tossed with tempest, and not comforted," roll thy burden upon the Lord; He shall sustain thee. Pour out thy heart before Him; and, as surely as it now knows its own bitterness, so surely will God fill it, in due season, with that joy which no stranger can intermeddle with. "Thy sorrow," O Christian! whatsoever it be, and whosoever thou art, shall assuredly "be turned into joy." Yes; I will bless Thee, bless Thee evermore ; In song exalt Thee, but much more in heart; FOURTH DAY. "AS THE HART PANTETH AFTER THE WATER BROOKS, SO PANTETH MY SOUL AFTER THEE, O GOD! MY SOUL IS ATHIRST FOR God; for the LIVING GOD."-Ps. xlii. 1, 2. This is a most sure sign of a spiritual mind; or, in other words, of a soul born from above; for no stream can rise higher than its fountain, and the powerful, prevailing, habitual desires of the heart will always mark its state and disposition. If worldly ease and enjoyment-if worldly pleasure, honour, or interest, absorb the attention; and if it be after these that the heart is panting, then it is a worldly heart; but if it thirst after God and Christ; if it thirst for that living water which flows from the throne of God and the Lamb; if it be the Spirit of holiness and righteousness; if it be heaven and its elements for which the heart is panting; O! most sure mark of a holy and renewed mind! My soul is athirst for God," said the psalmist," for the living God." And blessed are all they who can take up the same language: yea, and the more intense their thirst, the more abundant shall be their supply and the plenitude of their satisfaction. " They shall drink of the river of thy pleasures." God Himself, O Christian believer! has excited these earnest desires in thy soul, and God Himself will fulfil them. "Happy are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." "Whoso cometh unto me, shall never hunger (that is, in vain); and he that believeth in me, shall never thirst" (that is, without being replenished with everlasting consolation). 66 De light thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Awakened from this life's delusive dream, I hasten where the peaceful water glides, Her fainting power revives, her strength renews; And with new songs of joy, her journey she pursues. FIFTH DAY. "I WAIT FOR THE LORD; MY SOUL DOTH WAIT, AND IN HIS WORD DO I HOPE."-Ps. cxxx. 5. "Waiting, I waited," says the psalmist, Ps. xl. 1. That is, while waiting for God, he waited upon God: and very many and very great, are the promises attached to such waiting. To wait upon God, implies faithto wait for God, patience. And blessed are they who thus wait; for the exercise of faith and patience will assuredly issue in the pos session and enjoyment of the heavenly inheritance; the kingdom which God hath prepared for them that love Him, from the foundation of the world. Matt. xxv. 34.; Is, lxiv. 4. To those who wait upon God, He has promised the renewal of their strength. The youths, in the freshness of their spring, may faint; but the weak believer shall not faint. The young men, in the power and perfection of their prime, may be weary-may altoger ther fail, and fall; but he, whose strength is in his God; he who runs the Christian race, “looking unto Jesus," he shall not be weary; his resources shall never fail him : nay, more his pinions shall put forth and grow, and he shall take flight; loosened from earth, he shall take flight, as on eagle's wings, toward that city, that heaven, that God, on whom the eye of his faith is fixed, and on whom the patience of his hope is stayed; and thus, rising in desire and love, his joy will be kindled and abound; out of weakness he |