# V ■ ■ 3 V Wo* 7Pt> LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, ©TO*--- - ©WW 1^ Shelf TP.4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. FOR THE ANCHORAGE FOR THE STORM-TOSSED — u And she was a widow. Compiled and Edited by ROSE ^PORTER, AUTHOR OF "FOREGLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY," " COMFORT FOR MOTHERS OF ANGELS," ETC. ^1 PS* ^"7 I NEW YORK : Anson D. F. Randolph & Company, 9OO BROADWAY, COR. 20th ST. ♦ * COPY ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY. Edward O. Jenkins 1 Sons, Printers and Stereotypers y 20 North William St., New York. * " Our dear Lord and Saviour, who is also our example and pattern, in all our sufferings, com- fort yOU." Luther. Thus saith the Lord, — " Let thy widows trust in Me." Remember, Not long will it be before you meet again, " A circle never to be sundered more, No broken link, a family in Heaven." BlCKERSTETH. * I. " A WIDOW! what a desolate name ! Yes, you may weep, you must, you ought ; you are placed by Providence in the region of sorrow, and tears befit your condition. " James. u Jesus wept ! The Saviour has consecrated sorrow. He has made it a holy thing to weep. — " Be not ashamed of thy weeping, thou be- reaved one ! only let thy tears be shed at the feet of Jesus, and see that thy sorrow does not degenerate into selfishness, or develop into re- bellion against the will of God." " The Christian mourner may always count upon the sympathy of Jesus. Thou mourning one, who art to-day bewailing the loss of hus- 7 ANCHORAGE. band, thou mayest rely on His sympathy, for though He is sitting on the throne, He has still the same tenderness for those who are in sor- row as He manifested at the grave of Laza- rus ! " W. M. Taylor. Be comforted, " Jesus wept ! and still in glory He can mark each mourner's tear ; Loving to retrace the story Of the hearts He solaced here. Jesus wept ! that tear of sorrow Is a legacy of love ; Yesterday, to-day, to-morrow, He the same doth ever prove.' II " T ET your grief be such that your consola tions shall be more, for you have not lost thy loved one, but sent him before you, that he may be kept for ever blessed. " Luther. • " He pleased God, and was beloved of Him : so that, whereas he lived among sinners, He translated him." anon. " Happy we are ! For though we stand alone, Like the disciples gazing up to Heaven, Toward our ascended one, We know that God, who takes what He has given, Never a soul forsakes, And surely gives again that which He takes. He who has passed above the sky Has gone in time, comes in eternity.*' Clarke. 9 * ANCHORAGE " The withdrawal of a friend from our side is a special providence, even for ourselves. Never does the grave take hold of a mortal's feet, but his companion hath an omnipresent Eye the while fixed on him in compassion. We should think of that Eye, as well as of the Hand that taketh away. Meditation on the dead quickens our faith in the unseen, for sorrow hath a sacred efficacy ; there being no touch so purifying as that of a dead man's hand." MOUNTFORD. " He whom thou loved and lost .... Dwells in those cities far from mortal woe, — Haunts those fresh woodlands, whence sweet carol- lings soar. Eternal peace has he ; God wipes his tears away ; He drinks that river of life which flows for evermore." Anon. Be comforted. After earth — Heaven. After parting — meeting. IO IP III T ON ELY one, listen to the words of a heart stricken and sore bereaved even as thou art. Trust as she trusted, and say as she said, " Thy will be done. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord," and then thou wilt find, though thy sun be set, though it be eventide with thee, yet, at eventide it shall be light. " It has pleased an all-wise God to take to Himself my beloved husband, and to write upon me, the happiest of wives, Widow. " O Thou Infinite Jehovah, I claim Thy prom- ise that Thou, my Maker, will be my husband, and counsel and direct me in every duty before me. I can no longer ask my husband, and re- ceive aid and counsel from him, in every diffi- * ANCHORAGE. culty, but if Thou lift upon me the light of Thy countenance, and make Thy word a light to my feet and a lamp to my path, I can not err. . . . " I devote myself to Thee in my new charac- ter as widow, and claim all the promises to such in Thy precious Bible. I desire to glorify Thee in this hot furnace of affliction, to see Thy hand in my bereavement. My idol Thou hast taken away, my gourd Thou hast withered. Lord, help me or I perish/' M rs. bethune. " I, the Lord, am with thee, Be thou not afraid ! I will help and strengthen, Be thou not dismayed ! Yea, I will uphold thee With my own Right Hand ; Thou art called and chosen In my sight to stand. God is all-sufficient — Onward, then, and Fear not." Havergal * IV. si T T OW tenderly our compassionate Lord speaks of the widow ! He seems in- tent to fill up every gap love has been forced to make ; one of His errands from Heaven was to bind up the broken-hearted. He has an answer for every complaint you may ever be tempted to utter. Do you say you have none now to follow, to walk with, to lean on ? He will fol- low you and invite you to come up from the wilderness leaning on Him as your beloved. Is it that you want one to be interested in all your concerns ? * Cast all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you/ Do you need a protector ? ' Let thy widows trust in Me': is His promise. An adviser? ' Wonderful counsellor': is His 13 ♦ ANCHORAGE, name. Do you seek a companion ? ' I will not leave you comfortless ; I will come unto you ; I will never leave you, nor forsake you/ Do you want one to weep with you ? ' In all their affliction He was afflicted'; ' Jesus wept'; when you lie down you are safe under the shad- ow of His wings, under the banner of His love. When you awake, He is still about your path." Remember, " The promises of God must be true ; surely the Lord will help you, if you are willing to be helped? " For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen," 2 cor. i. 20. " Here is a covert from the storm, when winds and waves arise, A shadow in the scorching noon, a light in starless skies ; A staff upon the rugged road, a shield when foes as- sail. — * ANCHORAGE. Draw near, thou reft and drooping heart, draw near and lift thy gaze To Him who yearns with outstretched arms thee from thy grief to raise ; Draw near, and, clinging close beneath thy Saviour's bleeding heart, Tell o'er each throb of that deep woe in which thou hast a part ; .... All thy weary heart-aching upon that true love cast ; In Jesus' Cross and Passion is the medicine of thy soul, Yea, there is balm in Gilead, and a Healer to make thee whole/' S ELLON. 15 * R EMEMBER, " Death gives us sleep, eternal youth, and immortality. .... Death is another life." RlCHTER. " The hand fell and the pulse faltered ; and it was done ; and the spirit was fled, — the spirit that was woven into ours as with meshes of steel. And now not one lisp out of the sky, not one whisper out of the night, to tell us and comfort us. Mystic orphanage of spirits that are filial ! mystic divorce of spirits that are wedded ! And the years move on. We remember them and they remember us, we think. They worship there and we worship here, — a broken chorus rendering one psalm : they with eyes from which 16 * ANCHORAGE. all tears have been tenderly wiped, and with faces beautiful with looking upon the front of God ; we with eyes all tear-bedimmed, stum- bling over the roughness of life, wondering, hop- ing, and waiting ; waiting till our exile shall be repealed, our little island of loneliness and ex- pectation be made continuous with the conti- nent of the redeemed, and no more sea in the new city of God." c. h. Parkhurst. And, " There shall ye find your dead in Christ arisen, And learn from them to sing the angels' song." " Oh, it is sweet to think Of those that are departed. Dear dead ! they have become Like guardian angels to us, And distant Heaven, like home. O dearest dead ! to Heaven With grudging sighs we gave you, 17 ANCHORAGE. To Him ! be doubts forgiven ! Who took you there to save you ! — Now get us grace to love Your memories yet more kindly, Pine for our homes above, And trust to God more blindly." Fabkr. * VI. " Can I call that home where I anchor yet, Though my good man has sailed ? " "'"T^HINK, sorrowing one, of the wonders of the grace of God ; and remember His promise, ' My grace is sufficient for you/ — sanctifying grace, sustaining and supporting grace, made perfect in your weakness, if you trust in Christ. " — " The treasured life of your home, of your heart, is taken, but when the tremendous blow came, lo ! sustaining grace came with it. — You may rise above your trial, for underneath are the Everlasting arms. You may tread life's lonely way sorrowful, yet with a 'song- in the night '; for amid earth's separations and sadness, you 19 * ANCHORAGE. may hear the voice of Jesus, saying, ' L<* ! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world '; and, He is able to make all grace abound toward you. Cast all your cares, and each care, as it arises, on Him, saying, in child- like faith, ' Undertake Thou for me ! ' Then, the mournful, desolate, solitary, rugged path you tread, will be carpeted with Love, fringed with Mercy, and earth's darkest future will grow bright as you listen to a Voice stealing from the upper sanctuary, l I will come again and receive you unto myself ; that where I am, there ye may be also.' McDuff. And, there dear families are gathered." " What matter how the winds may blow, Or blow they east, or blow they west ; What reck I how the tides may flow, Since ebb or flood alike is best. No summer calm, no winter gale, Impedes or drives me from my way ; * * ANCHORAGE. I steadfast toward the Haven sail That lies, perhaps, not far away. " What matter how the winds may blow, Since fair or foul alike are best ; God holds them in His hand, I know, And I may leave to Him the rest, Assured that neither calm nor gale Can bring me danger or delay, As I still toward the Haven sail That lies, I know, not far away/' ex ♦ * * * * VII. " A LL which is real, remaineth and fadeth never ; and love is real." " Yes ! consolation. Yours, even yours is not a case that excludes all comfort. There is balm for the wounds of a widow's heart You still feel a mysterious and happy fellowship, though separated by the wide, deep gulf of the grave. Extract comfort, then, from your very tears, for love has left a drop even in them. You were happy, and that should prevent your being wretched now ; you were his comfort on earth, and assisted him in his pilgrimage to Heaven ; where, perhaps, he is now thinking of you before the throne, and finding a place for ANCHORAGE. your name in the song of gratitude before the fountain of mercy." 11 He that pitied the widow of Nain, pities you. ' In all your affliction, He is afflicted, and the angel of His presence is with you/ Not a promise died, when your husband died. Not a single Gospel consolation lies entombed in His sepulchre. Wherefore comfort yourself with these thoughts." jAMES . " I know, O Lord, that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me." Ps# cxix . 75 . "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." Heb. xii. 6. " God is our refuge and strength, a very pres- ent help in time of trouble." Ps . x i v j. r< " He knoweth the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Job xxiii. 10. * ANCHORAGE. " Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground. " Job v. 6. But, " In all our afflictions He is afflicted. " Is. lxiii. 9. And, " In that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted. ,, heb. xu. 18. " The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be re- vealed in US." Rom. viii. 18. Remember, " It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good." 1 Sam. m. 18. * * 24 * VIII. " From the eternal shadow rounding All our sun and starlight here, Voices of our lost ones sounding Bid us be of heart and cheer, Through the silence, down the space, Falling on the inward ear."