or forego fleeting opportunities. " The night cometh, wherein none of us can work." Enable me now, bowing at Thy mercy-seat, to replenish anew my empty vessel with the oil of Thy grace, that the lamp of faith may be kept burning brightly all the day. All that I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING j FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR FILIAL NEARNESS. " AToba, Father." — Rom viii. 15. Most blessed God, I rejoice that I can look up to Thee, the mightiest of all Beings, and call Thee by that name, which may well dis- pel all misgivings, and hush all disquietudes — " My Father who art in heaven." Father, I have sinned against heaven and iu Thy sight. The kindest of earthly parents could not so long have borne with ingratitude and waywardness like mine. Long ere now Thou mightest righteously have driven me an exile and a cast-away from Thy presence. But the voice of parental mercy is not silenced. The hand of parental patience and love is <' stretched out still." In the midst of de- 9 98 THE MOKNING WATCHES. served wrath, this is Thine own gracious dec- laration, " I will be a Father unto you !'* I mourn my grievous departures — my repeat- ed declensions — my heinous ingratitude. Oh, let me no longer live in this state of guilty estrangement — forfeiting all the joys of a Fa- ther's tenderness, the sunshine of a Father's smile. May I know what it is for the soul, ' orphaned, and portionless, and friendless by i nature, to repose in the security of Thy cov- i enant-love. May I be enabled to enjoy more 1 and more, every day, holy filial nearness to I the mercy -seat-^there unburdening into Thine ear all my wants and trials — my sorrows and perplexities — my backslidings and sins. Give me grace to bow with childlike submission to a Father's will — to bear without a murmur a Father's rod — to hear in every dealing, joyous or sorrowful, a Father's voice — and when death comes, to have every fear dispelled hy j listening to a Father's summons — "To-day j shalt thou be with me in paradise." I Jesus, Thou blessed Elder Brother ! " in FOR FILIAL NEARNESS. 99 whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," may I be enabled to imitate Thine example of holy resignation to Thy Father's will. May the cup of bitterest earthly sorrow be taken into my hands with Thine own breathing of devout submission — "This cup which Thou givest me to drink, shall I not drink it? Even so. Father, for so it seems good in Thy sight." It is my comfort, bless- ed Lord, to know, that while the best of earth- ly parents may err. Thou, the unerring God, never canst. In Thy most mysterious deal- ings there is wisdom. In Thy roughest voice there is mercy. Adorable Eedeemer, all these filial bless- ings and adoption-privileges I owe to Thee. It is Thy precious blood-shedding which has " set me among the children" — it is that which still keeps me there. Anew this day would I repair to Thy cross — anew would I supplicate that the Holy Spirit, the Divine Comforter, would be sent forth into my heart, enabling me to cry, " Abba, Father." May 100 THE MOKNING WATCHES. the thought of this blessed affiance in Thee, support me amid life's fitful changes and transient friendships, and may I be enabled to dwell with holy delight on that glorious time, when, no longer an exiled pilgrim in a strange land, I shall be received at the gates of glory with a Father's welcome — " Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." I commend myself and all near and dear to me, this day, to Thy fatherly care and keeping. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. *' CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MOBNINQ, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." » S;to^ntB-f0«rt| Horning. FOR RESTORATION TO FAVOR. "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." — Ps. li. 12. God, another morning has dawned upon me. *' Thou better Sun of righteousness" — with the brightness of Thy rising, may all the shadows of guilt and sin be dispersed. I come, weak and weary, guilty and heavy-la- den, to Thee, beseeching Thee to bend Thy pitying eye upon me — to deal not with me as I have deserved, nor reward me according to mine iniquity. Blessed Jesus, look upon me. In Thee may I be pitied, pardoned, and for- given ! 1 have erred and strayed from Thy way as a lost sheep. I have wandered from the home of my God. I have been seeking my happi- 9* 102 THE MORNING WATCHES. ncss in what is shadowy and unreal. The world and its delusive hopes have been pre- ferred to Thee. My heart, which ought ever to be a little altar and sanctuary of praise, has burned with false incense. Thy love and glory have not maintained their paramount place in my affections. I have righteously forfeited "the joys of Thy salvation." My only marvel is, that, as a wandering star, Thou hast not left me to drift onwards to the black- ness of darkness forever. O leave me not to perish! I mourn my wanderings. In leaving Thee, I feel I have left my Best Friend. I have caused an aching void in this heart, which the world, with all its joys and riches and pleasures, can never fill. I cannot have one hour of happiness, if mingled with the thought that I am estranged from Thee, my God. Blissful hours of Thy favor I once en- joyed, come sorrowfully to my remembrance ; and, though the cup of earthly happiness be full to the brim, I have still to breathe the prayer — " Oh that it were with me as in FOB RESTORATION TO FAVOK. 103 months past, when the candle of the Lord did shine !" " Restore unto me the joy of Thy salva- tion." Leave me not in this state of distance and alienation. " O Lord, I beseech Thee, dehver my soul." Snap these chains of earth- liness that are still binding me to the dust, that, on the wings of faith, I may soar up- wards, and find rest and quietude where alone it can be found — ^in Thy renewed love and favor. May past backslidings drive me more to Thy grace. ITothing in myself, may I find and feel that my all in all is in Thee. Discover to me my own emptiness, and the overflowing fulness of Jesus. May I every day see more of His matchless excellencies — His incomparable loveliness — the sweets of His service — that I may never feel tempted to wander from His fold, and carefully avoid all that would risk the forfeiture of that favor which indeed is " life." Lord, let me know this day something of this happiness. Let me not be content with 104: THE MORNING WATCHES. the name to live. Let religion be with me a real thing — let it be everything ; — life-influ- encing, sin-subduing, self-renouncing. Let nae diffuse all around me the happy glow of a spirit that feels at peace with God. And now, Lord, what wait I for ? " My hope" for myself, my friends, and all for whom I ought to pray, " is in Thee." Listen to these my supplications ; and all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." ®tonttg-fift(j panting, FOR A PILGRIM SPIRIT. " And confessed that they -were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." — Heb. xi. 13. O God, again, in the multitude of Thy mercies. Thou art permitting me to approach the footstool of Thj throne. I am another day nearer death — oh, may I be a day nearer Thee ! With a new morning's dawn may I hear the pilgrim summons — " Arise, for this is not your rest." Ere I mingle with the world, give me to feel I am not of it, but born frort% above, and/br above ; and cherishing more and more of a pilgrim spirit, may my prayer and watchword be — " I desire a better country." Lord, I bless Thee for the rich provision Thou hast made for the wilderness journey — 106 THE MORNESTG WATCHES. for all Thy mercies, temporal, providential, and spiritual. Forbid that the manifold gifts of Thy love should draw me away from Thy- self, the bountiful Giver, or obliterate the solemn impression — " I am a stranger with Thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." May I '^ use the world without abusing it." By the varied discipline of Thy providence, may I be led to feel that all my well-springs are in Thee. May the world's fascinations be becoming more powerless — sin more hated — ^holiness more loved — heaven more realized — God more " the exceeding joy" of my soul. Driven from all creature-stays and earthly refuges, may Jesus be the prop and staff of my pilgrimage. When the world is bright, may I rest upon Him, and seek that He sanc- tify my prosperity. When the wilderness is dreary, and the way dark, may He hallow ad- versity. When friends are removed, may I feel that I have One left more faithful than the best of all earthly friends ; and when death comes, and the pilgrim warfare ceases, FOR A PILGRIM SPIRIT. 107 leaning confidingly on that same arm, may I enter the pilgrim's rest. adorable Saviour ! — Thou who wast once Thyself a pilgrim — the lonely, weary, home- less, afilicted One — who hadst often no arm to lean upon, and no voice to cheer Thee— an outcast wanderer and sojourner in Thine own creation — I rejoice to think that Thou hast trodden all this wilderness- world before me — that Thou knowest its dreariest paths. I take comfort in the assurance that there is at the right hand of the Majesty on high, a Fel- low-Sufferer, who has drunk of every " brook in the way" — shed every tear of earthly sor- row — heaved every sigh of earthly suffering • — and who, being Himself the "tried and tempted One," is able and willing to succor every pilgrim who is tried and tempted too. 1 beseech Thee this day to look down in great kindness on all my beloved friends. Seal to them a saving interest in Thy great salvation. Wash them all in Thy blood — sanctify them all by Thy Spirit. May not i 108 THE MOENING WATCHES. one be wanting on " the day when Thou makest up Thy jewels." Compassionate a fallen world. Thy Church is slumbering — the enemy is all vigilant — souls are perishing. Arise, Lord, and plead Thine own cause. Promote greater unity, and love, and concord among Thine own peo- ple. Let us be nearer Jesus, and then we shall be nearer one another. Give us all more of the single eye to Thy glory. Make us more self-sacrificing — more heavenly-minded — more Saviour-like. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. "cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning, FOR IN thee do I trust." FOR PREPARATION FOR DEATH. " Prepare to raeet thy G-od." — Amos i'^. 12. O ETERNAL, evei'lasting God — Author of my being — my continual, unwearied Bene- factor — I desire to come anew this moruinoj into Tliy presence, thanking Thee for Thy sparing mercies. Instead of making my last night's pillow a pillow of death, I am again among the living to praise Thee. O that I were enabled to live every day, and to rise every morning, as if it were to be my last, as if my next waking were to be in the morning of im- mortality ! Lord, how little am I influenced and im- pressed by the solemn records of death all around me. Friend after friend is departing 10 no THE MOENING WATCHES. — the circle of acquaintance is narrowed. The proclamation is ever sounding with fresh emphasis in mj ears, " Be ye also ready ;" and yet how prone to disregard the solemn monitions ! how apt to peril my preparation on the peradventures of a dying hour ! Blessed God, my prayer is, that I may have my loins girded, and my lamp burning. Let me not wait to have my vessel replenished till the voice of the Bridegroom be heard, and I am summoned to meet Him. May I now so re- pose my every confidence in Jesus, that death may be disarmed of its sting, — that the hour which to the unwary and unwatchful is one of darkness and terror, may be to me the eve of the blessed Sabbath of eternity — the threshold and the portal of a world of end- less joy. Lord, give me to feel that " the sting of death is sin" — that, not till I get the blessed sense of all my sins cancelled and forgiven in the blood of the Surety, can I be ready for my departure. " To me to live may it be Christ," FOR PREPARATION FOR DEATH. Ill that SO "to die" may be great and eternal "gain." Let me be enabled, by faith in death's great Conqueror, to cultivate that holy familiarity with a dying hour, that I may be enabled, when it comes, to fall sweetly " asleep in Jesus," and to hear His voice of love say- ing, "It is I, be not afraid." Look in mercy on the multitudes who are content to live on, unmeet and unprepared for their great change. Awaken them to a sense of their guilt and peril. Show them their affecting need of Jesus — that time is wasting and eternity is hasting — that, "as the tree falleth, so must it lie." I pray for the heathen who are perishing for lack of knowledge. Countenance and bless all the efforts of Thy Church to dissem- inate among them the gospel of the grace of God. May Thy missionary servants, who have gone with their lives in their hands to the dark places of the earth, experience a peace which the world knows not of. May they have many souls as their glory and 112 THE MORNING WATCHES. joy and crown at the day of Christ's appear- ing. O give us all grace, in our varied stations and relations in life, to do something for Thee. Let us not bury or hide our talents ; but, as members of a ransomed priesthood, may we lay our time, our opportunities, our substance, on Thine altar, and seek to " show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous light." And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. ♦* CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOE A JOYFUL RESUREECTION. " A-wake and sing, ye that d-well in dust." — Is. xxvi. 19. GRAciors God, Thou hast again dispersed the darkness of another natural night. Every rising earthly sun is bringing me nearer the gladdening day-break of immortality. O grant that, when the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised, I may be ready to listen undismayed to the summons, " Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him." My prayer is, that I may now be made par- taker of the blessedness of the first resurrec tion from a death of sin. As one "alive from the dead," may I rise and walk with a living Saviour " in newness of life," that thus I may 10* 114: THE MORNING WATCHES. at last share also in the more glorious resur- rection of His ransomed saints, when His " dead men shall live," and together with His body "they shall arise," obeying the joyous mandate of their risen Head, " Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust." Blessed Jesus, I do rejoice to think of Thine own triumphant rising from the tomb. I re- joice to be able to visit in thought Thy va- cant sepulchre, and to hear the glad tidings, " He is not here. He is risen !" " The Lord is risen !" — it is the blessed pledge and earnest of my own redemption from the power of the grave — that "because Christ lives, I shall live also." O may " my life be now hid with Christ in God, so that when Christ, who is my life, shall appear, I may also appear with Him in glory." Keep me ever in the frame I should wish to be found in when my Lord Cometh. May the lamp of faith and love be ever brightly burning. May it never be mine to be awoke, by the midnight cry, to the awful consciousness, " My lamp has gone out." FOE A JOYFUL RESURKECTION. 115 May I rather be among the number of '' wait- ing servants," who, when their Lord " cometh and knocketh," are ready to "• open unto Him immediately." Do Thou impart to all near and dear to me this day the same spiritual and eternal bless- ings I ask for myself. May they, too, be united to Jesus — " planted in the likeness of His death," that they may be found also " in the likeness of His resurrection." May we all seek to bear an increasingly holy resem- blance in love one to another, and to our great living Head, in whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named ; and if for a little while separated by death, may we, on the great day of His appearing, be reunited in bonds that shall know no dissolution. Hasten that blessed time when our world, 80 long groaning and travailing in pain, shall put on her resurrection attire, and exult in the glorious liberty of Thy children. " Come, Lord Jesus : come quickly." " "Why tarry the wheels of Thy chariot ?" 116 THE MOENING WATCHES. Lord, I commend myself to Thee. Pre- pare me for living, prepare me for dying. Let me live near Thee in grace now, that I may live with Thee in glory everlasting. Let me be reconciled submissively to endure all that Thy sovereign wisdom and love see meet to appoint — looking forward, through the tears and sorrows of a weeping world, to that better day-spring, when " I shall behold Thy face in righteousness," and be " satisfied, when I awake, in Thy likeness." And all I ask is for the Redeemer's sake. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAB THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR THE CONQUEST OF SATAN. "Tlie God of peace sTaall "bruise Satan under your feet shortly." — Hom. xvi. 20. O God, I bless Thee for the returning mer- cies of a new day. " I laid me down and slept ; I awaked : for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands that have set themselves against me." Vouchsafe me, I beseech Thee, thy fatherly protection and blessing, that all my thoughts may be ordered by Thee, and all my plans and purposes over- ruled by Thee, and all my joys hallowed by Thee, and all my sorrows sanctified by Thee. Keep me near Thyself. While I seek to realize, every hour of this day, the power and subtilty of my spiritual adversaries, may I rejoice in the assurance that greater is He 118 THE MORNING WATCHES. that is with me than all they that can be against me — that, "though an host should encamp against me," with God on my side, "I need fear no evil." I mourn the prevalence of sin, both in the world and in my own heart. Thy creation still groans and travails under its power. "The Prince of the power of the air still works in the children of disobedience." "The whole world lieth in the Wicked One." Often is Satan still " desiring to have me, that he might sift me as wheat"—" standing at my right hand to resist me" — to oppose my plea and damage my cause, — sending some " thorn in the flesh to buffet me" — marring my peace, disturbing my joy, and hindering and imped- ing my spiritual growth and advancement. But, Lord, it is my comfort to know that there is in heaven a "stronger than the strong man" — that no time can impair or diminish the comfort of the assurance, " Zhave prayed for thee^ that thy faith fail not." When Sa- tan assaults, blessed Jesus, I will think of FOE THE CONQUEST OF SATAN. 119 Thj continual intercession. " Thy hand is never shortened, that it cannot save." May I ever have grace given me to " resist the devil, that he may flee from me" — to keep watchfully guarded every loophole of the heart. May I abstain from all appear- ance of evil, avoiding every place and every company where his unholy influences are likely to prevail. " Lead me not into temp- tation," and, if tempted. Lord, make a way of escape, that I may be able to bear it. O Thou adorable Intercessor within the veil, it is my comfort to know that, in Thy season of humiliation on earth. Thou wert " not ignorant of his devices." Thou didst also, of him, " suffer, being tempted," and Thou art therefore the more able " to succor I them that are tempted." I rejoice to think that, exalted on Thy mediatorial throne, Thou shalt reign until Satan and every other en- emy be put under Thy feet, and until the kingdoms of this world (so long usurped by 120 THE MORNING WATCHES. him) shall become the " one kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ." Heavenly Father, take this day all my be- loved friends under Thy guardian care. May they dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and abide under the shadow of the Al- mighty. May they, too, be able to take up the triumphant challenge — "God is for us, who' can be against us ?" and when their earthly work and warfare is accomjjlished, may we all meet in that sinless world where Satan's seat no more can be found, and Sa- tan's temptations shall no longer be felt or feared. And all that I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. *' CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." FOR THE OTTTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT. ' I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesli." — Joel ii. 28, O God, I desire this morning to approach with lowly reverence the footstool of Thy throne, adoring and praising Thee for the rest of the past night, and the comforts and bless- ings of a- new day. O holy, blessed, eternal Trinity, three persons, one God, have mercy upon me, and grant me Thy benediction and love. Most blessed Spirit of all grace, more es- pecially would I at this time invoke Thy pres- ence and nearness. I acknowledge, with shame and confusion of face, how often I have grieved Thee by resisting Thy gracious influences. How often hast Thou pleaded II 122 THE MORNING WATCHES. with me by the voice of Providence, and jet 1 have turned a deaf ear to Thy repeated warninsfs and remonstrances ! Thou hast spoken to me in prosperity, when the full cup demanded in return a heart full of gratitude. Thou hast spoken to me in adversity, when, by the emptied cup and the broken cistern, Thou woiildst have driven me from all earthly things, to the everlasting God Himself, as my only satisfying Portion. Thou hast spoken to me by the terrors of the law and by the tender accents of Gospel-love, and yet I have continued to " spend my money for that which is not bread, and my labor for that which satisfieth not." Long ere now I might have exhausted Thy patience. " It is of the Lord's mercies I am not consumed." But " take not, O gracious God, Thy Holy Spirit from me." Come, Thou blessed En- lighten er, Quickener, Sanctifier, and inspire this dull, cold heart. Touched as with a live coal, may the flame of a holy love to Thee be rekindled on its altar. " Return, O Holy FOR THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT. 123 Dove, thou Messenger of rest," from the true ark of God. Give me grace to hate the sins which drove Thee away from this guilty breast. Breathe upon me, and say, " Peace be unto you ; receive ye the Holy Ghost." Do Thou invigorate my languishing affections. May I realize my dependence on Thee for every pulsation of spiritual life. Without Thee I perish. While I pray for this Blessed Agent in be- half of my own soul. Lord, it is my earnest prayer that He may be poured out upon all flesh — that that time may soon come, when the rain of His gracious influences shall de- scend on a barren church and parched world. Hasten the Pentecost of the " latter day." Earth is at present but as the prophet's " val- ley of dry bones." Come, Thou blessed Spirit of all grace, " breathe upon these dry bones, that they may live." And may the same blessed and benign in- fluences be shed on every heart that is dear to me. The Spirit of the Lord is not strait- 124 THE MOKNING WATCHES. ened. O my Father in heaven, hast Thon not promised to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Thee? I pray that all my beloved friends may become members of that mys- tical body of which Jesns is the living Head, so that the oil of anointing grace, pom-ed upon Him by the Spirit, and flowing down to the skirts of His garments, may be shared by His humblest and unworthiest members. O that each and all of our hearts may become living temples, in which the Holy Ghost dwells ! May nothing that is unholy find admission there, but, " sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, the earnest of our inheritance," may we be daily and habitually living in the ex- pectation of eternal glory. Through Jesus Christ. Amen. "cause me to heab thy loving-kindness in the morning,, FCa IN thee do I TRUST." FOR THE UNION OF THY PEOPLE. " That they all may be one." — John xvii. 21. O God, Thou eternal Fountain of all excel- lence and glory ! — through the one "new and living way" I desire this morning to approach Thee. Powerless in my own pleadings, I look up to the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, to that " Prince who has power with God," and at all times "pre- vails." Guilty, I come to this guiltless Re- deemer. Diseased, I come to this great Physician. Outcast, I come to Him who has promised that He will by no means "cast out." May His presence always be with me. May I know Him, and believe in Him, and rejoice in Him. May I feel that I need no 11* 12^ THE MOENING WATCHES. other Saviour — that He is all I require for life or for death — for time or for eternity. I rejoice to think of the glorious multitude around Thy throne — the trophies of Thy grace — already wearing the white robe and the immortal palm. I rejoice to think of the bless- ed unity which pervades their glorified ranks : no note of discord disturbing their lofty har- monies — all seeing eye to eye, and heart to heart. I lament the sad and mournful estrange- ment of Christian from Christian in Thy Church below — that so many, treading the same heavenly journey, with the same glori- ous portals in view, should be following sepa- rate and diverse footpaths — that so many brethren in the Lord, whose interchanges ought to be all love, should be looking coldly and censoriously on one another. How much ungodly jealousy, and heart-burning, and mu- tual recrimination, among Thy professing people ! How little of the spirit which of old provoked the testimony even of heathen gain- FOR THE UNION OF THY PEOPLE. 127 eajers — " See how these Christians love one another !" O thou blessed " Author of peace and lover of concord," do Thou, in Thj mercy, pour out on Thy Church on earth, a greater spirit of unity, and brotherly-kindness, and charity. Do Thou in Thy mercy heal the bleeding wounds of Thy mystical body — cast- ing over them the mantle of love. Bring us all, blessed Jesus, as individuals and as churches, nearer Thyself, and then shall we be nearer one another. It is because of our distance from Thee, the great Sun of Right- eousness, the Source of light and life and peace, that we, as wandering stars, are re- volving in such devious and distant orbits. Give us to feel that we are all members of one mighty family, of which Thou art the glorious Head — that, though following diverse tracks, we are sheep of the same pasture, owning the same " Chief Shepherd" — that, though en- rolled in different ranks, we are allies in the same great army, fighting under the banner of the same great Captain of salvation. O 128 THE MORNING WATCHES. forbid tliat, in these " latter days" — in these times of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy, when " the enemy is coming in like a flood" — we should waste our strength on petty and puny dissensions ! May we be led to merge the few points in which we differ, in the many in which we can unite. Preserve me, good Lord, this day, from all uncharitableness. May I "judge not, that I be not judged." May I have Thy favor rest- ing upon me in all the day's duties, and Thy love softening and sanctifying all its trials. May all my beloved friends be one with me in Jesus — one now, and one in glory everlast- ing. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." irtg-first lt0nting. FOE THE COMING OF THY KINGDOM. " Thy kingdom come." — Luke xi. 2. O ETERNAL, eYei'-blessed God ^ whose mer- ciful kindness is new to me every morning — give me throughout this day that peace which the world cannot give. As the beams of the material sun are lighting up anew my earthly chamber, may the inner chamber of my soul be illumined by a better and brighter radi- ance. Jesus! Thou blessed Fountain of light, and life, and glory, do Thou disperse all the darkness of unbelief and sin. May Thy pres- ence and love hallow all my joys, and miti- gate and sanctify all my sorrows. Ere I enter on the day's duties, do Thou anew sprinkle the lintels and door-posts of my 130 THE MORNING WATCHES. heart with Thine own most precious blood ; may mj inmost thoughts, and purposes, and desires, and affections be consecrated to that God whose property they are. May I have an increasing experience of the sweets of Thy favor, and friendship, and love. With Thee, blessed Lord, I am rich, whatever else I want ; without Thee, I am poor, though I have the wealth of worlds beside. Take what Thou wilt away — but take not Thyself. Nothing can fill and satisfy the longings of my immortal nature but Thee — all worldly happiness and creature joys are poor substitutes for the inexhaustible source of all joy. Let me know what it is, amid the wreck of earthly refuges and hopes, to exult in the persuasion, " The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock ; and let the God of my salvation be exalted." While I pray that Thy kingdom may come in my own heart, I would especially pray for its extension throughout the world. Arise, O God, and let Thine enemies be scattered. May the blessed day soon arrive when a re- L. FOR THE COMING OF THY KINGDOM. 131 joicing and emancipated world shall own no longer habitations of darkness and horrid cruelty — when Jew and Gentile shall wel- come the Prince of Peace to the Throne of Universal Empire — and " all ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God." " Come, Lord Jesus ; come quickly." Let the cry soon break over Thy now burdened Church, " Let us be glad and rejoice, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready." Grant, Lord, that / may be in readiness to meet Thee. May my loins now be girded, and my lamp brightly burning, that, at the Bridegroom's summons, I may be able joyfully to respond, " Lo, this is my God ! I have waited for Him." Grant this day to all near and dear to me, as well as to myself, the special tokens of Thy blessing and love. Fold my beloved friends in the arms of Thy mercy. Teaching I them to do Thy holy will, do Thou say of I them and to them, '* The same is my mother, and sister, and brother." Guide us all by Thy 132 THE MORNING WATCHES. counsel here. May we feel that the way in which Thou art leading us is the kindest and the best that covenant love can devise ; and when our appointed time on earth is finished, do Thou receive us into everlasting habita- tions through Jesus Christ our Lord. And now, to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, be ascribed, as is most due, all blessing, and honor, and glory, and praise, world without end. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MORNING, FOR IN THER DO I TRUST." THE NIGHT WATCHES ' Sun of my soul ! thou Saviour dear, It is not Night if Thou be near ; Oh ! may no earth-born cloud arise, To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes! ^Hf fo() coinoefl) io fl}e Ps. cxxx. 6. €jjB Siglit «JEtrliB3. While the title of this second part indicates its design as a series of evening meditations, that title may be more peculiarly suggestive of those ex- periences of earthly sorrow, during which this has ever proved the most blessed solace — " I have re- membered THY NAME, Lord, in the night ?^ May every reader be able to make the assurance of the Psalmist his own — " The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night His song shall be with me." — (Ps. xlii. 8.) " When the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep, Be my last thought how sweet to rest Forever on my Saviour's breast ! THE NIGHT WATCHES. Abide with me from morn till eve, For without Thee I cannot live : Abide with me when night is nigh, For without Thee I dare not die 1" first iigfet. ON THY GLORY. " From, everlasting to everlasting thou art God." — Ps. xc. 2. My Soijl ! Seek to fill thyself with thoughts of the Almighty ! Lose thyself in the im- penetrable tracts of His Glory ! " Canst thou by searching find out God ?" Can the animalcule fathom the ocean, or the worm scale the sMes ? Can the finite grasp the In- finite — the mortal Immortality ? "We can do no more than stand on the brink of the shore- less sea, and cry, " O the depth !" '^From everlasting !" — shrouded in the great and aw- ful mystery of eternity ! Before one star re- volved in its sphere — ^before one angel moved his wing — God was! — the shadow of His own 8 THE NIGHT WATCHES. infinite presence filling all space. All time to Him is but as the heaving of a breath — the beat of a pulse — the twinkling of an eye. The Eternity of bliss, which is the noblest heritage of the creature, is in its nature pro- gressive. It admits of advance in degrees of happiness and glory, ll^ot so with the Eternity of the Great Creator; He was as perfect before the birth of time as he will be when " time shall be no longer" — as infinitely glorious when He inhabited alone the soli- tudes of immensity, as He is now with the songs of angel and archangel sounding in His ears ! But " who can show forth all His praise ?" We can at best but lisp the alphabet of His Glory. Moses, who saw more of God than most, makes it still his prayer, "I beseech thee, show me Thy glory." Paul, who Jcnew more of God than other men, prays still, "that I onay know Him." " Our safest eloquence,'' says Hooker, " concerning Him, is our si- lence, when we confess without confession, that His glory is inexplicable." ON THY GLOET. 9 And is this the Being to whom I can look up with sweetest confidence, and call " My Fa- ther F" Is it this Infinite One, whom " the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain," I can call " My God ?" My soul ! contemplate the me- dium through which it is thou canst see the glory of God, and yet live ! " Ko man hath seen God at any time, the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath de- clared Him." He, who dwells in light inac- cessible, comes forth from the pavilion of His glory in the person of " Immanuel, God with us." In Christ, " the Image of the invisible God," the creature — ay, sinners — can gaze unconsumed on the lustres of Deity ! Eeader ! be it thine to glorify Him. Seek thus to ful- fil the great design of thy being. Let all thy words and ways, thine actions and pur- poses, thy crosses and losses, redound to His praise. The highest seraph can have no higher or nobler end than this— the glory of the God before whom he casts his crown. But He has a claim on thee, which he has 10 THE NIGHT WATCHES. not on the unredeemed angel. " He gave Himself for thee !" This mightiest of all boons which Omnipotence could give, is the guarantee for the bestowment of all lesser necessary blessings, and for the withholding of all ^^?^necessary trials. Whilst thou art called to behold " His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father," remember its characteristic ; it is not a glory to appal thee by its splendors, but to win and capti- vate thee by its beauties — it is " full of grace and full of truth." He is thy God in cov- enant. " Underneath and around thee are the everlasting arms." Thou mayest com- pose thyself on thy nightly pillow, with the sweet pledge of security, and say — " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY 1" ON THY IMMUTABILITY. " Thou art the sarae." — Ps cii. 27. What a fountain of comfort is to be found in the Immutability of God ! Xot one ripple can disturb the calm of His unchanging na- ture. Were it so, He would no longer be a perfect Being — He would undeify Himself — He would cease to be God ! " Change is our portion here !" " They shall perish," is the brief chronicle regarding everything on this side heaven. The firma- ment above us, the earth beneath us, the ele- ments around us — ■" all these things shall be dissolved." Scenes of hallowed endearment — they are fled ! Friends who sweetened our pilgrimage with their presence — they are 12 THE NIGHT WATCHES. gone ! But here is a sure and safe anchor- age amid the world's heaving ocean of vicissi- tude — '^Thou art the same." All is changing but the Unchanging One ! The earthly scaf- folding may give way, but the living Temple remains. The reed may bend to the blast, but the living Kock spurns and outlives the storm ! How blessed especially, to contemplate the unchangeableness of our Great High Priest ! " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to- day, and forever !" True, He is, in one sense, " changed." No longer " the man of sor- rows" — the homeless wanderer — He is en- throned amid the glories of heaven. Seraphs praise Him — saints adore Him ; but His Heart knows no change ! His ascension glories have not obliterated His tender hu- man sympathies. We can think of Him re- ceiving an outcast sinner, or stilling the Ti- berias storm, or standing at the gate of Kain, or weeping tears of pity over a lost city, or tears of sympathy over a buried friend, and ON THY IMMUTABILITY. 13 write over all these, '' Ttiou art the same /" The name which He bequeathed by angels to His Church until He comes again is — " that \ same Jesus P'' His own Patmos title is His ! memorial for all time — " I «m He that I liveth !" I Believer ! has He ever seemed to change i towards thee f Art thou even now mourning | i over the withdrawal of that countenance | whose smile is heaven ? Art thou saying in the bitterness of thy spirit, " Hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious?" — The change is with thyself, not with thy God. Behind the clouds of thine own depai-ture, the Sun of | His love shines brightly as ever. ^^ He faint- | eth not, neither is weary." i Or, it may be, thou art laboring under other j triuls. The hand of t]iy God may l)e heavy upon thee. The secret thought may be bar- | ])ored that some tear might have been spared — that thy chastisement might have been ; less severe — that thy bereavement, with its | dark accompaniments, might have been init- 14 THE NIGHT WATCHES. igated or averted. Look upwards ! and take the Psalmist's antidote as thine own, ''' I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most HighP Think that the same hand which was for thee nailed to the cross, is now pleading for thee on the throne, ordering and controlling every trial, and over every dark providence writing the unanswerable chal- lenge, " He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Oh ! thus pillowing thy head on the Immuta- bility of Jesus, amid the rude buifetings of a changing world, thou wilt be able, night af- ter night, to say, till the dawn of a morning breaks on thee, which knows neither night nor vicissitude — " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ', FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" firirlr |[ig|t. ON THY OMNIPOTENCE. "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." — Rev. six. 16, Believer ! what can better support and sustain thee amid the trials of thy pilgrimage than the thought that thou hast an Omnip- otent arm to lean upon ? The God with whom thou hast to do is boundless in His re- sources. There is no crossing His designs — • no thwarting His purposes — no questioning His counsels. His mandate is law — " He speaks, and it is done !" Thy need is great. From the humblest crum of providential goodness, up to the richest blessing of Divine grace, thou art hanging from moment to mo- ment a pensioner on Jehovah's bounty ; but, fear not ! " I am the Almighty God !" Fi- 16 THE NIGHT WATCHES. nite necessities can never exhaust infinite ful- ness — " My God shall supply all thy need!" To Thee, O blessed Jesus ! " all power has been committed in heaven and in earth." " All power /" He has in His hands the reins of universal empire. To " the Lion of the tribe of Judah" has been intrusted the seven-sealed roll of Providence. Whatever be the boon which the poorest, weakest, lone- liest, most afflicted of His saints require, if it be really for their good,, the " Wonderful Counsellor" secures it. " As a Prince, He has power with God," and must " prevail." He combines in His adorable Person all a sinner requires. A heart tender enough to love — a hand strong enough to save. The Elder Brother !~the " Mighty God !" How He delights in the exercise of that omnip- otence in behalf of His own people ! in rul- ing over their interests and overruling their trials/<:>r their interests ! When He prays for himself, it is ^'' Not my wiUP When He prays for them, it is ^^Father^ I %oill P'^ ON THY OMNIPOTENCE. 17 May I not well take the motto which ne still bears on His breastplate before the throne, as the ground of support and encouragement " in all time of tribulation" — " able to save even unto the uttermost f" " The golden censer in His hand, He offers hearts from every land, Tied to His own by gentlest band Of silent love. About Him winged blessings stand, In act to move." My enemies are many — their name is Le- gion. Satan, the great adversary — the world, and "the world's Trinity"— the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life ; — heart traitors — ^bosom sins. But " He that i^for me is greater far than all that can be against me." He is " stronger" than the " strong man" — " Christ the Power of OodP'^ "I, that speak in righteousness, mighty to save !" Believer ! art thou in trial, beaten down with a great fight of afflictions— like the disciples, out in a midnight of storm, buffeting a sea- of 2* 18 THE NIGHT WATCHES. trouble ? Fear not ! When the tempest has done its work — when the trial has fulfilled its embassy, the voice which hushed the waters of old has only to give forth the omnipotent mandate, " Peace, be still !" and immediately there will be " a great calm." The " all pow- er" of Jesus ! — what a pillow on which to rest my aching head ! disarming all my fears, and inducing thoughts of sweetest comfort, conso- lation, and joy. ** I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY I" ON THY OMNIPRESENCE. " Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall 1 flee from Thy presence?" — Ps. cxxxix. 7. The Ubiquity of God ! How baffling to any finite comprehension ! to think that above us, and around us, and within us, there is nothing but Deity — the invisible footprints of an Om- niscient, Omnipresent One ! " His eyes are on every place !" on rolling planets and tiny atoms, on the bright seraph and the lowly worm; — roaming in searching scrutiny through the tracts of immensity, and reading the occult and hidden page of my heart ! " All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." ♦' God, I feel Thy presence nigh, Everywhere o'er nature's face ! 20 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Wheresoe'er I turn my eye, I Thy living footsteps trace ! Naught can sever me from Thee — Everywhere Thou art with me !" O God ! shall this Thy Omnipresence appal me ? N'ay, in my seasons of sadness and sor row and loneliness — when other comforts and comforters have failed — when, it may be, in the darkness and silence of some midnight hour, in vain I have sought repose — how sweet to think, " My God is here !" I am not alone. The Omniscient One, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike, is hovering over my sleepless pillow ! " He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps !" O thou eternal Sun ! it cannot be darkness or loneliness or sadness where Thou art. There can be no night to the soul which has been cheered with Thy glorious radiance ! "Lo!/am with you alway !" How pre- cious, blessed Jesus ! is this Thy legacy of parting love ! In the midst of Thy Church till the end of time — ever present, omnii^reB- ON THY OMNIFRESENCE. 21 ent ! The true " Pillar of cloud" by day and " fire by night," preceding and encamping by ns in every step of our wilderness-journey. My soul ! think of Him at this moment in the mysteriousness of His Godhead nature — and yet, with all the exquisitely tender sympa- thies of a glorified humanity, as present with every member of the family He has redeemed with His blood ! ay, and as much present with every individual soul as if He had none other to care for, but as if that one engrossed all His affection and love ! The Great Build- er, surveying every stone and pillar of His spiritual temple — the Great Shepherd, with His eye on every sheep of His fold — the Great High Priest and Elder Brother, mark- ing every tear-drop — noting every sorrow — ■ listening to every prayer — ^knowing the pecu- liarities of every case ; no number perplexing Him — no variety bewildering Him — able to attend to all, and overtake all, and answer all ; — myriad wants drawing hourly on His treasury, and yet no diminution : that Treas- 22 THE NIGHT WATCHES. my, ever emptying, and yet ever filling, and always full ! Jesus ! Thy perpetual and all-pervading presence turns darkness into day. I am not left unbefriended to weather the storms of life, if Thy hand be from hour to hour pilot- ing my frail bark. Gracious andidote to every earthly sorrow, "Z ha'De set the Lord always hefore nneP'' Even now, as night is drawing its curtains around me, be this my closing prayer — " Blessed Saviour ! abide with me, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent !" Under the overshadow- ing wings of Thy presence and love, " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" L ON THY WISDOM. " His understanding is infinite." — Ps. cxlvii. 5. How baffling often are God's dispensa- tions ! The more we attempt to fathom their mystery, the more are we driven to rest in the best earthly solution — " Thy judgments are a great deep!" But where sense says, "All these things are against me," faith has a different verdict — "All things are working together for my good." This is the province of faith, con- fidingly to lean on the arm of God, and to say, " The Lord is righteous in all His ways." We speak of God " foreseeing !" There is no such thing. The past, present, and fature are with Hipa all alike. He sees the end 24 THE NIGHT WATCHES. from the beginning. We can discern but a short way, and that short w^ay throngh a false and distorted medium. In a piece of earthly mechanism, we seldom can discover beauty in the incompleted structure. The mightiest works of science, while in progress, are often a chaos of confusion : it is only when finished we can admire the relation and adjustment of every part to the whole. So with the mechanism of God's moral ad- ministration. At present, how much mys- tery ! But, when in the light of eternity we come to contemplate the completion of the mighty plan, how shall we be brought to own and exclaim, " The works of the Lord are right !" " But patience ! there may come a time. When these dull ears shall scan aright Strains that outring earth's drowsy chime, As Heaven outshines the taper's light !" Believer ! are the dealings of thy God at present wearing a mysterious aspect to thee ? Art thou about to enter some dark cloud, and ON THY WISDOM. 25 exclaiming, " Yerily Thou art a God that Lid est Thyself?" Dost thou " fear to enter the cloud ?" Take courage ! It will be with thee, as with the disciples ; unexpected glimpses of heavenly glory, — unlooked-for tokens of the Saviour's presence and love await thee ! If thy Lord lead thee into the cloud, follow Him. If He " constrain thee to get into the ship," obey Him. The cloud will burst in blessings ; the ship will conduct thee (it may be over a stormy sea) to a quiet haven at last ! It is only the surface of the ocean that is rough. All beneath is a deep calm, and in every threatening wave there is a "need-be!" Oh ! trust Hiwj^ who is emphatically " The "Wisdom of God." He is thy Counsellor — combining the prescience of God with the experience and sympathy of man. He thus, pre-eminently, "knows His client's case." He is pledged to use the discipline most wisely suited for each. 26 THE NIGHT WATCHES. " O Thou whose wisdom guides my way, Though now it seem severe, Forbid my unbelief to say, ' There is no wisdom here.' ■ .^ " Lord ! if Thou bend my spirit low, Love only I shall see ; The very hand that strikes the blow Was wounded once for me." Under the blessed persuasion, that a day of disclosures is at hand, when, " in His light, I shall see light," I will trust the wis- dom I cannot trace, and repeat, each night, as the shadows of evening gather around me, until the nights of earth's ignorance vanish before the breaking of an eternal day — "I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP; FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY '" ON THY HOLINESS. " Thou only art Holy." — Rev. xv. 4. Wha.t an awful perfection is this ! It de- notes the burning Purity of Jehovah. It would seem to form the loftiest theme for the adorations of saints and angels. They cease not day nor night to cry, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty !" It evokes from the Church on earth her loudest strains — "Let them praise His great and terrible name,/<97' it is holy P^ "Holy, Holy, Holy Three ! One Jehovah evermore ! Father ! Son ! and Spirit ! we Dust and ashes would adore. Lightly by the world esteem'd. From that world by Thee redeem'd, Sing we here with glad accord, Holy! Holyl Holy Lord 1" 28 THE NIGHT WATCHES. My soul ! seek, in some feeble measure, to apprehend the nature of God's unbending hatred at sin ! It is the deep, deliberate, in- nate opposition of His nature to moral evil, which requires Him to hate it, and visit it with condign punishment. It is not so much a matter of will as of necessity. But what pleasure can there be in the con- templation of so awful a theme ! The con- templation of a God " of purer eyes than to behold iniquity" — " in whose sight the heavens are not clean !" — Jesus ! thy ador- able atonement is the mirror in which we can gaze un appalled on this august attribute ! Thy cross is to the wide universe a perpetual monument and memorial of the Holiness of God. It proclaims, as nothing else could, " Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wick- edness !" Through that cross, the holiest of all beings becomes the most gracious of all. ^' Kow, we can love Him," says a saint who has entered on his rest, not only although He is holy, but because He is holy." ON THY HOLINESS. 29 Gaze, and gaze again on that monumental column till it teaches the lesson, how vain elsewhere to look for pardon ! — how delusive that dream, on which multitudes peril their eternal safety, that '' God will be at last too merciful to punish !" Surely, if any less awful vindication could have sufficed, — or had it been compatible with the Divine attri- butes to dispense pardon in any other way, Gethsemane and Calvary, with all their awful exponents of agony, would have been spared ! The Almighty victim would not have volun- tarily submitted to a life of ignominy and a death of woe, if, by any simpler method. He could have " cleared the guilty." But this was impossible. If He was to " save others. Himself he could not save !" Believer ! let the attribute of Holiness be the superscription written on your heart and life. Abounding grace can give no sanction or encouragement to abound in sin. "His mercy," says Bishop Reynolds, " is a holy mercy which knows how to pardon sin, not to 30 THE NIGHT WATCHES. protect it : it is a sanctuary for the penitent, not for the presumptuous." My soul ! art thou tempted to murmur un- der the dealings of thy God ? What are the sorest of thy trials in comparison with what they wight have been, had this Holy God left thee to know, in all the sternness of its meaning, how " Glorious He is in Holiness?" Rather marvel, considering thy sins, that thy trial has been so small — thy cross so light ! Blessed Jesus ! into this sanctuary of " holy mercy" which thou hast opened for me, I will flee. I can now " give thanks at the re- membrance of God's holiness !" Deriving, even from this august attribute, one of the " songs in the night" — " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; TOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" ON THY JUSTICE. "Justice and judgment are the iLabitation of Thy throne." — Ps. 'Lssxix. 14. The Justice of God is " His Holiness in ex- ercise." Let us rej)air to the spot marked out as the scene of its most awful manifesta- tion. In the depths of a by-past eternity, the summons was heard, " Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man who is my fellow !" That mysterious com- mission has been fulfilled ! The Shepherd has been smitten ! Myriads of condemned spirits could not have borne to God's inexor- able rectitude so awful a testimony, as when, on the cross of Calvary, one lone voice sent up the wailing cry, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" 32 THE NIGHT WATCHES. My soul, rejoice ! Justice, which ere while demanded the execution of a righteous doom upon millions lost^ can now unite with Mercy in sheathing the avenging sword, and exult- ing over myriads redeemed. The Law which brought in a whole world "guilty before God," can exult with Mercy in seeing its every requirement obeyed, its every demand fulfilled ; the Lawgiver Himself " the Just and yet the Justifier ;" unloosing every chain of condemnation, and pronouncing, " Not guilty !" " O Law !" says Luther, " I drown my conscience in the wounds, blood, death, resurrection, and victory of Christ." Wondrous thought ! — Justice, the very at- tribute which excluded the sinner, the first to throw open a door of welcome, proclaiming that infinite merit has cancelled infinite de- merit — infinite holiness has covered infinite sin ! While " Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne," provision has been made whereby, in perfect consistency with every principle of His moral government, ON THY JUSTICE. 33 " mercj and truth raay go continually before his face." Reader, it is well for thee often and de- voutly thus to dwell on the inflexible justice of thy God. It will magiiify to thee the riches of His grace, the glories of redemption, the preciousness of Jesus ! If the sinner is to be saved, "judgment must be laid to the line, and righteousness to the plummet !" " The Sinless One must be condemned," says Lefevre, "if he that is guilty is to go free. The Blessing must bear the curse, if the cursed are to be brought into blessing. The Life must die, if the dead are to live !" " In prayer in the evening," says Henry Marty n, " I had such near and terrific views of God's judgment upon sinners in hell, that my flesh trembled for fear of them. I flew trembling to Jesus Christ, as if the flames were taking hold of me. Oh, Christ will indeed save me, or else I perish !" My soul ! take hold of that touchingly sim- ple assurance to which Justice has appended 34 THE NIGHT WATCHES. its seal, " Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish !" " I^ot perish !" and Justice, and a God of justice, proclaiming so great salvation — safety from the terrors of a violated law — rest from the accusations of a guilty conscience — calmness in the prospect of death — Grace here — Glory hereafter ! Oh ! what more can the sinner need, or the sinner's God bestow ! ** I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOB THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY I" ON THY LOVE. " God is Love." — 1 John iv. 16. " The only real mystery of the Bible,' , says an old writer, " is a mystery of Love." *' God so loved the world as to give His only-begot- ten Son !" What ! that for a lost and rnined world, the Prince of life should leave the bosom on which He had been j)illowed from all eternity ! and expire by an ignominious death on the bitter tree ! Love unutterable ! unspeakable ! The reflection of the skeptic of a bygone age may have formed at times the musing of better minds, " It is far too great— it is far too good to be true !" Infinite Majesty compassionating infinite weakness ! The great Sun of heaven, the Fountain of un- 36 THE NIGHT WATCHES. created light, undergoing an eclipse of dark- ness and blood for the sake of a taper that glimmered in nothingness in His beams. " God so loved the world." Man never caK get further in the solution of the wondrous problem. Eternity itself will form a ladder — the saints climbing step by step in its as- cending glories^but, as the prospect widens, each new altitude will elicit the same confes- sion, " the Love of Christ, which passeth 'knowledge.'''^ My soul ! seek to enter into the secrets of this love of thine adorable Redeemer. Be- fore all time that love began. We have glimses of it bursting out from the recesses of a bypast eternity — " Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing alway before Him !" And " when the fulness of the time was come," tliough foreseen were all His untold sufferings, nothing would deter Him from pursuing His anguished path — '' He set Plis face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem ;" — nay. ON THY LOVE. 37 as if longing for the hour of victory, He ex- claimed, " I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened until it be ac- complished !" Think of that love now! — the live coals in the censer of old — a feeble type of the burn- ing ardor of affection still manifested by our Great High Priest within the veil, in behalf of His own people. There He bears the name of each indelibly engraven on His breast- plate ; " loving them at the beginning. He will love them even unto the end !-' Earthly love may grow cold and changeable, or it may die. Not so the love of this " Friend of friends." It is strong as death — surviving death — nay, deathless as eternity. Listen to His own exponent of its intensity : " As the Father hath loved me^ so have I loved youP'' " You see in Him," says a pious wi'iter, " an ocean of love without bottom, without bounds, overflowing the banks ^f heaven, streaming down upon this poor world to wash away the vileness of man !" 4 38 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Blessed Jesus ! how cold, and fitful, and transient has been my love to Thee in com- parison of Thy love to me ! Bring me more under its constraining influence ! May this be the superscription on all my thoughts and my actions — my occupations and my time : " I am not my own — Lord, I am Thine !" How can I love Thee enough, who hast so loved me ! My life shall henceforth be one thank-offering of praise for Thy redeeming mercies. Standing this night on the shores of this il- limitable ocean — surveying its length and breadth — every wave murmuring, " Peace on earth and good-will to men." — ♦*I WILL BOTH LAY MK DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP; FOB THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKE8T ME DWELL IN SAFETY 1" iintir iigp. ON THY GEACE. ' The G-od of all grace." — 1 Pet. v. 10. " By the Grace of God I am what I am !" This is the believer's eternal confession. Grace found him a rebel — it leaves him a son. Grace found him wandering at the gates of liell~it leaves him at the gates of heaven. Grace devised the scheme of Eedemption. Justice never would. Eeason never could. And it is Grace which carries out that scheme. ISTo sinner would ever have sought his God but " by grace." The thickets of Eden would have proved Adam's grave had not grace called him out. Saul would have lived and died the haughty self-righteous persecutor had not grace laid him low. The thief would have continued breathing out his blasphemies had 40 THE NIGHT WATCHES. not g^^ace arrested his tongue and tuned it for glory. " Out of the knottiest timber," says Rutherford, ^' He can make vessels of mercy for service in the high palace of glory." " I came, I saw, I conquered." says Top- lady, " may be inscribed by the Saviour on every monument of grace. I came to the sin- ner ; I looked upon him ; and with a look of omnipotent love, I conquered^ My soul ! thou wouldst have been this day a wandering star, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness — Christless — ^hopeless — portionless — had not grace invited thee, and grace constrained thee ! And it is grace which, at this moment, keeps thee ! Thou hast often been a Peter — forsaking thy Lord, but brought back to Him again. "Why not a Demas or a Judas ? "7 have jprayed for thee that thy faith fail not^ Is not this thine own comment and reflection on life's retrospect ? — " Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me !" r- ON THY GRACE. 41 Seek to realize thy continual dependence on this grace every moment. " More grace ! more grace !" would need to be thy continual cry. But the infinite supply is commensu- rate with the infinite need. The treasury of grace, though always emptying, is always full : the key of prayer which opens it is al- ways at hand : and the Almighty almoner of the blessings of grace is always *' waiting to he gracious P^ The recorded promise never can be cancelled or reversed — " My grace is sufficient for thee !" Header ! seek to dwell much on this inex- haustible theme : The grace of God is the source of minor temporal as well as of higher spiritual blessings. It accounts for the crumb of daily bread as well as for the crown of eternal glory. But even in regard to earthly mercies, never forget the channel of grace — " through Christ Jesus !" It is sweet thus to connect every (even the smallest and humblest) token of providential bounty with Calvary's cross — to have the common blessings of life 42 THE NIGHT WATCHES. stamped with " the print of the nails !" It makes them doubly precious to think, " This flows from Jesus !" " When with dear friends sweet talk I hold, And all the flowers of life unfold ; — Let not my heart within me burn, Except in all I Thee discern 1" Let others be contented with the uncove- nanted mercies of God. Be it mine to say, as the child of grace and heir of glory — " Our Father which art in heaven, give us this day our daily bread !" Nay, reposing in the " all- suflficiency in all things" promised by the God of all grace, ** I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU; LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY l" %nt\ iig|t. ON THY TENDEBNESS. "He shall gather the laraha -with His axra, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are -with young." — Isa. xi. 11. How soothing, in the hour of sorrow, or be- reavement, or death, to have the countenance and sympathy of a tender earthly friend ! My soul ! these words tell thee of one nearer, dearer, tenderer still — the Friend that never fails — a tender God ! By how many endear- ing epithets does Jesus exhibit the tenderness of His affection to His people ! Does a shepherd watch tenderly over his flock ? " The Lord is my Shepherd !" Does a father exercise fondest solicitude towards his chil- dren ? " I will be a Father unto you !" Does a mother^s love exceed all other earthly types 44 THE NIGHT WATCHES. of affectionate tenderness ? " As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you !" Is the ajjple of the eye the most susceptible part of the most delicate bodily organ ? "He keeps them as the apple of His eye !" " He will not break the bruised reed !" "When the " Shepherd and Bishop of Souls" finds the sinner like a lost sheep, stumbling on the dark mountains, how tenderly He deals with him ! There is no look of wrath — no word of upbraiding — in silent love " He lays him on His shoulders rejoicing !" When Peter falls, He does not unnecessa- rily wound him. He might have repeated often and again the piercing look which brought the flood of penitential sorrow. But He gave that look only once / and if He re- minds him again of his threefold denial, it is by thrice repeating the gentlest of questions, " Lovest thou me ?" My soul ! art thou mourning over the weak- ness of thy faith — the coldness of thy love — thy manifold spiritual declensions ? Fear ON THY TENDERNESS. 45 not ! He knows thy frame — He will give feeble faith tender dealing — He will " carry" in His arms those that are unable to walk, and will conduct the burdened ones through a path less rough and rugged than others. When " the Lion" or "the Bear" comes, thou mayest trust the true David, the tenderest of shepherds ! Art thou suffering from outward trial ? Confide in the tenderness of thy God's dealings with thee. The strokes of His rod are gentle strokes — the needed discipline of a father yearning over his children the very moment He is chastising them ! The gentlest earthly parent may speak a harsh word at times — it may be, needlessly harsh. But not so GOD. " He may seem, like Joseph to his brethren, to speak roughly ; but all the while there is love in His heart !" The pruning-hook will not be used unnecessarily. It will never cut too deeply. The furnace will not burn more fiercely than is absolutely required. A tender God is seated by it, tempering the fury of its flames. 46 THE NIGHT WATCHES. And what, believer, is the secret of all this tenderness ? " There is a Man upon the Throne /" Jesus — the God-Man Mediator ; combining, with all the might of Godhead, all the tenderness of spotless humanity. Is thy heart crushed with sorrow ? — so was His ! Are thine eyes dimmed with tears ? — so were His! "Jesus wept!" Bethany's "Chief Mourner" still wears the Brother's heart in glory. Others may be unable to enter into the depths of thy trial. He can — He does I With such a " tender God" caring for me, providing for me, watching my path by day, and guarding my couch by night — "l WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP; FOR THOU LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" ON THY PATIENCE. " The God of Patience." — Rom. xv. 5. There is no more wondrous subject than this— ^' The Patience of God!" Think of the lapse of ages during which that patience has lasted— 6000 years ! Think of the multi- tudes who have been the subjects of it — Mil- lions on millions, in. successive climes and centuries ! Think of the sins which have all that time been trying and wearying that pa- tience — their number, their heinousness — their aggravation ! The w^orld's history is a consecutive history of iniquity, a lengthened provocation of the Almighty's forbearance ! The Church, like a feeble ark, tossed on a n:iighty ocean of unbelief ; and yet the world, 4:8 THE NIGHT WATCHES. with its cumberers, still spared! The cry of its sinful millions at this moment enter "the ears of the God of Sabaoth," and yet, " for all this, His hand of mercy is stretched out still !" | And who is this God of patience ? It is I the Almighty Being who could strike these i i millions down in a moment! — who could, by a breath, annihilate the world ! — nay, who would require no positive or visible forth-putting of His omnipotence to effect this, but simply to withdraw His sustaining arm ! Surely, of all the examples of the Al- mighty's power, there is none more wondrous or amazing than "God's power over Him- self." He is " slow to anger." " Judgment is His strange work." He " visits iniquity unto the third and fourth generation." He " shows mercy unto thousands of generations !'^ God bears for 1500 years, from Moses to Je- sus, with Israel's unbelief; and yet, as a pious writer remarks, " He speaks of it as but a day ;" " All day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying ON THY PATIENCE. 49 people." What is the history of all this tenderness ? " My thoughts are not your tlioughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord !" My soul ! How great has been God's pa- tience towards thee ! In thine unconverted state, when a wanderer from His fold, with what unwearied love He went after thee ; notwithstanding all thy waywardness, never ceasing the pursuit ''^ until He found thee !" Think of thy fainting and weariness since — thine ever-changing frames and feelings ; the ebbings and the flowings in the tide of thy love, and yet, instead of surrendering thee to thine own perverse will, His language con- cerning thee is, '* How can I give thee up ?" For a lifetime, thy Saviour-God has been standing knocking at thy door ; and His attl- tude is still the same — "Behold, I stand P'' " But faiuter than the pole-star's ray Before the noontide blaze of day, Is all of love that man can know — All that in angels' breasts can glow — 5 60 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Compared, O Lord of hosts ! witb thine, Unwearied ! fathomless ! Divine !" How should the patience of Jesus lead me to be submissive under trial ! "When He has so long borne with me, shall not I " bear" with Him ? When I think of His patience under a far heavier cross, can / murmur when He murmured not f ]N"ay, I will check every ripening thought, and looking up, in confiding affection, to " the God of all pa- tience," " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP J FOR THOU; LORD, ONLY MAKE8T ME DWELL IN SuVFETY !" ON THY FAITHFULNESS. " Th.7 faithfulness Teadaeth unto the clouds?" — Ps. xrxvi. 5. It has been well said, that " the universe around us is a parable of grace." " As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so doth the Lord compass His people !" But firmer than even these types of immutability in the kingdom of nature is the word of a covenant-keeping God in the kingdom of grace. These mountains (nature's best em- blems of steadfastness) may depart, and the hills be removed, '' Jt^^," says their almighty Maker, " my kindness shall not be taken from thee !" We can look upwards to the stars of night, and see the " faithfulness" of God " estab- 52 THE NIGHT WATCHES. lisliecl" in the material heavens — " This day they stand as Thou ordainest !" But these are feeble types and symbols of brighter con- stellations in the spiritual firmament — the declarations of an unchanging God — '-^ Thy vjord is forever settled in heaven !" What a gracious assurance amid our own unfaithfulness, " The Lord is faithful !" — that the unfaithfulness of the believer never al- ters, and can never alter, the faithfulness of God! My soul ! anchor thyself on this rock of the Divine veracity. Take hold of that blessed parenthesis which has been to many a tossed soul as a polar star in its nights of darkness — - " Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them even unto the end." He loves them in life — loves them in death — loves them through death — loves them into glory ! Art thou not at this hour a monument of God's faithfulness ? Where wouldst thou have been had not the magnet of His grace ON THY FAITHFULNESS. 63 kept thee, and drawn thy fugitive affections towards Himself? From how many tempta- tions has He rescued thee — ^laying hold of thee on the precipice, when about to plunge headlong down — employing sometimes con- straining^ at others restraining grace — mak- ing this thy brief history, " Kept by the power of God," and overruling all — all for His own glory, and thine own good ? I love to think of Thy faithfulness, O thou ''''Tried stone," " laid in Zion !" Thou wert tried by the Law — by Justice — by Men — by Devils, and yet Thou wert faithful ! Thou hast been tried by Prophets and Apostles ; by Martyrs and Saints ; by youthful sinners, and aged sinners, and dying sinners, — and Thou hast been found faithful hy all and to all ; and Thou art faithful still ! My soul ! never suppose, amid the faith- lessness of earth's trusted friends, that thou art doomed to tread thy way in loneliness and solitude ; there is more than one Emmaus journey I The " Abiding" Friend is left I 5* 54 THE NIGHT WATCHES. He is always the same ! "He fainteth not, neither is weary !" His faithfulness is a tried faithfulness ! His word is a tried word ! His friendship is a tried friendship ! He is always " better than His word !" He pays with usury ! "Oh ! who could bear life's stormy doom, Did not Thy word of love Come brightly bearing through the gloom, A peace-branch from above ! Then Sorrow, touch'd by Thee, grows bright, With more than rapture's ray, As darkness shows us worlds of light We never saw by day !" / When I think that at this very moment the eye of that faithful Saviour-God is upon me — 1 WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" ON THY SOVEREIGNTY. ' He doetlL according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." — Dan. iv. 35. How blessed that elementary truth — "The Lord reign eth !" To know that there is no chance or accident with God — that He de- crees the fall of a sparrow — ^the destruction of an atom — ^the annihilation of a "World ! The Almighty is not like Baal, " asleep." " He that keepeth Israel" can never for a mo- ment " slumber." " Man^r^poses — God dis- poses." '^Thou didst it!" is the history of every event, past, present, and to come. His purposes none can change — His counsels none can resist ! My soul ! how cheering to know that all that befalls thee and thine is thus ordered in 56 THE NIGHT WATCHES. the eternal purpose of a Covenant God ! Every minute circumstance of thy lot — ap- pointing the bounds of thy habitation — meting out every drop in the cup of life — ar- ranging what by thee is called its " vicissi- tudes" — decreeing all its trials, and at last, as the great Proprietor of life, revoking the lease of existence when its allotted term has expired ! How it would keep the mind from its guilty proneness to brood and fret over sec- ond causes, were this grand but simple truth ever realized — that all that befalls us are in- tegral parts in a stupendous j)lan of wisdom — that there is no crossing or thwarting the designs and dealings of God ; none can say, "What doest Thou ?"— all ougU to say, " He doeth all things well." We dare not venture, with presumptuous gaze, to penetrate into " those secret things which belong unto the Lord our God." In all that is fitted in the consideration of this august theme of the Divine Decrees to im- ON THY SOVEREIGNTY. 67 part encouragement and consolation, let us rejoice ; in all that is mysterious and incom- prehensible, let us with childlike reverence exclaim, " O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out !" The contemplation of the Sovereignty of God formed subject-matter of rejoicing to the Saviour himself in His humiliation : " Even so. Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight !" And what supplied material for comfort and joy to an Almighty Sufferer may well dry the tears and soothe the pangs of His suffering people. O how sinners may magnify their God by a calm submission to His will, seeing no hand but One in their trials — in giving or taking : "The Lord gave — the Lord taketh away!" " AYho knoweth not in all these things the hand of the Lord hath done this ?" " Till Death the weary spirit free, My God hath said, 'Tis good for thee, 58 THE NIGHT WATCHES. To -walk in faith, and not by sight. Take it on trust a little while, Soon shalt thou read the mystery right, la the full sunshine of His smile 1" Will it not further help to the breathing of the prayer, " Thy will be done," when I thiiik, in connection with the Sovereignty of God, of the grand end of His immutable decrees — '' It is His own glory !" " Of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things P"^ What more can I desire ? — " all things God's glory and my own good ! — ** I WILL BOTH LAT ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LOED, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" ianttttuU) iliglrt, ON THY PEOVIDENCE. "Hia Kingdom ruleth. over all." — Ps. ciii. 19. My Soul ! try to see God in everything, and everything in God ! Lose thine own will in His. Enter on no pursuit, engage in no plan, without Paul's prayer and condition, "If so the will of the Lord be." How it would hal- low prosperity and sweeten adversity, thus, in all things, to follow like Israel the Guiding Pillar — at Sts bidding to pitch our tents — at His bidding to strike for march. Each prov- idence has a voice, if we would only hear it. It is a finger-post in the journey, pointing us to " the right way, that we may go to the city of habitation !" Often what a mystic volume Providence is ! — its every page full of dark hieroglyphics. 60 THE NIGHT WATCHES. to whicli earth can furnisli no key. But faith, falls back on the assurance that " the Judge of all the earth must do right " — the Father of all His people cannot do wrong. To the common observer, the stars in the nightly heavens are all confused masses, pursuing de- vious and erratic courses. But to the astron- omer, each has its allotted and prescribed pathway, and all are preserving inviolate one universal law of harmony and order. It is faith's loftiest prerogative, patiently to wait till that day of disclosures, when page by page of the mystic book will be unravelled, and when the believer himself will endorse every page with, "It is well !" Providences may even seem to be getting darker, merging like declining day into the shadows of twilight. But, contrary to nature, and to the Christian's expectations, " At even- ing time it shall be light !" The gathering cloud will then be seen to be fraught only with blessings, whicli will burst on the Be- I liever's head. ON THY PKOVIDENCE. 61 My soul ! " be still, and know that He is God !" " Rest in the Lord, and wait patient- ly foi' Him." The mysterious " wherefore" thou hast so long been waiting for will soon be revealed. The long night-watch will soon terminate — in the long looked-for, longed-for morning ! " My God ! my Father ! while I stray Far from my home on life's rough way, O teach me from my heart to say — Thy will be done 1 " Then when on earth I breathe no more The prayer oft mix'd with tears before, I'll sing, when on a happier shore — Thy will be done l" Blessed Lord ! my pilgrimage path is stud- ded thick with Ebenezers testifying to Thy faithfulness and mercy. I love to think of Thy manifold gracious interpositions in the past ! — God sustaining me in trial — God sup- porting me in perplexity — God rescuing me when in temptation — God helping me when " vain was the help of man !" '^ When my 62 THE NIGHT WATCHES. foot slipped, Thy mercy, *0 Lord, held me up !" And shall I not take all Thy goodness manifested hitherto as a pledge of faithful- ness in the future ? In full confidence of my God being a " rich Provider," I shall take no thought for the morrow, but repose in this cov- enant assurahce of a covenant-keeping God ! — " I will never fail thee nor forsake thee !" "Thou hast heen my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice !" "l WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP; FOE THOU, LOKD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY 1" THY WORD. " Thy -word is a lamp to ray feet." — Ps. cxiz. 105. Man's word disappoints — God's word, never! "The Word of the Lord is tried." It has been tried by the sinner ; he neglected it and perished ! It has been tried by the saint ; he has believed it and been saved ! What a precious legacy of God to our world ! The volume of nature, much as it teaches, is dumb on the question of a sinner's acceptance. The Scriptures alone can solve the enigma, " How is God to deal with the guilty?" That question unanswered — in peace we could not live, in peace we dared not die ! But glad tidings, oh ! precious mes- senger from God, hast thou brought to a 64 THE NIGHT WATCHES. doomed earth — " God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoso- ever belie veth in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life !" Were there no more in this Divine communication than that one brief entry, the Bible would still be better to us than " thousands of gold and silver." But it is a vast magazine and emporium of heavenly wisdom — free to all — suited for all — intended for all — offered to all ; — an* inex- haustible mine — the deeper you dig, the richer the ore. It has a word in season for rich and poor, young and old — for the wandering — the doubting — the sorrowing — the believing — the dying — the perishing ! Reader ! sit at the feet of Jesus in His Word, and with the docility of a little child, say, " Speak, Lord !" Approach it ever as if it met you with the living salutation, " I have a message from God for thee P'' There are dif- ferences in every heart-chamber, but this key fits every door. Make it a faithful mirror, in which you see a reflection of yourself. The THY WORD. 65 more faithfully it is held up, the more will the sense of deficiency and defilement drive you to the atoning blood ! In all your difliculties, make it " the man of your counsel ;" in all your perplexities, make it your interpreter and guide ; in all your sorrows, make it your fountain of conso- lation ; in all yom- temptations, make it your ultimate court of appeal. When venturing on debatable ground, let this deter thee — "What saith the Scripture?" When assailed, let this protect and defend thee — " It is writ- ten !" Precious at all times, it is especially precious in " the dark and cloudy day." We may do without our beacon by day ; but where are we without it in the midnight tempestuous sea ? "I should have perished," says a sink- ing cast-away, " in mine affliction, but Thy Word hath quickened me." • " Oft as I lay me down to rest, O may the reconciling Word Sweetly compose my weary breast ; Wliile on the bosom of my Lord 6* 66 THE NIGHT WATCHES. I sink in blissful dreams away, And visions of eternal day l" Be it mine to look forward to that blessed time, when the intervention of that Word, and all other means of grace, will terminate, for, in heaven " they need no candle !" Meanwhile, pillowing my head on the "Word of the eternal God, and with these glorious prospects in view — " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOE THOU, LOSD, ONLY MAKEST MB DWELL IN SAFETY T ON TH7 ORDINANCES. "Witli joy shall ye draw -water out of the wells of sal- vation." — IsA. xii. 3. My Soul ! thou art here far from thy true Home. A wilderness is thy place of sojourn ; but Immanuel has provided wells in this Baca — this vale of weeping — for the refresh- ment of His pilgrims ! In merciful adapta- tion to their weakness and wants, He has fur- nished means and instrumentality to keep alive the flame that would otherwise languish and decay. These are the golden pipes which convey the living water to the soul, fed by Christ himself from the great cistern of His own grace. Header ! dost thou love the ordinances of God's appointment ? Is the Sabbath to thee a bo THE NIGHT WATCHES. holy and welcome season ? Dost thou gladly respond to the summons, " Go ye up into the house of the Lord ?" Hast thou felt that it is there that " He commands the blessing, even life for evermore ? Or holier ground still ; do you rejoice, as the solemn season comes round, to covenant afresh with your adorable Kedeemer at His own table — to record anew your unalterable attachment to Him as your Lord and Master, and commem- orate His dying, ever-living love ? See that it be not the reverse of all this. Do the hours of the Sabbath, once a delight — " day of all the week the best" — hang heavily upon you ? Is prayer less a privilege than it was ? Is the closet less habitually frequented ? Is the fire burning with a sicklier glow on the domestic altar ? Have the ser- vices of the sanctuary become more matter for the head than for the heart ? Be assured these are lamentable symptoms of declension — tokens of a backward and downward state. "Ye did run well — who did hinder you?" ON THY ORDINANCES. 69 Eeturn forthwith to the deserted closet — crucify forthwith the deadening sin. Hast thou not abjured it, over and over, at a com- munion table ? Why suffer it again to have dominion over thee — robbing thee of all thy joy — extracting all relish from ordinances — impeding grace — grieving the Spirit? Lose no time in seeking restoration of lost filial nearness. " Eestore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." The lost Bride, in the Canticles, found her Lord beside the " Shepherds' tents ;" and " of Zion^ it shall be said. The Lord shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there .'" Thou may est sometimes have long to wait at the Gospel Bethesdas without any visible blessing ; but, be assured, the Angel of the Covenant will, in due time, come down and show that He " is good to them that wait for Him — to the soul that seeketh Him !" " "Wait, then, on the Lord ; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart !" My soul ! value ordinances, but do not 70 THE NIGHT WATCHES. overvalue them. Put not ordinances in the place of the God of ordinances. They are at best but the pole to hold up the brazen ser- pent upon — the scaffolding by which to get up beside the Chief corner-stone. " Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe !" It is not " the altar of God," but " God Himself;' who is " the exceeding joy" of His people ; and thus, even if wasting health and pining sickness should deprive me of outward ordi- nances, I may look upwards to that God who, though He " loves the gates of Zion," does not forget " the dwellings of Jacob," and say— ** I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LOED, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" ~T ON THY SPIRIT. " Take not Th3^ Holy Spirit from me."— Ps. li. 11. " It is expedient foryo i," said Jesus, " that I go away : for if I go not away, the Comfort- er will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." How momentous must be the agency of the Holy Spirit, when the adorable Redeemer represented the blank of His own departure as being more than in- demnified to His Church by the presence of this Divine Paraclete ! '•It is the Spirit that quicken eth." It is lie who is the agent in the new birth : " Ex- cept a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." It is He who enables the sinner by faith to lay 72 THE NIGHT WATCHES. hold on Jesus, and embrace His salvation : " No man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." It is He who carries on the progressive work of holiness ; — we are saved " through sanctification of the Spirit." It is He who creates anew the lost image of the Godhead, impresses on the soul the lineaments of the Saviour's character — " We are trans- formed into the same image from glory to glory by the Lord the Spirit" (marg.). It is He who illumines the page of the Divine Eec- ord — acting like a telescope to the moral vision — disclosing in the firmament of inspi ration " wondrous things" contained in the law, which the natural eye cannot see. It is He who unfolds the glories of the Redeemer's work — the beauties of His person — the com- pleteness of His sacrifice — the riches of His grace ; — " He shall glorify Me ; for He sluill receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." Nay, the soul of the believer becomes itself :i temple of the Holy Ghost! Oh, with what holy jealousy would the child of God guard ON THY SPIRIT. ^ 73 every avenue to temptation, if this amazing truth exercised its habitual and solemnizing power over him — " The Spirit of God dwelleth witliin me !" How would he avoid anything and everything by which he would be likely to " grieve" this blessed Agent, " whereby he is sealed imtil the day of redemption !" " Behold !" He seems to say, " I make all things new." The initial operation is His — He broods over the face of the spiritual chaos, saying, "Let there be light." The closing and consummating grace is His, — He con- ducts the spirit through the swellings of Jor- dan, till it joins with the ransomed multitude before the throne, in ascribing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost the glories of a completed salvation. " Take not, then, O God ! thy Holy Spirit from me." In vain are the word, ordinances, sacraments, sermons, prayers, without Him. All are in themselves passive instruments ; His is the omnipotent arm which wields and j vauquislies. i 74 ,THE NIGHT WATCHES. Our adorable Eedeemer — the great High Priest — was Himself anointed with the Holy Spirit. That anointing oil, poured upon the Church's living Head, "runs down to the skirts of His garment," anointing, as it flows, all His members, and those that are lowest and humblest — (nearest the skirts) — receive the most ! My soul! if this be thy position — at the feet of Jesus — the blessed influences of the Holy Spirit, streaming down upon thee in co- j pious efl'usion, sanctifying thee more and more, and making thee more meet for glory i I — then thou may est well say, night after night, I until the day-spring of that glory burst upon j i thee— ! I I I ' I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, j I LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" | I \ ON THY PROMISES. "All the promises of God in Him are Tea, and in Him Amen."— 2 Cob. i. 20. God has made a Will, or Testament, in be- half of His people ! It is signed and sealed. It cannot be altered — nothing can denude ns of our patrimony. The bequest is His own " exceeding great and precious promises." "What a heritage ! — All that the sinner re- quires — all that the sinner's God can give. In this testamentary deed there are no contin- gencies, no peradventures. The testator com- mences it with the sure guarantee for its every jot and tittle being fulfilled, " Yerily, verily, /say unto you !" He endorses every promise, and every page, with a "Yea, and Amen." " God, willing more abundantly to show to ib THE NIGHT WATCHES. the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath !" But who provided such a rich Promise Treasury ? What is the source, where the fountain-head, from which these streams of mercy flow to the Church ? "Z?i Him." Be- liever ! from Jesus every promise is derived — in Jesus every promise centres ! Pardon, peace, adoption, consolation, eternal life — all " in Him !" In Him you are " chosen," ''called," "justified," "sanctified," "glori- fied." You have in possession all the bless- ings of present grace ; you have in reversion all the happiness of coming glory : and " He is faithful that promised !" Your friend may deceive thee — the world has deceived you — He never will ! Myriads in glory are there to tell how "not one thing hath failed of all that the Lord their God hath spoken." Rely on this faithfulness — He gave His Son for you. After the greater blessing, surely for subordinate ones you may trust Him. And where do these promises beam most ON THY PROMISES. 77 brightly ? Like the stars, it is in the night ! In the midnight of trial — when the sun of earthly prosperity has set — when deep is call- ing to deep, and wave to wave ; when tempt- ed, bereaved, beaten down with " a great fight of afflictions" — the spiritual firmament, with its galaxy of Promises, will be brightest and clearest ! " Oh ! who could bear life's stormy doom, Did not Thy Word of Love Come brightly bearing through the gloom, A Palm-branch from above ? Then sorrow touch'd by Thee grows bright, With more than rapture's ray ; Ab darkness shows us worlds of light We never saw by day !" But be not deceived ; the night of sorrow cannot in itself give you the comfort of the Divine Promises. It may be night, and yet the stars invisible. It is only "in Him''^ these promises can be discerned in their lus- ti'e. My soul ! if " out of Christ," these stars of Gospel promise shine in vain to thee ; they have to the unspiritual eye no beauty or 78 THE NIGHT WATCHES. brightness. In the midnight battle of Barak, " the stars in their courses fought against Sis- era." They shone on Israel, but denied their light to the enemies of God. The guiding pillar, so lustrous to the chosen people, was a column of portentous gloom to Pharaoh's host. But '• in Him^''^ as " heirs of God," ye are inheritors of " all the promises." All the promises ! Oh ! with such a pillow whereon to rest your aching head, you may well re- sume your nightly song — "l 'WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP", FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY 1" ON THY WABNINGS. "And that -will "by no means clear the guilty." — Ezon-cs xxxiv. 7. " He is faithful that promised.^^ Do we bear sufficiently in mind another equal fideli- ty— " He is faithful" that threatened f My soul ! ponder that solemn word, " who will h^/ no means clear !" Remember when that word was spoken : it was in connection with a sub- lime apocalypse of God's majesty. It was as " the ' glory' of the Lord" was passing before Moses ! Was not this intended to show that there is an awful and inseparable connection between the Divine glory and the impossibili- ty of God's clearing the guilty ? It was at a time, moreover, when the henignity of God was intended to be more specially manifested. 80 THE NIGHT WATCHES. It was when He was declared to be " the Lord, the Lord God, merciful, gracious, long- suffering, abundant in goodness." Then it was, we listen to the awful note of warning, that " clear the guilty" He will not, and can- not! His law requires — the honor of His throne requires — demands — that the guilty be '-'-not cleared." Reader ! art thou still clinging to the dream of final mercy ? Dost thou believe in the first part of the Divine proclamation at Sinai, and persist in presumptuous and fatal skepticism with regard to the last ? — that, boundless in His resources, and infinite in His love, God will by some means " clear the guilty ?" Be not deceived ! See that ye do not incur the woe of him who " striveth with his Mak- er!" The Lord, who ''is not slack concern- ing His promises," can be as little slack con- cerning His threatenings. Time blunts the wrath of man, and chastens and subdues the turbulence of his passions ; but there is no blind impulse — no vacillation in Him with ON THY WARNINGS. 81 whom " a thousand years are as one day." " God's threatenings," says a writer, " are God's doings !" The law has not one breath- ing of mercy for you. There is not one cleft in all Mount Sinai where you can escape the vengeance of the storm ! Unless you flee without delay to Him who has " cleared the guilty" by Himself — the Guiltless — becoming the guilt-bearer, be assm-ed that through eter- nity " you will hy no means be cleared." My soul ! art thou yet in this state of peril- ous estrangement ? still launched on the cheer- less ocean of uncertainty, leaving everything to a dying hour, the time to which nothing should be left, hut to die ! Ponder these liv- ing words of unchanging truth — " Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not es- cape unpunished." The golden chain of grace stretches from heaven to earth, but it can go no further — " Seek ye the Lord while He may be found." " While P'' There is solemn warning in that one word ! It tells thee there 82 THE NIGHT WATCHES. is a day coming, when the Lord, will be sought, but will not be " found." ' Time's sun is fast setting — its twilight is nigh — Its evening is falling in cloud o'er the sky ; Its shadows are stretching in ominous gloom. Its midnight approaches — the midnight of doom ! Then haste, sinner, haste, there is mercy for thee, And wrath is preparing — flee, lingerer, flee !" Reader ! cast thyself this night at His foot- stool ; implore His mercy. Rise not from thy bended knees, until, with His propitiated smile gladdening thee, and the hope of His heaven cheering thee, thou mayest (it maj^ be for the first time in thy life) lie down with a quiet conscience and a pardoned soul, on thy nightly couch, exclaiming — " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU. LOED, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" ON THY CHASTISEMENTS. "For -whom, the Lord loveth. He chasteneth." — Hsb. xii. 6. Chastisement ! — The family badge — the family pledge- — the family privilege ! — " To you it is given to svffer^ " Troubles," says a good man, " are in God's catalogue of mer- cies." " Afflictions," says another, " are God's hired laborers to break the clods and plough the land." Believer ! is the hand of thy God heavy npon thee ? Has He been breaking thy cis- terns, withering thy gourds, poisoning thy sweetest fountains of earthly bliss ? Are tlie world's bright spots outnumbered by the dreary ? Has one tear been following an- other in quick succession ? Thou mayest have — J 84 THE NIGHT WATCHES. to tell, perhaps, of a varied experience of triajs. Every tender point touched — sickness, bereavement, poverty — all ! Be still ! If thou art a child of God, there is no exemption from " the household discipline." The rod is a father's ; the voice that speaks may be rough, but the hand that smites is gentle. The furnace may be seven times heated, but the Refiner is seated by. His object is not to consume, but to purify. Do not misinter- pret His dealings ; there is mercy on the wings of " the rough wind." Our choicest fountains are fed from dark lowering clouds. All, be assured, will yet bear the stamp of love. Sense cannot discern yet " the bright light in the clouds." Aged Jacob exclaimed at first, " All these things are against me ;" but at last he had a calmer and a juster ver- dict, " His spirit revived !" " At evening time it was light." The saint on earth can say, regarding his trials, in faith and in trust, "I hnow^ O Lord, that thy judgments are right." The saint in glory can go a step far- L ON THY CHASTISEMENTS. 85 ther, " I see^ O Lord, that they are so !" His losses will then be shown to be his riches. Believer ! on a calm retrospect of thy heaviest afflictions — say, were they nnneeded ? Was this (what Augustine calls) '' the severe mer- cy of God's discipline" — was it too severe ? Less would not have done. Like Jonah, thou never wouldst have awoke but for the storm ! He may have led thee to a Zarephath (" a place of furnaces"), but it is to show thee there " one like unto the Son of God !" When was God ever so near to thee, or thou to thy God as in the furnace-fires ? When was the presence and love and sympathy of Jesus so precious? When "the Beloved" comes down from " the Mountain of Myrrh" —the "Hill of Frankincense"— to His "Gar- den on Earth," He can get no fragrance from some plants but by bruising them. The spices in the Temple of old were hruised. The gold of its candlestick was heaten gold ! It was when the Marah-fountain of thy heart was bitter with sin, that He cast in some cross— 8 86 THE NIGHT WATCHES. some trial — and "the waters were made sweet !" My soul, be still ! Thou hast in affliction one means of glorifying God, which even an- gels have not in a sorrowless world : — Pa- tience under the rod — Submission to thy Heavenly Father's will ! Pray not to have thine affliction removed, but for grace to bear up under it, so that thou mayest glorify God even " in the fires ;" and, remembering that though " weeping endureth for a night, joy cometh in the morning," close thy tearful eyes, saying,— " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY 1" ON THY INVITATIONS. "Him that cometb. to me I will in no wise cast out." — John vi. 37. In no wise ! How broad is the door of wel- come ! " God," says a holy writer, " is like one on his knees, with tears in his eyes, and extreme fervor in his soul, beseeching the sinner to be saved !" He met the prodigal son half-way. Ere the ungrateful wanderer could stammer forth through penitential tears the confession of his sins, the arms of mercy were around him. The prodigal thought of no more than the menial's place : the Father had in readiness the best robe and the fatted calf ! " There is no such argument," says Bishop Reynolds, " for our turning to God, as His turning to us." He has the first word 88 THE NIGHT WATCHES. in the overtures of mercy. He refuses none — He welcomes all ! — The poor — the wretched — the blind — ^the naked — the burdened — the heavy-laden ; — the hardened sinner — ^the aged sinner — the daring sinner — the dying sinner — ALL are invited to the conference : " Come now, and let us reason together !" The most parched tongue that laps the streams from the smitten rock has everlasting life ! " When we forgive, it costs us an effort ; when God forgives, it is His delight." From the bat- tlements of heaven He is calling after us : " Turn ye ! turn ye ! Why will ye die ?" He seems to wonder if sinners have pleasure in their ,own death. He declares, "/ have none /" Reader ! have you yet closed with the Gospel's free invitations? Have you gone just as you are — with all the raggedness of !N"ature's garments — standing in your own nothingness — feeling that you are insolvent — that you have "nothing to pay" — already a bankrupt, and the debt always increasing % p— ___ ON THY INVITATIOXS. 89 Have you taken hold of that blessed assur- ance, " He is able to save unto tlie uttermost V" Are you resting your eternal all on Him who has done all and suffered all for you ; leaving you, " without money and without price," a free, full, unconditional offer of a great sal- vation ? Say not your sins are too many — the crimson dye too deep. It is because you are a great sinner, and have great sins, that you need a great Saviour. " Of whom I am the chief ^"^ is a golden postscript to the " faith- ful saying." Do not dishonor God by casting doubts on His ability or willingness. K your sins are heinous, you will be all the greater monu- ment of grace. You may be the weakest and unwoi-thiest of vessels ; but, remember, there was a niche in the temple for great and for small — for " vessels of cups" as well as for " vessels of flagons ;" — aye, and the smallest vessel glorifies Christ ! Arise ! then, call upon thy God ! We can- not say, with the king of Nineveh, "Who 8* 90 THE NIGHT WATCHES. can tell if God will turn ?" He is "turning" now — importunately pleading and averring on His own immutable word, that He will " in no wise cast out !" " Though ye have lien among the pots, ye shall be as doves, whose wings are covered with silver, and their feathers with yellow gold !" Close without delay with these precious invitations, that, so looking up to a reconciled God and Father in heaven, you may even this night say— " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY 1" ON THY CONSOLATIONS. "Coinfortye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God!" — ISA. 2l. 1. God's people are often apt to be " discour- aged because of the waj." In the bitterness of their spirits, they are often apt to saj, with desponding Zion, "The Lord hath forsaken me," or with the faithless prophet, " It is bet- ter for me to die than to live." But the Christian has his consolations too, and they are "strong consolations." The " still small voice" mingles with the hurri- cane and the storm. The bush bums with fire, but the Great God is in the bush, and therefore it is indestructible 1 " The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock ; and let the God of my salvation be exalted !" Earthly 92 THE NIGHT WATCHES. consolations may help to dry one tear, but another is ready to flow : God dries all. There is no want in the aching voids of the sinner's heart but He can supply. Is it mercy to pardon ? I can look uj^ to the throne of the most high God, and see Ho- liness and Righteousness, and Justice and Truth, all bending in exulting harmony over my ruined soul, exclaiming, " This is a faith- ful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin- ners !" Is it grace to help ? I can look up to that same throne, and behold seated thereon a Great High Priest ; nay, a mighty " Prince, having power with God, and prevailing" — " prayer without ceasing" ascending from His lips in behalf of His people. When Satan seeks " to sift" them on earth, His upholding power protects them in heaven ! When temptation assails them in their earthly con flicts, the true Moses on the Mount, with hands that never " grow heavy,' ' makes them ON THY CONSOLATIONS. 93 " more than conquerors." When trial threat- ens to prostrate them, He identifies Himself witli the sufferers — He points to His own sor- rows to show them how light the heaviest of earth's sorrows are ! Even over the gloomy portals of the grave He can write, " Blessed are the dead !" He alone felt Death's sub- stance — His people only "see the shadow." He makes it a " Yalley of Achor," through which " the two spies, Faith and Hope," fetch back Eschol-pledges of the True Land of Promise ! My soul ! art thou now weary, or despond- ing ? Is some cross heavy on tbee — some trial oppressing thee — some thorn in the flesh sorely lacerating thee ? Be still ! He will make His " grace sufficient for thee." If He has allured thee into the wilderness, it is that He may speak comfortably unto thee. He has an antidote for every bosom — a balm for every heart — a comfort for every pang — ■ a solace for every tear. " In the multitude 94 THE KIGHT "WATCHES. of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts de- light my soul !" " Tis my happiness below Not to live without the cross, But the Saviour's power to know. Sanctifying every loss. " Trials must and will befall ; But with humble faith to see Love inscribed upon them all, — - j This is happiness to me ! j " Trials make the promise sweet, Trials give new life to prayer, Trials bring me to His feet, Lay nie low, and keep me there !" " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOE THOU, I LOED, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY ON THY PATHS. 'All the path.3 of the Lord are mercy and trutli unto such, as keep His covenant and His testimonies." — Pa. XXV. 10. " All the Paths !" It is no small effort of faith to say so, — when blessings are blown upon and schemes crossed, and fellow-pil- grims (it may be beloved helpmeets in our spiritual joys) mysteriously removed, — to say, " All — ALL is mercy ! — All — all is well !" But they are " the paths of the LorcV — His choosing ; and be assured He will " lead His people by a right way." It may not be the way of their own selecting. It may be the very last they would have chosen. But when He leadeth His sheep, " He goeth he- fore them /" The Shepherd stakes off our 96 THE NIGHT WATCHES. pasture-ground. He guides "the footsteps of the flock." He will lead them by no rougher way than He sees needful. Does a father give his child his own way ? If lie did, it would be his ruin. Will God surren- der us to our own truant wills, which are bent on nothing so much as wandering farthest from the Shepherd ? He knows us better — He loves us hetter I My soul ! it is the loftiest triumph and pre- rogative of faith to have no way — no path of thine own — but with childlike simplicity and reliance to say, " Teach me Thy paths !'' " Undertake Thoti for me !" Lead me hoic- soever and luheresoever Thou pleasest. Let it be through the darkest, loneliest, thorniest way — only let it bring me nearer Thyself. " tell me, Thou life and delight of my soul, Where the flock of Thy pasture are feeding ; I seek Thy protection, I need Thy control ; I would go where my Shepherd is leading. tell me the place where Tby flock are at rest, j Where the noon-tide will find them reposing ! j The tempest now rages, my soul is distrest, | And the pathway of peace I am losing !" i ON THY PATHS. 97 O that we could keep our eye not so mucli on the path, as on the bright wicket-gate which terminates it ! When standing at that luminous portal, we shall trace, with adoring wonder, the way in which our God has led us, discerning the "need-be" of every tear-drop ; — and to the question, " Is it well?" to which often on earth we gave an evasive answer, ready with an unhesitating, "It is well !" "What a light will then be flashed on these three oft mysterious words, " God is Love !" Then, at least, shall we be able to add the joyful comment — " We have known and be- lieved the love which God hath to us !" Meanwhile, my soul ! if thou art treading a path of sorrow, consider, as an encourage- ment, that thy Lord and Master trod the same before thee. Behold ! as He toils on His blood-stained journey, how submission to the Divine will forms the secret of His support. "Even so, Father!" "Xot my will, but Thine be done I" The True David was strengthened with what sustained His typical 9 yo THE NIGHT WATCHES. ancestor in a dark and trying hour : " O Lord, thou art My God /" Believer ! if it be tJiy God in covenant who is leading thee, what more canst thou require ? " His ways are verity and judgment :" " He will guide thee, while thou livest, by His counsel, and after- ward receive thee into His glory !" My God ! if such be the design of thy dealings and discipline, — •* I WILL BOTH LAY MK DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LOED, ONLY MAKEST MK DWELL IN SAFETY !" ON THY SECRET. " The secret of the Lord is -with them, that fear Him., and He "wiil show them. His covenant." — Pa. xxv. 14. My Soul ! thy God has some mighty Se- cret to confide to thee ! What is this, which (a mystery to the world) is to be conveyed in whispers into the ears of His people ? ''''He will shovj them His Cryoenant /" Listen this night to this blessed " secret." Thou hast pondered it oft before. But its wonders never diminish by repetition. The Autlif/r of it is God — the Eternal Fa- ther ! He framed its articles before the foun- dation of the world. It is an inverted order of truth that would represent the atonement as the cause of God's love : that love was rather the originating cause of the atonement 100 THE NIGHT WATCHES. — " God SO loved the world !" How runs the Covenant-Charter ? — " All things are yours ! Ye are Christ's !" " Christ is God's /" The initiative — the first overture of covenant mercy — was with Him. It was the insulted Sove- reign who first dreamt of clemency towards the rebels — the injured Father who first thought of His ungrateful children ! Won- drous secret ! — that from all eternity the Heart of God was to us all Love ! Think of the Surety of the Covenant ! It was the adorable Son of the Father ! He voluntarily closed with the Covenant stipula- tions : " Lo, I come ! I delight to do Thy will, O my God !" He ceased not until, all the terms being fulfilled, He could claim His stipulated reward : " I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do !" And still He lives, and reigns, and intercedes under the blessed title of " Mediator of the Everlasting Cov- enant !" Think of the Almighty dispenser of the ON THY SECRET. 101 blessings of the Covenant. — It is the Spirit of all Grace — the third person in the ever- blessed, co-equal Trinity ! Think of the Heirs of the Covenant. They are all who, by simple faith, are willing to appropriate its inestimable blessings ! Think of the Security of the Covenant. There is nothing but con- tingency in other things — all is certainty here : " I will be unto you a God, and ye shall be to me a people !" Sure ! it has the rock of Christ's Deity to rest upon, and a Triune God pledged to make good all its pro- visions — "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my mouth !" Think of the Perpetuity of the Covenant : " I will betroth thee unto m.Q for- ever /" Think of the rich Inheritance of the Covenant. Oh ! here is the mighty secret of unfathomable love : " If children, then Heirs —Seirs of God:' "Heirs of God !"— all within the compass of Omnipotence to be- stow! "God," says Bishop Beveridge, " thus speaks, I AM that I AM ! — He puts His hand 9* 102 THE NIGHT WATCHES. to a blank that His people may write under it what they please that is for their good : — He simply saying, in the general ' I AMP " My soul ! art thou an heir of God ? Canst thou look upwards to the throne of that Great '•7 J.m,'* and say "-My OodV Happier words — a more glorious assurance — cannot thrill on an archangel's tongue ! With such a Portion, surely I am independent of all others. Let that amazing " secret" form the last thought of this day ; and, as the Al- mighty is even now whispering it in my ears, I may close my eyes, repeating — "I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP, FOK THOU, |X>BD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY 1" ON THY NAME. ' ' The name of the Lord is a strong To-wer ; the Righteoua runneth into it, and is safe." — Prov. xviii. 10. Strong indeed ! " Salvation is for walls and for bulwarks." Every attribute of God- head is such a tower — every perfection such a Bulwark — all combined to insure the Be- liever's everlasting security. My soul ! "walk about Zion, and go round about her : tell the towers thereof. Mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces !" Mark the strong Tower of Omnipotence ! It proclaims that Almightiness is on thy side — - that there is ONE with thee and for thee, boundless in His resources, greater far than all that can be against thee ! Mark the strong tower of Unchangeable- 104 THE NIGHT WATCHES. ness! All earthlj fabrics are tottering and crumbling around thee — the dearest of all thine earthly refuges has written on it the doom of the dust. But, sheltered here, thou canst gaze unawed on all the fitful changes of life, and exult in an unchanging God ! Mark the strong Tower of Wisdom! When dealings are dark, and chastisements myste- rious, dost thou know what it is to retire within this fortress, and to be reminded that all, all that befalls thee, is the planning of unerring rectitude and faithfulness ? — to see inscribed on the chamber- walls, "The only Wise God !" Mark the strong Tower oiLove ! When the hurricane has been fierce — thy heart break- ing with new trials — ^the past dark — the fu- ture a dreary waste — no lull in the storm — no light in the clouds — oh ! is it no comfort to thee to retire into this most hallowed of bul- warks, and read the living motto— emblazon- ed on its every turret — " God is love !" My soul! art thou safe in this impregnable I ON THY NAME. 105 fortress ? Hast thou entered within the gate ? Kemember, it is not to be " near^^ the city, but m it. ISTot to know about Christ, but to " win Him, and be found in Him !" One footstep without, and the Avenger of blood can cut thee down ! " Turn, then, to the stronghold as a " pris- oner of hope !" Once, these were colossal walls to exclude. ]^ow, they are unassail- able barriers to protect — a citadel where His saints are " kept" by the power of God. Every portal is open ; and the God of Mercy issues the gracious proclamation, — " Come, my people, enter into thy chambers !" How safe — ^how happy here ! " If there be tossing and doubting, it is the heaving of a ship at anchor — not the dashing on the rocks." — (Evans.) In God! "There is, in this," says President Edwards, speaking of the same blessed truth, " secured to me, as it were, a calm, sweet cast, or appearance, of glory in almost everything." "We can hear, amid the surges of life, a voice high above 106 THE NIGHT WATCHES. the storm— the Name of the Lord — "It is //" '' It is //" remarks Bishop Hall, " were as much as a hundred names. It is I ! — 1 1 your Lord and Master. I ! the Commander of winds and waters. I ! the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth. I! the God of Spirits. Let Heaven be but as one Scroll, and let it be written all over with titles — they cannot express more than — It is I ! Oh, sweet and seasonable word of a gracious Saviour ! — able to calm all tempests — able to revive all hearts — say but so to my Soul, and I am safe !" ♦* I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOB I THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY ON THY FAVOR. "In Thy favor is life " — Ps. xxx. 5. How anxious are we to stand well with our fellow-men, and secure their favor ! are we equally so to stand well with God ? The fa- vor of man, what is it? — A passing breath, which a moment may alienate, a look forfeit, and which, at best, a few brief }■ ears will for- ever terminate. But the favor of God — how ennobling, constant, and enduring ! In pos- session of that favor, we are independent alike of what the world gives and withholds. With it, we are rich, whatever else we want. Without it, we are poor, though we have the wealth of worlds beside. Bereft of Him, we can truly say with aged Jacob, "I«^m be- 108 THE NIGHT WATCHES. reaved." Nothing can compensate for His loss, but He can compensate for the loss of everything ! " Thou art, O God, the hfe and light Of all this wondrous world we see ; Its glow by day, its smile by night, Are but reflections caught from Thee ! Where'er we turn, Thy glories shine, And all things fair and bright are ITiine." My soul ! art thou living a stranger to this favor, under the cheerless sense of alienation from God ? Sin uncancelled — peace unpur- chased — all uncertainty about the question of thine eternity ? Who need ask, living thus, if thou art satisfied, or happy ? Satisfied ! Impossible — nothing can satisfy thine infinite capacities but the infinite God. l^othing can fill up the aching voids of thine immortal be- ing but Him '' who only hath immortality." Hapjoy I impossible, too. There can be no happiness with sin unforgiven — the conscience unappeased — imperishable interests hanging overhead unsettled and unadjusted — death, and judgment, and eternity, all unprovided ON THY FAVOR. 109 for ! Living at this " dying rate," peace must be a stranger to your bosom ! Seek to make up your peace with God. Covet His life-giving favor. What a blessed fountain of unsullied joy has that soul which can look up to Heaven and say, " God is mine !" That word — that thought — ^wipes away every tear-drop, " My Father !" What though the perishable streams be dried, if thou art driven to learn the truth, " All my well-springs are in Thee T'' He may empty thy cistern, but the Fountainhead remains. Job was the sorest of sufferers, but he could bear patiently to be bereft of all, save One — " O that I knew where I might find Him .-"' " Go," said Chrysostom, exulting in this favor of the King of kings, when an earthly prin- cess tried to shake his spirit — " Go, tell her that I fear nothing but sin." Blessed state of conscious security ! " If Thou art mine, Eternal God ! Let fraud or malice, storm or flood, Bear all besides away : 10 110 THE NIGHT WATCHES. The soul's best treasure lies too deep For spoiler's arm or fortune's sweep, Or time's more sure decay ! Death, that all meaner bliss destroys, Robs not the spirit of its joys ; And if his stroke can sever The fleshly seal, 'tis but to bring The living waters from their spring, And bid them gush forever." The same mighty consolation which sup- ported Jesus in His season of humiliation, forms the solace and rejoicing of His true people — " Because He is on my right hand, I shall not be moved." Blessed Jesus ! do Thou encompass me this night with Thy favor as with a shield, and then I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP; FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY I" ON THY JEWELS. 'They shall he mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." — Mal. iii. 17. " My Jewels !" {marg. My peculiar treas- ure.) Of what favored created beings does Jehovah thus speak ? Is it of seraphs ? — of angels ? Methinks at such a title even they would take the dust of abasement, and veiling their faces, cry, " Unclean ! unclean !" But marvel of marvels ! — It is redeemed sinners of the earth — the fallen children of men, once rude, unshapely stones, lying in " the horri- ble pit and the miry clay," amid the rubbish of corruption, who are thus sought out by grace, purchased by love, destined through eternity to be set as jewels in the crown of the eternal God ! 112 THE NIGHT WATCHES. " The Lord's portion is His people !" There is a surpassing revelation of love here ! Great, unspeakably great, is the privilege of the Be- liever, to be able to look up to the everlasting Jehovah and say, " Thou art my portion, O Lord !" But what is this in comparison with the response of Omnipotence to the child of dust, " Thou art MineT My soul ! hast thou learnt to lisp thy part in this wondrous interchange of covenant- love, " My beloved is Mine, and I am His ?" What an array of wondrous titles belong to the saints of God, and given, too, by God him- self in His own Word. " He calls them Sons as often as sinners !" Brethren ! Princes ! Friends ! Heirs ! Jewels ! Portions ! " MineP'' And when is tlfe time when they become thus dear to Him ? Sinner ! when thou didst weep at the cross of Jesus, and joined thyself in covenant with God, thou becamest His Jewel 1 Nay, " He has loved thee with an everlasting love !" True, thou art not yet set in His crown ; thou art yet undergoing the ON THY JEWELS. 113 process of polishing. Affliction is preparing thee ; trial is needed to remove all the rough- ness and inequalities of nature, and make thee meet for thy Master's use. But, blessed thought ? " He that hath wrought us [literal- ly, chiselled or polished us] for the self-same thing is God .'" Yes, God himself, the pos- sessor, who prized that earthly jewel so much as to give in exchange for it Heaven's " Pearl of great price !" He has the polishing in His own hand. He will not deal too rashly or roughly ! And where, meanwhile, is the casket in which these Jewels are kept till the corona tion-day arrives, when the crown of His Church triumphant (every saint a gem) will be placed on the head of Jesus ? It is He, their Purchaser, their Proprietor, who pre- serves them. They are " kept by the Power of God." Our great High Priest, the true Aaron , has them set in His breastplate ; He bears them on His heart on His every ap- proach to the throne. They are the precious 10* 114 THE NIGHT WATCHES. stones set iu gold upon the ephod, and though the sins of His people, and the designs of Sa- tan, combine in doing what they can to erase and destroy them, He declares that none shall ever pluck them out of His hand or from His heart ! A jewel in Immanuel's crown ! — Not only raised from the dunghill to be set among princes, but to gem through eternity the fore- head that for me was once wreathed with thorns ! Shall I — can I — murmur at any way my Saviour sees meet to polish and pre- pare me for Buch an honor as this ? Let me sink down on my nightly pillow overpowered with the thought ; and as I hear my covenant God whispering in my ear the astounding accents, " Tkou art Mine /" I may well reply, •* I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKBST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" ON THY JUDGMENT-SEAT. " We must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ!"— 2 Cob. v. 10. " All !" There is no eluding that search- ing scrutiny — " Every eye shall see Him !" My soul ! if safe in the covenant, there is to thee no terror in that coming reckoning. The judicial dealing between thyself and thy God is already past. Thou art already acquitted. The moment thou didst cast thy- self at the cross of thy dear Lord, the sen- tence of " !N'ot Guilty" was pronounced upon thee ; and " it is God that justifieth : who is he that condemneth?" But this sentence will be ratified and openly proclaimed before an assembled world. On that great day of disclosures God will avenge His own elect. 116 THE NIGHT WATCHES. All the calumnies and aspersions heaped on their character will be wiped away. And in presence of devils, and angels, and men, the approving sentence will go forth from the lips of the omniscient One, " Enter ye into the joy of yom' Lord." And who is to be thy Judge ? Who is to be enthroned on that tribunal of unerring rec- titude, before whom every knee is to bow, and every heart is to be laid open ? " He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness ly that Man whom He hath ordained !" " That Man r Oh ! it is no stranger ! It is He who died for thee ; who is now interceding for thee ; who will then stand on that latter day on the earth to espouse thy cause, vindicate thine integrity, and utter the challenge to every reclaiming adversaiy, " Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ?" My soul ! seek to know this God-Man Me- diator on a throne of grace, ere you meet Him on a throne of judgment ! Seek to have _-J ON THY JUDGMENT-SEAT. 117 your name now enrolled in this Book of Life, that you may hear it then confessed before His " Father and the holy angels." What an incentive to increased aspirations after holiness and higher sj)iritual attain- ments, to remember that the awards of that day and of eternity will be determined by the transactions of time ! It is a grand Bible principle, that, though justified by faith, we shall be judged by works. Nay more, while from first to last, Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the meritorious cause of salvation, yet the works flowing from faith in Him and love to Him will regulate the degree of future bliss ; whether we shall be among the " greatest" or '' the least in the kingdom" — whether we shall occupy the outskirts of glory, or revolve in orbits around the throne in the blaze of God's immediate presence ! Reader ! were that trumpet- blast now to break on thine ear, wouldst thou be prepared with the welcome response, " Even so, come ?" Seek to be living in this habitual state of holy 118 THE NIGHT WATCHES. preparedness, that even the midnight cry would not take thee by surprise ; that the summons which will prove so startling to a slumbering world, would be to thee the her- ald of glory — " He cometh, He cometh to judge the earth !" *' Never again your loins untie, Nor let your torches waste and die, Till, when the shadows thickest fall, Ye hear your Master's midnight call !" O the blessedness of being able, in sweet confidence in the Saviour's second coming, to compose myself to rest night after night, and say, '' Even though the trumpet of judgment should break upon my ears, "I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP; FOR THOU, LOED, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" L. ON THY BANQUETING-HOUSE. " He "brought me to the Banqueting-houae." — Cant, ii. 4. " He brought me !" — all of grace ! He jus- tifies, He glorifies. The top-stone is brought forth, the banqueting-house is entered, with shoutings, saying, " Grace, grace unto it !" Mj soul ! contemplate the journey ended, the course finished, the victory won ! Seated at the supper-table of the Lamb in glory, guest talking to guest with bounding hearts, re- counting their Lord's dealings on earth — the Avatchword circulating from tongue to tongue, " He hath done all things well !" Angels and archangels, too, will be participants in that banquet of glorj^, and bright seraphs, who never knew what it was to have a heart 120 THE NIGHT WATCHES. of sin or to shed a tear of sorrow. But for this reason, there will be one element of joy peculiar to the redeemed, into which the other unf alien guests cannot enter — the ''^ joy of GontrasV^ How will the present " great tribulation" augment the bliss of a world at once sinless and sorrowless ! How will earth's woe-worn cheek, and sin-stricken spirit, and tear-dimmed eye, enhance the glories of that perfect state where there is not the type or symbol of sadness, not the solitary trace of one lingering tear-drop ! Then will be re- alized that sweet paradox, " They rest," "They rest not !" ''''The rest without a rest f^ "They restP'' — the eternal pause and cessa- tion from all the feverish disquietudes of this world's sins and sorrows, all that would dis- turb the rapture of a holy repose, and yet the restless activity of holiness — the Divine energy of beings whose grand element of hap- piness is employment in the service and ex- ecuting the will of God. In this " they cease not day nor night." It is siiblimely said of ON THY BANQUETESTG-HOTISE. 121 the God before whom they hymn their an- thems and cast their crowns, " He inhabiteth the praises of eternity !" My soul ! seek often to ponder, in the midst of thy days of sadness, the joys of that eternal banqueting- house. " Ye shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more !" One moment at that table — one crumb of the heavenly manna — one draught from the river of life, and all the bitter experiences of the valley of tears will be obliterated and forgot- ten! Look upwards even now, and behold thy dear Lord preparing for thee this glorious " feast of fat things." " I go to prepare a place for you." " I will come again, and re- ceive you unto myself !" — He has Himself entered the Banqueting-house as the earnest and forerunner of the coming Guests. He, the first Sheaf of the mighty harvest, has been waved before God in the temple of the 'New Jerusalem, as a pledge of the immortal sheaves still to be gathered into the heavenly garner. The invitation is issued, " Come, for 11 122 THE NIGHT WATCHES. all things are ready ! the oxen and the fat- lings are killed !" My soul ! prepare for the meeting ; suitably attire thyself for such a glorious banquet. Put on thy beautiful gar- ments — that righteousness of Jesus, without which thou canst not be accepted — that holi- ness of heart, without which thou canst not be an accejptahle guest. Soon shall the little hour of life's unquiet dream be over ; and then, O the glorious surprise of being ushered into that banqueting-table — to \x^(m forever the blessedness of those " who are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb !" With the prospect of such joys awaiting me in the morning of immortality, with the dark nights of death before me, and the grave my couch, I shall be able to say even of its lonely chamber — " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" ON THY PEESENCE. "In Thy presence there is fulness of joy." — Ps. xvi. 12. Even in this world, where there is mucli of God, how sweet to the Christian is the sense of His presence, and friendship, and love ! "What will it be in that world, where it is all of God ? The foretaste is blessed — what must be the fruition! The rays of the Divine glory are gladdening — what must be the full blaze of that Sun itself ! My soul ! dost thou often delight to pause in thy journey ? — does faith love to ascend its Pisgah-Mount and get a prospect of this Land of Promise ? What is the grand feature and element which swallows up all the circumstan- tials in thy future bliss ? Let Patriarchs, Pro- 124 THE NIGHT WATCHES. phets, and Apostles, answer — It is " Thy Presence." "In mj flesh, I shall see GodP'^ says one. " I shall be satisfied," says an- other, " when I awake, with Thy likeness." "They shall see His face," says a third. Amid all the glowing visions of a coming Heaven vouchsafed to John in Patmos, there is One all-glorious object that has ever a peer- less and distinctive pre-eminence — God him- self. There is no candle — Why? "For the Lord God giveth them light ?" There is no temple — Why ? " For the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple thereof !" The Saints dwell in holy brotherhood ; but what is the mighty bond of their union — their " chief est joy ?" — " He that sitteth on the Throne dwells among them !" They have no longer the in- tervention of ordinances and means — Why ? Because " the Lamb that is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of waters !" They no longer draw on the storehouse of the Promises — And why ? Because " God himself shall wipe ON THY PRESENCE. 125 away all tears from their eyes !" " Ko nap- kin," says a holy man, " but His own imme- diate hand, shall wipe my sinful face !" My soul ! here is the true "'PenieV — ■ where you will " see God face to face !" Here is the true ^'' Mahanaim'''^ — where " the Angels of God meet you !" Here is the true Communion of Saints — " The glorious fellow- ship of the Prophets — the goodly fellowship of the Apostles — the noble army of Martyrs !'* Yet all these latter will be subservient and , subordinate to the first — the vision and frui- tion of God! Even the recognition of the death-divided (that sweet element in the Be- liever's prospect of bliss) will pale in compari- son into a taper-light before this " Glory that excelleth !" Keader ! art thou among these " pure in heart," who are to " see God ?" Remember the Bible's solemn interdict — " Without holi- ness no man shall see the Lord !" Remember its solemn admonition — " And every man that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself even 11* I 126 THE NIGHT WATCHES. as He is pure !" To "see God !" O what preparation needed for so august a contem- plation ! Infinite unworthiness and nothing- ness to stand in the presence of Infinite Ma- jesty, Purity, and Glory ! Can I wonder at the much discipline re- quired ere I can be thus " -presented faultless before the presence of His glory F" How will these needed furnace-fires be dimmed into nothing when viewed from the Sapphire throne ! " Heart and flesh may be fainting and failing ;" but, remembering that that same God is now " the strength of my heart," who is to be my " portion forever," I may joyfully say— *' 1 WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOR THOD, LOED, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN SAFETY !" ON THT CLOSING CALL. "Now is the accepted time : "behold ! now is the day of salvation." — 2 Cor. vi. 2. Eeader ! how stands it with thee ? Is the question of thy eternity finally and forever adjusted ? Art thou at peace with God ? Canst thou say with Paul, in the prospect of death, " I am now ready ?" Hast thou been led to feel the infinite peril of postponement and procrastination, and responded to the ap- peal — " Behold ! JVow /" Ah ! how many have found, when the imagined hour of death- bed preparation had come, that the tear of penitence was too late to be shed, and the prayer of mercy too late to be uttered ! Let there be plain dealing between thy con- 128 THE NIGHT WATCHES. science and thy God. Seek not to escape from the pressing urgency of the question. Thou mayest dismiss it now, but there is a day coming when thou durst not ! Let it not merge in vague generalities — let it be realized as matter of personal concernment — of infinite moment to thyself — " Am I saved, or am I not saved ? — am I prepared, or am I unpre- pared, to meet my God ?" Thou mayest have, perhaps, an honest purpose of giving it some future entertainment at another and " more convenient season." Do we ever read of Felix's " mor^" convenient season ? It were better not to risk to the experiment of a dying hour the solution of the problem — " Is it safe to delay ?" Take it on trust, that it is a hard matter — a conference about the soul on the brink of eternity ! Eemember, " God's Spirit will not always strive !" All His other attributes are infinite, but His patience and forbearance have their " bounds and limits." The invitation which is thine to-day may be withdrawn to-morrow. The axe may be even ON THY CLOSING CALL. 129 now laid at the root of the tree, and the sen- tence on the wing, " Cut it down I" How awful, if it really be that thou art yet living in this state of estrangement and guilt ! What a surrender of present peace ! What a forfeiture of eternal joy ! Haste thee ! flee for thy life, lest thou be consumed ! Thy immortality is no trifle ! " The night is far spent !" Who can tell, how far ? It may be now or never with thee ! Thou art about once more to lie down on thy nightly pillow. What if thy awaking to-mor row were to be " in outer darkness ?" But, take courage — That night is not too far spent ! Close this last of the " IS'ight Watches," by fleeing, without delay, to Jesus • — the Sinner's Saviour and the Sinner's Friend. It was on the last watch of the night He came of old to His tempest-tossed disci- ples. Like them, receive Him now into thy Soul ! and have all thy guilty fears calmed by His omnipotent " Peace, be still !" Are there not ominous signs all around as if the 130 THE NIGHT WATCHES. world'' s last and closing " night-watch" had set in ? The billows are heaving high. We hear the footsteps on the waters ! Amid the fitful moanings of the blast — the watchword is heard — of joy to some, of terror to others — ^'' Maran-atha P'^ "The Lord is coming !" Keader ! art thou ready ? Is the joyous response on thy tongue — " Come, Lord Jesus ; come quickly?" 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