The Sabbath month: devotional thoughts for young mothers

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THE

Sabbath Month:

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

FOR

3rOTTIN~Gh MOTHERS.

BY

LOUISE SEYMOUR HOUGHTON.

PHILADELPHIA :

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,

No. 1334 CHESTNUT STREET.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by

THE TRUSTEES OF THE

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

Westcott & Thomson,
Stereotype™ and Electrotypers, PhUada,

PREFACE.

The weeks of retirement which are ap-
pointed to those who have just become mothers
are, to many, a period of irksome restraint,
where hours of pain alternate with hours of
weariness and of anxious " thought-taking "
about duties from which God's providence has
secluded them. The writer, a joyful mother
of many children, has been graciously led to
find in this period a time in which the soul,
defrauded of her rights by many jealous cares,
has here enjoyed her Sabbaths. In this wilder-
ness the Lord has spoken comfortably unto
her ; in it her heart has sung as in the days
of her youth; and from it she has come up
leaning uj3on her Beloved with renewed
strength for the duties of daily life.

4 PREFACE.

This thought she offers as a cup of cold
water, in the name of Christ, to any expect-
ant mother whose spirit faints at the prospect
of the wearisome nights and days of darkness
which are appointed her. The ark of the
covenant of the Lord goes before you, beloved,
to "search out a resting-place." "In the wil-
derness he will plead with you face to face.
His presence will make the outgoings of the
morning and of the evening to rejoice." So
shall these weary weeks prove to you "a time
of refreshing," a blessed "Sabbath of rest
to the Lord."

"Like a pearl left on the shore
When the ocean's rage is o'er,
So, from out the storm and strife
Almost overwhelming life,
My dear waif, a little form,
Fragile, tender, soft and warm,
In my happy arms found rest,
Nestled to my loving breast.

" Oft and oft upon my bed
Has my heart looked up, and said,
' Oh, my God, to thee I call ;
Thou, who only knowest all —

PREFACE.

All the anguish of the night,
All the soft, serene delight
With which mothers wake to find
Day before them, night behind ; —
Knowest, too, how brief a part
In the lifetime of one heart
Are the moments in which press
All this flood of blessedness ;
How, through all the ages past,
And as long as time shall last,
Not an hour but, as it flies,
Holds such pain-bought ecstasies;
Yet unmoved canst bear the sight
In thy silent, heavenly height,
Never, never, did my heart
Feel as now, how great thou art ! '

"And yet once that One unseen
Left his hiding-place serene;
Once, half shone on human sight
The Divine and Infinite —
Not in passionless repose,
But as sharer of our woes.

1 Born of woman ; ' — since that hour
Has her curse lost half its power;
Since he came its sphere within,
Sorrow has joy's servant been.
Now, beneath its sheltering wing,
Lo our sweetest blessings spring —
All the loves and hopes which start
From the overflowing heart;

PREFACE.

All familiar joys and ties
Gilded as with parting eyes ;
All the silent strength of faith
Standing face to face with death;
All the morning's sweet delight
Dawning on the stormy night,
And the glad return once more
To the half-relinquished shore.
Doubly beautiful to view
With its old joys and its new.
Oh, if such God's curses prove,
What must be his full-orbed love?

" Ah, thou heaven-sweet, precious thing !
Thou did'st need such heralding,
Lest, too satisfied, my heart
Dare forget from whence thou art —
Dare forget thy royal rights
In my fostering delights,
And how tenderly God laid
His dear hand on me, and said,

'I have noble work for thee;
Come aside, and learn of me P
So I left the din and crowd
And the voices gay and loud,
And, like Mary, did repair,
Hasting to the hills for prayer;
And in sweet retirement then,
Near to God and far from men,
On my waiting soul did ope
All the glory of its hope,

PEE FACE.

And my heart, once light and free,
Learned the Mother's mystery —
Learned its holy cross to bear
Of sorest sorrow and dear care ;
While each day, a heavenly voice
Made me tremble and rejoice:
1 Lo, the Father sends to thee
A soul from out eternity;
Come thou to the border; — there
Its angel yields it to thy care!'

"Now, returned to all life's charms
With the treasure in my arms,
Oh, my God, from this full heart
Let the vision not depart !"

(From Putnam's Monthly.)

The Sabbath Month.

THE PEEPAEATION-DAY.

" A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow, because her
hour is come ; but as soon as she is delivered of the child,
she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is
born into the world." — John xvi. 21.

TTOW wonderful it is that even in this
■*"*- mysterious trial, this union of sorrow and
joy, of sharpest pangs and holiest bliss — which
can never be comprehended but by one who
has experienced it— that even here our Lord
can sympathize with us most perfectly ! Who
else could so describe the sorrow and the
happiness, the shrinking fear and the glad
rejoicing, but He who has travailed in birth
for souls, and whose joy over each newly-
born spirit is unspeakable and full of glory ?

I

10 THE SABBATH MONTH

It is wonderful to contemplate that as the
hour of his passion was approaching his
words were so much of joy. " If ye loved
me," he says, "ye would rejoice;" "These
things have I spoken unto you, that your
joy might be full ; " "Ye shall be sorrowful,
but your sorrow shall be turned into joy, and
your joy no man taketh from you" For the
sake of " the joy set before him " he en-
dured the cross — not merely his own joy,
though he looked forward to the time when
he should see of the travail of his soul and
should be satisfied, but he foresaw also the
joy of his redeemed ones, and this gave him
strength to endure.

Since he has himself likened the pangs
and sorrows of his hour to the hour of suf-
fering which now approaches us, there can
be no irreverence in our meekly appropri-
ating the comfort which springs from his
words. "We too may be sustained by the
joy set before us. We may take hold of his
strength, which has been made perfect through

THE PREPARATION-DAY. H

suffering ; nay more, by faith we may now
be admitted into the fellowship of his suffer-
ings, and gain a new, mysterious insight into
the depths of his love for us.

Patience worketh experience, and expe-
rience hope. Our experience of his mercy,
multiplied beyond measure, may well teach
us to rejoice now in the hope of deliverance.
In this ordeal especially through which we
are now to pass does not experience tell us
to be of good cheer? How many, many joy-
ful mothers of children are all around us !
How few, how very few in comparison, have
laid down their lives in this conflict ! " I
will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me,"
is especially the language of God at this time.
And have we not, for our support, a promise
which our infinitely tender Father, foreseeing
our faint-heartedness, has sent to us as an
especial message of grace? — " Notwithstand-
ing, she shall be saved in child-bearing, if
they continue in faith and charity and holi-
ness, with sobriety." She shall be saved!

12

THE SABBATH MONTH.

Let us lay hold on this promise with a firm
grasp. The conditions need not frighten us,
for God, who searcheth the heart, knows
that, though perhaps in the midst of unbelief,
we do believe. And our faith is counted to
us for righteousness. And he giveth more

grace.

Let us, then, boldly say, " The Lord is my
helper." We may both hope and quietly
wait for the salvation of the Lord. Our
times are in his hands. God is our refuge
and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Let us look, then, rather at the joy set before
us than at the sorrow which will precede it.
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy
cometh in the morning.

THE APPROACHING 110 UB. 13

THE APPROACHING HOUR.

"f\ LORD, I am oppressed, undertake for
^ me. My flesh and my heart fail, but
God is the strength of my heart, and my por-
tion for ever. My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. O my Father, if this cup
may not pass away from me, except I drink
it, thy will be done. Have mercy upon me,
O Lord, for I am in trouble. Oh keep my
soul and deliver me; let me not be ashamed,
for I put my trust in thee. O my God, my
soul is cast down within me; all thy waves
and thy billows are gone over me. Be
pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. Be not thou
far from me, O Lord. O my strength, haste
thee to help me."

u Fear not, for I am with thee ; be not dis-
mayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen
thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
When thou passest through the waters I will

14 THE SABBATH MONTH

be with thee, and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkest
through the fire thou shalt not be burned,
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I, the Lord, will hold thy right hand,
saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.

" The eternal God is thy refuge, and un-
derneath are the everlasting arms. As one
whom his mother eomforteth, so will I com-
fort you. I will strengthen thee upon the
bed of languishing ; I will make all thy bed
in tliy sickness. Be strong and of good cour-
age ; fear not, nor be afraid, for the Lord thy
God, he it is that doth go with thee ; he
will not fail thee nor forsake thee."

" Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ;
for even there shall thy hand lead me, and
thy right hand uphold me. The Lord is
my light and my salvation; whom shall I
fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life ;
of whom shall I be afraid? I sought the
Lord, and he heard me and delivered me

FIRST DAY. 15

from all my fears. Thou drewedst near me
in the day that I called upon thee ; thou
saidst, Fear not. Thou art my hiding-place ;
thou shalt preserve me from trouble ; thou
shalt compass me about with songs of deliv-
erance. Oh, how great is thy goodness, which
thou hast laid up for them that fear thee !
I shall not die, but live and declare the works
of the Lord."

FIRST DAY.

" Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me, and strengthened
me."— 2 Tim. iv. 17.

" \f Y soul doth magnify the Lord, and my
spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
What shall I render unto God for all his ben-
efits toward me ? For the sorrows of death
compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold
upon me. But thou hast delivered my soul
from death and mine eyes from tears. In
the day of my calamity the Lord was my

16 THE SABBATH 310 NTH

stay. Thou hast made me exceeding glad
with thy countenance. For this child I
prayed, and the Lord hath given me my
petition which I asked of him. Thy vows
are upon me, O Lord ; I will render praises
unto thee.

" Because thy loving-kindness is better
than life, my lips shall praise thee. Lord, I
have hoped in thee, and hope maketh not
ashamed, because the love of God is shed
abroad in my heart."

Grant, Lord Jesus, that my love to thee
may abound yet more and more ; may I feel
in my inmost heart that I am not my own,
having been bought by the sufferings of the
Son of God, and may I endeavor through
my whole life to glorify thee in my body
and my spirit, which are thine!

SECOND DAY. 17

SECOND DAY.

" And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name,
receiveth me." — Matt, xviii. 5.

F\EAR Lord, can this be true? Dost
^ thou indeed so identify thyself with
the very least of all thy ransomed ones that
whoso shall receive one of them with glad
welcome for the sake of the Lord who bought
it, receiveth thee to be a guest who shall go
no more out ? Oh, then, dear Saviour, so
sanctify the love which I now have for my
baby, so purify and elevate it, that I shall
see in the little one in my arms not merely
the child of my own love and suffering, but
thy child, ransomed with suffering infinitely
greater than my own. So this beloved one
becomes a thousand-fold more dear for thy
sake while I minister unto it as unto thee.
Come, then, Lord Jesus; be it unto me
according to thy word. Abide with me;
make of my heart thy temple. Fulfill unto

18 THE SABBATH MONTH

me thy promise; behold, the tabernacle of
God is with men, and he will dwell with
them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus !

THIRD DAY.

"Be glad witli her, all ye that love her." — IsA. lxiv. 10.

TTOW sweet a joy is that in which we all
"*-■** partake in welcoming the little new-
comer into the world ! How glad we are
with the dear mother ! How every tender
word of salutation comes rushing to our lips!
"Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord
is with thee ; blessed art thou among women ! "
" Peace be to thee, our friends salute thee ! "
" The children of thine elect sister greet thee ! "
" All the saints salute you, chiefly they which
are of Caesar's household "—of the family
of our great King.

We do not wonder, now, that when of old

THIRD DAY. 19

he laid the foundations of the earth, the
habitation of the children whom he was to
create, the morning stars sang together and
all the sons of God shouted for joy. We
realize something of the intense sympathy
without which even the infinite joy of the
heavenly Father was not complete. And
when he bringeth the First-Begotten into
the wor]d he saith, And let all the angels of
God worship him. Then it was that the
glory of the Lord appeared on earth, and the
skies were filled with a multitude of the
heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good- will to men.

" Unto us a son is born, unto us a child is
given." Oh, this mystery of babyhood ! who
can fathom it ? " His name shall be called
wonderful ; " not the divine Infant alone, but
every baby born into the world. In what
respect is the little one other than wonderful,
not only to the mother, but to us all, who
love her? How wonderful to us are the tiny

20 THE SABBATH MONTH

hands, the lialf- formed features, the sleepings
and wakings of the mysterious little one!
With what absorbing interest have we watched
every phase of its three-day life, laying up
every indication of development in our hearts,
saying, "What manner of child shall this be?"
He of whom the whole family in heaven
and on earth is named has given us, with
this little one, another link in the golden
chain of fellowship — a new bond of union
with each other and with the family above.
The Lord hath done great things for us,
whereof we are glad. The voice of rejoicing
and salvation is in our tabernacles, and with
full hearts we pray, "The blessing of the
Lord be upon you ; we bless you in the name
of the Lord."

FOURTH DAY. 21

FOUETH DAY.

"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd : he shall gather the
lambs with his arm, and cany them in his bosom, and shall
gently lead those that are with young." (Margin, give suck.)—

ISA. Xl. 11.

FT1HE margin shows that this verse brings
-*- an especial word of comfort to the
mothers of infant children— to those who by
reason of the peculiar demands upon their
strength, the new and tender anxieties and
cares which devolve upon them, are in es-
pecial need of " gentle leading." Already,
perhaps, after our great joy at deliverance
from suffering and from the fear of death, our
glad acceptance of the new-born gift, already
has come the weariness and faintness of new
responsibility ; our souls are discouraged be-
cause of the way ; our weak hands hang
down and our feeble knees refuse to support
us. " Who is sufficient for these things?" is
our anxious cry. And the answer comes
speedily — yes, even before we have called —

22 THE SABBATH MONTH

" Behold, the Lord our God will come with
a strong hand." He shall gather our little
lambs with his arm and carry them in his
bosom, and he will gently lead the weary,
fainting mother.

Oh how surely, how unfailingly, he comes
to our help ! — not one of us is forgotten be-
fore God. "Behold I, even I, will both
search my sheep and seek them out." He
knoweth our frame; he remembereth that
we are dust. " I will feed my flock, and I
will cause them to lie down" saith the Lord.
Yes, to lie down in green pastures and be-
side the still waters. Oh, what a restoring
of the soul is this !

So, now, we may rest in his love. And
when he calls us to resume our journey, he
leads us again by the hand. For he calleth
his own sheep by name, and leadeth them
out; and when he putteth forth his own
sheep into contact with the world, when he
bids them leave the secure fold where, for a
season, he has shut them up from harm, he

FIFTH DAY. 23

goeth before them. No evil can reach them
till it has overcome him ; and of that there
is no fear. " Be of good cheer, I have over-
come the world."

Dear Saviour, we will not fear. When
thou wilt lead us out we will follow thee, for
we know thy voice. Our lambs to thy ten-
der arms, ourselves to thy gracious leading,
we now gladly surrender, reposing peacefully
upon thy word: "The Lord knovveth them
that are his."

FIFTH DAY.

" Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give
thee thy wages." — Ex. ii. 9.

riIHE princess of Egypt, having redeemed
the little child from the decree of death
impending over him, returned him to his
own mother, saying, " Take this child away
and nurse it for me." How striking a par-
allel we find in this to God's dealings with
us and our children !

24 THE SABBATH MONTH

They, too, are doomed to death. We are
powerless to save them ; our only hope is to
cast them entirely upon his mercy, praying
him to adopt them into his own family, and
so redeem them from the power of sin and
death. And he hears our prayer, and an-
swers it — not by taking them at once to be
with him, and so removing them from all
danger. That would, indeed, be surprising
mercy. But in his infinite love he has better
things in store for us than this ; he accepts
the trust our weakness and almost despairing
faith imposes on him; he enters into cove-
nant with us for our children, and then, in
tender mercy to our longing mother-hearts,
he recommits each child to our hands, saying,
" Nurse it for me"

May I never neglect this solemn trust!
May I never forget that it is for God that I
am nursing my little one ! May this child be
an offering wholly dedicated unto God ! May
" Holiness to the Lord " be inscribed upon
everything which has reference to it, and no

FIFTH DAY. 25

taint of self-seeking mar this service, no
lower aim be mine than to keep it unspotted
from the world !

"And I will give thee thy wages/' It
had been bliss sufficient for that Hebrew
mother to receive her baby into her arms,
writh permission to nurse and tend it for the
gracious princess who had saved its life. But
she is, beyond this, to receive wages for her
labor of love. So with us ; even in this life,
for all our prayers and tears, our struggles
with Satan — who desires to have our precious
ones — and with the sin which so nearly has
dominion over them, — for all this we shall
receive " manifold more " even in this pres-
ent life, and in the world to come, for us
and for them, life everlasting.

26 THE SABBATH MONTH.

SIXTH DAY.

" And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord." — Isa.
liv. 13.

T)LESSED is the man whom thou teaches t,
-^ O Lord ! and thrice blessed the children
whom thou dost in infancy adopt into thy
school ! I ask not with Salome, " Grant that
my children may sit at thy right hand and
at thy left in thy kingdom," but, dear Lord,
I pray, Take my baby into thine arms and
bless it, and so give it a knowledge of
thyself.

And yet, like Salome, I know not what I
ask. Can my child drink of the cup which
thine infinite wisdom ordains for it ? I know
not what pain and sorrow, what suffering,
want or wToe, thy love may provide for this
precious little one, whom I would fain defend
from all ill. How shall I bear to see the
evil that may come upon my beloved in
answer to my prayer ? Only by thy grace,
O God. Yet keep my lamb from sinning

SIXTH DAY. 27

against thee, Lord, and I will leave all else
to thee. Mould it in thine image, and then,
come sorrow, come suffering, come death, all
shall be well with the child.

"And great shall be the peace of thy
children." Lord, what a rock of strength
is thy word of promise ! Great peace have
they who love thy law ; yea, great peace even
in sorrow and under the chastening of the
Lord. Have I not known this in my own
life, and shall I not believe that my child
shall find it true? I will be anxious no
more, dear Saviour. Into thy loving hands
do I commit this child of my sorrows and
my joyful hopes. Keep my little one in the
secret of thy presence. I will both lay me
down in peace and sleep, for in the day when
I cried thou answeredst me and strength-
enedst me with strength in my soul.

28 THE SABBATH MONTH.

SEVENTH DAY.

" Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." —
Luke xii. 7.

nHHE little head, with its scanty adornment
• of silken hair, lies cradled on my arm.
I pass my hand over the shining down,
smoothing and parting it; the soft, satin
touch thrills to my very heart ; I count each
bright thread a priceless treasure, while my
Saviour, never so near to me as in these holy
days, draws closer and whispers, " Even the
very hairs of your head are all numbered."
" You who love your baby so/' he says to
me, " do you now believe ? Can you now
realize something of my tender care of my
' little ones'? He that toncheth you toucheth
the apple of my eye. Do you see a beauty
in your baby, hidden, you know, from others,
but revealed none the less evidently to you ?
Behold, thou art fair, my love, behold thou
art fair ; thou hast doves' eyes within thy
locks. Can you now understand my pleasure

SEVENTH DAY. 29

in that utter helplessness which is your baby's
clearest claim upon your love and your own
strongest tie to mine ? Thou canst not make
one hair white or black ; what can you do to
shield yourself from harm? yet am not I
with thee ? There shall not a hair of your
head perish. Not in infancy alone, but even
to your old age, I am He, and even to hoar
hairs I will carry you. I have made and I
will bear ; even I will carry and will deliver

you."

O God, thou hast taught me from my
youth ; and hitherto have I declared thy
wondrous works ; now, also, unto old age and
gray hairs (margin), O Gocl, forsake me not.
The Lord hath been mindful of us ; he will
bless us. Yes, thou Lord, art a shield for
me, my glory and the lifter up of my head.
Thou anointest my head with oil ; my cup
runneth over; surely, goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life, and
I will dwell in the house of the Lord for
ever. For this God is our God for ever and

30 THE SABBATH MONTH

ever ; lie will be our guide even unto death.
Therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall
return, and come with singing unto Zion ;
and everlasting joy shall he upon their head;
they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sor-
row and mourning shall flee away.

EIGHTH DAY.

"Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord,
let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto
us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall
be born." — Judg. xiii. 8.

rE have the aid of angels in our work.
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent
forth to minister to them who shall be heirs
of salvation? Our children are heirs, for
the children of promise are counted for the
seed, and in heaven their angels do always
behold the Father's face.

In their ignorance as to the right manner
of training the promised child, Manoah
and his wife prayed that the angel might

EIGHTH BAY. 31

come again and teach them. And He who
ever hath compassion on the ignorant sent
the heavenly messenger for their instruction.

In this history lies a twofold encourage-
ment for us : First, in showing that the
ignorance which is through the weakness of
our nature need in no way harm our children,
since God is able to supply all our need ; and
again in the contemplation of the bright and
glorious company who are his messengers
of grace to us. We are come unto an innu-
merable company of angels, who all, with
holy delight, rejoice to watch over the train-
ing of immortal souls which shall shine in
the kingdom of their God.

Oh, the wonderful contrast between our
weakness and those ministers of his which
excel in strength ! How glorious the thought
that we are constantly accompanied by them,
and that they have received a charge con-
cerning us! So Daniel, the man greatly
beloved, was strengthened by an angel. So
Isaiah, when overwhelmed by a sense of sin,

32 THE SABBATH MONTH

was purified through the medium of an angel.
So John, the beloved disciple, was led by an
angel in his visions of the New Jerusalem
even to the very throne of God.

We need not fear that this ministration of
angels will intervene between our souls and
Christ. They are no hindrance to the free
and unceasing communion of the faithful
soul with her Lord. Yet even as he delights
to do the will of God, so his servants delight
in ministering to his redeemed ones, his
special treasure (Mai. iii. 17, margin). Oh,
the glorious assembly to which this minis-
tration introduces us !

NINTH DAY.

"We are the children of God, . . . and if children then,
heirs."— Eom. viii. 16, 17.

A H, what a new meaning these blessed
"*"*- words bear to me now as I hold my own
child in my arms ! To be the child of God !

NINTH DAY. 33

to belong to him in this dearest, closest of
relations ! Can it be possible that I can be
to God what my child is to me ? that he
can so delight in me as I now delight in my
baby ? " The Lord thy God will rejoice over
thee with joy : he will rest in his love : he
will joy over thee with singing/' even as I
now do over thee, my little one, with a joy
which is but a shadow of the joy of our
Father over his redeemed ones.

Oh, let me take this love of mine for my
child for a lesson ; and daily, as it grows
stronger and deeper, may my apprehension
of God's love for me become deeper and
truer, and a more living power in my heart.
Do I delight in providing for thy wants, my
baby? "How much more shall your Father
which is in heaven give good things to them
that ask him !" Do I shrink from pain for
my darling and hush all its little sorrows upon
my bosom? " As one whom his mother com-
forteth, so will I comfort you." Do I bear
with loving patience the cares which my

34 THE SABBATH MONTH.

baby's infirmities bring upon me ? " His
compassions fail not," and " like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them
that fear him." Would I keep all harm and
danger from my little one, and guard it even
with my own life ? " God so loved the world
that he gave his only-begotten Son " for its
salvation. His Son— Ms only Son I Oh the
depths of love which could conceive of such
a sacrifice !— love of which I, clasping my
baby to my heart, now first begin to have a
glimmering sense. Oh for such love what
devotion can be an adequate return ? Who
can even begin to comprehend this love of
God to us?

Where, then, is doubt or distrust or
anxiety of mind ? What place can it find
in the presence of this wondrous love?
" He that spared not his own Son, but deliv-
ered him up for us all, hoio shall he not, with
him, freely give us all things?" How, in-
deed ! What could he withhold after such
an infinite sacrifice? All things are indeed

TENTH DA Y. 35

mine while I call God my Father, for " if
children, then heirs."

Lord Jesus, help me daily, as I feel my love
for my child growing and strengthening in
my heart, to gain deeper insight into the love
of God for me. Behold, what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be called the sons of God !

TENTH DAY.

" Neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go
up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year." — Ex.
xxxiv. 24.

" QEE, for that the Lord hath given you
the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you
on the sixth day the bread of two clays."

" I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I have committed unto him."

There is no danger in the way of the
Lord's commandments. The children of

36 THE SABBATH MONTH.

Israel could safely leave their wives and
their little ones, their flocks and herds, while
they went up to appear before the Lord ;
no man should desire their land, and all
would be safe in the keeping of their heav-
enly Father. When God gives a command
lie provides the way for its keeping. If he
gives the Sabbath, and ordains that in it no
work shall be done, he also gives on the sixth
day the bread of two days ; if he sends all
the men-children up to his holy feast, he
makes even their enemies to be at peace with
them during their absence. He is able to
keep that which is committed to him.

O my soul! stay thou thyself upon this
word of the Lord ; his hand is not shortened,
and every word of the Lord is sure. Hast
thou not in thine own providence laid me
aside from my usual duties, dear Lord, and
may I not trust thee that no harm shall
ensue from my absence? Lord, I am prone
to anxiety about those whose comfort and
well-being seemed to me to depend upon my

TENTH DAY. 37

presence among tliem. I picture to myself
the dreariness of the place which I have left
to go up and appear before thee ; the solitude
of those to whom my society is dear; the
dangers to which they are exposed who need
my care ; the neglected duties of those who
miss my supervision ; the little corner of thy
vineyard, where I have been wont to labor,
neglected. Lord, help me to roll all this
burden upon thee. I have thine assurance,
the wolf shall not be permitted to creep into
the fold during my absence. No hireling
shall lead any of the flock astray. Thou art
able to keep that which I have committed to
thee. Keep me too, dear Saviour, under the
shelter of thy wings, safe from all evil and
from the fear of evil. "I will say of the
Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress : my
God ; in him will I trust."

" Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror
by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by
day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in
darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth

38 THE SABBATH MONTH.

at noonday. Because thou hast made the
Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most
High, thy habitation, there shall no evil be-
fall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh
thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy
ways."

ELEVENTH DAY.

"And white robes were given unto every one of them." —
Eev. vi. 11.

A S my baby is brought to me so pure and
•*-*- spotless in the white robes my own love
and forethought have provided for it, a new
lesson in holiness, a fresh sense of my heavenly
Father's love, is brought home to my heart.
I am reminded of the tender joy with
which I prepared not only things useful
and necessary, but all manner of beautiful
and dainty garments, for my baby. And so
I learn to trust my Saviour, not alone for
things needful to my existence, but for what-

ELEVENTH DAY. 39

ever of beauty and of luxury my nature
craves, as far as he sees them to be good for
me, With what glory and loveliness he has
clothed the earth ! how he has delighted to
make all things beautiful in their season !
and "if God so clothe the grass of the
field," shall he not much more clothe me —
with more delight, more forethought provide
for me ? " Your heavenly Father knoiveth
that ye have need of all these things," and
anticipates every want as gladly as I, with
loving heart, provided for my baby's coming.
"Bring forth the best robe" he commands,
" and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on
his feet" — ornament and luxury for whom
provided ? Not for one innocent of actual
offence, as is my baby, but for one who, like
me, has broken his law and wounded his
love ; even for such a one as this. " I will
greatly rejoice in the Lord ; my soul shall
be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed
me in the garments of salvation ; he hath
covered me with the robe of righteousness."

40 THE SABBATH MONTH

So, " because he delights in me," as I in ray
little one, he delivers me from sin and wills
iny perfect holiness. "Behold, I have caused
thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I
have clothed thee with change of raiment."
" Awake, put on thy beautiful garments, for
from henceforth there shall no more come
unto thee the uncircumcised and unclean."
No stain of sin may be cherished in my soul,
for "the King's daughter is all glorious with-
in," " and unto her it was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, pure and
white, for the fine linen is the righteousness
of the saints."

So, when I look upon my baby's white
robes and recall the bright anticipations of
future loveliness, the prayers for my little one's
constant growth toward perfection, which I
stitched into every seam and fold of the
delicate white raiment, I am reminded that
not yet is the " j>erfection of beauty " which
my Father has designed for me. That great
multitude which no man could number,

ELEVENTH BAY. 41

which stood before the throne of God and of
the Lamb, is of them which have come out of
great tribulation and have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne
of God. May I be numbered with that holy
throng! Grant me grace, O my Saviour,
no longer to shrink from the trials which
thy love ordains for my perfecting. Bestow
upon me that absolute confidence in thee
which will enable me to receive sorrow from
thy hand with cheerfulness, " not accepting
deliverance " from aught which thou sendest
as a preparation for the glorious day of thine
appearing.

And yet, as I receive my white-robed baby
into my arms fresh and pure from its morn-
ing bath, I feel that great rushing tide of
tenderness which tells me that in no future
development of strength and beauty can my
child be more precious to me than now in
utter weakness and dependence. So may I
realize the infinite tenderness of our Father

42 THE SABBATH MONTH

for those who cast themselves, helpless and
humble, upon his love, and may I seek to
receive the kingdom of heaven " as a little
child"!

TWELFTH DAY.

"For I know him, that he will command his children
and his household after him, and they shall keep the way
of the Lord." — Gen. xviii. 19.

FT1HE literal rendering of the Hebrew would
-*- be, " I have known (i. e. foreknown,
elected) him, to the end that he should com-
mand his children," etc. We learn, then,
that Abraham was distinctly selected by God
in order that he might train up a chosen seed,
an elect people, to keep the way of the Lord.
" For this cause I have raised thee up."
There is no such thing as a happening with
our God. " Ye have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you." And for what? "That
ye should bring forth fruit." It is always for
some purpose. " Elect unto good works " —

TWELFTH DAY. 43

"called to be saints" — -"whom lie did fore-
know, them he did predestinate to be con-
formed to the image of his Son."

Abraham was elected to command his
children and his household that they, should
keep the way of the Lord ; and this is also
our calling. To his descendants were to be
committed the oracles of God and the sacred
trust of preserving a pure worship. Who
shall say what is the service to which God
has destined our children ? Yet that they
shall be fitted for it depends, under God,
upon us. Oh to be faithful in all our house —
to set the Lord always before us! Our relig-
ious teachings not confined to stated hours
and days, but to proceed spontaneously from
a heart filled with all the fullness of God!
"And these words— thou shalt teach them
diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of
them when thou sittest in thine house and
when thou walkest by the way."

God established his covenant with Abra-
ham, saying, " Walk before me, and be thou

44

THE SABBATH MONTH.

perfect, and I will give unto thy seed all the
land of Canaan, and I will be their God."
If the blessings of the covenant depended
upon our walking within our house in a per-
fect way, unaided, we might indeed tremble
for our children. But God has made a new
covenant with his people — " an everlasting
covenant, that I will put my fear in their
hearts, that they shall not depart from me."
Here, indeed, is safety.

Abraham believed God, and it was counted
to him for righteousness, and he was called
the friend of God. Oh for Abraham's faith !
for Abraham's unquestioning obedience ! for
Abraham's high honor in the friendship of
God!

THIRTEENTH DAY. 45

THIRTEENTH DAY.

" As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word." —
1 Pet. ii. 2.

A NOTHER lesson I may learn in this
-^ school in which God has placed me, and
again my baby is the teacher. And that is
the theme of the lesson, which most perfectly
shows its entire dependence upon me. How
entirely the one desire for the mother's breast
absorbs and comprehends this little life ! Al-
ready it has come to know this all-sufficient
satisfaction for every want of its existence —
to find unutterable content in the provision
which has been made to meet its wants.

So with my hungering and thirsting soul,
which was created for the enjoyment of God,
and can never be satisfied with any lesser
good. But how often, unlike my baby, I
seek to satisfy its hunger with that which
satisfieth not ! Although I have so often
tasted that the Lord is gracious, how often
do I suffer from hunger while yet he is ever

46 THE SABBATH MONTH

willing to satisfy all my need. Oh let me
lay this to heart ! As my baby's voice cry-
ing for food awakes me early from my sleep,
so " my voice thou shalt hear in the morn-
ing, O Lord ;" " oh, satisfy us early with thy
mercy." May I desire no other refreshment
than the rivers of thy pleasure, of which
thou makest thy people to drink ! May the
one hunger and thirst after righteousness so
absorb me that no other aim may seem
worthy of my pursuit ! And as my baby, in
the weakness of its new-born life, needs to
be frequently nourished, that it may grow
and become strong, so may I come frequently
to thee, O thou who art the Bread of Life,
that I may grow in grace and in the know-
ledge of God ! And as every pain and sorrow
this dear baby experiences is forgotten at
this " cup of his life and couch of his rest," so
may I in every sorrow turn to thee who wilt
satiate the weary soul and replenish every
sorrowful soul, until, in the newness of life,
I and the children which thou hast given

FOURTEENTH BAY. 47

me come to dwell where we shall hunger no
more, neither thirst any more; for the Lamb
which is in the midst of the throne shall
feed us. and shall lead us unto living foun-
tains of waters, and God shall wipe away all
tears from our eyes !

FOURTEENTH DAY.

"Thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee
by name." — Ex. xxxiii. 17.

rilHE baby's name ! How important a mat-
ter is its selection ! How many consider-
ations go toward determining it ! And what
a new and complete satisfaction the mother
feels in her little one when she knows it by
name ! What sweet associations gather around
the baby's name — of a dear parent, or of a
loved brother or sister, or of some most pre-
cious friend, perhaps already gathered into
the eternal home, and whose most hallowed
remembrance will henceforth be in the dear
child who bears the name !

48 THE SABBATH MONTH.

But to be known by name of God! To
be personally recognized by him, singled out
by him from all the world to be the recipient
of his grace ! Shall this wondrous blessing be
indeed the portion of our darling? For thus
saith the Lord unto his chosen : " Fear not,
for I have redeemed thee ; I have called thee
by name ; thou art mine." " Behold, I have
graven thee upon the palms of my hands."
"For thus saith the Lord unto those who
choose the things that please him, and who
take hold of his covenant, Even to them
will I give a place and a name better than
that of sons and of daughters, even an ever-
lasting name." Then we need not fear what-
ever of trial or of discipline the world may
bring to our precious ones, for they will ever
be under the guidance of the Good Shepherd,
" who calleth his sheep by name," who will
make them more than conquerors, and will
give to each one who overcometh " a white
stone, and in the stone a new name written,
which no one knoweth save him that receiv-

FOURTEENTH DAY. 49

etli it." Blessed secret, known only to the
soul and its Redeemer !

But thou dost not only know us by name,
O Lord — thou dost even reveal thyself to us
by thine own name of Emmanuel, God with
us. Thy name is no more secret, for "be-
hold, the tabernacle of the Lord is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall
see his face, and his name shall be in their
foreheads." " Him that overcometh thou
wilt make a pillar in the house of thy God,
and wilt write upon him the name of God,
and wTilt write upon him thy new name."
"O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy
name in all the earth ! Out of the mouth
of babes and sucklings hast thou perfected
praise."

50 THE SABBATH MONTH.

FIFTEENTH DAY.

" I thank God when I call to remembrance the faith that is
in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy
mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also."—
2 Tim. i. 3, 5.

117 E learn from these words what a cause
? ' of thankfulness we have who can look
back upon a long line of pious ancestry.
There were those who asked, when they-
learned that the redemption purchased by
Christ was not to be confined to the chosen
race, " What advantage, then, hath the Jew?"
And Paul's answer was emphatic: "Much
every way; chiefly because to them were
committed the oracles of God." This was
their inheritance from " faithful Abraham,"
for it was his faith which led to his family
becoming the recipients and conservators of
the word of God.

How often, too, in the midst of unbelief
and idolatry was the rebellious nation saved
from destruction for the fathers' sakes ! Many

FIFTEENTH DAY. 51

a time would they have been cut off in their
sins but that God remembered that they were
" the seed of Israel, my chosen/' " the seed
of Abraham, my friend." How God seems
to delight in calling this people by these
names, and in identifying them thus with
their faithful ancestors ! The pious Israelite
had no stronger plea with which to approach
his God. "Art not thou our God?" prayed
Jehoshaphat when in fear from "a great mul-
titude " which threatened him — " our God,
who didst drive out the inhabitants of this
land before thy people Israel, and gavest it
to the seed of Abraham, thy friend?" What
depths of consolation lay hidden for him in
that remembrance of his ancestor, the friend
of God !

The benefits which to the children of
Abraham according to the flesh were chiefly
temporal are to the spiritual Israel spiritual
and eternal. And they are real. As the
sinning Israelites could never fairly estimate
to what extent they owed their deliverance

52 THE SABBATH MONTH.

from their enemies and from other chastise-
ment to their faithful ancestors, so in all
probability we have a very inadequate con-
ception of what we owe to ours in the sub-
duing of evil tendencies, in the elevation of
the moral nature, in an early bent of the
mind toward God and holiness. A simple
contrast between the children of heathen and
of Christian lands shows us something of this.
While our children are born into the world
partakers of a perverted nature, on how
much higher a plane do they stand as to
their moral perceptions, their capacity for
reiigous training, than those whose parents
have never known God ! The heritage of
faith is no empty word. It is something to
have the heritage of "them that fear thy
name." "A goodly heritage" indeed is
that acquaintance with God which has been
handed down from parent to child through
many generations. For Timothy the influ-
ence of a pious mother and grandmother
availed to counteract the influence of a

FIFTEENTH DAY. 53

heathen father, of the heathen community
in which he was born. It made of him in
early youth a valued servant of the Lord,
enabling him to overcome the hindrance of
a delicate constitution and to become the
workfellow of Paul, the companion of his
bonds, the bishop of a church of which the
Lord could say, " I know thy works, and
thy labor and thy patience, and how thou
hast borne, and hast patience, and for my
name's sake hast labored and hast not
fainted." Was not this indeed a goodi}r
heritage? To our children an equal bless-
ing will ensue if we transmit to them un-
spotted the holy legacy of faith which we
ourselves have inherited. And to us what
greater joy can there be than to see our
children walking in the truth?

Oh, does not the thought of all we have
on our side, of all our encouragements, stir
us up to be very faithful, " knoiving that
our labor shall not be in vain in the Lord,"
and that our experience through life and in

54 THE SABBATH MONTH

deatli will be, "There has not failed one
word of all his good promise " ? " The Lord
our God be with us, as he was with our
fathers!" Amen,

SIXTEENTH DAY.

"I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and
I will save thy children." — Isa. xlix. 25.

fTIHERE is one who contendeth with us.
\ Your adversary, the devil, goeth about
as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour. Therefore, it especially behooves
us to be sober, be vigilant, for we wrestle not
with flesh and blood. This is a real warfare
in which we shall engage for the souls of
our children. Let us earnestly take heed,
then, that our hearts be not overcome with
the cares of this life, which are so imperative
in their demands upon us, lest we thus grad-
ually fall into a condition where the enemy
may snatch away the souls entrusted to us.

SIXTEENTH DAY. 55

For he is vigilant and terribly in earnest,
and is not afraid to seek to lay his hand even
upon the Lord's own children. " Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have
you, that he may sift you as wheat." Ah !
blessed for Simon that his Lord added, " But
I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail
not " !

Here is an encouragement : "I have prayed
for thee" "I will contend with him that
contendeth with thee." "I will save thy
children" What a precious promise is this !
How we may stay ourselves upon it ! Yes,
Christ has indeed contended, and with sore
wounds has achieved the salvation of our
children. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him — for the transgression of his people was
he stricken. The Prince of this world came
to him, and in deadly conflict persecuted
his soul. In that anguish in which he sweat
great drops of blood he wrestled with the
enemy of souls. The terrible cry, " My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " bore

56 THE SABBATH MONTH

witness to his mortal sorrow. But he con-
quered. In that bitter moment it was fin-
ished. Through death he destroyed him
that had the power of death, and delivered
them whom he came to save.

" I will save thy children," This word is
our security. But never, never, while we
remember the price he has paid for their
ransom, can we weary in our struggles against
his enemy and ours.

Let us fight on, then, for the souls of our
children. Greater is He that is in us than
he that is in the world. The God of peace
shall bruise Satan under our feet shortly,
and "to him that overcometh will I grant
to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father
in his throne."

SEVENTEENTH DAY. 57

SEVENTEENTH DAY.

" He pitched his tent toward Sodom." — Gen. xiii. 12.

rjlHERE is a very solemn lesson to parents
■** in the example of Lot, and especially to
mothers, who are, apparently, more liable to
fall into the snare in which he was taken.
For years Lot had been a sharer in all the
blessings of Abraham — in his protection from
danger, in his worldly prosperity, and in the
personal guidance of God. That he was a
righteous man we have the testimony of St.
Peter to supplement the somewhat doubtful
witness of his life. But his riches were a
snare to him. When it became necessary,
from his increasing wealth, to remove from
the near neighborhood of Abraham, behold-
ing the plain of Jordan, that it was well
wratered everywhere like the garden of the
Lord, he chose the whole plain of Jordan,
but "he pitched his tent toward Sodom"
although he knew that " the men of Sodom
were wicked and sinners before the Lord

58 THE SABBATH MONTH.

exceedingly.'' That was the first step. A
second finds him divelling in Sodom; and a
third, sitting in the place of honor at the
gate of the city.

And what a bitter harvest of his worldli-
ness did he reap! Saved, indeed, himself,
" the Lord being merciful to him," but saved
so as by fire, his wife overtaken by a fearful
doom, his children lost, if not in the destruc-
tion of Sodom, yet in being left to fall into
the blackest crimes, their moral nature ut-
terly corrupted by the ungodly associations
of their youth.

What a fearful warning to any of us who
are tempted to believe that conformity to the
world will in any way benefit our children !
To lose them through our very efforts for
their prosperity ! Do not our hearts tell us
that salvation itself for us could be no sal-
vation if they were lost? Yet are we not
sometimes inclined to run this risk for the
sake of certain advantages which may be
gained for our children by the companion-

SEVENTEENTH DAY. 59

ship of worldly people, and trusting that we
may still, by our prayers and teachings, keep
their garments unspotted even while bring-
ing them into contact with the pollution of
fiin ? O Lord, save us from this delusion !
Hide us, in the secret of thy presence, from
the pride of man. When the Prince of this
world cometh with all his flattering repre-
sentations of the benefits of a worldly life,
may he find "nothing in us" which responds
to his allurements!

Let us beware of setting an undue esti-
mate on the attractions and the usefulness
of the friendship of the world. While we
may use this world, let us do it tremblingly,
as not abusing it. Demas, once the fellow-
laborer of Paul, forsook him, having loved
this present world. How many times have
the cares of this world so choked the word
in the heart of a believing mother that it
has become unfruitful ! Oh, let us not be
conformed to the world ! Though we live in
it, let us remember that we are not of it ; and

60 THE SABBATH MONTH

as the lily-bulb, planted in the dark and
corrupting earth of a forest-bog, draws from
thence only that which will nourish its fair
growth and cause it to blossom forth into
the perfect form of loveliness its Maker de-
signed for it, so may we absorb from our
earthly contact only that which shall cause
us to grow into the likeness of our Lord !
For " even in Sardis " he has those who have
not defiled their garments, and " they shall
walk with him in white."

EIGHTEENTH DAY.

"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou or-
dained strength." — Ps. viii. 2.

r\R, rather, as the Hebrew words signify,
^ " hast thou founded a tower of strength."
The mother soon learns the meaning of the
text. Words are inadequate to express the
" strong consolation " which the baby brings
its mother in moments of perplexity or of

EIGHTEENTH DAY. 61

weariness or of temptation. To turn from the
cares which burden, or the sad thoughts
which depress, to take the little one iii her
arms, to feel the soft pressure of baby lips
upon her breast, the clinging of baby fingers
around her own, is an unspeakable refresh-
ment, a joy in which a stranger intermed-
dleth not. In those moments, too, which
come to even the happiest wife, of longing for
the dear ones of the early home from which
distance or death has parted her, the baby is
her best consoler. " Instead of thy fathers
shall be thy children, whom thou mayest
make princes in all the earth. "

How sweet is the thought that our Sa-
viour in the days of his life on earth found
strength and comfort to flow to his soul from
the lips of babes! When little children
joined the worshiping throng in crying
hosanna to the Son of David — when, after
the multitude had been silenced, their eager
enthusiasm urged them to follow him even
into the temple-court with their shouts of

62 THE SABBATH MONTH.

praise — can we doubt that his soul was
strengthened by the sound? He who was
in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin, shared also, we love to think,
our consolations. And so his soul in that
trying hour, sorrowing over Jerusalem,
wounded by her sins, torn by the know-
ledge that these acclamations and hosannas
of the multitude should in a few days be
changed to the ferocious clamor of an angry
mob, — his soul found soothing and strength
in the voices of little children. He would
not have them stilled. " Yea, have ye never
read," he says, " out of the mouth of babes
and sucklings hast thou perfected praise?"
How surely do both parents find a " tower
of strength " in their little one in respect of
their own plans and aspirations ! Few as
their years may have been, they have suf-
ficed to convince them of the inadequacy of
life for the work they had set themselves to
do. As the " celestial light " of youth be-
gins to fade into the light of common day,

EIGHTEENTH BAY. 63

glorious visions lose their brightness, golden
hopes grow dim, all labor seems wearisome
and profitless. But the baby comes, and all
is changed. The rosy light of a second dawn
glows upon the parents' path ; a vista as of
eternity opens before it; life is no longer
bounded by one short existence ; hopes and
plans are no more dwarfed by the narrow
conditions of mortality, but spring up, broad-
ening and widening over all time, while
children and children's children shall carry
on the work and bring that to grand com-
pletion of which the parents but laid the
foundation.

Has not the Lord ordained that from these
babes the Church on earth should draw new
strength ? When that happy day arrives of
which we now discern the dawning — when
every child upon whom the Excellent Name
has been named shall be acknowledged
among the people of God — when the heart
of the fathers being turned to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers,

64 THE SABBATH MONTH

there shall be no longer schism in the' mem-
bers of Christ's body, — then will the Church
awake and put on her strength as never be-
fore. Then Satan, being routed from his
strongest hold, the hearts of the children,
will be robbed of his greatest power over the
Lord's people ; then the hopefulness and the
humility of the little child will alike infuse
new life into our churches, and often and
often will the Saviour's thanksgiving find an
echo in the hearts of his people : " I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes."

NINETEENTH DAY.

- "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is
stayed on thee." — Isa. xxvi. 3.

nnHE marginal reading for mind is imag*
-** ination, and in that word lies a very
precious lesson for mothers, who are apt to

NINETEENTH DA Y. 65

indulge in anxious fears and apprehensions
of future evil to their loved ones. How
many mothers have been robbed of half
their joy in their infant children by dwell-
ing upon the cares and sorrows, the tempta-
tions and sufferings, to which they are born !
From all these vain imaginations let us turn,
and stay ourselves upon the Lord. How
rapidly, when some slight ailment affects the
little one, do our thoughts spring forward to
greater suffering in store for it, to possible
bereavement in ourselves ! — how often do we
taste of the bitterness of death and of part-
ing while as yet God has prepared no such
sorrow for us! From this trial and from
how many heavy forebodings we should be
saved if our imagination were stayed on
God ! " Thou wilt keep him in peace,
peace " — is the emphatic Hebrew idiom ; and
our Lord repeats it: "Peace I leave with
you, my peace I give you, let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. "

We have little idea how much these "vain

66 THE SABBATH MONTH.

[i. e. useless] thoughts" paralyze our hearts
and unfit us for duty, and still less how
they intervene between us and our God. It
is no light thing that we thus disturb and
frighten away the blessed Spirit of Peace
which waits to take up its abode with us.
" Casting down imaginations and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ." Herein lies a deep mystery. For
"he learned obedience through the things that
he suffered /" and our thoughts and imagi-
nations will only be brought into captivity
to his obedience when we too are trilling to
suffer his righteous will. Then we shall in-
deed not be afraid — not because no ill shall
befall us, but because we are confident that
all our affliction, being sent by him, shall
work out a " far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory." So shall we attain to the
peace of him whose heart is fixed, trusting
in the Lord.

But there is blessed occupation for thought
and imagination. The remembrance of past

NINETEENTH DAY. 67

mercy, the hope of future and eternal glory,
are blessed themes of contemplation. We
do not sufficiently give ourselves to this bu-
siness of heavenly meditation or of talking
with God of his mercies. These quiet days
of retirement are well fitted for forming the
habit of such meditation. " O Lord God of
Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel our fathers/'
prayed David, " keep this for ever in the
imagination of the thoughts of the heart of
thy people, and prepare their heart unto
thee." God's glory and greatness, his won-
derful goodness to his people, and his con-
descension in permitting them to dedicate
their wealth to his service, were the themes
which David prayed might occupy the imag-
ination of the people ; and they are glorious
occupation indeed for the thoughts of any
of God's creatures. In such a habit of mind
we would find our cares and anxieties more
than half done away ; our " peace would
then be as a river, and our righteousness as
the waves of the sea."

68 THE SABBATH MONTH.

TWENTIETH DAY.

" I will be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." —
Gen. xvii. 7.

rilHIS was the promise of God to Abra-
. ham in the day that he (made, i. e.)
gave his covenant to him — a covenant not
made with conditions, as the first covenant
with Adam ; not even concerted between
two consenting parties, as in the day when
God promised the land of Canaan to Abra-
ham's seed ; but now a free gift, of which
the sign and seal was found in the rite of
circumcision. And this covenant we, the
children of Abraham by faith, claim for our
children whom we offer to God in the sacred
ordinance of baptism. They are the chil-
dren of God. Buried with Christ in baptism,
they are to rise with him to newness of life.
There is, therefore, now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus. We hope
not merely for their future ; we believe in

TWENTIETH DAY. 69

their present salvation. Now are they the
sons of God.

Not for any regenerating grace in the or-
dinance. From the moment when we first
bear them on our hearts to God and conse-
crate them to his service — a consecration of
which the rite of baptism is the public token —
from that moment God accepts them. " Fear
not," he says to them ; " I have called thee
by thy name ; thou art mine ;" and in that
pledge may we rest, giving our precious ones
wholly into the hands of the Lord their
Redeemer.

Rest, but not in inaction. How can we,
to whom is committed the training of the
children of a King, be ever unmindful of
our high vocation ? We are now co-workers
with God in the education of his consecrated
ones. How carefully shall we, partakers of
this heavenly calling, be faithful in all our
house ! Howt confidently may we pray for a
blessing on our labors, knowing that for his
own name's sake he will do it! Our children

70 THE SABBATH MONTH

will not grow up in ignorance of their great
privilege. From the earliest dawn of reason
we will teach them the blessedness of their
situation as being the little ones whom the
Lord Jesus gathered in his arms and blessed.
Not as Esau, who despised his birthright,
but as the redeemed of the Lord, called unto
holiness, they will grow up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. So, recogniz-
ing their peculiar responsibilities and con-
fiding in their parents' God, whom they have
early learned to know, we shall see them, as
they arrive at a fit age to make a conscious
choice, taking upon themselves the vows of
the Lord. " Our sons will be as plants grown
up in their youth, " "our daughters as cor-
ner-stones, polished after the similitude of a
palace ;" "and they shall be mine," saith
the Lord of hosts, " in the day that I make
up my jewels." For this is the heritage of
the servants of the Lord, and such honor
have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord !

TWENTY-FIRST DAY. 71

TWENTY-FIRST DAY.

"Feed the flock of God which are among you." — 1 Pet.
v. 2.

A S Peter penned the words of this exhor-
-"- tation he can hardly have failed to
recall to mind his Saviour's twice-repeated
charge, " Feed my lambs." The lambs of
the flock are very precious to our Lord.

There is a sense in which this exhortation
is addressed especially to each mother, inas-
much as she stands at the head of one house-
hold in the Lord's Zion : " Feed the flock
of God which is among you"

Every living Christian strongly desires to
labor actively for his Lord. Each one of us,
when we first became conscious of his love,
asked, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to
do?" And to many of us the way seemed
quite hedged up. Our circumstances, our
youth, our sex, made it appear wise to our
parents to circumscribe our field in a way
which disappointed and tried our new-born

72 THE SABBATH MONTH.

zeal. Or there seemed to be literally nothing
for us to do. Many and many a beloved
servant of the Lord has gone mourning all
her days because her Master seemed to deny
her the privilege of working for him — not
realizing that her prayers and her patience
were more potent service than any other.
If we have belonged to this class before, our
prayer is now answered. In the little child
now given us we have one of Christ's flock,
and the most precious, thankful task that
heart could desire in nourishing its spirit-
ual life.

There are others of us to whom the Lord
has opened wide avenues of usefulness, whose
time and strength have been gladly devoted
to his active service. To such the injunction
comes with double force : " Feed the flock of
God which is among you. Beware how any
foreign interest, however important, lead to
the neglect of one duty to this precious soul
which I have intrusted to thee." "As thy
servant was busy here and there, he was

TWENTY-FIRST DAY. 73

gone." Oh, can it be possible that that
shall ever be the excuse we shall bring to
God when at his appearing he shall ask,
"Where is the flock that was given thee —
thy beautiful flock?" The thought is too
terrible. We shrink in horror from the
idea of such a sequence to our busy labors
in God's service.

Oh, let us never yield to this temptation.
There is more danger of it than we now
realize, shut up to the Sabbath rest of the
sick-room, with eternity so near to us as it
has been but now. Let us be very watchful
in this matter who have wide-reaching sym-
pathies in the field of the Lord. How bitter
would be our cry, " Mine own vineyard have
I not kept," if later in life we should see one
of our children's souls dwarfed and stunted
for want of the culture we should have given
it years before !

Let "This one thing I do" be our motto.
Let us be ensamples to our little flock in all
holy living. Let us draw them with our

74

THE SABBATH MONTH.

sweet influences till they run after us up
the heavenly road. So may we appear be-
fore him with joy at last, saying, " Thine
they were, and thou gavest them me, and
they have kept thy word*"

TWENTY-SECOND DAY.

"But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to ever-
lasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto
children's children." — Ps. ciii. 17.

TTOW God delights in reminding us of
iJL his mercy ! Thirty-seven times in the
Bible he tells us that his mercy endureth
for ever. When Moses prayed, " I beseech
thee, show me thy glory," he said, " I will
make all my goodness pass before thee," and
proclaimed his name—" The Lord, the Lord
God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering
and abundant in goodness and truth ; keep-
ing mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin." And how in-
finitely his delight in mercy transcends his

TWENTY-SECOND DAY, 75

pleasure in his justice — looking at it from
the earthward side— is shown where he says,
"Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth gen-
eration/' and "Know, therefore, that the
Lord thy God is the faithful God which
keepeth covenant and mercy with them that
love him and keep his commandments to a
thousand generations" This is indeed "keep-
ins; covenant with children's children." If
they depart from his w7ays, he " will chasten
them " indeed, but his " mercy shall not
depart awTay from them." Prone to wander
as we are, he does not leave us to ourselves.
" Wherefore, I will yet plead with you, saith
the Lord, and with your children's children
will I plead." His covenant is an everlast-
ing covenant.

There is something very noticeable in the
expression, " his righteousness to children's
children." It is as if he considered it a debt
that he owed his servants — that they had a
right to claim his mercy to their descend-

76 THE SABBATH MONTH.

ants. " God is not unrighteous, to forget your
work and labor of love ;" no, " the righteous
shall be in everlasting remembrance."

What an incentive is this to growth in
grace ! How earnestly shall I seek to be
accounted as righteous in his sight if such
benefits are to accrue therefrom not only to
my children, but to children's children as
long as the world shall endure. And oh
the joy of knowing that righteousness may
be mine through faith in our Lord Jesus !
His robe of righteousness not only covers our
sins and iniquities and makes us outwardly
pure, hiding our sins from God's sight;
such is its blessed and wondrous efficacy that
it works within, and actually does purify the
hearts of those over whom it is cast. We
"are complete in him." Then let me quickly
throw away the rags and tatters of my own
righteousness, with which I may be seeking
to adorn myself, and accept of " the right-
eousness which is by faith " so freely offered
to me.

TWENTY-SECOND DAY. 77

But the promise is to those who "keep
his covenant and who remember his com-
mandments, to do them." Then must I
carefully train my children to know the
duties as well as the privileges of the cove-
nant. Its blessings are freely theirs ; how
awful, then, the penalty of a deliberate re-
jection of them ! The thought that this
depends, under God, upon mothers, must
make us watchful indeed. But let us not
be overwhelmed with this responsibility. It
is a blessed thing if it keeps us instant in
prayer, ever clinging to Jesus, who alone
and who so freely gives grace to us and ours ;
and with what confidence we may ask him
that he will put such a heart in them when
we can say, " We do not present our suppli-
cations to thee for our righteousness, but for
thy great mercies "I We shall never be
ashamed who trust in the mercy of God that
he will keep his covenant— still less we who
trust in his righteousness.

78

THE SABBATH MONTH.

TWENTY-THIRD DAY.

" And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone
about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in
the morning, and offered burnt-offerings according to the
number of them all ; for Job said, It may be that my sons
have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job
continually." — Job i. 15.

" WHATSOEVER things were written
' ' aforetime were written for our learn-
ing, that we, through patience and comfort
of the Scriptures, might have hope." Let
us, then, consider the conduct of Job as an
example for ourselves.

We find him offering intercessory prayer
for his children. And how gladly do we
accept this teaching that we may pray for
ours! "And my servant Job shall pray for
you, for him will I accept," God himself says
later to Job's three friends, showing that he
delights in such prayer. What wings does
this assurance lend to every mother's prayer
as she pleads with God for her beloved chil-
dren ! " The effectual, fervent prayer of a

TWENTY-THIRD DAY. 79

righteous man availeth much." Oh, then, let
us never weary in praying for our children,
since our prayers will avail muck for them.
But Job not only prays for them in secret ;
he calls them to prayer, and cultivates in
them, even after they have passed the age of
infancy, a tender conscience and a readiness
to confess their sins. We have no reason to
suppose that the series of festivities which
these sons and daughters held were other
than innocent. As God could challenge
Satan to show a single flaw in Job's charac-
ter, it is not likely that he had neglected the
training of his children, and the readiness
with which they obey his call is an evidence
of their right feeling. But Job knows the
peculiar dangers of prosperity and the
temptations to which the youthful and
light-hearted are especially exposed, and
he teaches his children to examine them-
selves and see if, even inadvertently, they
had sinned. Let us learn from his example
to be very careful how we retain a holy

80 THE SABBATH MONTH.

influence over our children at the age when
they are being gradually weaned from home
and assuming individual responsibility, for
the responsibility of a parent never wholly
ceases.

There is a thought hidden in this history
which we may perhaps ponder with benefit.
Job offered sacrifices for his children. It is
true he did it as the priest of his household,
and our great Sacrifice having been slain
for us, there remain eth now no more offering
for sin. But we do still bring our thank-
offerings and our free-will offerings into the
temple of the Lord, and there seems to be a
peculiar blessedness in doing this, not only
for ourselves, but for our children. This is
a thought especially for the mothers of little
children. Who can tell how the offering
brought in the name and stead of this little
one may be blessed by God to its own soul !
how the infant heart thus associated in the
work of the Lord through its mother's faith
and prayer may be especially softened by

TWENTY-FO UR TH DA Y. 81

the dews of the heavenly grace, and made
more tender, more loving, more self-denying,
more earnest in the service of the Lord, even
unconsciously to itself, as by the Spirit of
the Lord ! We love to offer gifts to God in
memory of our lost loved ones ; why should
we not "let love antedate the work of death"
in consecrating a portion to him in anticipa-
tion of the time when our beloved may join
us in the work of the Lord?

And let us remember that our prayers and
efforts for our children are not to cease while
life lasts, for "thus did Job continually,"

TWENTY-FOURTH DAY.

" I will lead on softly, according as the children be able
to endure." — Gen. xxxiii. 14.

TN our pilgrimage toward the heavenly
■*■ Canaan we do not travel alone. " No
man liveth to himself," and our progress in
the divine life is not to be without reference

82 THE SABBATH MONTH.

to our children. They are members of the
household of faith equally with us, but they
are still babes in Christ. If we ourselves
often stumble, how much more are they in
danger of falling ! " Let us be very gentle
among them ; as a nurse cherisheth her chil-
dren " let us cherish this little life which
has but now begun.

The piety of our children will be infant
piety — no more fitted to encounter rude con-
flict than they themselves are fitted to go out
into the world alone. And God has given
them a mother not more to nourish and care
for their bodies than their souls. " Thou
hast seen how the Lord thy God did bear
thee as a man beareth his son ; " we have still
need that the Lord should be " long-suffer-
ing to us-ward." As we stand in the place
of God to our children in matters of author-
ity and of duty, so let us see that we repre-
sent him in his care for souls. " I taught
Ephraim also to go, taking them by their
arnis;" as § mother supports the first totter-

TWENTY-FOURTH DAY. 83

ing steps of her baby, so in their first feeble
steps on the highway of holiness let them
be constantly aware of our guiding and
supporting hands. How carefully we shall
remove every little stumbling-block from
the way of our baby's first steps! How
jealously, too, should we "make straight
paths for their feet/' lest they stumble in
their heavenly walk !

Above all, our own advance is to be no
impediment to theirs. " To the weak I
became as the weak." Our own day's march
is to be only " according as the children be
able to endure." Is it an unheard-of thing
that the strictness of a mother's piety has
alienated her children from God? Have
not the stern observances, the strict limita-
tions, of her religious life sometimes been a
burden heavier than they could bear ? Why
should we condemn what the Lord hath not
condemned ? Why should we put a yoke
upon the children's necks which we ourselves
have not been able to endure? The yoke

84 THE SABBATH MONTH.

of the Lord is easy; let us not make it heavy.
Let us beware how we make those hearts sad
which the Lord hath not made sad. We
know that " forasmuch as the children were
partakers of flesh and blood, he also took
part in the same;" so let us partake of our
children's frailty, becoming one with them
by sympathy, entering into all their hin-
drances and drawbacks. The children are
tender ; if we overdrive them one day they
will die. Let us lead on softly " until we come
unto our Lord unto his place" (margin).

TWENTY-FIFTH DAY.

" For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me
my petition which I asked of him." — 1 Sam. i. 27.

fXF all the mothers whose stories are re-
corded in the Bible, Hannah is the near-
est to our hearts. And of all the children,
none, except the holy child Jesus, is so
lovely as Samuel, the typical child in whom

TWENTY-FIFTH DAY. 85

every mother sees her fairest visions person-
ified. He is indeed the most perfect type
of the Child Jesus which we have. Even
Joseph, in later youth a most beautiful
type of Christ, does not equal Samuel in
childish character, marred as his was by the
natural self-satisfaction of a "good child."
We never read of Samuel falling into sin ;
his guileless heart is never lifted up by his
visions ; he has none of the self-importance
of one to whom a terrible secret has been
entrusted. We never learn that he regretted
the choice his mother had made for him of
a Nazarite's life with its peculiar restraints,
nor that he ever for a moment questioned
his duty as to accepting that choice.

May we not seek for the causes of this
remarkable perfection of character, endeav-
oring humbly to learn if in aught we may
so imitate this mother's example as to hope
for a like blessing in our own children?

We notice especially Hannah's great long-
ing for a child. Her defrauded mother-in-

86

THE SABBATH MONTH.

stinct cries out for the blessing, and will not
be denied. Here is none of that reluctance
to take up the duties and burdens of mother-
hood which we so often see. How can we
doubt that the child which has drawn its life
from that longing, loving heart, will develop
a more perfect nature, a larger soul, expand-
ing into greater beauty of character, than the
one which has been anticipated with disfavor,
its limitations of the expectant mother's plea-
sures reluctantly submitted to, its demands
upon her time grudgingly complied with?

In the bitterness of her soul, in the hunger
of her heart, Hannah prayed unto the Lord.
She had learned the comfort of pouring out
her soul before God. That this was a true
rolling of her burden on the Lord is evident,
because after she had prayed her prayer and
vowed her vow her countenance was no more
sad. She knew the blessedness of the one
whose hope the Lord is. Could the child
of such faith and prayer be other than a
child of grace?

TWENTY-FIFTH DAY.

87

Her vow was no superstitious impulse, iu
which she sought to propitiate the clemency
of God, but a deliberate choosing of the best
lot for this so longed-for child. This is seen
from her alacrity in redeeming her vow. At
the earliest possible age she brings him up to
the house of the Lord : "I have lent him to
the Lord ; as long as he liveth he shall be
lent to the Lord." What the extent of this
sacrifice was only our hearts can understand
who, like Hannah, have longed for a son,
and have received him from the Lord for
the petition which we asked of him. It was
no light thing, this lending her child to the
Lord.

But she had her reward. First, when she
knew that (like the Blessed Child of whom
he was a type) " the child grew on, and was
in favor both with the Lord and also with
men." And yet more when " all Israel
knew that Samuel was established to be a
prophet of the Lord." And oh the joy of
knowing that, after many years of with-

88 THE SABBATH MONTH.

drawal, "the Lord appeared again to his
people" by the means of her son!

May such great blessedness be ours !
There is much for us to ponder over in
this subject.

TWENTY-SIXTH DAY.

" And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren ; and his
mother called his name Jabez [Sorrowful], saying, Because I
bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Is-
rael, saying, Oh that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and en-
large my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and
that thou wouldst keep me from evil, that it may not grieve
me! And God granted him that which he requested." — 1
Chron. iv. 9, 10.

T)ESIDES the happy mothers who have
*-* received their little ones with joyful
thanksgiving and amid glad congratulations,
we find those whose children are ushered into
the world with sorrow. Not with reluctance
— we should not so receive the gift of God —
but who can say what darkness of bereave-

TWENTY-SIXTH BAY. 89

ment, what anguish of soul over erring loved
ones, what pinching of penury, may rend the
heart which broods over the little new-born
one in an agony of love and grief? To such
conies a word of good cheer in the verses be-
fore us. Were they written expressly for
sorrowing mothers throughout all time, we
wonder? Why else are they here, stand-
ing alone in the midst of the dry geneal-
ogies, having no hint of connection with the
names which precede and follow? Who was
this sorrowful mother, or who her honored
son, we know not. There is no word of
tribe or family, birthplace or brethren. His
mother bare him with sorrow. That is all,
but it brings her near to many a heart to-
day.

"And Jabez was more honorable than his
brethren." This son of his mother's sorrow
becomes the son of her right hand. Take
courage, sorrowful mother, and look forward
in hope. Not always will the night of weep-
ing darken over you and your child. The

90 THE SABBATH MONTH

Lord is leading you by a way that you know
not. " Thy light shall rise in obscurity, and
thy darkness be as the noonday." Will you
regret the trials which lead to such honor as
this f " The Lord granted him the things
which he requested." Earthly honor you
may not covet for your child, but would not
such as this far outweigh a multitude of woes ?
For what were " the things which he re-
quested " ? " That thine hand might be
with me, and that thou wouldst keep me
from evil, that it may not grieve me." Can
you ask more ? You pray not that your be-
loved " be taken out of the world," but that
it may be kept from evil. " That it may not
grieve me." You have known grief, sor-
rowing mother ; what better do you ask
but that the Lord will keep it from your
child ? Only " let not your heart be trou-
bled." Rejoice even in the midst of afflic-
tion over this blest gift of God. You may
live to see this child of sorrow become
" more honorable " even than its brethren

TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY. 91

sent to you in happier days. " For the
Lord will again rejoice over thee for good."
" Refrain thy voice from weeping and
thine eyes from tears, for thy work shall be
rewarded, saith the Lord. . . . And there is
hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy
children shall come again to their own bor-
der."

TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY.

"For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed,
but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall
the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that
hath mercy on thee." — Isa. liv. 10.

TTOW firm a foundation we have who rest
-*--*- our hopes of salvation upon the work of
Christ ! For who is a rock like our God ?
Let us consider the terms of our covenant
of peace, that our souls may be refreshed.
In times of bodily weakness we are in
especial danger of losing our peace. We
examine our own selves to see if we be in
the faith, and too often our faith fails us in

92 THE SABBATH MONTH.

that very exercise. But this is owing to our
inadequate views of Christ's work. Finished
as it was upon the cross as to our redemp-
tion, it yet never ceases as to our sanctifica-
tion and as to our final perseverance. He
ever liveth to make intercession for us. It
is his love, not ours, which secures us. He
holds us, not we him. Our clinging hands,
grown weak wTith long self-nerving, may lose
their hold upon our Saviour, yet we are in
his arms. He sought us out and ransomed
us ; shall he let us fall ? " Can a woman
forget her sucking child, that she should not
have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yea, she may forget, yet will I not forget
thee." Ah, to me does not this say enough,
and more than enough? It is impossible that
any should pluck me out of his hand. Does
my baby's safety depend upon its clinging
to me or to the protecting arms about it?
" Therefore will we not fear, though the
earth be removed and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea." Fear!

TWENTY-SEVENTH DA Y. 93

How can I fear when once I have relin-
quished all dependence upon my own stead-
fastness and depend upon the faithfulness of
Him that called me, " who also will do it " ?
Oh let me take the comfort of this covenant
of peace ! Peter walked on the water to go
to Jesus. Did his faith save him ? Did it
not rather fail him ? Yet he did not perish.
For Jesus caught him by the hand, saying,
" O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou
doubt ? " And shall he not ever hold me by
the hand?

Take courage, then, timid heart. He who
chose thee before the foundation of the world
will still keep thee after the mountains de-
part. The covenant of his peace shall never
be removed, for his love is its surety. Many
waters cannot quench that love, neither can
floods drown it; thine unworthiness shall
not tire it; thy faithlessness shall not dis-
courage it. " Thou hast delivered my
soul from death ; wilt thou not deliver my
feet from falling ? " Yes, a thousand times

94 THE SABBATH MONTH

yes. " They shall never perish ; my Father
which gave them to me is greater than I,
and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand." " Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ?" Shall tribula-
tion, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us, for " the Lord of
peace can give us peace by all means," even
by these sore afflictions. They all are means
of peace to them who are embraced in the
covenant of peace. " The Lord is able to do
for us exceeding abundantly above all we
can ask or think, according to the power [his
power, not ours] that worketh in us." And
we are persuaded that "neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
" The Lord bless thee and keep thee ; the

TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY. 95

Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be
gracious unto thee ; the Lord lift up his coun-
tenance upon thee and give thee peace ! "

" Now unto Him that is able to keep you
from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with ex-
ceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Sa-
viour, be glory, majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever." Amen.

TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY.

" Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall
appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." —
1 John iii. 2.

fTlHE contemplation of our future glory,
-*- when " he shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto his glo-
rious body, not having spot, or wrinkle, or
any such thing," is a rapturous employment.
That we shall receive the crown of righteous-
ness which he shall give to all them that love
his appearing — the robe of fine linen, clean

96 THE SABBATH MONTH.

and white, which is the righteousness of the
saints— is not all ; but we ourselves shall be
like him. Oh the joy unspeakable and full
of glory which this thought imparts !

We know not what we shall be. Our
limited understandings cannot grasp the
wondrous thought. Now are we the sons of
God, but the little child upon our knees,
with its tiny growth, its unformed features,
its undeveloped intellect, its unconsciousness
of the great, yearning mother-love which
enfolds it, is far liker to the noble Christian
manhood, the sweet, gracious womanhood,
which we foresee in it than we, in our best
days, in the fullest vigor of our intellects, in
the most ripened graces of our Christianhood,
in the highest flight of our aspirations, are
like to the glorious beings which we shall be.
To be like him ! We should not have dared
to ask it. None but the beloved disciple
could have written the word. Oh, what to
him who had leaned on the bosom of the
Lord, what in his exile and sufferings in the

TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY. 97

long weary life which made him " the com-
panion" of every suffering one "in tribulation
and in the kingdom and patience of Christ,"
what must have been the bliss of this assu-
rance ! He who had seen him in the days
of his flesh, to whom, even with the veil of
humanity upon his Godhead, he had been
the chiefest among ten thousand, the one
altogether lovely — " he should be like him,
for he should see him as he is ! "

But we too shall be like him. Such know-
ledge is too wonderful for us, we cannot at-
tain to it. Yet " every one that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as He
is pure." How can sin remain in a heart
which is fully possessed with such a hope as
this. u Beholding, with open faces as in a
glass, the glory of the Lord," we are being
" changed into the same image, from glory
to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." But
not till he appears shall the full consum-
mation of the glorious change take place.
"When Christ, our life, shall appear, we also

98 THE SABBATH MONTH

shall appear with him in glory. To us, then,
even now to live is Christ. " I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me and gave him-
self for me." Oh, to see him as he is ! Even
now a vivid apprehension of him by faith, a
sense of his immediate presence, though but
transient, lifts us above all the cares and
sorrows, obliterates the pains, of this life,
but what will it be to see his face ? O joy
unspeakable and full of glory ! " As for me,
I shall behold thy face in righteousness. /
shall be satisfied when I awake with thy
likeness."

TWENTY-NINTH DAY. 99

TWENTY-NINTH DAY.

" Rejoice in the Lord always : and again I say, Bejoice." —
Phll. iv. 4.

IT is strange that any who have obtained
our precious hope should require such
an admonition. But perhaps to none is it
more appropriate than to mothers, both from
the many causes which they seem to have for
despondency and from the immediate influ-
ence which their state of mind has upon
their children. Do we feel, as the time ap-
proaches for us to resume life's duties with
its doubled responsibilities, that we are not
sufficient for these things? "The joy of
the Lord is your strength" is no merely
poetical phrase, but a living truth. Let us
prove it, and learn, as thousands have learned
before us, that rejoicing in God does really
double our ability to perform our duty.
Not that our duties are not grave, our re-
sponsibilities infinitely solemn. To us is
committed the welfare of immortal souls.

100 THE SABBATH MONTH

How much depends upon us we probably
only glimmeringly perceive. But just in
proportion as the desires of our heart are for
the salvation of our children and the glory
of God by them, so much the more should
we " delight ourselves in the Lord." Oh, let
us draw our children to him by the warm
influence of a cheerful service. Let them
not, by seeing in their mother a woman of
a sorrowful countenance, learn to misappre-
hend the character of her Master and of his
service. In dwelling upon this subject I
cannot refrain from here rendering a tribute
to a beloved mother, now glorified, who, in
the midst of a life of unusual and heavy sor-
rows, so exemplified the grace of God that
to her children the words " as sorrowful, yet
always rejoicing/5 read in the light of her
life, were no mystery, but the clearest truth.
So let it be with us all. May we never need
the rebuke of Christ, " Forbid not these little
ones to come to me " ! For it is possible, even
while we are praying, agonizing, for their sal-

TWENTY-NINTH DAY. 101

vation, that we may not suffer them to come
to him, frightening them away from the ser-
vice which they see casts a gloom upon our
lives. Oh, let us ivillingly offer unto the
Lord our lives and our constant service.
Let us commit our way unto the Lord,
and our countenance be no more sad. Our
strength shall be as our day; we have the
word of God and a happy experience of past
mercy to confirm the promise, and he is able
to make us to rejoice even in tribulation.
Yes, to rejoice and be exceeding glad, for
great is our reward in heaven. Let us have
more respect unto the recompense of reward,
and we shall no longer go mourning because
of the oppression of the enemy. " For I will
strengthen the house of Judah ; I am the
Lord their God, and will hear them, and
their heart shall rejoice as through wine,
yea, their children shall see it and be glad,
and their heart shall rejoice in the Lord."

102

THE SABBATH MONTH.

THIRTIETH DAY.

"And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from
Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being
forty days tempted of the devil." — Luke iv. 1, 2.

A FTER having received the baptism of
■£*- the Holy Spirit, and having been pub-
licly acknowledged by a voice from heaven
as the Son of God, the devil comes to him.
From the highest heights to the deepest
depths. Ecstatic communion with God —
fierce conflict with the Prince of darkness.
So Elijah after his triumphant vindication
of the honor of God and the fierv exaltation
of spirit in which he slew the prophets of
Baal, descends almost to the depth of despair.
He too spends forty days in the wilderness
in a conflict with the tempter. So Moses,
after having talked with God as a man
talketh with his friend, is suddenly exposed
to the fiercest temptation on beholding the
sin of the children of Israel. To each the

THIRTIETH DAY. 103

period of highest privilege is succeeded by
a time of stern conflict.

This experience is in a degree repeated in
the lives of many of God's children. And
I, who for four blessed weeks have been se-
cluded from the tumults of the world, lying
in the light of God's countenance under the
special influence of the Holy Spirit, am now
called to go down from the mount of priv-
ilege and enter upon a struggle with the
Prince of this world. Now, first, from the
demands upon my strength, shall I be sen-
sible of my weakness, and find in each re-
curring duty a fresh temptation to irritabil-
ity, to discouragement, to self-indulgence, to
repining at the weariness of my lot. The
sweet joys of maternity, which thus far have
been devoid of responsibility, will them-
selves henceforth be mingled with heavy
cares, with weary nights and anxious days.
Many a time I shall cry in sorrow, " Oh that
it were with me as in times past ! " " the
journey is too great for me." Then let me

104 THE SABBATH MONTH.

take courage from the example of Christ.
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you, as though
some strange thing happened unto you, but
rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of
Christ's sufferings." Yes, Christ has known
the desert and the tempter's wiles. Christ
has suffered, being tempted ; he knows every
fiery dart of the devil. And shall he not
succor us who are tempted ? Shall he leave
our soul among lions ? Ah no ; he knows
hoiv to deliver the godly out of temptation.
He will keep " his darling " from the power
of Satan. He suffered for us, leaving us an
example, that we should follow in his steps.
Driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, I
there shall find the prints of his feet. Walk-
ing in them, I am safe, for though tempted
he did not fall. The devil left him, and
angels came and ministered unto him. And
to me " the wilderness and the solitary place
shall be glad for them, and the desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose." I shall

THIRTY-FIRST DAY. 105

find waters " break out in the wilderness and
streams in the desert, and a highway shall
be there ; it shall be called the way of holi-
ness." " Therefore, behold, I will allure her
and bring her into the wilderness, and speak
comfortably unto her, and I will give her
vineyards from thence, and the valley of
Aehor [i. e. trouble] for a door of hope"
He himself is the Way, and he hath said,
"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."

THIRTY-FIRST DAY.

"Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee."
— 1 Kixgs xix. 7.

T^LIJAH was sleeping for sorrow. That
■" mighty, courageous heart, so " very jeal-
ous for the Lord of hosts," had fainted.
"Take away my life," he prayed, and the
Lord answered; an angel touched him and
said unto him, "Arise and eat." He sus-
tains, instead of taking away, the weary life.

106 THE SABBATH MONTH

" The journey is too great for thee/' says the
messenger of the God of all consolation, and
supplies him with that which shall strength-
en him for the work before him.

At the threshold of our return to ordinary
life we take into account the duties before us,
and our spirits faint within us. When we
consider that not merely former duties, in
which we have so often failed, but new re-
sponsibilities, are to be assumed, we shrink
in dismay from the task. To train a soul
for God, to grapple with the inherent evil
of its nature and subdue it, to nourish gra-
cious tendencies, to discern what sins most
easily beset it, to guard it from the allure-
ments of the world, to guide the little feet
in the way of peace, to " be instant in season
and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort
with all long-suffering" — this is the work
of an angel, and not of a weak, erring mor-
tal who has herself need of guidance and
of support. Ah, here is our strength. We
have need indeed, and our God supplies all

THIRTY-FIRST DAY. 107

our need. "Arise and eat," he says unto us.
I, who in my tender sympathy know full well
that the journey is too great for thee, have
made provision for all thy wants. "In me
all fullness dwells." " Eat, O friends, drink,
yea, drink abundantly, O beloved," " for my
flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink
indeed."

So, as long as we feel our own insufficiency,
we are safe ; as long as wre feel our weakness,
we are strong, for then we depend entirely
upon Christ. He gives us day by day our
daily bread, and the journey need never be
too great for us. Only let us never fail to
accept the provision he makes. The daily
study of his word, daily communion with
him in prayer, the hourly lifting up of our
hearts to him, the bringing every care and
perplexity to his feet, as well as the assem-
bling of ourselves together, and the sacred
eucharistic feast, — all are our meal-times, and
shall each supply us with a portion of strength.
So, feeding by faith on the Son of God, we

108 THE SABBATH MONTH.

shall not find the difficulties of the way too
great for us, but in the strength of that meat
we shall go through all our pilgrimage until
we come even unto Horeb, the mount of God,

THE END.