_The Lord preserveth the simple_.--PS. cxvi. 6.
Thy home is with the humble, Lord! The simple are Thy rest; Thy lodging is in childlike hearts; Thou makest there Thy nest.
This deliverance of the soul from all useless and selfish and unquiet cares, brings to it an unspeakable peace and freedom; this is true simplicity. This state of entire resignation and perpetual acquiescence produces true liberty; and this liberty brings perfect simplicity. The soul which knows no self-seeking, no interested ends, is thoroughly candid; it goes straight forward without hindrance; its path opens daily more and more to "perfect day," in proportion as its self-renunciation and its self-forgetfulness increase; and its peace, amid whatever troubles beset it, will be as boundless as the depths of the sea.
_Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off_.--I KINGS xx. 11.
_Put on the whole armor of God_.--EPH. vi. 11.
Was I not girded for the battle-field? Bore I not helm of pride and glittering sword? Behold the fragments of my broken shield, And lend to me Thy heavenly armor, Lord!
Oh, be at least able to say in that day,--Lord, I am no hero. I have been careless, cowardly, sometimes all but mutinous. Punishment I have deserved, I deny it not. But a traitor I have never been; a deserter I have never been. I have tried to fight on Thy side in Thy battle against evil. I have tried to do the duty which lay nearest me; and to leave whatever Thou didst commit to my charge a little better than I found it. I have not been good, but I have at least tried to be good. Take the will for the deed, good Lord. Strike not my unworthy name off the roll-call of the noble and victorious army, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; and let me, too, be found written in the Book of Life; even though I stand the lowest and last upon its list. Amen.
_And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever_.--ISA. xxxii. 17.
The heart that ministers for Thee In Thy own work will rest; And the subject spirit of a child Can serve Thy children best.
It matters not where or what we are, so we be His servants. They are happy who have a wide field and great strength to fulfil His missions of compassion; and they, too, are blessed who, in sheltered homes and narrow ways of duty, wait upon Him in lowly services of love. Wise or simple, gifted or slender in knowledge, in the world's gaze or in hidden paths, high or low, encompassed by affections and joys of home, or lonely and content in God alone, what matters, so that they bear the seal of the living God? Blessed company, unknown to each other, unknowing even themselves!