save. O Love divine! thy form is Wisdom, and thy operation Power! subduing all things in love. God of mercy! subdue our hearts to Thee, that so we may see thy truth, and walk in thy paths.
As thy love shows itself in wisdom and ends in power, so hatred puts itself forth in weakness and ends in insanity. Good puts forth real power—evil, real weakness. Virtue is strong and bold, while vice is cowardly and weak. A fool can pull down and destroy; but it requires wisdom and power to build and to plant! Vice shuns the light, is fearful, and trembles at its own shadow; while virtue, conscious of its innocence, seeks the light, and comes forth in power. How true is this proverb—"The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion." (Prov. xxviii. 1.) O my soul! shun thou evils as sins against God, and then the Father of mercies will give thee power to overcome all impurities, and by guiding thy footsteps in the way of peace, will finally lead thee to Himself.
January Fifth.
THE WORD OF GOD AND ITS INWARD TREASURES.
Deal bountifuily with thy servant, that I may live and keep thy word."—Ps. cxix. 17.
TO turn our thoughts away, at suitable seasons, from the busy scenes of mere outward life, and to contemplate the Word of God as a Divine revelation given by the Creator to the children of men, is among the choicest and sweetest privileges of human life.
