HEAVENLY THOUGHTS

FOR

EVENING HOURS.

JANUARY 1.

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."-Isa. xii. 2.

My soul is crowded all with silent thoughts,—
A hush I cannot tell ;

Like the strange pauses in a dream,

One motion may dispel.

Yet I must trust Him; He has borne

So kindly with the past,

I feel that He will give me grace

To trust Him to the last.

A

What though the future, with its unknown depths,

Be hidden from my sight!

I know that its untrodden paths
Lead onwards into light.

Yes, I will trust Him who did once on earth

Carry my grief alone,—

Who look'd for comforters to help,

For friend, and there was none.

He knows my utmost need; upon His care
I can indeed depend;

He who has kept me through the past
Will keep me to the end.

C. N.

JANUARY 2.

"He filleth the hungry with good things."Luke i. 53.

"I am willing that any one should have the world, if I may have what Abraham had,—' Fear not; I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward; and I believe I shall, for it is not the hungry that He has threatened to send empty away."-MISS WETHERALL.

JANUARY 3.

"And he shewed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb."-Rev. xxii. 1.

Oh! might I find where those pure waters first Shoot sparkling from their living fountain-head,— Oh, there to quench my spirit's inmost thirst!

Sure, if we follow'd where those waters led,
We should, at length, some fairer region gain,
Than yet has quaked beneath our heavy tread !—

Some land that should in very truth contain
Whate'er we dream of beautiful and bright,
And idly dreaming of, pursue in vain.

And, lo! that stream, which early still and late,
He had track'd upward, issued bright and clear
From underneath the angel-guarded gate.

R. C. TRENCH.

2.

JANUARY 4.

"I go to prepare a place for you.”—John xiv.

"I go to prepare a place for you," was one of the last and most blessed assurances that breathed from the lips of the departing Saviour. Yes, He has passed within the veil as our Forerunner; He has prepared heaven for us; and by His gentle, wise, and loving discipline, He is preparing us for heaven. OCTAVIUS WINSLOW.

JANUARY 5.

"Because Thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee.”—Ps. lxiii. 3.

O Holy Ghost, the Comforter,
How is Thy love despised!
While the heart longs for sympathy,

And friends are idolised!

O Spirit of the living God,

Brooding, with dove-like wings,
Over the helpless and the weak,
Among created things!