_I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me_.--PS. xiii. 6.
Thy calmness bends serene above My restlessness to still; Around me flows Thy quickening life, To nerve my faltering will; Thy presence fills my solitude; Thy providence turns all to good.
With a heart devoted to God and full of God, no longer seek Him in the heavens above or the earth beneath, or in the things under the earth, but recognize Him as the great fact of the universe, separate from no place or part, but revealed in all places and in all things and events, _moment by moment_. And as eternity alone will exhaust this momentary revelation, which has sometimes been called the ETERNAL Now, thou shalt thus find God ever present and ever new; and thy soul shall adore Him and feed upon Him in the things and events which each new moment brings; and thou shalt never be absent from Him, and He shall never be absent from thee.
_For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us_.--ROM. viii. 18.
_The power of an endless life_.--HEB. vii. 16.
Believ'st thou in eternal things? Thou knowest, in thy inmost heart, Thou art not clay; thy soul hath wings, And what thou seest is but part. Make this thy med'cine for the smart Of every day's distress; be dumb, In each new loss thou truly art Tasting the power of things that come.
Every contradiction of our will, every little ailment, every petty disappointment, will, if we take it patiently, become a blessing. So, walking on earth, we may be in heaven; the ill-tempers of others, the slights and rudenesses of the world, ill-health, the daily accidents with which God has mercifully strewed our paths, instead of ruffling or disturbing our peace, may cause His peace to be shed abroad in our hearts abundantly.
_A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another_.--JOHN xiii. 34.
_And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another, and toward all men_.--I THESS. iii. 12.
Let love through all my conduct shine, An image fair, though faint, of Thine; Thus let me His disciple prove, Who came to manifest Thy love.