come and tell over the glories of thy kingdom everlasting. No weariness shall dim my eye unto them: no night shall take them out of sight. No storm shall come across to hide them : no dazzling brightness shall make them faint. But they shall be ever before me : and their glory shall wax brighter and brighter. Even thy throne, O God, in heaven : and thy Son at thy right in glory; Tens of thousands of angels around Thee : and the glorious company of the redeemed before Thee. Be this the meditation of my heart: thus let me look forth, and rejoice, O my God! Bhril 124 1865 ས. THE CARE OF THE BODY. O THE desires of this body: O the cares of this life! How craving is their want: how clamorous is their cry! The body, they continually cry, the body: wilt thou not provide for the body? For the house of thy spirit: for the tabernacle of thy soul? Was it not born with thee: wilt it not rise with thee? Wilt thou not repair its waste wilt thou leave it to decay? Grieveth it not with thy grief and canst thou rejoice without its joy? Get thee hence, Satan : tempt not the Lord's anointed; For these are thy words, O thou enemy: and my heart abhorreth their counsel. Is that a home where I am absent from the Lord and my spirit groaneth, being burdened? Shall I take thought about a tabernacle that shall be dissolved: shall I be troubled about that which abideth not? Shall I be always careful to clothe that which must be stripped : to pamper that which must see corruption? Shall I be loth to be unclothed of mortality: shall I dread the day of being clothed with life? But Lord, Thou art the Lord of this body: Thou didst make it and redeem it. Therefore, unto thine honour I will maintain it to thy service I will dedicate it. As the habitation of thy Spirit I will order it as thy faithful steward I will administer it. For its curtain of flesh shall become a lively wall and it shall be built up for an everlasting house. : A temple of thy glory in the land which Thou hast promised. Cast off therefore thy burden, O my soul: be not disquieted within me. Cast thy care upon the Lord : for He careth for thee. Vpril-341865 VI. THE SHORTNESS OF OUR TIME. THE sun beginneth to stoop from his height: his glory waxeth dim in heaven; And he saith, take heed, ye children of men: attend ye that are born of the dust. Behold my glory, how bright: my course, how exalted on high! Yet from the earth I rose: toward the earth I am setting. Out of darkness I came to darkness I am returning. I have not trespassed one step from my appointed course: I have not left one moment unfilled with service. : Will ye not take heed at my lot will ye not take shame at my example? Behold! I have measured out to you with the rod of my beams and more than half of your course hath been marked off. : I have poured out to you from my vessel of light and more than half of your portion have ye received. Will ye still loiter in transgressions: will ye still squander in unthankfulness? Shall the latter end be but as the former : will ye not redeem the time? O dull of understanding slothful to obedience! Will ye not remember whence ye came : will ye not consider whither ye are going? From the earth ye came to the earth ye are going. With me began your time for work : with me it must end. Now is your noon: the acceptable time is at its height. The turn towards evening hath been taken : the night approacheth. O Sun of righteousness: that dwelleth in the heavens, Until thy appearance in glory shall bring on the last day and eternity shall begin its unfailing brightness unto man! O Thou, whose light knoweth no dimness: whose glory is unchangeable, Shine into my heart with the beams of thy truth drive out from it the unclean things of darkness. : Admonish me of the work which I have to do convince me of the shortness of the time. Cause me to rejoice in the light, and to use it while yet it abideth. Pardon what is past of this day : sanctify that which remaineth to come. VII. THOUGHTS AMID CROWDS. REFLECTION ON THE CHRISTIAN INDIVIDUAL. O HOW Ceaseless are the waves of the stream: how continual is the course of change! Man passeth on after man: crowd passeth on after crowd. Every one hasteneth on his words of salutation. way : few are the None regardeth another : closed is the secret of every heart. Throng jostleth with throng procession meeteth procession. And the black hearse of death goeth forth : and disputeth the way with the gilded chariot of the princely. : Whither are they all bound and whither am I going amongst them? Where shall we all meet again : even all who have met this day? Neither here nor to-morrow: we have met but to part. Met but to give a common answer for this day: parted but to meet for judgment. Then shall the last crowd on earth be as |