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Sick Room 
 
 • ^^ 
 
 BY 
 
 MAGGIE P. ANDERSON. 
 
 • <«► 
 
 we look before and after, 
 And pine for what is not; * 
 
 Our SINCERE8T laughter 
 With some pain is fraught, 
 Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thoughts. 
 
 ■ HKLLKV. 
 
 ■..;.-V 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 \ 
 
 SAINT JOHN, N. B. 
 Progress" Book and Job Press. 
 1895. 
 
 X' 
 
n9^ 
 
The writing of those " Thoughts and Gleanings" has 
 enabled me to endure hour after hour of severe suffering and 
 weariness in the still night watches, when the world around 
 me seemed hushed in slumber, and no sound disturbed the 
 almost painful stillness between midnight and early dawn. 
 
 If one soul similarly situated shall gain one helpful, com- 
 forting thought from my experience, while passing through 
 the deep waters of physical and mental suffering, I shall not 
 have suffered in vain, neither shall I have written in vain. 
 
 I desire to express my grateful thanks for the many 
 kindnesses of my numerous friends and acquaintances during 
 my long continued illness. 
 
 May Heaven's choicest blessings rest upon those dear ones, 
 and may they be enriched with all spiritual and temporal 
 blessings. 
 
 May God's blessing rest with Divine power in fullness of 
 His love upon this little book, and may He in Spirit and in 
 truth, go forth with each and eveiy copy. 
 
 " Knowledge by suffering entereth, 
 And life is perfected by death." 
 
 Mrs. Browning. 
 
 '* Patience doth conquer by out-suffering all." 
 
 — Peek. 
 
 M. P. A. 
 
©©MTTEROTri 
 
 Page. 
 
 First Day — Midnight Thoughts 7 
 
 Second Day — Repentance 10 
 
 Third Day— Security in Christ '. 13 
 
 Fourth Day — Our Home Influence 16 
 
 Fifth Day— The Value of Little Things 20 
 
 Sixth Day — Without Carefulness 24 
 
 Seventh Day — Daily Strength — How Obtained 27 
 
 Eighth Day — Epistles Known and Read 30 
 
 Ninth Day — Unceasing in Prayer 33 
 
 Tenth Day — Following Our Shepherd 36 
 
 Eleventh Day — " Kept" 39 
 
 Twelfth Day — Unto Still Waters 42 
 
 Thirteenth Day — Three Degrees in Peace 45 
 
 Fourteenth Day — Unfailing Cruse 48 
 
 Fifteenth Day — Cup-bearors to Our King 52 
 
 Sixteenth Day — Keeping Holy the Sabbath 65 
 
 Seventeenth Day—" Overcome" 60 
 
 Eighteenth Day — " Thou God Seest Me" 64 
 
 Nineteenth Day — Seeing and Knowing 68 
 
 Twentieth Day—" The Lord Shut Him In" 72 
 
 Twenty-first Day — Joint-heirs with Christ. . 76 
 
 Twenty-second Day — Bearing Our Cross 80 
 
 Twenty-third Day—" It is Well" 84 
 
 Twenty-fourth Day — Heaven Opened 89 
 
 Twenty-Fifth Day — Beginning of God's Love 92 
 
 TwENTY-Sixi H Day — Seeing Jesus 96 
 
 Twenty-seventh Day — Pressing Toward the Mark. , 100 
 
 Twenty-eighth Day — Falling Short of the Mark 103 
 
 Twenty-ninth Day— When • ' Death" is ' ' G ain " 106 
 
 Thirtieth Day — Hindrances 109 
 
 Thirty-first Day — Five Places 113 
 
 First Sunday — " Coming" 117 
 
 Second Sunday — "Immanuel's Land". 121 
 
 Third Sunday — ' ' Knocking, Ever Knocking" 126 
 
 Fourth Sunday — '* Not Knowing" o 128 
 
 Fifth Sunday — Celestial Country 131 
 
^itk-|loom ®|joii(|ljts Aub dlranhi^s. 
 
 FIRST DAY. 
 
 iMitiniflfit ^Tfiougijtis. 
 
 H he floods of sorrow and billows of affliction have well 
 nigh overwhelmed me. Has God forsaken me ? No, 
 God hath said : " I will never leave thee, never forsake thee." 
 I do believe God, and £ will trust in Him. 
 
 Thus I muse while lying on my bed in severe pain, 
 during the silent watches of the night, when all the world 
 seems hushed in silent slumber, and no sound is heard to 
 disturb the almost painful stillness of my sick-room, save 
 the ticking of the clock as it marks the fleeting moments, 
 which are steadily and swiftly passing away to be numbered 
 with the things of eternity. 
 
 " What makes the good Christian ? Perpetual trial. He 
 who has experienced the severest storms, and most fre- 
 quently thrown out the Christian anchor, has the strongest 
 hope. Where shall we expect the firmest faith ? At the 
 gate of St Peter's or at the martyr's stake ? Who is com- 
 pared to purified silver or gold ? That Christian around 
 whose soul God hath kindled the fires of His furnace, and 
 kept them glowing till it reflected His image." — Bishop 
 Thompson. 
 
 Have we swerved from the paths of righteousness ? Yes. 
 All we, like sheep, have gone astray ; we have turned every 
 one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the 
 iniquity of us all. God is calling us to return unto Him, 
 
8 
 
 SrCK-ROOM THOUQtJTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 retrace our steps, until we shall again walk in the paths of 
 nghteousness. God strengthen us to obey Him, and trust 
 Him for abundant pardon. " Let the wicked forsake his 
 way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him 
 return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, 
 and to our (lod, for Tie will abundantly pard(m." Thus 
 saith the Lord : " 1 have called thee by thy name, thou art 
 Mine." As our Saviour calls your name, are you not 
 thrilled with its pathos ? Are you not melted v^ith the 
 depth and obedience of Calvary love ? At the remembrance 
 of His dying agony for you, are you not pierced to the 
 heart ? And when he whispers loving, comforting and 
 sympathetic words in the silent night watcheS; and you 
 listen to His precious invitation, " Come unto Me all ye that 
 labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," can 
 you resist the pleading love of Calvary ? " Cast thy burden 
 upon the Lord and He will sustain thee." 
 
 " You who are hedged in by untoward circumstances, 
 seeing the sea before 'ou, and the mountains forbidding 
 retreat, and no escape, let me say, ' Stand still and see the 
 salvation of God.' His mercy will provide a way even 
 though it be through the flood, and while to lead you in the 
 way there may be no banner of tire nor pillar of cloud, our 
 Father will lead you out of bondage into the freedom of 
 His abundant grace." — Mev. Warren Hatheway. 
 
 For His name's sake, dear reader, His love shall be 
 unfailing, His vigilance sleepless, His faithfulness unchang- 
 ing, His love for you through eternity passing knowledge. 
 "We shall never outgrow our need of His guidance and 
 Christ will not abandon us half way. 
 
 " Though foes assail me, yea, within, without, 
 
 Harass my soul, and hurl my joys in dust ; 
 No forceful fear nor fraud of treacherous doubt 
 Disarms my buckled trust. 
 
SICK-ROOM rflOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 " Yea, though thou slay me, and supine I cower 
 
 Heart pierced and hleedins; from the fiery thrust, 
 I know there waits in Heaven a glorious hour 
 
 To crown my sacred trust." —Paul 11. Iloyne. 
 
 In every tierj^ tost of temptation or trial, in every ultlic- 
 tion, in every dark or awful moment of your life, hold fast 
 to the promise of God's sufficiency. God's promises of refuge, 
 deliverance, protection and guidance refer to our souls. 
 
 " Oh, by every tear which God has wiped from your eyes, 
 by every anxiety which he has soothed, by every fear which 
 He has dispelled, by every want which lie has supplied, by 
 every mercy which He has bestowed, strengthen yourselves 
 for all that awaits you through the remainder of your life ; 
 .look onward, if it must be so, to new trials, to increased 
 perplexities ; yea, even to death itself ; but look on what is 
 past as well as what is to come, and you will be enabled 
 to say of Him in whose hands are your times, His future 
 dealings will be what His former has been, fulfilments of 
 the promise. ' As thy days, so shall thy strength be.' " — 
 Between the Lights. 
 
 "Child of My Love, ' Lean Hard,' 
 And let me feel the pressure of thy care, 
 I know thy burden ; child, I shaped it, 
 Poised it on Mine own hand, made no proportion 
 In its weight to thine unaided strength. 
 Before ever I laid it on 1 said 
 I shall be ever near, and while she leans on Me, 
 This burden shall be Mine not hers. 
 So shall I keep My child within My circling arms 
 Of Mine own love. Here lay it dorm, not fear 
 To impose it on shoulders which upholds 
 The governments of worlds. Yet closer come 
 Thou an not near enough, I would embrace thy care 
 So I might feel My child reposing on My heart. 
 Thou lovest me ? I doubt it not ; 
 Then loving Me, ' Lean Hard.'" 
 
10 
 
 SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 SECOND DAY. 
 
 Eepcntance. 
 
 " Wounds of the soul, though healed, will ache ; 
 The reddening scars remain »nd make 
 
 Confession ; 
 Lost innocence returns no more ; 
 We are not what we were before 
 
 Transgression. 
 
 " But noble souls through dust nnd heat. 
 Rise from disaster and defeat 
 
 The stronger ; 
 And conscious still of the Divine 
 Within them, lie on earth supine 
 
 No longer.'' 
 
 ■H. W. Longfellou). 
 
 Cn ISHOP HUNTINGTON says : " Judging by the fifty- 
 -J_^ first Psalm, there has been no repentance inore 
 thorough-going than David's. On that ground he and we 
 meet together. What he said we can say. What he felt, 
 though bis heart was under a royal robe, we can feel. Our 
 mortal nothingness, our inability to cope with each day's 
 dangers, our utter dependance on the grace of God. Helps 
 we have that he had not. He was but the son of Jesse, the 
 Bethlbiiemite, after all, and had never heard — what every 
 worshipper in Christ's church has heard — the Divine story 
 that afterwards began at that same Bethlehem and ended 
 at the cross. He knew not the Master and Eedeemer, as 
 we know Him. K3 only knew that he wanted Him in his 
 heart and in his flesh. Blessed are all they that know that 
 now." 
 
8IGK-R00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 11 
 
 " Tears fill my eyes, and falling on my face, 
 
 Betoken deepest sorrow for my sin ; 
 
 The world is dark, but when I look within, 
 A deeper darkness seems to take its place : 
 The past is but a record of disgrace ; 
 
 The present is a threshold ; I begin 
 
 To step it over, but there hangs between 
 A hiding vale whose threads close interlace. 
 
 for some light to cheer the darksome way ! 
 
 for some voice to speak a word of peace ! 
 
 1 look, and lo ! a kindly, heavenly ray ; 
 
 1 listen, and His • Come !' bids doubting ceace. 
 Before Thy cross, O Christ, I humbly fall, 
 
 I can do nothing. Thou must do it alL'^ 
 
 Ho'v shall we obtain the peace of forgiveness ? 
 
 " We can never be at peace until we bave performed tho 
 highest duty of all — till we have arisen and gone to our 
 Father." — George Macdonald. 
 
 The perfect character of Christ merits our trust, and the 
 chastisement of our peace was upon Him. We are res^ ved 
 and determined to take up the cross of Christ and bear it 
 gladly for our Saviour's sake ; and already hope changes 
 the rugged and thorny into fountains of refreshments in 
 the wilderness of this world. We are rich in hope when we 
 see how sweetly he disposeth all things after the counsel of 
 His own will, and permeates and visits us like the sweet 
 refreshing sho'ver from heaven. " Come unto Me," saith 
 Jesus ; and we came just as we were — guilty, lost and 
 helpless smners, in response to His loving invitation, and He 
 hath cleansed us in His blood. We wont empty, hungry 
 and weary, and Jesus received, filled and satisfied us. He, 
 my Saviour, has done it all. 
 
 " Any man may, if he will, have his whole nature influ- 
 enced and inhabited by that mighty Spirit, of whom we 
 may all be temples, and which dwells in us, not as the 
 
li 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 image of the gods abides in the shrine, bat as our spirits 
 animate our bodies, being diffused through all our nature, 
 the eye of our seeing, the heart of our love, the wiii of our 
 resolve, and in all of us th« source of our goodness and the 
 life of our better life. ' If any man have not the Spirit of 
 Christ, he is none of His.' Let us remember that this 
 penetration of all our nature with a Divine Spirit dwelling 
 within us is the promise of Christianity to every man." — 
 Alexander McLaren, D. D. 
 
 " The blood of Jesus Christ, His son, cleanseth us from 
 all sin." 
 
 Cleanse all who shall read this page in Thy blood, my 
 Saviour and permeate us all with Thy Spirit of love, purity 
 and power. 
 
aiCK'ROOM TH0UQHT8 AND GLEANINQa. 
 
 13 
 
 irits 
 
 lure, 
 our 
 the 
 
 it of 
 this 
 
 [ling 
 
 :rom 
 
 my 
 urity 
 
 THIRD DAY. 
 
 Security in Cijrtst. 
 
 •• The way is dark, my child ; but leads to light, 
 I would not always have thee walk by sight : 
 My dealings now, thou canst not understand, 
 I meant it so ; but I will take thy hand. 
 
 And through the gloom 
 
 Lead sately home my child ! 
 
 The day goes fast, my child : But is the night 
 Darker to me than day ? In Me is light ! 
 Keep close to me, and every spectral band 
 Of fears shall vanish. I will take thy hand, 
 
 And through the night 
 
 Lead up to light, my child ! 
 
 The way is long my child ! But it shall be 
 Not one step longer than is best for thee. 
 And thou shalt know, at last, when thou shalt stand. 
 Sate at the goal, how I did take thy hand, 
 And quick and straight 
 Lead to Heaven's gate, my child ! 
 
 The pt^th is rough, my child ! But oh ! how sweet 
 Will be the rest, for weary pilgrims meet, 
 When thou shall reach the borders ot that land 
 To which I lead thee, as I take thy hand. 
 
 And safe and blest 
 
 With me shall rest, my child f 
 
 Tiie throng is great, my child ! But at thy side 
 Thy Father walks : then be not terrified ! 
 For I am with thee ; will Thy foes command 
 "To ^let'tbee freely pass ; wiH take thy hand, 
 
 And dirottgh the thuon^ 
 
 l^efil «a(e.iy|o«g, vujf child ! 
 
u 
 
 81CK-B00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 I I 
 
 The cross is heavy child ! Yet there was one 
 Who bore a heavier for thee : My Son, 
 My well beloved. For Him bear thine ; and stand 
 With Him &t last ; and from Thy Father's hand, 
 
 Thy cross laid down, 
 
 Receive a crown, my child." 
 
 —H. N. Cobb. 
 
 ©UE Redeemer has said : " I am the door ; by Me if any 
 man enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out 
 •and find pasture." Yes, truly those of us, whom God has shut 
 in, to experience year in and year out, dull companionship of 
 pain and continual weariness of extreme sufferinsf and weak- 
 ness, most assuredly we " go in and out and find pasture"; 
 we have abundant freedom and abundant spiritual food in 
 Christ. We are secure in Christ. The precious blood of 
 Christ can never loose its power and virtue. God is just 
 and holy ; His word is truth, and all His promises are sure. 
 
 " You think that you could never have been a martyr, 
 yet women more timid, and children more delicate, have won 
 and worn that crown ; nearer to the flame they were nearer 
 to Christ, and as the balmy winds of Paradise beat upon 
 their foreheads while the fire roared about iheir feet, so 
 believe me, it will be with you. I have known martyrs 
 here — boys ungifted and unattractive, boj'^s neglected and 
 despised, yet so firm in their iimocence, so steadfast in their 
 faith, that na evil thing had power to hurt them. Every 
 day their struggle was easier ; every day their faith more 
 happy. Weak, unloved, and single handed, they overcome 
 the world. And why ? O, if by any passing interest 
 attaches to the accident of these last words, 1 would that I 
 oould leave you this thought as an indelible impression. 
 Why ? Because God is faithful." — Archdeacon Farrar. 
 
 Give Thine angels charge over U8, and keep us in the 
 hollow of Thine hand all the days of our lives ; and en- 
 
aiCK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND QLEANINQS. 
 
 15 
 
 lighten our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renew 
 our strength in all things according to Thine will, and 
 may we mount up as with the wings of an eagle, so that 
 we shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint. 
 
 " Living from day to day beneath His eye, and where all 
 things are ordered by a Divine Providence. As carefully as 
 a mother arranges the room where her child will pass the 
 day, does God prepare each hour that opens before me. 
 Whatever has to be dono, it is His will that I should do it, 
 and in order that it should be done well, He provides the 
 necessary time, intelligence, aptitude and knowledge. 
 
 Whatever of suffering presents itself, He expects me to 
 bear it, even though I may not see any reason for it, and if 
 the pain be so sharp as to call ibrth a cry, He gently 
 whispers : 'Courage, My child, for it is My will.' " — Gold 
 Dust. 
 
 Truly, God's love is unbounded, the foundation of all 
 happiness, present and future. He is altogether euch a 
 Saviour as I need. I am very unworthy ; but He is 
 worthy. I am weak, but He is strong. I am by nature 
 and practice sinful and polluted, but His e^cacious blood 
 cleanseth from all sin. The God of love defends His own, 
 and can bring light out of darkness, good out of evil. All 
 the promises of God in Christ Jesus, are yea and amen to 
 those who believe in Him. 
 
 All is yours, ye are Christ's, and Christ's is God's. We 
 are secure in Christ. " They that trust in the Lord shall 
 be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth 
 forever." 
 
16 
 
 SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 FOURTH DAY. 
 
 (But l^ottie Influence 
 
 ^ RULY has it been said, that " our duties are like the 
 ^ circles of a whirlpool, and the innermost includes home." 
 By our deportment in our homes, by our conduct and 
 conversation, by the attitude we assume towai'd our parents 
 and brothers and sisters in our family circle, by the friend- 
 ships we form, by our dispositions, tempers, talents and 
 affections, we are continually increasing or diminishing the 
 sum total of human happiness. There is no middle path. 
 If we are not instruments of good, we are instruments of 
 evil. Even the most obscure individual exerts an influence 
 which must be felt in the great brotherhood of n^.ankind. 
 Let us never forget in our intercourse with our own family 
 that there are duties and responsibilities involved as well 
 as privileges and pleasures. Which member of the family 
 group can say : 1 have no influence ? Do we not frequently 
 find that the oldest member of tho family — either the 
 oldest brother or sister — becomes the oracle of the rest, 
 either of good or evil , consciously or unconsciously modify- 
 ing and influencing the conduct as well as the motive of all 
 with whom they are brought in contact ; but more especi- 
 ally those of our own family and kindred ? Will my si^rs 
 and brothers — when I shall have passed from among them 
 — and God only knows how soon that may be — be the 
 belter or the worse for my presence, for my influence ? 
 
 'Tis a solemn question, a solemn thought, and may well 
 make us pause and consider our attitude and deportment m 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 17 
 
 our intercoui*se with each other. God give unto us, the 
 oldest member of the circle, Thy Spirit of Wisdom, that we 
 may be "wise as the serpent and harmless as the dove." 
 
 " We are forgetting that the mightiest power in the 
 world, next only to the spirit of God himself, is the power 
 of Christ-like character. It were well, therefore, that the 
 voices among us were less noisy and the deeds more pro- 
 nounced. Better a star than a meteor ; better a beacon 
 that is steady, than a marsh fire that is flickering and 
 changeful Life is more potent than words. By life, 
 'without a word,' things will be accomplished which could 
 not be secured even by the most glowing words without 
 the life."— TF. M. Taylor, D. D. 
 
 E\]t (2?ijcrla)5ting llemoriaU 
 
 " Up and away like the dew of the morning, 
 
 That soars from the earth to its home in the sun, 
 So let me steal away, gently and lovingly. 
 Only remembered by what I have done. 
 
 My name and my place and my tomb all forgotten. 
 The brief race of tune well and patiently run, 
 
 So let me pass away peacefully, silently. 
 Only remembered by what I have done. 
 
 Gladly away from this toil would I hasten, 
 
 Up to the crown that for me has beer, won : 
 Unthougbt of by man, in rewards or in praises, — 
 
 Only remembered by v.'hat I have done. 
 
 Up and away, like the odors of sunset. 
 
 That sweetens the twilight as darkness comes on ; 
 
 So be my life,— a thing felt, but not noticed. 
 And I but remembered by what I have done. 
 
 Yes, like the fragrance that wanders in freshness, 
 When the flowers that it come from are closed up and gone, 
 
 So would I be, to this world s weary dwellers, 
 Only remembered by what I have done. 
 
18 SICK-ROOM TH0U0HTS2AND GLEANIN08. 
 
 1 1 ' 
 
 t 
 
 i! 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 l'\ ' ' 
 
 Needs there the praise of the love-written record, 
 The name and the epitaph graved on the stone ? 
 
 The things we have lived for, let them be our story, 
 We ourselves but remembered by what we have done. 
 
 I need not be missed, if my life has been bearing, 
 (As its Summer and Autumn moved silently on) 
 
 The bloom and the fruit, and the seed of its season : 
 I shall still be remembered by what I have done. 
 
 I need not be missed, if another succeed me. 
 
 To reap down those fields whi^li in Spring 1 have sown ; 
 
 He who plowed, and who sowed, is not missed by the reaper. 
 He is only remembered by what he has done. 
 
 Not myself, but the truth that in life I have spoken, 
 Not myself, but the seed that in life 1 have sown. 
 
 Shall pass on to ages, — all about me forgotten. 
 
 Save the truth L have spoken, the things I have done. 
 
 So let my living be, ao be my dymg ; 
 
 So let my name lie, unblazoned, unknown ; 
 
 Unpruised and unmissed, I shall still be remembered ; 
 
 Yes, — but remembered by what I have done. 
 
 — Bonar. 
 
 There are those who occupy the position of the oldest 
 member m the family group , how fearful is our responsi- 
 bility ! When the younger members of our family circle 
 come to us for counsel in moments of disappointment and 
 irritation, or for comfort in the time of sorrow or distress : 
 when they look up to us and say : " What must I do ? How 
 shall I act ?" It is most important that we should carefully 
 and prayerfully weigh each word ere we give it utterance, 
 ere we assume the responsibility. 
 
 " May it not be a comfort to those of us who feel that 
 we have not the mental or spiritual powers that others have, 
 to notice that the living sacrifice mentioned in Romans xii : 
 1, is our bodies? Of course that includes the mental 
 powers, but does it not also include the loving, sympathetic 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND QLEANINOS. 
 
 19 
 
 n; 
 3aper, 
 
 Bonar. 
 
 e oldest 
 responsi- 
 ly circle 
 aent and 
 distress : 
 lO ? How 
 carefully 
 tterance, 
 
 feel that 
 ers have, 
 aans xii : 
 5 mental 
 apathetic 
 
 glance, the kind, encouraging word, the ready errand per- 
 formed for another, the work of our hands, opportunities 
 for all of which come oftenor in the day than for the mental 
 power we are often tempted to envy ? May He enable us 
 to offer that which we have." — From Daily Strength. 
 
 Common life and the most trivial deeds may be ennobled 
 when the work that is done is done not from necessity, but 
 from love ; love that is willing to sacrifice something for 
 the good of another, or for another's benehu or happiness. 
 Christ showed the nobleness of self sacrifice for the good 
 of others, prompted by the one true motive — Love. 
 
 That spirit of love that sutfereth long and is kind, that 
 envieth not, that vaunteth not itself, is not pufi:'ed up, doth 
 not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not 
 easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth in the truth, 
 beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, 
 love that never faileth. Thar, spirit, we pra}' Thee, give 
 unto us,. God give unto us, the oldest members, of the 
 family group, Thy Spirit of love. May love rule in our 
 hearts and in our homes, and may wo " servo" because we 
 "love." 
 
 "If an outward trouble or inward pain be needful, to 
 make of me but for one moment a consoling angel to some 
 poor, lowly heart, oh ! however keen the pain, or bitter 
 the trouble, I pray you grant it to me, Jesus." — Fro7n Gold 
 Dust. 
 
 God grant unto us who shall read this page, and those 
 who have written it, the character of Christ, the sympathy 
 and love of Christ, and may our home influence be of the 
 spirit of Christ. 
 
20 
 
 SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 FIFTH DAY. 
 
 t* 
 
 E\]z Faluf of Hittlf f ijings. 
 
 Do thy little, do it well, 
 Do what right and reason tell ; 
 Do what wrong and sorrow claim ^ 
 Conquer sin and cover shame. 
 
 Do thy little, though it be 
 Dreariness and drudgery ; 
 They whom Christ apostles made ; 
 Gathered fragments, when He bade. 
 
 Do thy little ; never mind 
 Though thy brethren be unkind ; 
 Though the men who ought to smile, 
 Mock and taunt thee for a while. 
 
 Do thy little ; never fear • 
 
 While thy Saviour stand eth near 
 Let the world its javelins throw 
 On thy way undaunted go. 
 
 Do thy little ; God hath made 
 Million leaves ior forest shade : 
 Smallest stars their glory bring, 
 God employeth every thing. 
 
 Do thy little, and when thou 
 Feelest on thy pallid brow, 
 E're has fled the vital breath. 
 Cold and damp the ^weat of deatl . 
 
 t 
 
 Then the little thou hast done. 
 Little battles thou hast won, 
 Lititle masteries achieved. 
 Little want with care relieved, 
 
 (la; 
 in 
 
 to 
 
 it; 
 ofi 
 
 litt 
 vej 
 poj 
 
 wt 
 wii 
 
SICK-ROOM THOrailTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 21 
 
 Little words in love expressed, 
 
 Little wrongs at once confessed, 
 
 I^ittle favors kindly done, 
 
 Little toils thou didst not shun, 
 
 Little graces meekly worn, 
 
 Little slights with patience borne. 
 
 These shall crown the pillowed hi^ad. 
 
 Holy light upon thee shed ; 
 
 These are treasures that shall rise 
 
 Far beyond the smiling skies." — Cheering Words. 
 
 " Each day is like a furrow lying before us ; our 
 thoughts, desires and actions are the seed that each minute 
 we drop into it, without seeming to perceive it. The furrow 
 finished, we commence upon another, then another, and 
 again another ; each day presents a fresh one, and so on to 
 the end of life. Sowing, evei- sowing. And all we have 
 sown springs up, grows and bears fruit, almost unknown 
 to us, even if by chance .we cast a backward glance, we 
 fail to recognize our v/ork. 
 
 Behind us, angels and demons, like gleaners, gather 
 together in sheaves all that belongs to them. Every night 
 their store is increased. They jxirserve it, and ut the last 
 day will present it to their master. Is there not a thought 
 in this that should make us reflect ?" — Crold Dust. 
 
 God, -'Our Father" will fxcquently permit us to minister 
 to others a word at the needful moment, and He will bless 
 it ; just as He did the word of the little maid in the house 
 of Naaman the Syrian. 
 
 A very little circumstance, a trifling kindness, a very 
 little sympathy when the heart is sore over recent loss, a 
 very few kind words done and spoken have ere this been 
 powerful for good. 
 
 Often we are templed to sit down and weep, we are so 
 weary, and we begin to doubt and hang our harps in the 
 willows. 
 
22 
 
 SICK-BOOM THOUQHTa AND QLEANINQS. 
 
 But a friendly voice is near, and bids us " bo of good 
 courage," and a friendly hand is laid in sympathy on our 
 aching heads, and seems to rest in benediction upon it, still- 
 ing the fierce throbbing temples, and seeming to diffuse 
 around us an amount of good and happiness, by only show- 
 ing a smiling face and a kind heart, and speaking cheery 
 words of encouragement to us in our moments of despond- 
 ency by reason of our infirmities. Are we watchful to take 
 advantage of every opportunity ? Do we try to make those 
 around us better and happier ? Dear reader will j^'ou try ? 
 Will you render unto God the best services of your life ? 
 
 " A popular authoress tells us that she longs to be like the 
 church bells, uttering a ' holy' over all human activity 
 — over all striving and all sulforing — over all the happy ; 
 as if they had said, ' Come, ye sorrowing ; ye gay and 
 thoughtless ones ; ja weary and heavy laden ones. Come 
 and hear God's message of redeeming love' ! " 
 
 Every person is continually operating for good or evil 
 upon all connected with him. Shall we not, then, put forth 
 every effort to cheer, soothe and minister to the happiness 
 of each other, as we pass through this world. "If you 
 cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word ; if you cannot 
 speak a kind word, 'think a kind thought." 
 
 " Living to Christ in small things and living for Christ 
 every day is the secret of large faithfulness." 
 
 " A peach tree or an orange does not leap into a bounty 
 of fruit by one spasmodic elfort ; an orchard does not ripen 
 under a single day's sunshine. Every raindrop, every sun- 
 beam, every inch of subsoil does its part. A fruitful Chris- 
 tian is a growth. To finish up a godly character by a 
 mere religion of Sundays and sermons and sacraments and 
 revivals and special seasons is impossible. A man may be 
 converted in an instant, but he must grow by the year. 
 
 •'i 
 
SICKROOM TIIOCGIJTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 28 
 
 The tough fibre of the slender branch thut can hold up a 
 half buBhel of oranges is very different from a little willow 
 switch ; it is the steady compacting process that make that 
 little limb like a steel wire. Such is a healthy and holy 
 believer's life. Every honest prayer that is breathed, every 
 cross that is carried, every trial that is well endured, every 
 good work for our fellow-men lovingly done, every little 
 act that is conscientiously performed for Christ's glory, 
 helps to make the Christian character beautiful, and to load 
 its broad boughs with ' apples of gold' for God's basket of 
 silver." — Dr. Guyler. 
 
 " We long to do great things, so we neglect 
 Oft times to do the little things we can,— 
 The common daily duties,— while we plan 
 Some grand high effect." 
 
!i 
 
 24 SJCK-BOOM THOVQHTS AND OLEANINOS. 
 
 f 
 
 
 :■!« 
 
 SIXTH DAY. 
 
 OTitiiout Carefulness, 
 
 JS it God's will that I should be free from care ? you ask 
 Yes. God does not mean that we are to be shiftless, 
 neghgeut, or indilferent in things concerning our temporal 
 and spiritual welfare. God would have us " acknowledge 
 Him in all 3ur ways," use all due caution in our domestic 
 life, all diligence in our school life, all honesty in our busi- 
 ness dealings ; "doing all ,-,s unto the Lord," and all energy 
 and earnestness in our spiritual life. He would not have 
 us over-anxious, taking unnecessary thought, and worried 
 over the must trivial things. God would have us do our 
 best, and having done our best, using caution, He would 
 have us leave the result with Him — "casting all our care 
 upon Him," assured He careth for us. 
 
 " Careful for nothing, prayerful for everything, thankful 
 for anything." — D. L. Moody. 
 
 " O Lord, what thou sayest is true. Thy care for me is 
 greater than all the care that I can take for myself." — 
 Thos. A. Kenipis. 
 
 " Cast all thy care on God. See that all thy care be such 
 as thou can'st cast on God, and then hold none back. Cast 
 thy whole self, even this very care which distresseth thee, 
 upon God " — E. B. Pansy. 
 
 Do look at this promise, dear reader : •' Mj- (xod shall 
 supply all your need according to His riches in glory by 
 Christ Jesus," for of course it applies to you as well as to me. 
 Shall we not drink deeply of its fullness and be refreshed 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 2.> 
 
 with its sweetness ? What is your special need to-day ? He 
 has promised to " supply all your need," and " all" means 
 ALL. Yes, God hps pledged Himself to "supply all our 
 need." Shall we not trust (rod unquestioningly and fully — 
 trust Him. in the gloom as well as in the sunshine ; trust 
 Him when the paths we are treading are dar'': us well as 
 light and clear and pleasant to journey through, when 
 friends are few, and we seem alone, and in want, and utterly 
 helpless ? God has pledged Himself to •' supply all our 
 need," and God cannot lie. 
 
 Let us see to it, that we fullill the conditions, and appro- 
 priate the promises. God strengthen us in the name of 
 Jesus our Saviour, to yield ourselv^es entirely unto Thee, 
 and lie perfectly passive in Thy hand, and give Thee an 
 opportunity of showing unto us the exceeding greatness of 
 Thy exceeding great love. 
 
 Let this promise ring through our minds and hearts with 
 its sweetness, saith the Lord : •• My people shall be satisfied 
 with My goodness." 
 
 Why do we so often remain unsatistied,yea, and dissatis- 
 fied when God says : ''Ask and ye shall receive," and "open 
 thy mouth wide and I will rill it." " Taste and see that 
 the Lord is good." and you ghall be '• abundantly satisfied." 
 May our daily life bo one glad thanksgiving to Thee. 
 
 *'^t Caret!);' 
 
 " What can it mean ? Is it augiit to Him 
 That the nights are long and the days are dim H 
 Can He be touched by the gvierfs 1 bear, 
 Which sadden the heart and whiten the hair ? 
 About His throne are eternal «'alr.is, 
 And strong, glad music of happy psalms. 
 And bliss unruffled by any strife — 
 How can He care for mv little life ? 
 
SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND LEANINGS. 
 
 And yet I want Him to care for me, 
 
 While I live in this world v here the sorrows be ; 
 
 When the lights die down from the path I take, 
 
 When strength is feeble and friends forsake ; 
 
 When love and music that once did bless, 
 
 Have left me to silence and loneliness ; 
 
 And my life-song changes to sobbing prayers, 
 
 Then my heart cries for a God that cares. 
 
 When shadows hang over the whole day long, 
 And my spirit is bowed with shame and wrong 
 When I am not good, and the "deeper shade 
 Of conscious sin makes my heart atraid. 
 And the busy world has too much to do, 
 To stay in its course to help me through ; 
 And I long for a Saviour. Can it be 
 That the God of the universe cares for me P 
 
 Oh, wonderful story of deathless love ! 
 Each child is dear to that Heart above. 
 He fight« for me when I cannot fight, 
 He comforts me in the gloom of night, 
 He lifts the burden, for he is strong. 
 He stills the sigh and awakens the song ; 
 The sorrow that bows me down He bears. 
 And loves, and pardons, because He cares. 
 
 Let all who are sad take heart again ; 
 We are not alone in our hours of pain ; 
 Our Father st(;ops from His throne above 
 To soothe and quiet us with His love ; 
 He leaves us not when the storm is high. 
 And we have safety for He is nigh. 
 Can that be trouble which He doth share ? 
 Oh, rest in peace, for the Lord will care. 
 
 — Marianne Fanningham. 
 
SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 27 
 
 SEVENTH DAY. 
 
 ©ailu Strenst!)— ji^oto (I^Jjtaineli. 
 
 JT is not once a month, not once a week, but every d&y: 
 particularly every morning, that we should be spirit 
 ually awakened and united to Christ by prayer, if we do not 
 want the Spirit to yield during the course of the day, to some 
 desire or weakness of the flesh. For the best among us is 
 still capable of doing the worst, and the fall may be as unex- 
 pected as heavy. It is beyond comprehension how quickly 
 the best disposed man, the most devoted to Christ, if he is 
 not prepared by watchfulness and prayer, can be surprised 
 and led astray. There is a way that leads back from the 
 bottom of the precipice to the glorious summit ; but there 
 is also a steep jiath which in a moment leads from the most 
 brilliant summit to the darkest abyss." — Professor Godet 
 
 ' ' The little wories which we meet each day, 
 May lie as stumbling blocks across our way ; 
 Or we may make them stepping stones to be, 
 Of grace, O Lord, to Thee." 
 
 " Take the world as it is and try to make it what it 
 ought to be." 
 
 Spurgeon says : " Use men and things as you find them. 
 Do not despair because they are not so good as they ought 
 to be, or might be ; but set to work to improve rather than 
 censure." 
 
if: 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND OLEANINGS. 
 
 There are days when we are spiritually depressed. Bur- 
 ; jiis seem to be multiplied. We are so weary, and we do 
 .)t know why, but everything seems tangled, and we are 
 \j utterly helpless, and inadequate to meet and battle with 
 e doubts and discouragements of life. 
 But God draws near unto us, and permeates, and pene- 
 I'ates our inmost being with such a sense of His nW sur- 
 rounding loving-kindness, and tender, watchful love and 
 jare over us, and His power invests us and strengthens us 
 to facs and conquer every foe, 
 
 " God gives thee a little light that thou mayost know 
 
 t hy duty. But lie surrounds thee with much darkness 
 
 hat thou mayest knovv thy dependence. He rewards thy 
 
 efforts after knowledge with some discoveries to encourage 
 
 Ihee to persevere, lie meets them with more difficulties to 
 
 iUmble thy vain glory. He allows thee to ascend higher 
 
 /U the mount of i)rospect ; but He causes the horizon to 
 
 recede farther and farther from thy view. He reminds 
 
 thee perpetually that thy improvement is to be eternal and 
 
 thy career unending ; that thou art to be ever learning, 
 
 and yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth : that 
 
 as thou must always remain finite forever and ever it will 
 
 be true that thy thoughts and thy ways are not as Hi8 
 
 ways." — Alonzo Potter. 
 
 " The surest method of arriving at a knowledge of the 
 Eternal purpose of God about us, is to be found in the right 
 use of the present moment, I'^ach hour conies with some 
 little fagot of (rod's will fastened upon its back." — F. W. 
 Fabor. 
 
 We must acknowledge daily, hourly, yea, every moment, 
 the character and power of Jesus, our liedeeraer, and push 
 forward, knowing that whither He calls us He will go with 
 all His inspiration and His sympathy and strength. . As 
 Christ's chosen and redeemed children let us live in Him. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 2:) 
 
 '■' As Christ means us to abide by HiS choice of us, He ex 
 pects that we shall abide by our choice of Him." — Profess-^ 
 Marcus Bods. 
 
 " In crooked ways I read Thy golden scroll. 
 The pledge of everlasting help to me ; 
 I read, am strengthened ; though the billow a roll 
 Thou sayest : 'My child, I am ever with thee,' 
 Ever, my Saviour, till the earth doth end — 
 
 Yea, through the ages of eternity, 
 Until I see Thee — Shepherd— Friend — 
 I cling to this : ' Thou art ever with me.' " 
 
 — From At the Beautiful Gate 
 
■fe 
 
 30 
 
 SICKROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 EIGHTH DAY. 
 
 lEpistlcs !^nob3n antj l^cati, 
 
 O^ O often we are tempted to think that our gifts and our 
 -,3^ prayers have been in vain. And we have been tempted 
 to think that we in our isolated positions have no inftuence. 
 But there are none who live detached lives. There is no 
 such thing as a detached and isolated individual ; we are 
 inextricably tied up and interlaced with each other ; and we 
 cannot live or act without atl'ecting others in some degree. 
 There are those, we are told, who exert on others " a moral 
 power resembHng the effects of a climate upon the rude and 
 rugged marble : every roughness is by degrees smoothed 
 off, and even the coloring becomes subdued into calm 
 harmony with all the features of its allotted position." 
 
 May God give unto us an attractive influence for Christ 
 by the simple setting forth of that love which " suffereth 
 long and is kind," and " which sceketh not her own," as we 
 lie on our beds of suffering, and weakness and weariness, 
 "enduring eis seeing Him who is invisible." 
 
 May we be " living epistles" of Christ in our daily life, 
 and in our conversation, deportment and services. " We 
 all, with open face beholding as in a glass, the glory of the 
 Lord, are changed into the same imago, from glory to 
 glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.'' 
 
 " The refiner sits looking on upon the crucible until he 
 sees his own image reflected upon the liquid metal ; the pro- 
 cess is then complete." Those of us who are shut in to 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND OLEANINGS. 
 
 31 
 
 experience the dull companionshij) of pain and weakness, 
 day in and day out, week after week, and month after 
 month, and year after year, utterly incapacitated, have 
 temptations which are unknown to those in the full vigor of 
 health, and engaged in the busy routine of life, as wc are 
 exempt fiom many of the trials and temptations besetting 
 those who are continually using both mental and physical 
 power while passing through the whirl and routine of life. 
 Shall not we, " Shut-ins," " lay aside every weight, and the 
 sin which doth so easily beset us, and surrounds us, and 
 surrender " soul" and " body" as a " living sacrifice," and 
 " run with patience the race that is set before us." 
 
 We shall be preserved from the snaro of the fowler and 
 sheltered from the storms of life under His wings ; kept as 
 the apple of His eye, and guided with His counsel, and 
 eventually given an abundant entrance into the prepared 
 "resting place," which our Saviour is even now preparing 
 for us." 
 
 " God's furnace doth in Zion stand, 
 
 But Zion's God sits by ; 
 As a refiner Views his gold, 
 
 With an observant eye." 
 
 Even so, Lord Jesus, would we " Shut-ins" have Thee 
 prepare, purge, retine and purify us until we shall reflect 
 Thine own image. 
 
 " A lighted lamp," writes McCheyne, " is a very small 
 thing, yet it gives light to all who are in the house, and it 
 burns calmly and without noise." 
 
 Touch our hearts as with a live coal from off Thine 
 altar, and may it burn and flame with love, gratitude and 
 praise to the triune God of Love. 
 
 < )h, fill my heart with Thy likeness, that I may reflect 
 Thee, even in the midst of extreme pain and weakness, and 
 this weariness of long continued suffering, to the same 
 
32 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 degree, and may I reflect Thee as in -'a mirror," and prove 
 uiiL / the world Thy mightiness to save. The world was 
 made in six days, but the work of Grace may increase until 
 the end of life. I recognize the exalted privilege, and claim 
 the precious blood of Christ. " I am Thine, save me. I am 
 Thine by creation, preservation, redemption and adoption." 
 
 ILifc's Capfstrg 
 
 " Too long have I, methought, with tearful eye, 
 Pored o'er this tangled work of mine, and mused 
 Above each stitch awry, and thread confused ; 
 Now will T think on what in years gone by, 
 I heard of them that weave rare tapestry 
 At royal looms — and how they constant use 
 To work on the rough side, and still peruse 
 The pictured pattern set above them higH : 
 So will I set My Copy high above 
 And gaze and gaze, till jDn my spirit grows 
 Its gracious impress ; till some line of love 
 Transformed upon my canvas, faintly glows ; 
 Nor look too much on warp or woof, provide 
 He whom I work for sees their fairer side ?" 
 
 —Cheering Wards. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND OLEANINQS. 
 
 33 
 
 NINTH DAY. 
 
 SInceastng in draper. 
 
 \ y / E have not only the command of God to be unceasing 
 ' ' in prayer ; but we have the example of the ancient 
 servants of God, who successfully performed that duty. 
 Abraham was a man of prayer and God blessed " Abraham 
 in all things." Isaac was a man of prayer and God renewed 
 His promise to him. Jacob was a man of prayer, and he 
 wrestled with him in prayer and prevailed. Moses also 
 was a man of prayer, and he talked with the Almighty, 
 face to face, as a man talketh with his friend, and the hand 
 of the Lord was with him and he led the Children of Israel 
 all through the wilderness, until he came in sight of the 
 promised land. Joshua also was a man of prayer all his 
 days, and he commanded the sun to stand still, and it was 
 done, and his resolution was : " Let others do what they 
 will, as for me and uiy house, we will serve the Lord." 
 Elijah was a man of prayer and although a man of like 
 passions with other men, yet he prayed that it might not 
 rain, and it rained not on the earth for the space of three 
 years and six months. Faith and prayer arc the wea])ons 
 of our warfare given us to tight the good fight of faith, and 
 finish our course with joy, and obtain the crown of glory, 
 which shall never fade away. 
 
 " Always praying. Who ? How ? Why ? When ? 
 Who ? Everybody — men, all men. Hich, poor, young, old, 
 colored, white, professors and non professors of religion. 
 
34 
 
 SICKROOM THOUGHTS AND OLEANINOS. 
 
 How ? Like altars sending up the morning, noon and 
 evening incense. Why ? Because God your father and 
 friend says so. ' No man succeeds in life who is not diligent 
 in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' The 
 farmer's brow is bronzed with the summer's sun ; wrinkled 
 with the winter's blast. The merchant is always at his 
 counting room, always studying his ledger. The bank 
 becomes his sanctuary, his ' books' his Bible. The student 
 burns his midnight oil, and the more precious oil of the lamp 
 of life. When ? Always. Sick or well, at home or abroad, 
 on land or on sea, in poverty's vale or abounding in wealth ; 
 when sorrow's clouds gather above you ; when the sun 
 shines or the rain pours." — Bev. Thomas W. White. 
 
 " The Captain of our Salvation has not withdrawn to a 
 safe retreat or height, leaving us to fight His battles ; but as 
 the tirst martyr saw him standing in attitude of eager sym- 
 pathy and swift help, so He is with all His struggling ser- 
 vants a presence nearer than all others, and never with- 
 drawn from the truthful heart. His name is Immanuel, — 
 God with us, — till the end of ages, when He shall take us 
 from toil to rest, and ' so shall we ever be with the Lord,' 
 who was ' with us' while change and sorrow and conflict 
 pressed us sore." — Alex. McLaren, D. D. 
 
 " In a world,' writes Archbishop Trench, " where there is 
 so much to ruffle the spirit's plumes how needful that enter- 
 ing into the secret of His pavilion, which will bring us 
 back from all sin and weariness to composure and peace ! 
 In a world where there is so much to sadden and depress, 
 how blessed that communion with Him in whom is the one 
 true source and fountain of all true gladness and abiding 
 joy ! In a world there's so much overseuking to unhallow 
 our spirits, to render them common and profane, how high 
 the privilege of consecrating them anew in prayer to God 
 and holiness to God." 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 36 
 
 " Each day may be a sacred day, 
 
 And every spot a holiest place. 
 
 Where Christ doth manifest His grace ; 
 Each day wherein men trust, obey, 
 And love is an atonement day ! 
 Their souls are sanctuaries where 
 
 Close curtained from the world of sin. 
 
 The covering cherubs brood withm 
 
 Making amid earth's deserts bare 
 
 Holiest of holiest everywhere." 
 
 — M. J. Preston. 
 
 May Grod Himself aid us with his spirit to draw life, 
 power, wisdom and patience in abundance from the ex- 
 haustless treasures of God's love. We shall ere long be 
 summoned before the Throne of God, to enter into that 
 city by the commanding word of God, and we shall meet 
 friends with new faces, and speak old words drawn from 
 the exhaustless fountain of His love, and grace with new 
 meaning, and fill Heaven's high arches with one glad new 
 song. 
 
86 
 
 aiCK-ROOM TUOUQHTa AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 TENTH DAY. 
 
 JFoUotoing our Sijepij^rti. 
 
 O HEEP are the most innocent, harmless, and useful of 
 — !_; all the quadruped race ; and because of this, they 
 have need of watchful, tender care, and require a watchful, 
 tendei* shepherd. The value and imbecility of the sheep is 
 the strongest reason why they should not divide from the 
 ohepherd's side, for united they are formidable and in their 
 own fold they are safe. 
 
 What a lesson of duty, obligation and gratitude we are 
 taught to our Divine Shepherd, and with what force and 
 beauty are these things taught in John x. : 27. 
 
 Some of us are, and have been, " shut in" to the deeper 
 experience of the sick room and the various trials and temp- 
 tations of years of extreme suffering ; long sleepless, weari- 
 some nights and days of mental and physical puin. There 
 are moments and hours, yes, and even days, when we are 
 tempted to doubt the reality of God. We have indeed spir- 
 itual enemies, and we have been a long time in the valley 
 of shadows ; and so often our hearts are sore and saddened, 
 and in hours of grief too deep for wordfe, we have realized 
 that God knows the weakness of oar flesh and " remem- 
 bereth that we are but dust," and God comes to us even 
 among the shadows and makes us sensible of His power and 
 His love and of Himself. Thus comes the " Sun of Kight- 
 eousness" and illumines the darkness in our hearts. And 
 after darkness comes the light which will shine in us and 
 on us after days of sorrow and seeming defeat, and always 
 groweth brighter and rests in hallowed and lingering 
 benediction on the very border of time. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 :37 
 
 The Lord my Shepherd iH seeking to load me to-day in 
 "green pastures." I am like the sheep, tired and restless, 
 and need to be made to lie down in " green pastures." He 
 restoreth my soul and lie leadeth me in the jmths of right- 
 eousness. 
 
 " Remember that however strango the changes of life 
 may seem to us — however dark or sad — we may be consoled 
 by the thought tht^t [le who is wiser thtin the wisest parent, 
 and kinder than the most tender she])herd, is guiding our 
 affairs. He leads us into the wiidernessof temptation some- 
 times, and He leads to ' green pastures' and causes us to 
 rest beside the ' still waters of His love." — Anon. 
 
 After the shower comes the sunshine ; after the storm 
 comes the calm ; after the sowing comes the reaping ; and 
 after our earthly pilgrimage, J leaven. 
 
 " The great difficulty is to feel the reality of both worlds, 
 80 as to teach its due place in our thoughts and feelings, to 
 keep our mind's eye fixed and our heart's eye ever fixed on 
 the land of promise, without looking away from the road 
 we are to travel toward." — Augustus Rare. 
 
 We are following on to meet with those who are " gone 
 before." We are tilled with glad anticipations of sighs 
 done ; tears done ; and ra])ture unparalleled. 
 
 " Whoever looks upon a map and casually reads the 
 name of an almost unknown city on a foreign shore, cares 
 but little about it, because he knows but little. But let a 
 dear friend take up his abode in that city, and that un- 
 thought of spot on the map becauses luminous with interest 
 to him. He cannot then learn enough about it. 80 we often 
 open our Bibles, not heeding what they say about the city 
 whose streets are pure gold, whose walls are jasper, having 
 foundations garnished with all manner of precious stones. 
 But when any one very dear to us has entered that city, 
 and made his abode in that blissful place in an especial 
 
T 
 
 88 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 
 manner wins our thoughts and affections, To learn about 
 it is our delight and joy." — J. M. Greene, D. D. 
 
 '•The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want ; He mak- 
 eth me to lie down in green pastures ; He leadeth me beside 
 the still waters. He restoreth my soul ; He leadeth me in 
 the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, 
 though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death 
 I will fear no evil ; for Thou art with me, Thy rod and 
 Thy staff, they comfort me." 
 
 " One of the most beautiful improvements of the Eevised 
 New Testament is that which makes Eev. vii. : 7, read thus: 
 ' The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall be 
 their Shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of 
 waters of life.' Thus you see we follow in our eternal 
 resting places. This carries into the Hoa\ enly one of the 
 most tender and profound relations which Jesus bears to 
 His redeemed followers. All we, like sheep, have gone 
 astray, and God hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 
 This tells the whole story as to the ground of my hope for 
 salvation ; this, too, establishes such a relation between me 
 and my Shepherd that I am under supreme obligation to 
 follow Him whither He leadeth. If we ever expect to be 
 guided by Him to the fountains of life and living waters 
 in Heaven, we must learn to submit to His guidance 
 completely." — T. L. Ouyler, D. D. 
 
 ' ' I know not the way I am going. 
 
 But well do I know my Guide ; 
 With a childlike trust I ^ve my hand 
 
 To the Mighty Friend at my side . 
 And the only thing that I say to Him 
 
 As He takes it : ' Father hold it fast ; 
 Suffer me not to lose my way 
 
 And lead me home at last.^ " 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 39^ 
 
 ELEVENTH DAY. 
 
 \ [ OT kept from pain, sorrow, trial, temptation, sickness 
 "^ ^ or dangers ; but kept from the evil that surrounds 
 us on every side, and kept from yielding to the evil that is 
 all around us. While we are in the world, and sin and 
 sorrow is all about us, we shall be tempted, we shall have 
 sorrow and tvibtilation and anguish of spirit, and many a 
 crisis hour ; but if we are faithful to God and obedient, 
 " Casting all our care upon Him," and all our weakness 
 upon Him, we shall be " Kept by the power of God." 
 
 It should be our daily pl^^a, even our hourly prayer, that 
 God would keep us from all evil in the midst of every 
 temptation, and keep as from falling ; from the evil passions 
 of our own nature, and from the evil in the world. We are 
 Christ's before the foundation of the world. The word of 
 Christ bath spoken it. When Jesus was praying in view of 
 His coming agony, and the most important hour of His life. 
 He prayed, not that we might be taken out of the world 
 but that we might be kej)t from the evil in the world. He 
 prayed in that crisis hour for His disciples. And he con- 
 fessed that we were His The disciples were standing by 
 listening to that prayer. •' How their hearts must have 
 thrilled in surprise, when He confessed, ' Thine they were, 
 and Thou gavest them Mc' He called them, ' The ^en 
 which Thou gavest Me out of the world.' Again and again 
 He spoke of this source of this discipleship. Through Him 
 they were one with God. Even to their imperfect hearts, 
 
40 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 there must havo been a strangely fascinating power in their 
 new conceptions of their calling. It was a relationship 
 sublime, uttered in the words, ' Thine they were ; they all 
 are Thine ; and all Mine are Thine.' It seems strange that 
 before the morrow's sun, Peter should have forgotten such 
 language so far as to curse and swear as of old. The possi- 
 bilities of the human heart are declared in the fact that 
 before the morning's light all should forsake Him. ' Thine 
 they were ; * They are Thine.' They were vessels not yet 
 fitted for the Muster's use ; but they should become such.'' 
 —Bev. D, D. Mears, D, D. 
 
 Dear reader, we are to make Christ's light shine over all 
 the world, " Like the reflectors of the lighthouses." 
 
 ' ' If Christians like their Lord will be , 
 All men will lose their doubts and see 
 How real is Christianity ; 
 What do tliey see in you, and say of you and me ?" 
 
 — Marianne Farmingham. 
 
 The story of our lives are quickly told. Three little 
 words encompass it : Cradle, Altar and Grave ; the inno- 
 cence of infancy and early childhood, the blush of love and 
 the pallor of death. 
 
 " With Thee, my Lord, my (Jod, 
 I would desire to be 
 By day, by night, at home, abroad. 
 I would be still with Thee. 
 
 With Thee, wherTflawn comes in 
 
 And calls me back to care : 
 Each day returning to begin 
 
 With Thee, my God, in prayer. 
 
 With Thee, amid the crowd 
 
 That throngs the busy mart ; 
 To hear Thy voice, ' mid the clamours loud, 
 
 Speak softly to my heart. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 41 
 
 With Thee when day is done, 
 And evening calms the mind ; 
 
 The setting as the rising sun, 
 With Thee my heart would find. 
 
 With Thee, when darkness brings 
 The sequel of repose, , 
 
 Calm in the shadow of Thy wings 
 Mine eyelids I would close. 
 
 With Thee, in Thee, by faith 
 
 Abiding I would be ; 
 By day, by night, in life, in death 
 
 I would be still with Thee, 
 
 J. D. Bums. 
 
 " The only real and truly Christian way of purity is to 
 live in the world and not be of it, and keep the soul un- 
 spotted from the world. There are no fires that will melt 
 our drossy and corrupt particles like God's refining fires of 
 duty ar.d trial, living as He sends us to live, in the open 
 field of the world's sins and sorrows, its plausibilities and 
 lies, its persecutions, animosities and fears, its eager delight 
 and bitter wants." — Horace Bushnell, D. D. 
 
42 
 
 SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 ■ft. 
 
 ^ 
 
 \P 
 
 If 
 
 TWELFTH DAY. 
 
 Bnto Still Waters, 
 
 ©UE Shepherd knows every inch of the road we are jour- 
 neying and He knows the shortest way to " green 
 pastures" and unto the " still waters," and He loves to pas- 
 ture His flock in cosey nooks and make known unto us the 
 sweetness of His love. He is especially exceedingly kind 
 to the feeble, and helpless and suffering ones in His fold, 
 and takes much care to manifest unto us the exceeding 
 sweetness of His companionship. 
 
 He will provide •' resting places," for us ; He will guide 
 us in a sure path, " though it be r rough one ; though 
 shadows hang upon it, yet he will bring us home at last. 
 Through much trial, it may be, and weariness, in much 
 fear and fainting, in much sadness and loneliness, in griefs 
 that the world never knows and under burdens that the 
 nearest never suspects. Yet He will suffice for all. By 
 His eye or by His voice He will guide us, if we be docile 
 and gentle ; by His staff and by His rod, if we wander or 
 are wilful ; anyhow, and by all means. He will bring us to 
 His rest." — Cardinal Manning. 
 
 " He leads us on 
 By paths we did not know ; 
 Upwards He leads, though our steps be slow. 
 Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day, 
 Yet when the clouds are gone 
 We know he leads us on." 
 
 —From *' The Shadow of The Bock.'' 
 
 Our Saviour and Shepherd leadeth us in green pastures 
 and causeth us to lie down, and refreshes us beside the still 
 waters of His love. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 4» 
 
 We who are " shut in" by reason of onr infirmity are 
 prone tp thoughts and desires which centre in the things of 
 the earth. Evil is to be feared, not so much from the world 
 around us as from the world within us. Listen. " I will 
 put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My 
 statutes saith th*) Lord," our covenant keeping God ; thus 
 we shall have a new heart disposed to do " His will. 'Tis 
 ours only to obey Him and obey His conditions — obedience 
 and unquestioning^ trust. Obedience not of the sinner, but 
 of Christ, who has taken up His abode in our hearts, and in 
 " quietness and confidence shall be our strength ;" and we 
 shall walk in the footsteps of our Shepherd, in the paths 
 of righteousness for His name's-sake, and because of the 
 love He bears us and we bear Him. " The effect of 
 righteousness shall be quietness and assurance forever." 
 We shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in Sure 
 dwelling places and quiet resting places even beside the 
 still waters of His love. 
 
 " Little to me it matters 
 
 Whither my feet are led, 
 If in the burning desert 
 
 Or the pastures green Vm fed ; 
 Whether the storm or sunshine 
 
 Be in the path I take, 
 For ray hand is in Thine, ray Father, 
 
 Thou wilt not Thy child forsake. 
 
 And it shall not cause me sorrow, 
 
 Though th«? path be steep and rough ; 
 I am Thine, Thine own forever. 
 
 And that shall be joy enough. 
 Thine is the care, ray Father — 
 
 The work of providing Thine ; 
 Only the trust, and pleasure, 
 
 And the calm content are mine. 
 
44 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 
 1 
 
 M 
 
 m 
 
 Neither shall I be anxious 
 
 For the dear ones whom I love ; 
 From Thee they are never absent— 
 
 Thou reachest them from above. 
 And, Lord, I know they are dearer 
 
 To Thee than they are to me. 
 So I only ask Thee to take them, 
 
 And do as it pleases Thee. 
 
 But others are only strangers, 
 
 And know not the perteet peace. 
 Of those who beneath Thy banner 
 
 Are finding their sorroAvs cease. 
 They are away in the darkness, 
 
 In the gloomy and silent night ; 
 Oh, Father, receive them also. 
 
 And welcome them into the light. 
 
 So then, it will not matter, 
 
 Whatever the future be ; 
 Gladly we take our journey, 
 
 Leaving the rest to Thee ; 
 And in darkness, or gloom, or tempest ; 
 
 Still shall the best light shine. 
 And the joy shall cor"'- to our spirits ; 
 
 For, Father, we all are Thine. 
 
 Marianne Farmingham. 
 
81CK-R00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 45 
 
 THIRTEENTH DAY. 
 
 Eijrte ©egcees in ^eace« 
 
 Ist. The peace of forgiveness — Peace which conies in 
 answer to the guilty, lost and helpless sinners' cry of "God 
 have mercy upon me a sinner ; — the peace of fo^f'iveness 
 which floods our souls and permeates our very inmost 
 being ; peace of reconciliation and pardon, and that peace 
 such as the world cannot give nor take away. " My peace 
 I give unto you," saith Jesus. . 
 
 " There is a fountain filled with blood, 
 Drawn from ImmanuePs veins, 
 And sinners plunged beneath that flood , 
 Loose all their guilty stains." 
 
 The Grod of mercy obliterates all the sins of the past and 
 removes them " as far as the east is from the west." He 
 erases every record of our sins, and He permeates our 
 contrite hearts with a sense of His forgiveness. 
 
 2nd. The peace of living in narmony with God. — Shall 
 not we who are cleansed in the blood of Christ and have 
 the peace of forgiveness penetrating and permeating our 
 innermost being, manifest our love and gratitude and 
 ramsoned life, in our daily walk, and deportment, and 
 conversation, in living that one word " Christ"? If we 
 would be Christ -like we must live Christ. 
 
 If we would be Christ's followers we must be prepared 
 10 make Hia experience ours. His work our work, His 
 person our all. In other words, we must be prepared to be 
 unworldly, consecrated, devoted. In attaching ourselves to 
 
46 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 :i 
 
 Christ, we attach ourselves to One who held the common 
 prizes and gains of this world absolutely cheap, and who was 
 scarcely conscious of hardships while absorbed in spiritual 
 aims. This is the experience we must make our own. He 
 bids us also economize our time and spend ourselves on what 
 belongs to the Kingdom. And in His Kingdom and Him- 
 self He would have us find our all. — Professor Marcus Dods. 
 
 And we must aim to live that one word " Christ." We 
 must remember " He was tempted in all points like as we 
 are, yet without sin." 
 
 Our Father ever seeks our highest good ; He sends 
 blessing to encourage us, trials to purify us, obstacles to 
 develop our endurance, and sorrows to sweeten our fc^pirit- 
 ual life. " Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee 
 saying : ' This is the way, walk ye in it,' when ye turn to 
 the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." 
 
 Unwavering trust in God and love to Him, and a sweet 
 sense of His triune presence, and of rest and His forgive- 
 ness, keeps the light of peace in the child of God's face, 
 even when one's face is wet with tears. It is God's peace, 
 and comes to our soul on the wings of His spirit, and 
 permeates our innermost being. 
 
 ^Ije ^rt of Cbristian iLibmg* 
 
 ' When you think, when you speak, 
 When you read, when you write, 
 When you sing, when you seek for delight, 
 To be kept trom all evil at home and abroad. 
 Live always as under the Lord. 
 
 Whatever you think, both in joy and in woe. 
 Think nothing you would not like Jesus to know ; 
 
 Whatever you say in a whisper or clear. 
 
 Say nothing you would not like Jesus to hear. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 47 
 
 Whatever you read, though the page may allure, 
 
 Read nothing unless you are perfectly sure 
 Consternation would not be seen in your look 
 
 If God should say solemnly, * Show Me that book/ 
 
 Whatever you write, in haste or with heed. 
 Write nothing you would not like Jesus to read ; 
 
 Whatever you sing in the midst of your glees. 
 
 Sing nothing that God's listening ear could displease. 
 
 Wherever you go, never go where you'd fear, 
 God's question being asked you, ' What doest thou here ?' 
 
 Whatever the pastime in which you engage, 
 For the cheering of youth or the solace of age, 
 
 Turn away from each pleasure you'd shrink from pursuing, 
 Were God to look down and say, ' What are you doing ?' " 
 
 — Mrs. Holden. 
 
 3rd. The perfect peace of oneness in God. — " It is a 
 blessed thought that from our childhood. God has his 
 fatherly hands upon us, and always in blessing and in bene- 
 diction ; that even the strokes of His hand are blessings, 
 and among the chiefest we have ever received. When this 
 feeling 'S awakened ihe heart beats with a pulse of thank- 
 fulness. Every gift has its return of praise. It awakens 
 an unceasing daily converse with our Father ; His speaking 
 to us by the descent of our blessings, we to Him by the 
 ascent of praise and thanksgiving." — Cardinal Manning. 
 
 " Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is 
 stayed upon Thee." Why ? " Because he trusteth in 
 Thee." And the peace of God which passeth all under- 
 standing, shall keep your hearts and nJnds through Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
48 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 m 
 
 \% 
 
 FOURTEENTH DAY. 
 
 SInfailmg Cruse. 
 
 Is the cruse of comfort waiting ? Rise and share it with another. 
 And through all the years of famine, it shall serve thee and thy 
 
 brother ; 
 Love divine will fill thy store-house, or thy handful still renew, 
 Scanty fare for one will often make a royal feast for two. 
 
 For the heart grows rie^. in giving, all its wealth is living grain, 
 Seeds which mildew in the garner, scattered fill with gold the plain. 
 Is thy burden hard and heavy ? Do thy steps drag wearily ? 
 Help to bear thy brother's burden, God will bear both it and thee. 
 
 Numb and wearj on the mountains, would'st thou sleep amidst the 
 
 snow ? 
 Chafe that frozen form beside thee, and together both shall glow. 
 Art thou stricken in life's battle ? Many wounded round thee moani 
 Lavish on their wounds thy balsam, and balm shall heal thine own. 
 
 Is the heart a well left empty ? None but God its void can fill. 
 Nothing but a ceaseless fountain, can its ceaseless longings still ; 
 Is the heart a living power ? Self-entwined its strength sinks low. 
 It can only live in loving and by serving love will grow. 
 
 — Mrs. Charles. 
 
 " Who then is willing to consecrate his service unto the 
 Lord ?" When a soul sets out to seek God, God sets out to 
 meet that soul ; so that while we are drawing to Him, He 
 is drawing near to us. ' A sentence of Faber's may sound 
 unnatural to us, so little spiritually-minded he says, ' God 
 
SICK-nOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 49 
 
 thy 
 
 sometimes draws us to Him, not that He may love us, that 
 He always does, but in order to nuike us feel how He 
 loves us.' " — Gold Bust. 
 
 When God says to you, dear reader, " I will be thy God," 
 can you doubt Him ? Do you not rather whisper, " This 
 God of comfort is my Father and my Saviour and inj' God 
 forever ?" Our God in sickness antl distress, in adversity 
 or prosperity, and in many of the so-called w.iste places of 
 poverty or obscurity or trial ; He is our (Jod of comfort 
 forever, and the waste places really become a garden of 
 Eden, because God is present soothing and comforting His 
 ransomed child. 
 
 Truly the cruse of comfort and blessing and love is unfail- 
 ing. Come, sorrowing one, and be comforted with His love; 
 conie,weary one, and tind rest, such as the world cannot give 
 you, in Him. God knoweth our peculiar weaknesses, and 
 He knows our conditions, circumstances and surroundings, 
 and knowing, as He does know, all about our individual 
 requirements and spiritual needs, and peculiar temptations. 
 He will strengthen us with His Spirit in our weakness, and 
 when we are self-contident He will weaken us; thus turning 
 our lives and 8])irit into a perfect harmony with His mind, 
 and Spirit and Will. " The bruised reed He will not break 
 and the smoking flax He will not quench," and all God's 
 dealings with us are to develop good and blessing in us. 
 
 God knows all about us far better than we do ourselves, 
 and He will lay upon us no greater burden than we can 
 bear. God's Spirit moveth where it listeth. But God 
 never wills to remain absent from a yearning heart. 
 
 When God saj^s to you, dear reader, " My (irace is suffi- 
 cient for thee," and " Lo, I am with you always, even unto 
 the end of the ages," can you doubt His loving interest in 
 all that concerns you. Do you not long for more power 
 against sin in your daily walk and conversation and deport- 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND OLEAMNOS. 
 
 m 
 
 ment ? Shall you let the enemy of your soul have his 
 way, and induce you to keep away from God ? Cast your- 
 self just as you are " without one plea, but that His blood 
 was shed for thee," and " east all your care upon God" and 
 God will make J lis power yours, and you shall be more 
 than conqu«Tor through llim who loves you with " an ever- 
 lasting love." Are you an apt scholar ? Are you easily 
 led by ihe Comforter ? The Spirit of the triune God, the 
 Comforter io the human soul, is fully sufficient for all 
 spiritual and temporal needs. 
 
 Our cruse is indeed unfailing. God our Father satisfies 
 every expressed or unexpressed longing, when we appro- 
 priate Him in His fulness, when we yield ourselv^es to Him 
 and let Him do with us just as He purposes in His heart of 
 love. 
 
 w 
 
 if; 
 
 1; 
 
 pECOdBEfS f/OJES. 
 
 "Who satistieth our mouth with good things." Not 
 rich things, not many things, not every thing I ask for ; 
 ' good things ' 
 
 " All ray. need fully supplied, and every thing good. 
 Goodness is God expressed. All His blessings partake of 
 His own nature. God can so satisfy the soul that each 
 chink and cranny therein shall be tilled with spiritual joy. 
 The soul is full of thirsts and longings. No earthly things 
 can satisfy them. This is the exnerience of everyone who 
 has made the experiment, evtn of those who have the most 
 that the world can give. 
 
 " It is like drinking the salt sea water, which intensities 
 the thirst instead of satisfying it. God never made a soul 
 so small that the whole world could give it satisfaction. 
 But God satisfies, because He gives all that worldliness can 
 give of satisfaction — of worldly satisfaction, — in a far 
 
 II' 
 
SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 51 
 
 better way, and, besides, bestows His own personal love and 
 presence ; to be loved with an eternal love. There is some- 
 thing in Him to satisfy every hunger and thirst of the soul. 
 
 " Blessed be God, oven our Father and the Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 '' Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, so that we 
 may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by 
 the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 
 
62 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 FIFTEENTH DAY. 
 
 Cup^bcarrrs to otir Ittng* 
 
 \l EHEMIAH was in Shushan, the palace or royal city 
 •^ ^ of the King of Persia. He was the King's cup-bearer. 
 Although he lived at ease, and held a position of honor, he 
 did not cease to remember that he was an Israelite, and he 
 knew that his brethren were in distress. But Nehemiah 
 was ever asking questions concerning his brethren, with a 
 view, if possible, of rendering assistance. Thus we, the 
 children of the King of kingb, may be His cup-bearers to 
 His children, to our brethren, in Christ-like ministries from 
 a heart burning with love to Christ and for our brethren 
 in the Lord. May our ministries of love emanate from His 
 spirit of love, power and purity, dwelling in our ransomed 
 being, and express in loving services a little of the gratitude 
 we feel, because of all the triune God of Love has done, and 
 is doing for us. To those of us who are helpless and 
 suffering ' shut-int:;" to dull companionship of pain and 
 weakness, there only remains the ■' waiting service" — the 
 endurance of much intense pain and weariness, night and 
 day, for Wi^yks, and months, and years, — intense suffering 
 which utterly incapacitates — "^ seeing Him who is invisi- 
 ble." Thus we 'serve/' although we may only " stand 
 and wait.' 
 
 We may give the cheerful smile and the ready word of 
 encouragement, or word of advice, or by our prayei*s on 
 behalf of those requiring sympathj^ and love ; all little 
 things, novertheless they are cups of water rendered unto 
 Him, and shall not lose their reward. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 m 
 
 )yal city 
 )- bearer, 
 onor, he 
 , and he 
 3hemiah 
 , with a 
 we, the 
 arers to 
 ies from 
 )rethren 
 rom His 
 insomed 
 ratitudo 
 one, and 
 ess and 
 lin and 
 e"— the 
 ^ht and 
 Liffering 
 s invisi- 
 " stand 
 
 ^ord of 
 rei*s on 
 11 little 
 od unto 
 
 In the voice that pleads for those little services of love 
 to those in the lowliest station, as well as the most affluent 
 in life, I not only hear the sweet tones of Him who taught 
 the multitudes of Mount Hattin, of Gethsemane, and the 
 dying agony of the cross, whis])ering in loving, pleading 
 sweetness, but J recognize Him pervading and permeating 
 my being with a sense of His divine presence and approval, 
 vv'hen in the act of performing sweet ministries to His little 
 ones, and I hear His own " inasmuch." 
 
 He not only asks us to remember the wounds in His 
 hands and feet — He ])ushes aside His glistening robes and 
 discloses the gash in His side, and asks us to remember 
 Calvary ? 
 
 Can we refuse to minister unto llim ? Ho, the triune 
 Grod, died for you, dear reader, and He died for me. Can 
 we refuse to live for him ? God's mercy does not wait for 
 our love, or our services, but springs to meet the need of His 
 creatures. Xo matter what position in life they occupy, no 
 matter whether rich or |)oor, in the most influential and 
 affluent positions, or the most humble or lowly God springs 
 with all His love and His mercy to tr.eol the need (»f each. 
 
 " Every thing does God's pleasuie ; winds, stars, angels 
 of light, the aiighty in strength and theilelicai in beauty ; 
 every thing but man To man God has given the uniqtie 
 power of defying G(/a, and doing Him dislionoi — Amos R. 
 Wells. 
 
 Shall not we praise God, not merely with our lips, but in 
 our Christ-like services and daily living V i.von il it be 
 simpljT^ a cup of cold water in His name, God will bless us. 
 
 In the way of means, there are no little things with God. 
 The simj)le verse of a comforting hymn re]>eated — or a 
 text of scripture, a kind word ot encouragement .ipoken, a 
 sunshiny smile bestowed, a rer.dy errand performed for 
 anothei', a cheerful offer of assistance given, all these are 
 
T 
 
 C4 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINOS. 
 
 m 
 
 little things, little cups of cold water, given in His name, 
 which at various times, -ad in most unlooked for ways 
 have been blessed and will be unto the end of the world. 
 "Will you, my reader, to-day, throw the weight of your in- 
 fluence, be it great or small, into God's treasury ? Grod 
 works by human means and instruments ; by men and 
 women, and even little children ; we have all some one — it 
 may be many — who will be acted on by our example, 
 and insensibly led to love the things thnt we love, to take 
 pleasure and an interest in our pursuits. Would those who 
 look upon our business life, or in our school life, or in our 
 homes, or in our intercourse one with another, think, with- 
 out our telling them in so many words, that we individually 
 revelled in the light of Grod. 
 
 Are we afraid of the scrutiny of the world ? In all the 
 circumstances of life, stand firmly in Him, do your share, 
 my reader, of the work and bear your share of the care 
 and sacrifice. Christ needs you and me, and to us shall 
 come the richest rewards, and in us abides the sweetest 
 peace. God makes our lives, prove our appreciation of our 
 blessings by industrously using them in loving ministries 
 to Him, and unto those yet to be numbered with the 
 redeemed. 
 
 " A sense of mutual relationship ought to pervade the 
 whole membership of the family of the redeemed. And if 
 the full light of God's truth shines in our hearts, and shines 
 about us on those who are our fellow members in that great 
 family, we shall see so much that they and we have in 
 common, that we shall lose sight of minor differences, and 
 we shall have fellowship with them in Spirit and in ser- 
 vice. True Christian fellowship is not to be secured by any 
 formal intermerging of denomination, but by having the 
 light of God and walking in it." — H. C. Tnimball. 
 
T 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS 
 
 55 
 
 SIXTEENTH DAY. 
 
 JF thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from 
 doing thine own pleasure on My holy day ; and call 
 the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and 
 shalt honor Him, not doing thine own pleasure, nor speak- 
 ing thine own words : Then shalt thou delight in the Lord 
 and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the 
 earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy fathers; 
 for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Observation 
 proves to me that those men on the face of the earth to- 
 day, who observe and hallow the Sabbath, are the men 
 whom God honors more "abundantly," than those who 
 are negligent in their observance of the Sabbath day. 
 
 " Welcome with joy each week, the day that God has 
 called His day. 
 
 "To each day of the week God has given its special 
 mission, its share of pleasure and of pain, necessary to 
 purify and fortify and prepare us for eternity. 
 
 " But Sunday is a day of love. 
 
 " On Saturday we lay aside our garments faded and 
 stained by toil, and on Sunday we array ourselves in gar- 
 ments not only fresher but more choice and graceful. Why 
 not prepare the heart even as we do the body ? 
 
 " During the week, has not the heart been wearied with 
 petty strife and discontent, interests marred, bitter words? 
 
 " Then why not shake ott" all this, that only chills affec- 
 tion ? On the Saturday let us forgive freely, press thQ 
 
56 
 
 SICK- ROOM THOUGHTS AND O LEANING 8. 
 
 i' I 
 
 ^ 
 
 hand warmly, embrace each other, and then peace being 
 restored within, we await the morrow's awakening. 
 
 " Sunday is God's day of truce for all. That day, laying 
 aside ail revenge and ill-feeling, we must be filled with for- 
 bearance, indulgence and amiability. 
 
 " Oh ! how good for us to feel obliged to be reconciled, 
 and each Sunday renews the obligation. Let us leave no 
 time for coldness, and indifference to grow upon us, it only 
 engenders hatred, and that once established in the heart, 
 oh ! how hard it is to cast it out again. It is like a hideous 
 cancer, whose ravages no remedies can stay. 
 
 " It is the venemous plant that the gardener can never 
 entirely eradicate. Only by a miracle can hatred be de- 
 stroyed. At once let us place a barrier in our hearts 
 against the approach of coolness or indifference, and each 
 Saturday night the head of the family shall thus address 
 us: 'Children, to-night we forgive, to-night we forget, 
 and to-morrow begin life afresh in love, one towards an- 
 other.' ''—Gold Dust. 
 
 It is a downright shame that so many of the young 
 people, of both sexes, are so very irreverent in observing 
 God's holy day. It is sad to think that many prefer spend- 
 ing the Sabbath in worldly amusements and lustful desires 
 of the flesh when they had much bettor have been found 
 waiting in the sanctuary, in the attitude of prayer and 
 eager watchfulness, and reverent listening for what He 
 " hath to say" unto them. Sad indeed to reflect upon the 
 vast number of people, of both sexes, who plead fatigue in 
 excuse of their non-attendance at the sanctuary of the 
 Lord, where he is present to bless in an especial manner all 
 those gathered together to meet and worship Him, the 
 triune God of Love, our Father. Sad to reflect upon those 
 who are negligent, irreverent and disobedient in their 
 observance of God's day. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 67 
 
 It is a sad and solemn matter, it is not a matter to laugh 
 over, or joke about and easily pass by. To neglect the 
 holy and reverential observance of (lod's day is to positively 
 insult God. 
 
 €i}f Bau of ilcst. 
 
 O Day most calm, most bright, 
 
 The fruit of this, the next world's bud, 
 
 The endorsement of supreme delight. 
 Writ by a Friend, and with His blood ; 
 
 The couch of time, care's balm and bay : 
 The week were dark but for thy light, 
 
 Thy torch doth show the way, 
 
 The other days and those 
 
 Make up one man, whose face Thou art, 
 
 Knocking at Heaven with thy brow ; 
 The worky-days are the back part ; 
 
 The burden of the week lies there. 
 Making the whole to stoop and bow, 
 
 'Till thy release appears. 
 
 Man had straightforward gone 
 
 To endless death ; but Thou dost pull 
 
 And turn us round to look on One, 
 Whom, it we were not very dull. 
 
 We could not choose but look on still ; 
 Since there is no place so alone. 
 
 The which He doth not fill. 
 
 Sundays the pillars are 
 
 On which Heaven's palace arched lies: 
 The other days fill up the spare 
 
 And hollow room, with vanities. 
 They are the fruitful beds and borders. 
 
 In Ood's rich garden, that is bare, 
 Which parts their ranks and orders. 
 
 The Sundays of man's life, 
 
 Threaded together on time's string, 
 Make bracelets to adorn the wife 
 
 Of the eternal glorious king. 
 
68 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 
 On Sunday Heaven's gate stands ope, 
 
 Blessings are plentiful and rife- 
 More plentiful than hope. 
 
 This day my Saviour rose. 
 
 And did enclose this light for His ; 
 That, as each beast its manger knows, 
 
 Man might not of His fodder miss. 
 Christ hath took in this piece of ground, • 
 
 And made a garden there for those 
 Who want herbs for their wound. 
 
 The rest of our creation 
 
 Our great Redeemer did remove 
 With the same shake, which at His passion 
 
 Did the earth and all things with it move. 
 As Samson bore the doors away, 
 
 Christ's hands, though nailed, wrought our salvation, 
 And did unhinge that day. 
 
 The brightness of that day 
 
 We sullied by our foul offence ; 
 Wherefore that robe we cast away. 
 
 Having a new at His expense. 
 Whose drops of blood paid the full price 
 
 hat was required to make us gay 
 And fit for Paradise. 
 
 Thou art a day of mirth ; 
 
 And where the week-days trail on ground. 
 Thy flight is higher, as thy birth ; 
 
 O lee me take thee at the bound, 
 Groping with thee from seven to seven. 
 
 Till that we both, being tossed from earth 
 Fly hand in hand to Heaven ! 
 
 — From The Shadow of the Bock, 
 
 CoDsider this matter well, dear reader. It is a great 
 honor to worship God in His sanctuary ; to meet with those 
 oome together to spend an hour with Him in prayer and 
 praise and exhorta ion, in God's appointed meeting place ; 
 
SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 59 
 
 there is a blessing in united worship which one cannot re- 
 ceive alone. Why ? Because God is present with His 
 people in an especial manner to bestow his choicest blessing 
 upon those come together to meet Him in His Sanctuary. 
 " Sunday is a day for worship. It is a day for getting 
 out of all that drags us down, into a higher and diviner 
 atmosphere. It is a day for standing face lo face with the 
 immortal in man. It is a day for standing face to face 
 with God and eternity. I wonder whether when Peter, 
 James and John heard Jesus say : ' Come up with Me into 
 the mount of transtiguration,' they went up with laggard 
 steps, saying : ' It is a hard hill to climb ; why cannot we 
 stay below with the other nine' ? What a day this is that 
 lifts us out of all the smoky atmosphere, and gives us a view 
 of the blue sky, that lifts us out of the fetid atmosphere and 
 gives us a breath of the Heavenly." — Lyman Ahott, D. D. 
 
 "Come not with incense, myrrh and spices bringing, 
 Come to God's Throne with loving hearts and pure ; 
 Lift your glad voices. His high praises ringing, 
 He waits to bless ; His promise standeth sure. 
 
 So speak the Church bells in their sweet vibration, 
 
 So to God's temple summon they our teet ; 
 With all the holy, we for His salvation 
 
 Will pay our homage at the mercy seat, " 
 
 — Ray Palmer, D. D. 
 
 Enable us Lord to "worship Thee in the beauty of 
 holiness." 
 
60 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 SEVENTEENTH DAY. 
 
 j> 
 
 ^ HERE are seven " overcome " promises to be appro- 
 ^ priated by us; seven progressive steps. 
 
 1st. " He that overcometh will 1 give to eat of the tree 
 of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of Grod." 
 
 "O love surpassing thought, 
 
 So bright, so grand, so clear, so true, so glorious ; 
 Love infinite, love tender, love unsought, 
 
 Love changeless, love rejoicing, love victorious ! 
 And this great love for ud in boundless store ; 
 
 Christ's everlasting love ! What wouldst thou more ? " 
 
 — F. R. Haver gal. 
 
 Shall not we, dear reader, appropriate the " overcome" 
 promises of God to you and to me. Gigantic evils oppose 
 ua, but we shall meet them in the power of Christ and we 
 shall trumph in Him. We " shall have life," and we "shall 
 have it more abundantly. " God is able " and willing *'to 
 make all grace abound toward you ; that ye, always having 
 all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." 
 
 2nd. " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith unto the churches ; he that overcometh shall 
 not be hurt of the second death. — Rev. ii. : 11. Or, "to 
 him that overcometh it is promised that he shall suffer no 
 loss from the second death." — Commentary. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 61 
 
 " And death and hell were cast into the lako of tire. 
 This is the second deatn." 
 
 " And whosoever was not found written in the book of 
 life was cast into the lake of fire." — Eev. xx. : 14-15. 
 
 "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague 
 come ' nigh thy dwelling,' is a promise to the fullest extent 
 veritied in the case of all who dwell in the secret place of 
 the Most High. To them sorrows are not 'evils' ; sick- 
 nesses are not ' plagues'; the shadow of the Almighty ex- 
 tending far around those who abide under it, alters the char- 
 acter of all things which come within its influences." — Ano?i. 
 
 We may appropriate this ])romise in the triune Crod of 
 love, and we " shall not be hurt of the second death." 
 
 3rd. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
 saith unto the churches : To him that overcometh will I 
 give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white 
 stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man 
 knoweth saving he that receiveth it." — Eev. ii. : 11. 
 
 This name in the stone is a precious secret between 
 Christ and the soul that overcomes while being fed upon 
 the '• hidden manna." Known only to Christ and to be 
 revealed unto us when we shall approach Him in triumph 
 as " more than conqueror " through His blood. 
 
 4th. And he that overcometh and keepeth My w^orks 
 unto the end, to him 1 vvill give ))ower over the nations. — 
 Rev. ii. : 26. 
 
 To whom shall ' power over the nations " be given ? To 
 you, dear reader, and to me, if we " overcome " in His 
 power, and obey His commands, keeping close to His side, 
 following closely in the footsteps of Christ. 
 
 " And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath 
 appointed Me. That ye may eat and drink at My table in 
 My Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes 
 of Israel.'* — Luke xxii. : 29-30. 
 
6S 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 Overcome in the blood of Christ and conquer in His 
 power, and being His disciples you shall have power over 
 the nations. 
 
 5th. " He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in 
 white raiment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the 
 book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father 
 and before His angels." 
 
 White is the emblem of purity, and we shall be pure, 
 even as He is pure ; we shall partake of the nature and 
 character of Christ, having overcome in His power and 
 through His blood and being clothed in His righteousness ; 
 and He will confess us each by name before His Father and 
 our Father and before His angels. 
 
 6th. " He that ovt rcometh will I make a pillar in the 
 temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will 
 write upon him the name of the city of My God, which is 
 the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven 
 from my God ; and 1 will write upon him my new name." 
 — Eev. iii. : 12. 
 
 When Solomon was building the temple "he set up two 
 pillars in the porch of the temple : and he set up the right 
 pillar, and called the name thereof ' Jachin' : (that is, He 
 shall establish,) and he set up the left pillar, and called the 
 name thereof ' Boaz ' : (that is, in it is strength.)" — I Kings 
 vii. : 21. 
 
 And if we " overcome '' in Him, great honor shall be ours. 
 He shall establish us firmly in Him, and we shall be pillars 
 of strength in the temple of the triune God, and He will 
 write upon us the name of our God, and the name of the 
 city of our God, which is new Jerusalem, and He will 
 wri jB upon us His new name. 
 
 Yth. "To him that overcorneth will 1 grant to sit with 
 Me on My throne, even as I also overcome, and am set 
 down with My Father on His throne." 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND 0LEANIN08. 68 
 
 " And He that sat upon the throne said : Behold, I make 
 all things new, and He said unto me, write : for these 
 words are true and faithful ; and He said unto me, it is 
 done, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. 
 I will give unto him that is athrist, of the fountain of the 
 waters of life freely." " He that overcometh shall inherit 
 all things and I will be his God, and he shall be My Son." 
 There is no room for any comment from me upon the ful- 
 ness of this promise: we " shall inherit all things" and "God 
 will be our God" and wo shall be His sons and daughters. 
 
64 
 
 SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND (ilEANlNOS. 
 
 EIGHTEENTH DAY. 
 
 '*t!rt)ou 6oti SffSt iHr." 
 
 CDENEATH God's eye, there is something in the thought 
 .-^J like a sheltering rock, tt refreshing dew, a gleam of 
 Wghtr—Gold Dust. 
 
 " The thought of God's watchfulness will be a source of 
 comfort or of annoyance according to our character. When 
 the child is doing right, bho loves the thought that the 
 mother is watching ; but when she is disobedient, she de- 
 sires to avoid that presence. Very vividly does the New 
 Testament picture the greatest agony of the determined 
 sinner ! To be the consciousness that God sees him. This 
 is a large part of the woe of the lost. How important, 
 then, through Christ to become so reconciled to God that 
 the truth, ' Thou God seest me," will be of secret comfort 
 to us." — Bev. S. W. Adriance 
 
 "There is no joy the soul can \w A 
 Upon lifers various road, 
 Like the sweet fear that sits and shrinks 
 Under the eve of God. 
 
 A special joy is all in love, 
 
 For obj .^cts we revere ; 
 This joy in God will always be 
 
 Proportioned to our fear. 
 
 t 
 
 But fear is love, and love is fear, 
 
 And in and out they move ; 
 3ut fear is an intenser joy 
 
 Than more unrighteous love. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 66 
 
 They love Thee little, if at ail 
 
 Who do not fear Thee much 
 If love is Thine attraction, Lord, 
 
 Fear is Thy very touch. 
 
 Love could not love Thee half so much 
 
 If it found 'i'hee not so near ; 
 It is Thy neariu!88 which makes love 
 
 The perfectncss of fear." 
 
 —F. IV. Faher. 
 
 'Tis a most solemn thought that the eye of God our 
 Father sees our every act. 
 
 " Those around us in the Avorld, and in our own homes 
 gauge us by our conversation and deportment. Is it ap- 
 parent from our daily living that Jesus is constantly 
 streaming into our lives the light of llis wonderful love 
 and are we shedding it forth again marked with our own 
 individuality ? 
 
 The eye of God is ujjon us as we perform our most trivial 
 daily duty, as we watch and i)ray, as we sutler and serve 
 and wait. Are we in the world, but not of it, are we 
 strangers to the world, but near and familiar frienils to God? 
 
 'Tis our privilege to live beneath the eye of (rod, yes, to 
 dwell continually ir. His presence and experience a deep 
 and sweet realization of llis Divine approval. Let us strive 
 to see God, that is to say, be always realizing His jjresence, 
 feeling Him near as the friend from whom we would never 
 be separated, in work, in prajor. in recreation, in repose, 
 God is not importunate. He never wearies. He is gracious 
 and merciful, His Hand directs everything, and He will 
 not sutler us to be tempted above that we are able. 
 
 "Listen to His commands, be attentive to (rod, listen to 
 His counsel, His warnings ; we are privileged to hear His 
 voice in these Gospel words that recur to our minds, in the 
 good thoughts that suddenly dawn on us, the devout words 
 
«6 
 
 SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 ; 
 
 that meet us in some book, on a sheet of paper, or falling 
 from the lips of a preacher or friend, or even a stranger. 
 
 Speak to God, hold conve]*8e with Jlim more with the 
 heart than with the lips, in the early morning's meditation, 
 ejaculatoiy prayer, vocal prayer, and above all in Holy 
 Communion. 
 
 Love God, be devoted to Him alone, have no affection 
 apart from Him, restrain the love thct would estrange us 
 from Him, lend ourselves to all, but out of love, give our- 
 selves to Him alone. 
 
 Think of God, reject whatever excludes the thought of 
 Him. Of course, we must fulfil our daily dutieS; accom- 
 plishing them with all the perfection of which we are 
 capable, but they must be done as beneath the eye of God, 
 with the thought that God has commanded them, and that 
 to do them carefully is pleasing in His sight." — Gold Dust. 
 
 May we live regularly, and continuously beneath the eye 
 of God. Those bodies of ours may decay, they and all their 
 temporal environments of earth. They perish ; but our life 
 shall remain, our life which is spiritual shall in the truest 
 sense remain, and we shdl be conscious of our spiritual 
 identity to all eternity. Do we regularly and continuously 
 trust in God ? He will not allow us to be overcome. Jesus 
 with us shall be our companion when the flames of fiery 
 trial kindle upon us, if we trust Him. 
 
 "Perfect love, which always includes fear of displeasing 
 God, so great is that love to Go<;, includes confidence, 
 casteth out fear. Let us take the comfort of this thought 
 and trust Him to keep us from falling; }:-.», even fioni 
 stumbling. He has promised, "thou shalt not be burned," 
 even when the fiery flames of jmin seem to overwhelm us 
 and seem to consume us, we •' shall not be burned," no foe 
 shall be- found unconquerable, no danger appalling if we 
 are fighting " foes without and fear within " in His power 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 67 
 
 "Thy power is in the ocean deeps, 
 And readies to the skies ; 
 Thine eye of mercy never sleeps, 
 Tliy goodness never dies.'" 
 
 Thou God seest us, and Thj^ tender arm will sustain us 
 in our weariness, and suffering and weakness. Enable us 
 to dwell continually in Thy heart, to listen to Thy sweet 
 voice while we are in the furnace of affliction, and to live 
 as under Thine all-seeing eye. 
 
68 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 NINETEENTH DAY. 
 
 (T) ELOVED now are we the sons of (lod, and it doth 
 -^ J not yet appear what we shall be : but we know that, 
 when He shall api)eai\ we shall bo like Him ; for we shall 
 see Him as He is." — 1 John iii. : 2. 
 
 " F'or we know in part, and we prosphesy in part. But 
 when that which is })erfect is oome, then that, which is in 
 part shall be done away. 
 
 "When 1 was a child, 1 spake as a child, 1 understood as 
 a child, I thou<jjht as a child : • or " reasoned" as it is in the 
 margin) but when L became u man I put away childish 
 things. For now we see through a glass darkly ; but then 
 face to face ; now I know in part ; but then shall 1 know 
 even as J am known." — Cor. xih. : !> 12. 
 
 " Do not believe that (xod «>tlers Himself as a guide in 
 His providence, and a guide lowards a holy life by His 
 spirit and yet will leave the mind alone which soberly 
 explores the dark places of truth in the hope of His aid. 
 How He can aid, it is useless to ask ; but that He can aid, 
 who is truth itself, and has sure access to minds and hearts, 
 you must not doubt. He may move in all silence ; He may 
 act on the soul ; and so on the mind indirectly ; He may 
 cause, as often happens, enternal things to illustrate ti'uth 
 in some remarkable manner. Hut be assured of this. — t at 
 if in obedience and hope you wait on Him, He will bring 
 you to the sunlight at last " — S. B. Woolsey. 
 
 How has (fed unveiled Himself to you ? Have you been 
 summoned into the secret chamber of His council ? Per- 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 69 
 
 haps He haH caused your imagination to spread its wings 
 for higher bolder flight, and your spirit has flown up, up, on 
 glittering i)inions ; and you have discovered lar above you 
 heights of blessedness that you could not reach, but which 
 you were assured should one day be yours. There are 
 sweet and solemn voices 8})eaking with unearthly authority; 
 coming back to us as the messages of angels. 
 
 " There are few," says an American writer, " who do not 
 number in their families those whose places are vacant at 
 the table and the hearth, and yet who are not reckoned as 
 lost, but only ' gone before.' And when the business of 
 daily life is for awhn suspended, and its cares are put to 
 rest — nay, often in th< midst of the world's tumult — their 
 voices float down clearly and distinctly from heaven, and 
 say to their own ' come up hilher.' "' 
 
 " Beneath every domestic roof,'" continues the same 
 author, "There are more th*Mi are counted by the eye of a 
 stranger. Spirits are there which he does not see, but who 
 are never far from the eyes of the household. Steps are on 
 the stairs, but not for common ears ; and lumiliar places 
 and objects restore familiar smiles and tears, and acts of 
 goodness and words of love which are seen and heard by 
 memory alone." 
 
 Wordsof a<lmoniuon or counsel, alter the lips thai uttered 
 them are sealed in (ieath, ac^ /lire a peculiar sacredness. 
 
 " 'Look that thou make thcfii after the pattern that was 
 showed thet in the mount ' This teaches thai there are 
 celestial wavs of doing earthly thinirs, and that human 
 success consists in getting into the secrecies of (rod's mind, 
 and working in the direction oi' His method — mem are en- 
 riched with presentiments of the wa}' (.T(»<i would work if 
 placed in our stead. These ])reseiirimenTs we call ideals. 
 Human soil is marked with l>iviiii_ ..jtprints." — C. H.. 
 Park hurst. 
 
70 SWK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 When T shall have passed away from among those I 
 love, shall my voice float down in loving, pleading, tender 
 invitations, " Come up hither ?" 
 
 What shall my friends say of me after I have passed 
 away from their midst ? What will be the effect of my 
 life upon those who are left behind ? 
 
 jod knows our motives and those who love us, trust to 
 them ; but strangers can only judge of us by our actions. 
 A solemn thought, and one that should make us very care- 
 ful lest there should be anything in our daily life, to bring 
 discredit upon religion. 
 
 '' There arc^ murniurings in the air," writes a well-known 
 authoress, speaking of one gone before ; " there are mur- 
 murings in the air, soft as the footfalls of angels ; and 
 amidst them all 1 fancy thut I can distinguish her gentle 
 voice, bidding me possess my .toul in patience until the 
 great summons comes that shall unite us again for ever- 
 more." Yes, we shall meet again in our Father's home of 
 love, where God shall be our Father and we shall be His 
 redeemed children, and raptun beyond conception shall be 
 ours forever. We shall see Jesus as Jle is, and we " shall 
 awake satisfied in His likeness. ' luit we must obey the com- 
 mands of (rod and fulfil the c nditions of Jiis promises- 
 "We shall see Jesus' and il' we are faithful students of 
 Him '* we siiull Im- like liim," we shall bo changed and are 
 being changed into th«' same image, as ve gaze upon Him, 
 and strive to fulfil His conditions and observe His com" 
 mands, His promis«- to tis in being vrrifioti we are being 
 changed into the same imai/' 
 
 When we are summoned to pass over the river with 
 those " gone before" we shall ' see tht^ Ivmg in His beauty," 
 and * we shall be satisfied witli His likeness," and "we 
 shall know even as we are known." 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS 
 
 71 
 
 "Eye hath not seen," yet we shall see the wonders of His 
 love unfolding through eternity ; " nor ears heard," yet we 
 shall hear His loving assurances and instructions, and we 
 shall hear His words of love for us ; "neither have entered 
 into the heart of man," yet we shall have Hie spirit of 
 power given us to understand His vv^onderful love and have 
 grand conceptions of Him ; upon this condition of God's 
 promise, "set thine heart" to conceive His spirit. "He 
 shall take of mine and shall show it unto you ;" we must 
 sim-piy obey His ccnnmand " set thine heart upon uU that I 
 shaJ show thee ; " — not for ourselves alone are we to " see" 
 and " hear, " we are to say " come " to others whom we 
 love, and whom we would have enjoy the " Xing in His 
 beauty and "awake satisfied in His likeness." 
 
 His 
 
78 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 TWENTIETH DAY. 
 
 '* nrije l^orti Sijut H^im In."— <sen. s, le. 
 
 A f I Ej too, who have spent years, upon the bed of severe 
 ' » pain and extreme weakness, have been shut in by 
 the Lord to experience keenest suffering. 
 
 "God sometimes shuts the door, and shuts us in, 
 
 That he may speak perchance thro' grief or pain, 
 And softly, heart to heart, above the din 
 May tell some precious thought to us again. 
 
 God sometimes shuts the door, and keeps us still. 
 
 That so our feverish haste and deep unrest, 
 Beneath His gentle touch may quiet, till 
 
 He whispers what our weary hearts love best. 
 
 God sometimes shuts tht-i door, and though shut in, 
 If'tis His hand, shall we not wait and see? 
 
 When worry lies without, and toil and sin, 
 
 God's thought may wait within tor you and me." 
 
 Mrs. 0. Packard. 
 
 " Why should 1 start at the plough uf my Lord, that 
 maketh d^ap furrows on my soul ? I know he is no idle 
 husbandman, He purposeth a crop." — S. Rutherford. 
 
 One cannot grow accustomed to physical and mental 
 Buffering ; we who have spent years upon the bed of suffer- 
 ing, utterly incapacitated, find it just as difficult to endure, 
 as though week after week, and month after month, and 
 year after year, we had not been enduring. We know how 
 
SIVK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 73 
 
 " the whole head grows sick and the heart becomes faint," 
 because of " hope deferred," waiting for health which comes 
 not, and for strengt' which seems to decrease instead of 
 increase. Xo one knows but Jesus just how difficult it is 
 to endure physical and mental 8utfering,and lie patiently and 
 passively beneath his chastening rod. But .Jesus who con- 
 quored sin, and pain and death, "knows," and he can un- 
 derstand and strengthen us to endure as "seeing Him who 
 is invisible," and Ele "cares " and will bear both us and our 
 burden, and " loves " as an everlasting love, and sends the 
 pain to prepare us fo.- all He is preparing for us. 
 
 " A lady called on a silversmith and bugged to know 
 from him the process of refining silver, which he fully 
 described to her. ' But, sir,' said she, ' do you sit while the 
 work of refining is going on ? ' ' O yes,' replied the silver- 
 smith ; " I must sit with my eye steadily fixed upon the 
 furnace, for if the timj necessary for refining be exceeded in 
 the slightest degree, the silver is sure to be injured.' At 
 once she saw the beauty, and the comfort, too, of the ex- 
 pression, • He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' 
 As the lady was leaving the shop, the silversmith called 
 her back, and said he had still further to mention that he 
 only knew when the ]>r()cess of purifying was com|)lete. by 
 seeinif his own image reflected in the silver. Beautiful 
 figure ! When Christ sees His own image in His people, 
 His work of purifjMng is accomplished." — Anon. 
 
 Those of us who are in the fiery furnace of pain, shut in 
 with the ' inpanionship of (rod, shall one day ere long hear 
 his summons, " Child, come up hither, the process of refining 
 thee is complete, I see Mine own image reflected in thee. 
 Child, come home, and dwell cotitinually in My [)resence." 
 
 " ' Why,' does any one ask, 'does the battle i)ress hard to 
 the end ?' Why is it ordained for n-i*a that he shall walk 
 all through life, in patience and strife, and sometimes in 
 
74 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 i 
 
 darkneHS ? Because from patience is to come perfection. 
 Because from strife is to come triumph. Because from the 
 dark cloud is to come the lightning-flash, that opens the 
 way to Eternity." — Orville Dewey. 
 
 " For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant 
 grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound 
 to the glory of God. For which cauce vv-o faint not ; but 
 though our outvvard man perish, yet the inward man is 
 renewed from day to day. For our light attiiction, which 
 is but for a moment, workoth for us a far more exceeding 
 weight of glory. 
 
 " While we look pot at the things which ai"e seen, but at 
 the things which are not seen ; for the things which are 
 seen are tempoi-al, but the things which are not seen are 
 eternal."— 2 Cor. iv. : 15-18. 
 
 There are times in our suffering experience when we are 
 apt to question the love of God in His dealings with us, 
 moments when we are depressed and desponding by reason 
 of our many weaknesses and infirmities, when we say 
 "would to God that 1 were dead." God is long suttering 
 with us, but He afflicts us in order to refine and purify, and 
 make us moro like Himself. Do we murmur, knowing our 
 littleness and insufficiency, and proneness to sin ? Do we 
 i*efuse to see the love of God in His dealings with us ? Do 
 we not rather look up to Him in loving allegience, and 
 grateful thanks to God because He hath not dealt with 
 us after our sins, nor rewarded us according t«> our in- 
 iquities ? 
 
 'Hush ! oh, hush ! for the Father knows what thou knowest not, 
 The need and the thorn and the shadows linked with the fairt^st 
 
 lot; 
 Knows the wisest exemption from many an unseen snare. 
 Knows what will keep thee nearest, knows what thou could'st 
 
 not bear. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 75 
 
 Hush ! oh, hush ! for the Father, whose ways are true and just, 
 Knoweth, and eareth, and loveth, and waits for thy perfect 
 
 trust ; 
 The cup He is slowly filling, shall soon be full to the brim. 
 And infinite compensations forever be found in Hun." 
 
 F. R. Havergal. 
 
 We arc shut in to loarn more of His Divine love, more 
 of His will concerning us, more of the sweetness of His 
 companionship, more of His purity, more of His power, 
 more of Himself. We are shut in to be refined as siiver is 
 refined, to be purified as gold is purified, until we bear His 
 image and are become pure, even as He is pure. " My 
 brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divei-s tempta- 
 tions ; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh 
 patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye 
 may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." — James i. : 2-4. 
 
76 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEAN INOS. 
 
 TWENTY-FIRST DAY. 
 
 
 ^Ll EIRS of God and joint-heirs with Christ. — Rom. 
 ^ ^ viii. : VI. 
 
 Can mortal man estimate the length and breadth and 
 heighth and depth of that promise ? " Heirs of God and 
 joint-heirs with (Christ." 
 
 There is a great hush, a holy awe comes over us, we are 
 utterly overwhelmed with our unworthinoss of it. He who 
 knoweth our frame, knows also the 'ossibilities of His 
 gra'-e. "For the Lord's portion is ais ])eople ; Jacob is 
 the lot of His inheiitance." 
 
 He found him in "a desert land, and in the waste, howl- 
 ing wilderness ; He led him about, He instructed him. He 
 kept him as the apple of His eye. ' So the Lord alone did 
 lead us." '"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, tiuttereth over 
 her young, spreadeth abroad her wing, taketh them, 
 beareth them on her wings.' 
 
 Whom dill God find in " a desert land, and in the waste, 
 howling wilderness ? You who read this page, and I who 
 have written it. God found us in " a desert land" of sin 
 and sutfering and woe ; which is " a waste and howling 
 wilderness, indeed, where Christ conies not." "Own Christ's 
 person, love His name, embrace His doctrine, obey His 
 commands and submit to His cross. His person is lovely, 
 His name sweet. His doctrines are comfortable, His com- 
 mands are rational and His cross honorable. The very 
 angels adore Him, and shall not we ?" 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 77 
 
 We are " heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ." To 
 an inheritance incorruptible and un<ieliled, and that f';nleth 
 not away, rcHorved in heaven for you who are kept by the 
 power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be 
 revealed in tlie last time. — 1 Peter, i. : 4-5. " Learn of me." 
 " Ble;'»8ed are the meek for thi'y shall inherit the earth." — 
 Malt. V. : 5. 
 
 How shall we become meek ? By imbibing the spirit of 
 Christ. Needing nothing less than the precious blood of 
 Christ, and a will possessed by His own Divine will, mind 
 and heart. God found us in " a desert land" of sin and 
 sorrow and woe, " a waste howling wilderness" where 
 Christ cannot come , but where lie sends His ministering 
 angels •' to minister unto them who shall be heirs of salva- 
 tion." His "still small voice" drew us unto "the fountain 
 Opened for sin and uncleanness," and vve were cleansed in 
 the precious blood of ('hrist. Thus are wc become '• heirs 
 of God and joiutheirs with (Jhrist. " — Zech. xiii. : I, 
 
 Truly are vve rich with a greal inheritance, enriched with 
 all knowledge ; knowing the Lord Jesus ;and tbe ])ower of 
 His sprinkled blood. 
 
 " Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express 
 image of His person, and upholding all things by the word 
 of His power, when lie had Himself purged our sins, sat 
 down on the '^.jht * nd of the Majesty on high ; being 
 made so much beiL . than the angels, as He hath by in- 
 heritance obtained a more excellent name than they." — 
 Heb. i. : 3-4. 
 
 The angels are and ever have been sinless, they have no 
 need of a Saviour, and consequently they cannot enjoy 
 Christ to the same extent as we, the redeemed of the Lord, 
 " heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ," can. 
 
 And we have cost the triune God His precious blood, 
 and we inast be of more value in the .sight of God, than are 
 
T8 
 
 SWK-HOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 theangelH, and our capacity to receive .lesiis Clirirtt is en- 
 larged, and we may grow ami increawe " till we all come in 
 the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the hou of 
 God, unto a perfect man, unto the nieassurc of the stature 
 of the fulness of Christ."— Eph. iv. : 18. 
 
 J am (iiriirist^s antj Ctirigt is Ittinr. 
 
 Long did I toil, and knew no earthy ri*st. 
 Far did I rove, and found no certain home, 
 
 At last I .nought them in His sheltering breast, 
 ^^'ho ojwfl His amis, and bids the wrary come. 
 
 With Him I found a home, a r- st divine ; 
 And 1 since then am His, and He is mine. 
 
 Yes, He is mine! and naught of earthly things. 
 
 Not all the charms of pleasur*', wealth or power, 
 The fame of heroes, or the pomp of kings. 
 
 Could tempt me to forego His love an hour; 
 Go, worthless world, I cry, witli all that's thine 
 
 Go! I my Saviour's am, and He is mine. » 
 
 The good I have is from His stores supplied ; 
 
 The ill is only what He deems the liest ; 
 He, for my Friend, I'm rich, with naught beside. 
 
 And poor without Him though of all possest; 
 Changes may come ; I take, or I resign ; 
 
 Content while I am His, while He is mine. 
 
 What'er may change, in Him no change is seen 
 A glorious sun, that wanes not, nor declines ; 
 
 Above the clouds and storms He walks serene. 
 And sweetly on His people's darkness shines ; 
 
 All may depart : I fret not, nor repine. 
 
 While I my Saviour's am, while He is mine. 
 
 He stays me falling, lifts me up when down. 
 Reclaims me wandering, guards from every foe, 
 
 Plants on my woi'thless brow the victor's crown, 
 Which, in return, before His feet I throw ; 
 
 Grieved that I cannot better grace His shrine. 
 Who deigns to own me His, as He is mine. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLKANINGS. 
 
 79 
 
 18 en- 
 me in 
 !ton of 
 ature 
 
 VVhilo htTi'. alas! I know hut iiall His love. 
 
 Hut half (liHtern llini. and l)ut halt adore : 
 Btit when I nu?c't Him, in the realms above, 
 
 I hope to love Ilim better, praise Ilim more ; 
 And feel, and tell, amid the ehoir divine. 
 
 How fully I am llis, and He is mine. 
 
 — //. F. Lijte. 
 
 Make us cognizant of the privilei^'es as children of Thine, 
 " heirs of God and Joint-hcii's with Christ." Equals with 
 Thee in all things, joiul-heirs with Thee through Thy 
 blood. 
 
80 
 
 HICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 TWENTY-SECOND DAY. 
 
 Bcarfng ^ux Cross* 
 
 R 
 
 \j?/E, in our littleness and proneness to sin and dis- 
 '* obedience, are apt to murmur at the cross which 
 our Saviour is pleased to put upon us in Ilis Great love for 
 us. We do not take up the cross willingly, l)elievingly, 
 cheerfully or submissively ; and }'et we are cognizant 
 nothing is more acceptable unto God than our willing, sin- 
 cere denial of self, ami ready obedience, and cheerful and 
 prom[>t acquiescence unto Ilim. 
 
 We think, and say, too, very frequently, if my cross was 
 only changed, 1 could "deny" myself so much better, and 
 "take up the cross" and ''follow Cbrist." \h\i let me 
 assure you, goi'tle reader, and lot me be ashurod myself, 
 that lie, the Infinite One, knows Just what is needful, and 
 just what we finite ones can bear, 
 
 E\}e (fTftangeti Cross. 
 
 It was a timt; ot sadnoss, and my heart, 
 Although it knew and telt the betttr part 
 Felt 'vearied with the conflict and the strife, 
 .\in\ all the needful discipline of life. 
 
 And while I thought on these as given to me — 
 My trial tests of faith and love to be- 
 lt seemed to nie as if I never could be sure. 
 That faithful to the end I would endure. 
 
 And thus, no longer trusting to His might, 
 Who says, 'we walk by faith, and not by sight,' 
 Doubting and almost yielding to despair. 
 The thought arose, my o'oss I cannot bear, 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND LEANINGS. 
 
 81 
 
 For heavier its weight must surely be 
 Than those ot others which I daily see ; 
 Oh, if I might another burden choose, 
 Methinks I should not fear my crown to lose. 
 
 A solemn silence reigned on all around — 
 E'en Nature's voices uttered not a sound ; 
 The evening shauows seemed c' jjeace to tell. 
 An sleep upon my weary spirit fell. 
 
 A moment's pause and then a heavenly light 
 Beamed full upon my wandering raptured sight ; 
 Angels on silvery wings seemed everywhere. 
 And Angels' nuisic thrilled the balmy air. 
 
 Then one, more tair than all the ast to see — 
 ( )ne to whom all others bowed the knee — 
 Came gently to me, as I trembling lay 
 And 'follow Me,' he said, *1 am the way.' 
 
 Then speaking thus He lead me far above ; 
 And there, beneath a canopy of love. 
 Crosses of divers shape and size were seen, 
 Larger and smaller than my own had been. 
 
 And one there was most beauteous to behold — 
 A little one with jewels set in gold ; 
 Ah ! this, methought, I can with comfort wear. 
 For it will be an easy one to bear. 
 
 And so the little cross 1 (juickly took, 
 But all at once my frame beneath it shook ; 
 The s|)arkling jewels fair were they to see. 
 Hut far too heavy was their weight tor me. 
 
 'This may not be,' I cried, and looked again. 
 To see if there was any here could ease my pain. 
 But one by one 1 passed them slowly f>y, 
 Till on a lovely one 1 cast n»y eye. 
 
 Fair flow«'rs around its sculptured form entwined* 
 And grace and beauty seemed in it combined ; 
 Wondering, I gazed, and still I wondered more 
 To think so many should have passed it o'er. 
 
83 
 
 SICK-MOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 But ob, that form, so beautiful to see ! 
 Soon made its hidden sorrows known to me ; 
 Thorns lay beneath those flowers and colors fair ; 
 Sorrowing, i said, 'This cross I may not bear.' 
 
 And so it was with each and all around ; 
 
 Not one to suit my need could there be found. 
 
 Weeping, I laid each heavy burden down, 
 
 As my Guide gently said, 'No cross, no crown. ' 
 
 At length to liiui I raised my saddened heart ; 
 He knew its sorrows, bid its doubts depart, 
 •Be not afraid,' lie said, 'but trust to Me, 
 My perfect love shall now be shown to thee. 
 
 And then with lightened eyes and willing feet. 
 Again 1 turned my earthly cross to meet. 
 With forward footsteps, turning not aside 
 For fear .-ome sudden evil might betide. 
 
 And there, in the prepared appointed way — 
 Listening to hear and reaily to obey — 
 A cross I quickly found of plainest form, 
 With only words of love inscribed thereon. 
 
 With thankfulness 1 raised it from the rest, 
 And joyfully acknowledged it the best ; 
 The only one of all the many there, 
 That 1 could feel was good for mu to bear. 
 
 And while I thus my chosen one confessed, 
 I saw a heavenly brightness on it rest ; 
 And as I bent my burden to sustain, 
 I recognized my own old cross again ! 
 
 Hut oh, how different diu it seem to be, 
 Now 1 had learned its preciousness to see ! 
 No longer could 1 unbelieving say, 
 Perhaps another is a better way» 
 
 Ah, no ! henceforth my own dL£>.re shall be 
 That ll«* who knows me best b-ould choose for me, 
 And so whatever His lote i jv-s good to send, 
 rU trust it's beat, becaus. _ e knows the end. 
 
 — From The Changed Orosa. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 83 
 
 " I know the thoughts thai I think towards you, saith 
 the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you 
 an expected end." — Jeremiah xxix. : 11. 
 
 Thus we learn our different natures and various long- 
 ings and desires require different discipline ; and Uod knows 
 best how to discipline us, and how to prepare us for all He 
 is preparing for us. Let us take up our cross cheerfully, 
 willingly, submissively and lovingly ; He went before us, 
 " bearing his cross ; " our Saviour died for us on the cross, 
 and we ought to bear our cross as a proof of our love and 
 gratitude to Him and because He would prepare us to re- 
 ceive and enjoy all He is preparing for us. 
 
 " In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross 
 is protection against our eucmies, in the cross is infusion of 
 heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the 
 cross is joy of spirit, in the cross the height of virtue, in 
 the cross the perfection of sanctity." — Thomas A. Kempis. 
 
 OSS. 
 
84 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 TWENTY-THIRD DAY. 
 
 ''3t i& mtii 
 
 >J 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 Ol ND it fell on a day that Elishu passed to Shunem, 
 ^^/\^ where was a great woman, and she constrained 
 him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed 
 by, he turned in thitherto eat bread. And she said unto 
 her husband, ' Behold, now I perceive that this an holy 
 man of God, which passeth by us continually. 
 
 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wail ; 
 and let us set there for him a table, and a bed, and a stool, 
 and a candlestick ; and it shall be when he comoth to us, 
 that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he 
 came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay 
 there."— 2 Kin^s iv. : 8-10. 
 
 There are four lessons to be drawn froL .lis kindness of 
 the Shunemite woman, typical of the everlasting love and 
 everlasting loving-kindness of God, which he is continually 
 bestowing upon us, and His kindness in drawing us unto 
 Himself. 
 
 The Shunemite woman said, " Let us make a little 
 chamber ;" typical of the "place" which Jesus our Saviour 
 is preparing for us ; and He is coming again to receive us 
 unto Himself, and we shall dwj^U forever in His presence, 
 in the " resting " or abiding " place." 
 
 " And let us sot for him there a bed," said the Shunemite 
 woman, typical of the rest and security found in Christ, 
 naaiely, "This is the rest wherewith He hath caused th.. 
 
 ■■«'»*!,■!■ rW#fM;#;- 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUQHTS AND GLKANJNhH. 
 
 85 
 
 mmm^ 
 
 weary to rost ;" vwi of forgivunoHH, uh |)romiHuil by Je^^ll8. 
 Hon Malt, xi.: 28. " ItoHt t(ii* niir houIh," an promincd in 
 Jort'in. vi. : IH. •' And tho worU of rigliloousneH.'^ islmll be 
 ]»eaco ; und the effect orrigbtcousnosH, quietnoas and assur- 
 ance forever." — Iwaiab xxxii. : 17. 
 
 Thus the rest is perfect rest. " And my jteople shall 
 dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and, 
 in quiet resting places." — Isaiah xxxii.: 18. 
 
 We have sweet security in llim truly. "I give unto 
 them eternal life; and they shall never ))erish, neither shall 
 any man pluck them out of my hand. ' '' And a table," 
 typical of our food in Christ. Then said Jesus unto them 
 ' I am the bread of life; he thai cometh to Me shall never 
 hunger, and he that belioveth on Me shall never thirst." 
 
 Let me echo the saviour's invitation : " C'ome unto me," 
 for saith Jesus, " Him that comoth to Me I will in no 
 wise cast out." — John vi. : 17. 
 
 " And a stool," ty|)ical of i)rayer. " And prayer shall be 
 made for Him continually, and daily shall He be praised" — 
 Psalm Ixxii. : 15. ''Watch unto prayer." — 1 Peter iv. : 7. 
 " Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the 
 spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and 
 8uppli(!ation for all saints.'" — Eph. vi. : 18: 
 
 " Likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for we 
 know not what we should pray for as we ought : but the 
 spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which 
 cannot be uttered." " And a candlestick." tyjiical of " God 
 is light," and (lod is Love." — I John i. : 5 ; iv. : 8. We have 
 light in Christ to see and warmth to live in Him ; " and if 
 we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellow- 
 ship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His 
 son, cleanseth us from all sin."--l John i. : 7. 
 
 " And he said to Gehazi, his sc/vant, ' Call this Shunemito 
 woman,' and he called her, and she stoc' '»efore him. And 
 
86 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 said he, 'Say now unto her, behold, thou hast been cuioful 
 for us, with all this care ; what is to be done foi* thee ? 
 Wouidst thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain 
 of the host ?' and she answered, ' I dwell among mine own 
 people.' And he said, ' Call her.' Previous to this, Gehazi 
 said unto Elisha, 'Verily she hath no child, and her husband 
 is old.' Elisha bade Gehazi call her. And when he had 
 called her, she stood in the door. And he said ' About this 
 season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a 
 son.' And she said, ' Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do 
 not lie unto thine handmaid.' And the woman conceived, 
 and bare a son at that season that lOlisha had said unto her, 
 according to the time of life. And when the child was 
 born and grown, it fell on a day that he went to his father 
 to the reapers ; and he said unto his father, ' My head, ray 
 head.' And he said to a hid, ' carry him to his mother.' 
 And when he had Uikcn him to his mother, he sat upon 
 her knees till noun, and then died. 
 
 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of 
 God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. 
 
 And she called unto her husband, and said, ' Send me, I 
 pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the a8se:r',that 
 I may run to the man of God, and come again.' 
 
 And he said, ' Wherefor-wilt thou go to him to-day ? It 
 is neither new moon, nor Sabbath ' And she said, ' It shall 
 be well.' 
 
 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, ' drive, 
 and go forward ; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid 
 thee.' 
 
 So she went and came unto Mount Carmel. And it came 
 to pass, when the man of God saw her afar otf, that he said 
 to Gehazi, his servant, ' Behold, yonder is that Shunemite ; 
 run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, is it 
 well with thee,? Is it well with thy husband ? Is it well 
 
 ilk 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUOUTS AND GLEANINGS 
 
 87 
 
 with the child ?' And she iinsvv'ored, ' It in well.' " Won- 
 derful faith. " And when she came to the man of God to 
 the hill, she caught Him by the feet : butGehnzi came near 
 to thrust her away. And the man of God said, ' Let her 
 alone, for her soul is vexed within her : and the Lord hath 
 hid it from me, and hath not told me. Then she said, 'Did 
 I desire a son of my Lord ; did I not say, do not deceive rae?* 
 
 Then he said to Gehazi, ' Gird up thy loins, and take my 
 statf in thine hand, and go thy way : if thou meet any man 
 salute him not ; and if any salute thee, answer him not 
 again : and lay my statf upon the face of the child.' 
 
 And the mother of the (^hild said, '• As the lord liveth, 
 and as thy soul liveth, 1 will not leave thee.' And he 
 arose and followed her. 
 
 And Gehazi passed on before thein, and laid the statf 
 upon the face of tiie child ; but there was neither voice 
 nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and 
 told him, saying the child is not awaked. And when 
 Elisha was come into the hou.se, behold the child was dead. 
 
 He went in, therefore, and shut the door u|)on them 
 twain, and prayed unto the Lord. 
 
 And he went up, and laid upon the child and put his 
 mouth upon his month, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his 
 hands upon his hands. 
 
 And he stretched himself ui)on the child ; and the tlesh 
 of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked 
 in the house to and fro ; and went up, and stretched him- 
 self upon him ; and the child sneezed seven times, and the 
 child opened his eyes. 
 
 And he called Gehazi, and said, ' Call this Shunemite.' 
 So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he 
 said, ' Take up thy son.' Then she went in, and fell at his 
 feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, 
 and went out." — 2 Kings viii. : 8-H7. 
 
88 
 
 8ICK-R00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 
 The Shunemite's faith was simple and grand, her love 
 supreme, and her respect and holy awe for Elisha com- 
 mendable, and her obedience most prompt. The exercise of 
 her faith was rewarded. Yes, truly " it is well" with the 
 true child of God ; " it is well" when the tests of our faith 
 are most fierce and fiery, when our circumstances and sur- 
 roundings are most adverse to simple child-like trust in 
 God. It is well with us, become our souls are redeemed in 
 His blood, and we trust Him through His Spirit, even when 
 we cannot trace Him, and cannot understand His dealings 
 with us. Our minds are finite and ever shall be so, but He 
 is infinite and He loveth alway. « 
 
8ICK-R00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 89 
 
 TWENTY-FOURTH DAY. 
 
 J^eaben ©pencti, 
 
 I. " And Jacob dreamed, and behold a ladder sot upon 
 the earth, and the top of it reached Heaven ; and behold, 
 the angels of God ascending and descending on it." 
 
 "And behold, the Lord stood above it." — Gen. xxviii. : 12. 
 There is a communication between heaven and earth, such 
 as we two seldom realize. The common topics of convei-sa- 
 tion, between friendly hearts, may furnish a channel for 
 heavenly interchange of thoughts in our intercoursfj, so 
 that our communications, even while in the world, may be 
 like Jacob's ladder, whose bottom rested upon the earth, 
 but the top reached unto the heavens. We can be in touch 
 with those of our own household, those near and dear ones, 
 who are "gone before.'" They are clothed in the garments 
 of Christ — having been redeemed in his blood. "There- 
 fore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day 
 and night in His temple : and He thatsitteth on the throne 
 shall dwell among them." 
 
 "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; 
 neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.' 
 
 " For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall 
 feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of 
 waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." 
 — Eev. vii. : 14-17. God, our Father, is eternal, and incom- 
 prehensible, and of intinite power in heaven and earth, und 
 His understanding is unsearchable. 
 
 IL " And he saith unto hiin, ' Verily, verily, I say unto 
 you, hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels 
 
90 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 til 
 
 II 
 
 I"' 
 
 I 
 
 it I 
 
 of God ascending &m\ deHcendin^ upon the Son of man." 
 John i. : 51. There \h a communication betwixt the inhabi- 
 tants of heaven and earth. 
 
 "Are they not all ministering spints, sent forth to min- 
 ister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation." — Reb. i. : 
 14. When the burden of sin and guilt fell otf Christian at 
 the loot of the Cross, as we read in the Pilijrinis Pro<jress, 
 "three shining ones came and saluted him with. ' Peace be 
 with thee ; ' ' thy sins be forgiven thee ; ' the second stripped 
 him of his rags, and clothed him with change of raiment, 
 (the whole robes ol' Christ's righteousness ;) the third also 
 set a mark on his forehead, and gave him a roll, with a 
 seal upon it," (the witness of the Spirit, whereby we cry 
 Abba, Father.) No wonder that he should go on his way 
 singing." 
 
 III. "But he being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up 
 steadfastly into heaven, and saw the Glory of God, und 
 Jesus standing on the right hand of God " 
 
 And said, behold 1 see the heavens opened, and the Son 
 of man standing on the right hand of God." — Acts. vii. : 
 55, 56. 
 
 "The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God." 
 — Ezekiel i. : 1. 
 
 Daniel, the " Beloved " of the Lord, said, " I saw in the 
 night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came 
 with the clouds of Heaven." — Daniel vii. : 13. 
 
 Here, O my Lord, 1 see Thee tace to face ; 
 
 Here faith can touch and handle things unseen ; 
 Here grasp with firmer liand the eternal grace, 
 
 And all my weariness upon Thee lean 
 
 Here would I feed upon the bread of God ; 
 
 Here drink with Thee the royal wine of heaven ; 
 Here would f lay aside each earthly load ; 
 
 Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 91 
 
 f man." 
 inhabi- 
 
 to min- 
 
 leb. i. : 
 
 stian at 
 
 *roijress, 
 
 'euce be 
 
 ■it ripped 
 
 •iiiment, 
 
 lird also 
 
 , with a 
 
 we cry 
 
 his way 
 
 okod up 
 od, and 
 
 the Son 
 ct8. vii. : 
 
 )f God." 
 
 V in the 
 m came 
 
 I have no liolji but Tliinc, nor do I need 
 
 Another arm sav Thiiu' to lean upon ; 
 It is enough my Lunl, enough in<UM<l, 
 
 My strength is in Thy might, Tliy might alone. 
 
 Mine is the sin, but 'J'iiine ihe righteousness ; 
 
 Mine is the guilt, but thine the cleansing blood ; 
 Here is my robe, my refuge and my peace, 
 
 Thy blood, Thy righteousness, O l^ord, my (Jod. 
 
 — // Honar. 
 
 IV. *' And Jesus, when lie was hiiptizod, (it up 
 
 Straightway out of the water ; and. h), the hoavous woi'o 
 opened unto Ilini, aiul He saw the Spirit of < iod descending 
 like a dove, and lii^htini^ upon lliru. And, lo, a voice t'roin 
 heaven, saying, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
 well pleased. — Matt, iii : 1«;, 17. 
 
 " And 1 saw heaven opened, and beholil a white horse ; 
 (emblem of purity), and He that sat upon him was called 
 Faithful and True, and in righteousnes-^ He doth judge and 
 make war." — Rev. xix . 17. 
 
 "Now, 1 further suw, that betwixt tliom and the gate 
 was a river ; but there was no bridge to go over ; and the 
 river was very deep. At the sight, therefore, of this river, 
 the pilgrims were much stunned ; but the men that went 
 with them said, * you must go through, or you cannot come 
 at the gate.' The pilgrims, then, especially Christian, began 
 to despond in their minds, and looked this way and that ; 
 but no way could be found, by them, by which they might 
 escape the river. Then they asked the men if the waters 
 were all of a depth. They said, ' No ;' yet they could not 
 help them in that case ; ' for,' said they ' you shall tind it 
 deeper or shallower as you believe in the king of the 
 place.' " — Pilgrim's Progress. 
 
 " Death is another life ; >ve bow our heads at going out 
 we think, and enter straight another golden chamber of the 
 Eing's, larger than this we have, and lovelier.— P. J. Bailey 
 
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92 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 TWRNTY-FIFTH DAY. 
 
 iSeginning of (ioti's ILobe, 
 
 J have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, 
 will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and 
 though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." 
 — Ps. xlvi. : 1. 
 
 " Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me 
 be with Mo where I am ; that they may behold My glory, 
 which Thou hast given Me : for Thou lovedst Me before 
 th3 foundation of the world." — John xvii. : 24. 
 
 The triune God of love loved you and me before " the 
 foundation of the world," and He hath loved us with an 
 everlastiag love." — Jer. xxxi. : 3. 
 
 " Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing more courageous, 
 nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, 
 nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth ; because love 
 is born of God, and cannot rest but in God , above all created 
 things. He that loveth, flieth, runneth and rejoiceth ; he 
 is free and not bound. He giveth all for all, r:.nd hath all 
 in all ; because he resteth in One highest above all things, 
 from whom all that is good flows and proceeds." 
 
 He respecteth not the gifts, but turneth himself above 
 all goods unto the giver. Love oftimes knows no bounds, 
 but is fervent beyond all measure. 
 
 Love feels no burden^ thinks nothing of trouble, attempts 
 what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; 
 for it thinks all things lawful for itself. The noble love of 
 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 93 
 
 Jesus impels a man to do great things, and stirs him up to 
 be always longing for what is more perfect." — Thomas A. 
 Kempis. 
 
 God loved you and me before " the foundation of the 
 world." He loved us with a love that had no beginning, 
 because God never had a beginning. His love is boundless 
 as the universe, deeper than the deepest ocean, higher than 
 the highest heaven ; yea, God's love is infinite, eternal, and 
 unchangeable. 
 
 " God loves us with an everlasting love." 
 
 "New mercies each returning day, 
 Hover around us while we pray ; 
 New perils past, new sins forgiven, 
 New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven." 
 
 — Kehle. 
 
 " Oh ! what fulness there is in God ! ' Able to do exceed- 
 ing abundantly above all that we ask or think.' (Eph. iii. : 
 20.) Had it said ' Able to do above all that we ask,' we 
 should have said it was precious. But it is 'abandantly 
 above,' yea, ' exceeding abundantly,' can we ask too much ? 
 No. ' He can do exceeding abundantly above all our asking. 
 ' If ye abide in Me,Jand My words abide in you, ye shall 
 ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' " — John 
 XV. : *7. 
 
 God hath been real in His mercies, shall not we ^^e Him 
 proof of our love and gratitude, and be real in our thanks 
 to Him ? God will take exact notice of our most trivial 
 action, flowing from a heart filled with love and thankful- 
 ness to Him . And therefore with " loving-kindness " hath 
 He drawn us. " While we were yet sinners Christ died 
 for us," and " Greater love hath no man than this, that a 
 man lay down his life for his friends. ' He died to redeem 
 
94 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 Is* 
 
 us from eternal woe. He comes to us, and showing us the 
 marks of His wounds, He says, '' See how I loved" thee, 
 love thee still." 
 
 sinner, I 
 
 *' There's a wideness in God's mercy, 
 
 Like the wideness of the sea ; 
 There's a kindness in His justice. 
 
 Which is more than liberty. 
 
 There's a welcome ^or the sinner, 
 
 And more graces for the good ; 
 There is mercy with the Saviour ; 
 
 There is healing in His blood. 
 
 For the love of God is broader 
 Than the measure of man's mind ; 
 
 And the heart of the Eternal 
 Is most infinitely kind. 
 
 If our love were but more simple, 
 
 We should take him at his word ; 
 And our lives would be all sunshine 
 
 In the favor of the Lord. 
 
 ~F. W. Fdber. 
 
 " For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be re- 
 moved ; 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." — Isaiah liv. : 10. 
 
 " For thus saith the High and Lofty One, that inliabiteth 
 eternitj'^, whose name is Holy : I dweH in the high and holy 
 place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, 
 to revive che spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart 
 of the contrite ones." — Isaiah Ivii. : 15, 
 
 " For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are 
 your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens 
 are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than 
 your wayS) and My thoughts than your thoughts.'*'— Isaiah 
 Iv. : 8, 9. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 95 
 
 Thy name is Love ! I hear it from yon cross ; 
 
 Thy name is Love ! I read it in yon tomb ; 
 All meaner love is perishable dross, 
 
 But this shall light me through time's thickest gloom. 
 
 It blesses now, and shall forever bless ; 
 
 It saves me now, and shall forever save ; 
 It holds me up in days of helplessness, 
 
 It bears me safely o'er each swelling wave 
 
 I afi all want and hunger ; this faint heart 
 
 Pines for a fulness which it finds not here. 
 Dear ones are leaving, and as they depart. 
 
 Make room within for something yet more dear. 
 
 More of Thyself, oh, show me hour by hour 
 
 More of Thy glory, O my God and Lord : 
 More of Thyself, in all Thy grace and power, 
 
 More of Thy love and truth, Incarnate Word," 
 
 — From " The Shadoio of the Rock.'''' 
 
96 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 TWENTY-SIXTH DAY. 
 
 i 
 
 ST S 
 
 Seeing Sesus, 
 
 yES, Siinful, helpless, and utterly unworthy, vet we 
 '"*-^ " would see Jesus." — John xii. : 21. 
 
 " There are so many who are saying it today ! 
 
 We would see Jesus, 
 
 The Li^ht upon the darkness ol the way : 
 
 The guide amid the mazes wher<^ we stray ; 
 
 The Ilealer of their many, many woes : 
 
 The Victor or our strong and cunning foes. 
 
 We would see Jesus ? 
 
 There are sick ones in their weariness and pain. 
 
 There are troubled ones who siga for rest in vain, 
 
 There are toilers at the empty nets of life. 
 
 There are care-worn ones who languish in the strife ; 
 
 And the prayers of all arise, 
 
 That with clear undimming eyes, 
 
 They may see Jesus." 
 
 Wm. Luff. 
 
 Have we heard the voice of Jesus saying, " Come unto 
 Me ?" Do our hearts, still thrilling with the tenderness of 
 His love, respond, yea, Thou triune God of love, " We would 
 see Jesus ?" Have you heard Him say, " Come and see ?" 
 — John i. : 39.; Eev. vi. : 1. "Thine eyes shall see the 
 King in His beauty," and " so shall the King greatly desire 
 thy beauty " 
 
 " Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though now 
 ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeak- 
 able and full of glory." — 1 Peter s. : 8. 
 
SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 97 
 
 He has placed those of ud who are lying helpless upon 
 suffering beds, in a fiery furnace of pain and weariness, and 
 He is sitting by as "a refiner of silver," till we shall roflec* 
 His image. We asked him to strengthen us to lay hold of 
 His appointed cross, and when He reached it to us, it 
 lacerated our hands. 
 
 It is good for us to sutfer here, for we shall reign here- 
 after ; to bear the cross below, for we shall wear the crown 
 above ; and that is not our will, but His that is being done 
 in us. 
 
 "We see Jesus." — Heb. ii. : 9. 
 
 " There are many who are saying it today '. 
 We do see Jesus. 
 They see Him as they ask His Hallowed grace. 
 They see Him with love's smile upon His face ; 
 They see Him with a pardon sealed with blood : 
 They see Him walking firmly o'er the tiood : 
 
 Their eyes see Jesus. 
 Oh, believe not He is very far away : 
 He is with us, in His presence we may stay : 
 May be looking unto Jesus every hour. 
 And enjoy the golden vision of His power : 
 And the wish becomes the act, 
 And the longing is the fact. 
 
 We now see Jesus !'' — Wm. Luff. 
 
 " Thou wilt show me the path of life : in thy presence is 
 fulness of joy ; at thy right hand there are pleasures for- 
 ever more." — Ps. xvi. : 11. 
 
 " For now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face 
 to face ; now I know in part, but then shall 1 know, even 
 as also I am known," — 1 Cor xiii. : 12. 
 
 " But we all; with open face, beholding as in a glass the 
 glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from 
 glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. — 2 Cor. 
 iii. : 18. 
 

 98 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 " Thou shalt see greater things here after." He has 
 fastened on us His look of love, and we cannot but choose 
 to follow Him. Little by little, from time to time, by 
 flitting gleams. He gives us an understanding of the mystery 
 of His cross, and as we gaze, we advance and are changed 
 into His likeness, and His name shines out through us, for 
 He dwells in us. 
 
 " We shall see Him as He is." — 1 John iii. : 2. 
 
 * ' There are many who arv saying it today ! 
 We shall see Jesus, — 
 We shall see Him as we never saw before ! 
 We shall see Him as He is forever more : 
 We shall see Him in the land of shadeless light : 
 We shall see Him when our faith shall turn to sight. 
 
 We shall see Jesus ! 
 And the prospect ever cheers us, even now ; 
 We shall see Him with the crown upon His brow : 
 When the broken glass is shivered and is gone, 
 We shall see Him in the resurrection morn ! 
 And the 'would see' and the sight 
 End in rapturous delight, 
 
 We shall see Him as He is." 
 
 — Wm. Luff. 
 
 " ' You are going to be with Jesus, and to see Him as He 
 is,' said a friend to .Rowland Hill, on his death- bed. * Yes,' 
 replied Mr. Hill, with emphasis. ' Yes, and I shall be Uke 
 Him ; that is the crowning point.' To see Him as he is, 
 and in Himself, is reserved till we shall have better eyes ; 
 these eyes we have are carnal and corruptible, and cannot 
 see God till they have put on incorruption." 
 
 " Behold, 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. 
 
aiGK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 99 
 
 " As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness : I 
 will be satisfied when 1 awake, with Thy likeness." — Pa. 
 
 xvii. : 16. 
 
 '* Oh, I am my Beloved's, 
 
 And my Beloved is mine ! 
 He brings a poor, vile sinner 
 
 Into His 'house of wine !" 
 I stand upon His merit, 
 
 I know no safer stand, 
 Not e'en where glory dwelleth 
 
 In Immanuel's land. 
 
 I shall sleep sound in .lesus. 
 
 Filled with His likeness rise, 
 To love and to adore Him, 
 
 To see Him with those eyes : 
 'Tween me and resurrection 
 
 But Paradise doth stand ; 
 Thvjn, — then for glory dweUing. 
 
 InJImmanuel's land. 
 
 — Rutherford: 
 
100 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 J 
 
 TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY. 
 
 ^Pressing Cotoarti ttjc iHarft, 
 
 press toward the mark for the prize of the high call- 
 ing of God in Christ Jesus. — Phil. iii. : 14. 
 
 "() Love, thou bottomless abyss, 
 My sins are swallowed up in thee. 
 Covered is my unrighteousness. 
 Nor spot of guilt remains in me ! 
 While Jesus' blood through earth and skies, 
 Mercy, free, boundless mercy cries." 
 
 We desire to be " fonnd" in Him, and to " know" Him, 
 and His resurrection " power," and to experience " the 
 fellowship of His suffering." 
 
 To be found in Him, not " having mine own righteous- 
 ness." Why ? Because " we are all as an unclean thing, 
 and all our righteousness are as filthy rags ; and our 
 iniquities like wind, have taken us away." — Isaiah Ixiv. : 6. 
 
 " But He was wounded for our transgressions ; He was 
 bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace 
 was upon Him ; and with His stripes we are healed. — Isaiah 
 im. : 5. 
 
 He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satis- 
 fied ; by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify 
 many ; for He shall bear their iniquities." — Isaiah liii. : 11 
 
 " Mine is the sin, but Thine the righteousness ; 
 Mine is the guilt, but Thine the cleansing ; 
 Here is my robe, my refuge, and my peace. 
 Thy blood, Thy righteousness, O Lord, my God." 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS 
 
 101 
 
 
 We would be " found " in Him. " And this is life eternal 
 that they ir^ght know Ilim, the only true God, and Jesus 
 Christ." — John xvii. : 3. 
 
 We desire to " know" llini, and the power of his resur- 
 rection, and the fellowship of His suffering ; and we shall 
 " know " Him and be raised in resurrection power ; and we 
 shall experience the " fellowship " of Hia sutlorings." 
 
 " It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory ; it is sown 
 in weakness, it is raised in power ; it is sown a natural body, 
 it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and 
 there is a spiritual body. The first man is of the earth, 
 earthy : the second is the Lord from heaven. As is the 
 earthy, such are they also that are earthy ; and as is the 
 heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we 
 have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also b*=ar the 
 image of the heavenly. So when this corruptible rhall 
 have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put 
 on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the sajing 
 that is written, " death is swallowed up in victory." 
 
 " But thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ.' " 
 
 " Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, im- 
 moveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ; for 
 as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the 
 Lord."— 1 Cor. xv. : 43-49, and 54-58. 
 
 And in experiencing the " fellowship of Christ's suffer- 
 ing, " we are made conformable to His death. 
 
 '• Shrink not from suffering. Each dear blow, 
 From which thy smitten spirit bleeds, 
 Ih but a messenger to show 
 The renovation which it needs. 
 
 The earthly sculptor smites the rock ; 
 
 Loud the relentless hammer rings, 
 And from the rude, unsbapen block 
 
 At length imprisoned beauty brings. 
 
102 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 Thou art that rude, unshapen stone, 
 
 And waitest till the ann of strife 
 Shall make its crucifixion known. 
 
 And smite and carve thee unto life. 
 
 Th'i Heavenly Sculpture works on thee ; 
 
 Be patient. Soon His arm of might 
 Shall from thy prison's darkness free. 
 
 And change thee to a form of light." 
 
 —T. C. U. 
 
 " For our conversation is in heaven ; from which also 
 we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall 
 also change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like 
 unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby 
 He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." — Phil, 
 iii.: 20-21. 
 
 1. 1 
 
 A 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 103 
 
 TWENTY-EIQHTH DAY. 
 
 iFalUng Siiort of tijc IHark. 
 
 yj\ Y topic for to day was suggested by a little girl friend 
 ^ N-*' with whom I was chatting. She suddenly looked 
 up from the work with which she was engaged just then , 
 and asked of me : "What is sin?" T replied, " sin is a 
 breaking of the law of God." She said that was one of 
 many answers given at the young people's meeting in the 
 church where she usually worshipped ; but she liked best 
 of all the answers given to the question, " what is sin" ? 
 that of her revered pastor, who said "to sin" is to "fall 
 short of the mark." I was much struck with this definition. 
 " And have omitted," saith Jesus when He was teaching 
 the multitudes, "the weightier matters of the law, judg- 
 ment, mercy and faith : these ought ye to have done, and 
 not to leave the others undone." — iMatt. xxiii. : 23. 
 
 " He hath showed thee, O man, what is good ; and what 
 
 doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love 
 
 mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God"? — Micah vi. : 8. 
 
 " For whosoever shall keep the whole law of God and 
 
 yet offend in one point, is guilty of all." —Jam es ii. : 10. 
 
 " All sinners are guilty of this bringing ' a part of the 
 price.' They will obey some of God's laws, they will do 
 some of His good works, they will avoid some sins, but not 
 all. They bring ' a part of the price, and ask God to 
 accept it as the whole." — From Peloubet's Notes. 
 
 One siti, the very tiniest, is deadly. It is not the number 
 of our sins or the greatness of them that condemns us, it is 
 the nature of sin itself. " The soul that sinneth it shall 
 die."— Ezek. xviii. : 20. 
 
104 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND Q LEANINGS, 
 
 
 " Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in 
 one point is guilty of all." — James ii. : 10. One spark is 
 enough to set a whole city on fire, and has done so ere 
 now, just because that spark is fire, and so it is with sin. 
 " The wages of sin is death ;" and " death" means eternal 
 separation from God. 
 
 It is quite possible for men to live fair and virtuous lives, 
 as men mighc judge, and having heard God's call to repent- 
 ance and to faith, yet die in their sin, because they heeded 
 not God's call, and died without repenting of their sin or 
 trusting in God. Unnumbered thousands die in their sins, 
 and receive the wages of their sins. Sin is ' a falling short 
 of the mark; to leave undone those things which wr ought 
 to have done," is sin. There must be no " falling short of 
 the mark" with us, for that is sin, and " we are dead to sin," 
 and life is to be marked by our allegiance to Christ, by our 
 loving acceptance of Christ, and by our loyal obedience to 
 Him, and that not merely from a sense of duty, but rather 
 constrained by the love of God. 
 
 We are to be holy in " all things," o. jn in the common 
 duties of our daily routine of life, and holy in the most 
 trivial matter ; " holy" in all our actions ; in our deport- 
 ment, in our conversation, in the performance of services, 
 such as we may render one to another, in our homes, in 
 our intercourse with the different members of our family, 
 in the school experience, in our friendships, and in our 
 social experiences, and in our business connections. We 
 are to be " holy" unto the Lord " all the days." 
 
 Our entire life is to be marked by our daily acceptance 
 of our Saviour's commands, and by the manner in which 
 we manifest Christ in us, " we being dead to sin, should 
 lire unto righteousness." 
 
SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 105 
 
 0bcr anil ©bcr ^gain. 
 
 *' Over and over again, 
 
 No matter which way I turn. 
 I always find in the Book of Life 
 Some lesson I have to learn. 
 I must take my turn at the mill, 
 
 I must grind out the golden grain, 
 1 must work at my task with a resolute will. 
 Over and over again. 
 
 We cannot measure the need 
 
 Of the tiniest flower, 
 Nor check the flow of the golden sands, 
 
 That run through a single hour. 
 But the morning dews must fall ; 
 
 And the dun and the summer rain 
 Must do their part and perform it all 
 
 Over and over again. 
 
 Over and over again. 
 
 The brook through the meadows flows. 
 And over and over again 
 
 The ponderous mill-wheel goss. 
 Once doing will not suffice, 
 
 Though doing be not in vain. 
 And a blesiiug failing us once or twice, 
 
 May come if we try again. 
 
 The path that has once beea trod, 
 
 Is never so rough to the feet ; 
 And the lesson we once have learned, 
 Is never so hard to repeat. 
 
 Though sorrowful tears may fall, 
 And the heart to its depths be riven 
 
 With storm and tempest we need them all 
 
 To render us meet for Heaven." „ „ , 
 
 —Josephine PoUard. 
 
 "Keep us, we pray Thee, God, from facing short of the 
 mark." And aid us " to press towards the mark for the 
 prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."— Phil. 
 iii. : 14. 
 
m 
 
 106 
 
 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 TWENTY-NINTH DAY. 
 
 •' If I were told that I must die to-morrow. 
 
 That the next sun . 
 
 Which sinks should bear me past all fear and sorrow, 
 
 For anyone, — 
 All the fight fought, and all the short journey through, 
 
 What should I do. 
 
 I do not think that I would shrink orj'^^Uer, 
 
 But rise, and move, and love, and smile, and pray 
 
 For one more day ; 
 And lying down at night for a last sleeping, 
 
 Say in that ear 
 Which hearkens ever, ' Lord,' within thy keeping. 
 
 How should T fear ? 
 
 And when to-morrow brings Thee nearer still. 
 
 Do Thou Thy Will. 
 
 — Susan CooUdge. 
 
 When " to live is Christ," then " death " is gain. 
 
 All around us in the world, in unnoted homes, there are 
 men, women, and children, too, living nobly, manifesting 
 the Christ-like character, the spirit and the life of Christ, 
 and often with surroundings very terrible. 
 
 We have known and read of the death of "the righteous." 
 
 " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from hence- 
 forth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their 
 labors, and their works do follow them." — Eev. xiv. : 13. 
 
 Blessed are they who sing God's praises as they pass 
 through the world ; and when they die, like Much-afraid, 
 in Pilgrim's Progress, " go through the river singing." 
 
8ICK-R00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 107 
 
 Hereafter, they shall stand upon the sea of glass, having 
 the harps of God in their hands, and singing the song of 
 Moses and the Lamb. 
 
 " Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Al- 
 mighty ; just and true are thy ways, Thou King of Saints." 
 — Eev. XV. : 3. 
 
 " Blessing and honor, and glory and power, be unto Him 
 that sitteth upon the throne forever, and unto the Lamb 
 forever and ever.', — Eev. : 13. 
 
 " There are saint-like lives and martyr deaths which are 
 not recorded, and are worth all the more in heaven's sight, 
 because unsustained by human admiration ; men that have 
 given ambition's hopes, because the paths of success were 
 crooked and evil ; they who, out of their necessities, have 
 still found something with which, in Christ's name, to help 
 those still poorer ; gentle and believing hearts, that bear for 
 others what they would not for themselves ; energetic and 
 heroic hearts, that do for others what they would not for 
 themselves : the multitudes scattered among a myriad 
 homes, whose lives, however imperfect, are governed by an 
 habitual reference to the Christian law." — ^^ Between the 
 Lights.'' 
 
 Thus, to such, " to live was Christ," and to die is " gain." 
 There are those unnumbered as the sands upon the sea- 
 shore to whom death was gain. 
 
 Let us strive to live Christ, and we shall die " the death 
 of the righteous," and strive to live as beneath the eye of 
 God. " Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's" and 
 our life should be spent in His service, daily given into the 
 Saviour's keeping, and marked by our intimate communion 
 with our Saviour. This is no fable ; from multitudes, both 
 in heaven, and on earth, to-day, goes up the glad testimony 
 that this saying is a faithful saying and worthy of all ac- 
 ceptation. " The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, oleanseth 
 
108 81CK-B00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 us from all sin." We would live Christ, then let us be 
 much in prayer, and in the attitude of listening. Let our 
 guns be always loaded. When we meet our game, aim at it, 
 and shoot it instantly ; for our game will never wait for us. 
 When we meet with any occasion to do good to another, 
 don't let it go ; for we may never have the occasion again. 
 To shoot wild game is a mere pleasure, but to shoot men 
 for our Master is a grave business. Let our guns be first 
 loaded with living powder and bullets from on high, and 
 be always ready. Many hunters of men carry their guns 
 unloaded. This explains why Christ's kingdom does not 
 spread faster among men." — Joseph Neesima. 
 
 " Unto Him that loveth us, and washed us from our sins 
 in His own blood, be glory and dominion forever and ever 
 more." 
 
SICK-ROOM I'HOUOHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 109 
 
 IB be 
 t our 
 L at it, 
 or us. 
 other, 
 igain. 
 b men 
 > first 
 L, and 
 guns 
 is not 
 
 ir sins 
 i ever 
 
 THIRTIETH DAY. 
 
 ** fgintirances* 
 
 7 ) 
 
 QhERE is a stone of hindrance in every Christian path- 
 *^ way. 
 
 1st. The Walk is Hindrance. — By worldly allurements. 
 Lot's wife, looking back to her home, perished. By cher- 
 ished idols. Jacob's 'caravan was stopped for the little 
 images Rachel had secreted. — Gen. xxxi. : 25. By failings 
 of other Christians. How often it iw said : Joroboa Ji, the 
 Son of Nebat, caused Israel to sin. They need not have 
 followed him, but loved to do so. 
 
 2nd. The world is Hindered. — By circumstances. Some- 
 times God hinders, as when he brought the Israelites to the 
 Red Sea, and hemmed them in on every side. — Bxod. xiv. : 
 2-10. By discouragement from friends, as when Judah 
 discouraged Nehemiah. Neh. iv. : 10. By opposition from 
 foes, so when S&.raballat and Tobiah, and Greshem derided 
 the building up of Jerusalem. 
 
 3rd. The testimony is hindered.— By personal sins, as 
 when Lot seemed to mock his sons-in-law. His character 
 had been too worldly for them to believe him. The reverse 
 is also true. Had not the little maid of Naaman been a 
 child of marked veracity and good bBhavior, her extra- 
 ordinary testimony to the cure of leprosy never would 
 have influenced kings and courtiers to undertake the long, 
 expensive journey to Samaria. 
 
 4th. The Prayers (Desires) are Hindered.— By lack of 
 knowledge. " They found the stone already rolled away." 
 
110 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 iii 
 
 iiii 
 
 — Mark xvi. : 4. Mayy and Martha had not heard Jesus 
 say, " Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sake that I 
 was not there." — John xi. : 15. 
 
 Had they, their faith would have revived. By evil 
 angels, Daniel subsequently learned why he was left to pray 
 and fast for three whole weeks. An evil angel defied him 
 and it took Michael, and another strong one, one and twenty 
 days to resist him, and prevail for Daniel — Dan. x. : 2-3, 
 12- 14. Why may not the same be true now ? By unbelief. 
 — Luke i. : 18-20. Johi^ xi. : 40. The priestly intercession 
 of Jesus will cleanse the daily walk. The Spirit within us 
 will give energy and direction for work. 
 
 " Knowledge for the word will furnish matter for testi- 
 mony. Lovo for Christ will prompt earnest, constant 
 prayer." — Bible Briefs. 
 
 We meet " various hindrances," within and without, and 
 we are continually discouraged in our pilgrimage, in our 
 efforts to live ti... t one word " Christ." 
 
 But we shall meet and conquer in His power foes within 
 and foes without ; we shall combat tho sins which " doth 
 80 easily beset us." 
 
 If our hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts; 
 and if we are sincere in our desire to love God, and to love 
 our neighbor asouiselves, we shall " become more than con- 
 querors through Him who loveth us," and whose blood 
 cleanseth (i. e. and goes on cleansing) us from all sin. Life 
 may become simplified for us, business worries, cares for 
 house and raiment, envious criticisms, petty oppositions, 
 failures, discouragements, disappointments, interruptions, 
 " All shall work together for our good," when we love God 
 with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, 
 and with all our mind. G©d, we pray Thee, imbue us 
 with Thine own Spirit of Love, Purity and Power, until 
 we shall love Thee with all our heart, soul, strength, and 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 evil 
 
 mind ; imbue and permeate us, until we shall cease to think 
 of self, and cease to live for self, and live for Thee, and in 
 Thee, the Triune God of Love, onl^ . 
 
 "The every-day cares and duties, which men call drud- 
 gery, are the weights and counterpoises of the clock of 
 time, giving its pendulum a true vibration, and its hands a 
 regular motion." — Longfellow. 
 
 " Whatever happens to me each day is my ' daily bread.' 
 provided I do not refuse to take it from Thy hand, and to 
 feed upon it." — Fenelow. 
 
 " What various hindrances we meet 
 In coming to the Mercy-seat ! 
 Yet who that knows the worth of prayer ; 
 But wishes to be often there ! 
 
 Prayer makes the darkened clouds withdraw ; 
 Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw, 
 Gives exercise to faith and love, 
 Brings every blessing from above. 
 
 Restraining prayer, we cease to fight ; 
 Prayer makes the Christian armor bright ; 
 And Satan trembles when he sees 
 The weakest saint upon his knees. 
 
 Have you no words ? Ah ! think again ; 
 Words flow apace when you complain, 
 And fill a fellow-creature's ear 
 With the sad tale of all your care. 
 
 Were half the breath thus vainly spent, 
 
 To heaven in supplication sent, 
 
 Our cheerful song would oftener be, 
 
 ' Hear what the Lord hath done for me.' " 
 
 —Cotoper. 
 
 We had better take the hint. 
 
 Our surroundings may very largely be made for us, but 
 our Father must always be greater than His creation. 
 
112 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 " We ^nust advance, with Him, who is Light, more and 
 more into the light. ' He that saith he abid'^th in Him 
 ought himself so to walk, even as he walked.' Progress, 
 growth in grace, is an instant duty. What a beautiful 
 figure I Step by step, like the beautiful rj^thyra of a soldier's 
 march behind his commander. ' I have loved to hear my 
 Lord spoken of,' said old Stand-fast in the Pilgrim's story, 
 as he stopped half way across the river of death ; 'and 
 wherever I have seen the print of His shoe in the earth, 
 there have I coveted to set my foot, too ; yea, my steps hath 
 He strengthened in His way. — C. S. Robinson, D. D. 
 
 " O thou unpolished shaft, why leave the (juiver? 
 O thou blunt axe, what forest canst thou hew ? 
 Unsharpen'd sword, canst thou the oppressed deliver? 
 Go back to thine own maker's forge anew. 
 
 Wait the appointed time for work appointed, 
 Lest by the tempters wiles thou be ensnared ; 
 
 Fresh be the oil wherewith thou art anointed ; 
 Let God prepare thee for the work prepai'ed." 
 
 — ''The Beautiful Gate.'' 
 
 "It is evident that vvhen Jesus had a day of crisis or of 
 difficult duty before Him, He gave Himself specially to 
 prayer. Would it not simplify our difficulties if we at- 
 tacked them in the same way ? It would infinitely increase 
 the intellectual insight with which wo tried to penetrate a 
 problem, and the power of the hand we lay upon a duty. 
 The wheels of existence would move far more smoothly, 
 and our purposes travel more surely to their aims, if every 
 morning we reviewed before hand the duties of the day 
 with God." — James Stalker, D, D. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND OLEANINOS. 
 
 113 
 
 THIRTY-FIRST DAY. 
 
 "JFtfac i^lacrs* 
 
 ; ) 
 
 let. " On the hands of Jesus." — " Behold I have graven 
 thee upon the palms of my hands." — Isaiah xlix. : 16. 
 
 This was spoken of the literal Jerusalem, yet \s true of 
 God's people in Jesus Christ. Hands were branded in 
 servitude. Jcsu.. is the church's servant. He said, " Lo, I 
 come to do Thy will, O God ! " " He took upon Him the 
 form of a servant." — Phil. iv. : 7. Cattle were branded for 
 ownership. Jesus, like the patient ox, boars His people's 
 burdens. They own Him, their Lord. He invites them to 
 yoke up with Him in service. — Matt. xi. : 28 The hand is 
 the instrument of power. The hand is continually before 
 the eye. On the hands of Jesus we are in the place of 
 security and constant r«merabrance. 
 
 2nd. On the shoulders of Jesus. — "And thou shalt put 
 the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones 
 of memorial unto the children of Israel ; and Aaron shall 
 bear their names before the Lord, upon his two shoulders, 
 for a memorial. — Ex. xxviii. : 12. 
 
 " What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose 
 one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the 
 wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it ? 
 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulder, 
 rejoicing." — Luke xv. : 4-5. 
 
 The shoulders is the place of strength. It symbolizes 
 the places of common Christian standing. On the high 
 priest's shouldei-B Israel knew no tribal distinction. Th3y 
 
lU SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 were all alike engraven on the two fiery onyx. So the 
 church ha8 one common birth-right. One blood redeems, 
 one Spirit justifies, one common inheritance is given to all 
 the saved. 
 
 3rd. On the Heart of Jesus. — " And Aaron shall bear 
 the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of 
 judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in into the holy 
 place for a memorial before the Lord continually." — Exod. 
 xxviii. : 29. 
 
 The heart is the seat of solace ar.d tenderness. Jesus 
 was made like unto His brethren, that He might be touched 
 with their infirmities. In the breastplate each tribe had 
 its own peculiar stone shining out in its own special lustre. 
 So each Christian is a solitary identity, having his own in- 
 dividual gift, and duty, and honor before the Lord. 
 
 The shoulder-stones and breast-stones were united by a 
 chain of gold and lacing of blue. This illustrates how 
 both power and grace are pledged to uphold God's children. 
 Hence the double exhortation : " Be strong in the Lord, 
 and in the power of His might." — Eph. vi. : 10. 
 
 " Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." — 2 Tim. 
 u. : 1. 
 
 " When John looked to see a lion he beheld a lamb, and 
 that weak animal standing in the midst of a throne as the 
 emblem of authority." — Eev. v. : 5-6. 
 
 4th. At the feet of Jesus. — Two reasons for being at 
 any one's feet are given in Scripture, either in prostration 
 or in communion. The Shunemite cast herself at Gehazi's 
 feet in adoration. Euth was at the feet of Boaz as a beg- 
 gar. ' Esther was at Ahasuerus' feet in supplication. Paul 
 was at Gamaliel's feet as a learner. The Demoniac was at 
 Jesus' feet in gratitude, Mary was at His feet in com- 
 munion. John was at His glorious feet in fear. Mary's 
 approved work showed how suitable was her place at the 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. llfr 
 
 Lord's feet. Euth's persistency and Esther's humility were 
 both rewarded. These are types for Christian imitation. 
 
 6th. In Heavenly places with Jesus. — We are identified 
 with Him in all things. Wo died with Him, we rose with 
 Him, we live with Him, we shall be glorified together with 
 Him. 
 
 As He is actually in heaven now so our thoughts, our 
 joys, our purposes, should actually bear the stamp of 
 heaven, and be energized with the life of heaven. "If ye 
 then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are 
 above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set 
 your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 
 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 
 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear^ then shall ye 
 also appear with Him in glory." — Col. iii. : 1-4. 
 
 Five points are the sum of all this : (1) Power is in the 
 hand of Jesus. (2) Safety is on the shoulder of Jesus. 
 (3) Comfort is in the heart of Jesus. (4) Knowledge is 
 found at the feet of Jesus. (5) Hope centres in heaven, 
 where Jesus is. — From Bible Briefs 
 
 " Behold I have engraved thee upon the palms of my 
 hands." — Isaiah xlix. : 16. 
 
 " May the pleasure of the Lord prosper in our hands 
 through our Saviour and King." — Isaiah liii. : 10. 
 
 " And let the beauty of the Lord our God bo u])on us ; 
 and establish Thou the work of our hand upon us ; yea, 
 the work of our hands establish Thou it," — Psalm xc. : 17. 
 
 " The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him ; 
 and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he 
 shall dwell between His shoulders." — Deut. xxxiii. : 12. 
 
 We who are " graven upon the palms of His hands" are 
 the " beloved of the Lord " and shall "dwell in safety." 
 
 " Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." — 
 Matt. V. : 8. 
 
116 SICK-ROOM TUOUOBTS AND GLEAMN08. 
 
 1^ 
 
 "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort 
 you ; " let us seek to dwell continually in the very heart of 
 Ood. Shall we not seat ourselves through the merits of 
 His blood which " cleansoth us " at His feet and listen and 
 learn of Jesus, the meek and lowly of heart. 
 
 "And in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, our Saviour, 
 may we be able to comj)rehend with all saints, what is 
 the breadth, and length, and depth, and height ; and to 
 know the love of Christ, which jmsseth knowledge, that 
 we might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now, 
 unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above 
 all that we ask or think, according to the power that 
 worketh in us. Unto Him be glory in the church, by 
 Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end, 
 Amen."— Eph. iii. : 18, 21. 
 
 ' ' My times are in Thy hand ; 
 My (tO(1 ! I wish them there ; 
 My Hie, my friends, my soul, 1 leave 
 Entirely to Thy can;. 
 
 My times are in Thy hand, 
 
 Whatever they may be ; 
 Pleasing or painful, dark or bright. 
 
 As bes.t may seem to Thee. 
 
 My times are in 'I hy hand ; 
 
 Why should 1 doubt or fear? 
 My Father's hand will never cause 
 
 His child a needless tear. 
 
 Mv times are in Thv hand, 
 
 Jesus, the Crucified ! 
 The hand my cruel sins had pierced, 
 
 Is now my guard and guide. 
 
 My times are in Thy hand, 
 
 I'll always trust in Thee ; ' 
 
 And after death at Thy right hand 
 
 I shall forever be. — Bonar. 
 
8WK-R00M THOUGHTS AND OLEASINOS 
 
 117 
 
 FIRST SUNDAY. 
 
 Coming. 
 
 " At even, or at midnii^ht, oi* at the cock-crowing, or in 
 the morning." — Marie xiii. : 85. 
 
 " It may be in the evening, 
 
 When the work ol" the day is done, 
 And you have time to sit in the twilight, 
 
 And watch the sinking sun, 
 While the long, bright day dies slowly 
 
 Over the sea, 
 And the hour grows (juiet and holy 
 
 With thoughts of me ; 
 While you hear the village children 
 
 Pa.ssing along the street. 
 Among those thronging footsteps 
 
 Mav come the sound of my feet : 
 Therefore, I tell you : watch 
 
 By the light of the evening star. 
 When the room is growing dusky. 
 
 As the clouds afar ; 
 Let the door be on the latch 
 
 In your home, 
 For it may be through the gloaming 
 
 I will come. 
 
 It may be when the midnight 
 
 Is heavy upon the land. 
 And the black wavfs lying dumbly 
 - ^ Along the sand. 
 
 When the moonless night draws closet 
 And the lights are out in the house ; 
 When the fire burns low and red, 
 
118 aiGK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 And the watch is ticking loudly 
 
 Beside the bed : 
 Though you sleep, tired out, on your couch. 
 Still your heart must wake and watch 
 
 In the dark room, 
 For it may be that at midnight 
 
 I will come. 
 
 It may be at the cock-crow. 
 When the night is dying slowly 
 
 In the sky. 
 And the sea looks calm and holy, 
 
 Waiting for the dawn 
 
 Of the golden sun 
 
 Which draweth nigh ; 
 When the mists are on the valleys, shading 
 
 The river's chill. 
 And the morning star is fading, fading 
 
 Over the hill ; 
 Behold, I say unto you : watch ; 
 Let the door be on the latch 
 
 In your home. 
 In the chill before the dawning. 
 Between the night and morning, 
 
 I may come. 
 
 It may be in the morning 
 
 When the sun is bright and strong, 
 And the dew is glittering sharply 
 
 Over the little lawn ; 
 When the waves are laughing loudly 
 
 Along the shore. 
 And the little birds are singing sweetly 
 
 About the door ; 
 With the long day's work before you, 
 
 You rise up with the sun. 
 And the neighbors come in to talk a little 
 
 Of all that must be done ; 
 
 ■S'i 
 
8IGK-R00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 119 
 
 But remember, that I may be the next 
 
 To come in at the door, 
 To call you from your busy work 
 
 Foreve-' more ; 
 As you work, your heart must watch, 
 For the door is on the latch 
 
 In your room, 
 And it may be in the morning 
 
 I will come. 
 
 So he passed the cottage garden. 
 
 By the path that leads to the sea. 
 Till he came to the turn of the little road. 
 
 Where the birch and the laburnum 
 Lean over and arch the way ; 
 There I saw him a moment stay, 
 
 And turn oncfi more to me. 
 As [ wept at the cottage door. 
 And lift up his hands in blessing — 
 
 Then I saw his face no more. 
 
 And I stood still in the door-way. 
 
 Leaning against the wall. 
 Not heeding the fair white roses, 
 
 Though I crushed them and let them fall ; 
 Only looking down the pathway. 
 
 And looking toward the sea. 
 And wondering, and wondering, 
 
 When he would come back for me : 
 Till I was aware of an aagel, 
 
 Who was going swiftly by. 
 With the gladness of one who goeth 
 
 In the light of God Most High. 
 
 He passed the end of the cottage, 
 
 Toward the garden gate — 
 (I suppose he was come down 
 At the setting of the sun. 
 To comfort some one in the village 
 
 Whose dwelling was desolate,) 
 
 I 
 
120 81CK-R00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 And he paused before the door, 
 
 Beside my place, 
 And the likeness of a smile 
 Was on his face. 
 ' Weep not,' he said, ' tor unto you is given 
 
 To watch for the coming of His feet. 
 Who is thw glory of our blessed heaven ; 
 The work and watching will be very sweet 
 Even in an earthly home ; 
 And in such an hour as you think not, 
 He will come. 
 
 So I am watching qu?etly 
 
 Every day. 
 Whenever the sun shines brightly, 
 
 I will rise and say : 
 
 * Surely it is the shining of His face V 
 
 And look unto the gates of His high place. 
 
 Beyond the sea ; 
 For I know He is coming shortly 
 
 To summon me. 
 CAnd when a shadow falls across the window 
 
 Of my room, 
 Where I am working my appointed task, 
 I lift my head to watch the door, and ask 
 
 If He is come ; 
 And the Angel answers sweetly 
 
 In my home ; 
 
 * Only a few more shadows, 
 
 And He will come.' " — B. M. 
 
 / 
 
81CK-R00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 121 
 
 SECOND SUNDAY. 
 
 Jlmmanurl's HanD. 
 
 Samuel Rutherford, a man of great learning and talents, 
 was first a Professor in the University of Edinburgh, then 
 minister of the Parish of Anworth, and subsequently Pro- 
 fessor of theology at St. Andrews, in Scotland. At one 
 time he was imprisoned for the name of Jesus. His death- 
 bed was as remarkable as his lif»5 had been. Some of his 
 dying expressions arv preserved by Mr. Fleming, in his 
 Fulfiling of Scripture^ who thus concludes his narrative: 
 "And thus, full of the Spirit, yea, as it were, overcome with 
 sensible enjoyment, he breathed out his soul, his last words 
 being : ' Glory, Glory dwelleth in Immanuel's Land.' " 
 
 (Klorg, iffiflorp ©toelleti) in Immanuers iLantr. 
 
 I. 
 
 " The sands of time are sinking, 
 
 The dawn of Heaven breaks. 
 The sumnier morn Fve sighed for, 
 
 Th« fair sweet morn awakes ! 
 Dark, dark, hath been the midnight, 
 
 But dayspring is at hand, 
 And glory, glory dwelleth 
 
 In Immanuersland. 
 
 II. 
 
 Oh, well it is forever ! 
 
 Oh, well forever more ! 
 My nest hung in no forest 
 
 Of all this death doomed shore, 
 • Yea, let the vain world vanish, 
 
 As horn the ship the strand, 
 While glory, glory dwelleth. 
 
122 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS 
 
 III. 
 
 There the Red Rose of Sharon 
 
 Unfolds its heartsome bloom 
 And fills the air of Heaven 
 
 With ravishing perfume : 
 Oh. to behold its blossom. 
 
 While by its fragrance fanned 
 While glory, glory dwelleth 
 
 In ImmanuePd land. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The King there in His beauty, 
 
 Without a vail is seen : 
 It were a well-spent journey, 
 
 Though seven deaths lay between. 
 The lamb, with his fair army 
 
 Doth on Mount Zion stand, 
 And glory, glory dwelleth 
 
 In ImmanuePs land. 
 
 V. 
 
 Oh, Christ He is the Fountain, 
 
 The deep sweet well of love ! 
 The streams on earth IVe tasted 
 
 More deep I'll drink above : 
 There, to an ocean fulness. 
 
 His mercy doth expand. 
 And glory, glory dwelleth 
 
 In ImmanuePs land. 
 
 VI. 
 
 E'en Anworth was not heaven — 
 
 E'en preaching was not Christ ; 
 And in my sea-beat prison 
 
 My Lord and I held tryst : 
 And aye my murkiest storm-cloud 
 
 Was by a rainbow spanned, 
 Caught from the glory dwelling 
 
 In ImmanuePs land. 
 
K>ICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 128 
 
 VII. 
 
 But that He built a heaven 
 Of His surpassing love, 
 
 A little new Jerusalem, 
 Like to the one above — 
 
 * Lord take me o'er the waters,' 
 
 Had been my loud demand ; 
 
 * Take me to love's own country, 
 
 Unto Immanuel's land.' 
 
 VIII. 
 
 But flowers need night's cool darkness, 
 
 The moonlight and the dew ; 
 So Christ, from one who loved it, 
 
 His shining oft withdrew : 
 And then, for cause of absence 
 
 My troubled soul 1 scanned — 
 But glory, shadeless, shineth 
 
 In Inunanuel's land. 
 
 • IX. 
 
 The little birds at Anworth 
 
 I used to count them blest, 
 Now, beside happier altars, 
 
 I go to built my nest : 
 O'er these there broods no silence, 
 
 No graves around them stand, 
 For glory, deathless, dwelleth 
 
 In Inunanuel's land. 
 
 X. 
 
 Fair Anworth by the Solway 
 
 To me thou still art dear. 
 E'en from the verge of Heaven 
 
 I drop for thee a tear ; 
 Oh, it one soul from Anworth 
 
 Meet lae at God's right hand. 
 My heaven will be two heavens 
 
 In Immanuel's land. 
 
124 SICKIiOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 XI. 
 
 I've wrestled on towards Heaven 
 
 ^Gainst storm, and wind, and tide : 
 Now like a weary traveller, 
 
 That leanetb on his guide, 
 Amid the shades of evening 
 
 While sinks life's lingering sand 
 I hail the glory dawning 
 
 From Immanuers land 
 
 XII. 
 
 Deep waters crossed life's pathway. 
 
 The hedge of thorns was sbarp : 
 Now, these lie all behind me, — 
 
 Oh for a well-tuned harp ! 
 Oh to join ilallelujah 
 
 With yon triumphant band. 
 Who sing, where glory dwelleth. 
 
 In Immanuel's land. 
 
 XIII. ' 
 
 With mercy and with judgment 
 
 My web of time he wove. 
 And awe the dews of sorrow 
 
 Were lustered with His love : 
 I'll bless the hand that guided, 
 
 I'll bless the heart that planned, 
 When throned where glory dwelleth. 
 
 In Immanuel's land. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Soon shall the cup of glory 
 
 Wash down earth's bitterest woes, 
 Soon shall the desert's brier 
 
 Break into Eden's rose ; 
 The curse shall change to blessing. 
 
 The name on earth that's banned, 
 Be graven on the white stone 
 
 In Immanuel's land. 
 
SICK-EOOM THOUQHIS AND 0LEANIN08. 126 
 
 XV. 
 
 Oh, I am my Beloved's 
 
 And my Belovec's mine 
 He brings a poor vile sinner 
 
 Into His * hoube of wine ' ! 
 I stand upon His merit 
 
 And know no safer stand, 
 Not e'en where glorj- dwelleth, 
 
 In Immanuers land. 
 
 XVI. 
 1 shall sleej) sound in Jesus 
 
 Prilled with H:s likeness rise, 
 To live a- d to adore Him, 
 
 To see Him with these eyes : 
 'Tween me and resurrection 
 
 But Paradise doth stand ; 
 Then, then for glory dwelling 
 
 In Imnianuel's land. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 The bride eyes, not her garments. 
 
 But her dear bridt groom's face, 
 I w not gaze at glory 
 
 But on my King oi (irace, 
 Xo at the crown he giveth 
 
 But on His j-ierced hand ; 
 The Lamb is all the glory 
 
 Of Immanuel's land. 
 
 XVIH. 
 
 I have borne scorn and hatred, 
 
 I have borne wrong and shame ; 
 Earih's proud ones have reproached me. 
 
 For Ohrist's thrice biesed name ; 
 Where God'.s seal set the fuirest, 
 
 They've stamped their foulest brand ; 
 But judgment shines like noonday 
 
 In Immanur-l's 'and 
 
126 aiCK'ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINQS. 
 
 THIRD SUNDAY. 
 
 Itnocftittg, (ffifber Unocfting. 
 
 [Suggested by one of Hunt's Pictures. " The Light of the World.»J- 
 IJarrtet Beecher Stowe. 
 
 " Behold, I stand at the door and knock." 
 
 •* Knocking, knocking, ever knocking ! 
 Who is there ? 
 'Tis a pilgrim, strange and kingly, 
 Never such was seen before ; — 
 Ah, sweet soul, for such a wonder. 
 Undo the door. 
 
 No ! that door is hard to open ; 
 Hinges, rusty, latch is broken; 
 
 Bid him go. 
 Wherefore with that knocking dreary. 
 Scare the sleep from one so weary ? 
 
 Say — Him — no. 
 
 Knocking, knocking, ever knocking ? 
 
 What! Still there? 
 Oh, swee* soul, but once behold Him, 
 With the glory-crowned hair; 
 And those eyes, so strange and tender, 
 
 Waiting there ; 
 Open! Open! Once behold Him — 
 
 Him, so fair. 
 
 Ah, that door, Why wilt thou vex me, 
 Coming over to perplex me ? 
 For the key is stiffly rusty. 
 And the bolt is clogged and dusty ; 
 Many-fingured ivy vine 
 Seals it fast with twist and twine ; 
 • Weeds of years and years jefore, 
 
 Choke the passage of that door, 
 
SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 127 
 
 Knocking, knocking ! What P still knocking ! 
 
 He still there ? 
 What's the hour ? The night is waning— 
 In my heart a drear complaining, 
 
 And a chilly, sad unrest ! 
 Ah, this knocking ! It disturbs me ! 
 ^ Scares my sleep with dreams unblest ! 
 
 Give me rest : 
 
 Rest — ah, rest ! 
 
 Rest, dear soul. He longs to give thee , 
 Thou hast only dreamed of pleasure 
 Dream'd of gifts and goldei; treasure, 
 Dreara'd of jewels thy keeping. 
 
 Waked to weariness of weeping; 
 
 Open to thy soul's one Lover, 
 And thy night of dreams is over, — 
 The true gifts He brings have seeming 
 More than all thy faded dreaming ! 
 
 Did she open ? Doth she ? Will she ? 
 
 So, as wondering we behold, 
 
 Grows the picture to a sign, 
 
 Press'd upon your soul and mine • * 
 
 For in every breast that liveth 
 
 Is that strange, mysterious door ; — 
 
 The forsaken and betangled, 
 
 Ivy-gnarled and weed-bejangled. 
 
 Dusty, rusty, and forgotten ; — 
 
 There the pierced hand still knocketh. 
 
 And with ever patient watching. 
 
 With the sad eyes true and tender, 
 
 With the glory-crowned hair, — 
 
 Still a God is waiting there." i 
 
128 8ICK-B00M THOUGHTS AND O LEANINGS. 
 
 FOURTH SUNDAY. 
 
 Not SCiiolBins. 
 
 ♦• I know not what shall befall me ! Ciod hangs a mist o'er my eyes ; 
 And thus each step of my onward path He makes new scenes to rise, 
 And every joy He sends me comes as a sweet and glad surprise. 
 
 I see not a step btlore me, as I tread on another year, 
 
 But the past is in God's keeping, the future His mercy shall clear; 
 
 And what looks dark in the distance, may brighten as I draw near. 
 
 For perhaps Ihe dreadful future is less bitter than I think : 
 The Lord may sweeten the waters before I stoop to drink. 
 Or if Marah must be Marah, He will stand beside their brink. 
 
 It may be He keep^ waiting till the coining of my feet 
 
 Some gift of such rare blessedness, some joy so strangely sweet 
 
 That my lips shall only tremble with the thanks they cannot speak. 
 
 restful, blissful ignorance ! 'Tis blessed not to know ; 
 It stills me in those mighty arms which will not let me go, 
 And hushes my soul to rest on the bosom which loves me so ! 
 
 So I go on not knowing ; 1 would not if I might : 
 
 1 would rather walk in the dark with God, than go alone in the light ; 
 I would rather walk with Him by faith, than walk by sight. 
 
 My heart shrinks back from trials which the future may disclose. 
 Yet I never had a sorrow but what the dear Lord chose ; 
 So I send the coming tears back, with the whispered word, ' He 
 knows\ " 
 
 From ♦• The Shadow of the Rock:\ 
 
 li:li 
 
BJCK'BOOM THOUGHTS AND (iLEANlNOa. 
 
 129 
 
 it 
 
 i^oljotiu Unotos but Jrsus/' 
 
 \y eyes ; 
 to rise, 
 
 iso. 
 
 ear; 
 near. 
 
 3t 
 
 )eak. 
 
 ! light ; 
 
 1, He 
 cifc." 
 
 I. 
 
 " • Nobody knows hut Jesus' ! 
 
 'Tis only the old refrain 
 Of a quaint, j)athetic slave-8on<r. 
 
 But It conies again an<l again. 
 
 irr. 
 
 I only heard it (|uoted, 
 And I do not know the rest ; 
 
 But the music of the message 
 Was wondertully blessed. 
 
 II 
 
 For it fell upon my sjiirit 
 
 Like the sweetest twilight psalm, 
 When the breezy sunset waters 
 
 Die into starry calm. 
 
 IV. 
 
 * Nobody knows but eJesus !' 
 
 Is it not better so, 
 That no one else but Jesus, 
 
 My own dear Lord, should know ? 
 
 V. 
 
 When the sorrow is a secret 
 Between my Lord and me, 
 
 I learn the fuller measure 
 Of his quick sympathy. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Whether it be so tieavy. 
 That dear ones could not bear, 
 
 To know the bitter burden 
 They could not come and share ; 
 
180 miCK-JiOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Whethtir it be su tiny, 
 
 That others could not see 
 Why it shouhl be a trouble, 
 
 And seem so real to me ; 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Either, and both, I lay them 
 
 Down at my Master's feet, 
 And find them, alone with Jesus, 
 
 Mysteriously sweet. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Sweet, for they bring me closer 
 
 To the dearest, truest Friend ; 
 Sweet, for He comes the nearer, 
 
 As 'neath the cross I bend ; 
 
 X. 
 
 Sweet, for thev are the channels 
 Through which His teachings flow ; 
 
 Sweet, for by these dark secrets 
 His heart of love I know. 
 
 XI. 
 
 ' Nobody knows but Jesus !' 
 
 It is music for to-day, 
 And through the darkest hours 
 
 It will chime along the way. 
 
 XII. 
 
 ' Nobody knows but Jesus !' 
 
 "^ly Lord, I bless Thee now 
 For the sacred gift ot sorrow 
 
 That no one knows but Thou." 
 
 — From Loyal Responses, 
 
 i' 
 
SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND OLEAiXINGS. 
 
 181 
 
 FIFTH SUNDAY. 
 
 E\)t Cflfstial Countru* 
 
 Neal^;'ln"'],s!:'' ""'' ^"•■"'"" '"' ^"•'">'' '" ''^^' «"d translated by J. M. 
 The world is very evil ! 
 
 The times are waxing late ; 
 Be sober, and keep vigil, 
 
 The Judge is at the gate ; 
 The Judge that comes m mercy, 
 
 The Judge that comes with might. 
 To terminate the evil, 
 
 To diadem the right. 
 When the just and gentle monarch 
 
 Shall summon from the tomb. 
 Let man, the guilty, tremble, 
 
 For man. the God, shall doom. 
 Arise arise^ood Christian, 
 
 Let right to wrong succeed ; 
 Let penitential sorrow. 
 
 To heavenly gladness lead ; 
 To the light that hath no evening 
 
 That knows no moon or sun. 
 The night so new and golden, 
 
 The light that is but one. 
 And when the soul-begotten 
 Shall render up once more 
 The kingdom to the Father 
 
 Whose own it was before, — 
 Then glory yet unheard of 
 
 bhall shed abroad its rays 
 Resolving all enigmas. 
 
 An endless Sabbath day. 
 Theni then from his oppressors 
 
 The Hebrew shall go free. 
 And celebrate in triumph 
 The year of Jubilee ; 
 
132 SICK-ROOM THOUG^^TS ANIj G LEANINGS. 
 
 And the sunlit land thai recks not 
 
 Of tempest or of fight, 
 Shall fold within its bosom 
 
 Each happy Israelite : 
 The home of fadeless splendor. 
 
 Of tljwers that fear no thorn. 
 Where they shall dwell as children 
 
 Who here as exil es mourn ; 
 'Midst power that knows no limit, 
 
 And wisdom free from bound, 
 The Beatific Vision 
 
 Shall glad the s:tints around : 
 The peace of all the faithful, 
 
 The calm of all the blest, 
 Inviolate, unvaried, 
 
 Divinest, sweetest, bes'. 
 Yes, jieace ! tor war is needless, — 
 
 Yes calm ! tor storm is past,^ 
 And gaol from finished labor. 
 
 And anchorage at last. 
 That peace — but who may claim it ? 
 
 The guileless in their way 
 Who keep the ranks of battle. 
 
 Who mean the thing they say : 
 The peace that is tor heaven 
 
 And shall be for the eartb : 
 The palace that re-echoes 
 
 With festal song and mirth : 
 The garden, breathing spices. 
 
 The paradise on high : 
 Grace, beautified to gloiy. 
 
 Unceasing minstrelsy. 
 There nothing can be feeble 
 
 There rone cun ever mourn. 
 There nothing is divided. 
 
 There nothing can be torn : 
 'Tis fury, ill, and scandal, 
 
 'Tis peaceless pea<-e below ; 
 Peace, endless, strifeless, ageless, 
 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND QLEAN1N08. 
 
 133 
 
 The halls of Zion know. 
 O happy, holy portion, 
 
 Refection for the blest : 
 True vision of true beauty. 
 
 Sweet cure of a'l distress ! 
 Strive, man, to win that glory ; 
 Toil, man, to gain that light ; 
 Send hope before to grasp it, 
 
 Till hope be lost in sight : 
 Till .Jesus gives the portion 
 
 Those blessed souls to fi'l. 
 The insatiate, yet satisfied, 
 
 The full, yet craving still. 
 That fullness and t';at craving 
 
 Alike are free from pam. 
 Where thou mi 'st heavenly citizens, 
 
 A home like tlieirs shal o-ain. 
 Here is the war-like trunni t, 
 
 Tiicre, life set free from sin, 
 When to thf lasi great supper 
 
 The faithful siiall come in. 
 When the heavenly net is 1 tden 
 Witfi fi lies many and g eat; 
 So glorious in its fulness. 
 
 Yet so involute : 
 And rhe perf. ct from the shattered. 
 
 And the fallen from them that stand 
 And the sheep-flock from that '^oat-herd 
 
 Shall part on either hand : 
 And tht'Sf shall pa s to torment. 
 
 And those shall trium])h, then ; 
 The new jicculiar nation. 
 
 Blest number of blest men. 
 Jerusalem demands them : 
 
 They paid the price o > earth 
 And now shali reap the harvest 
 
 In blissfulness and mirtii : 
 The glorious holy people. 
 Who evermore veiled 
 
184 SICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND G LEANINGS, 
 
 Upon their Chief and Father, 
 
 The King, the Crucified : 
 The sacred ransomed number 
 
 Now bright with endless sheen, 
 Who made the Cross their watch-word 
 
 Of Jesus Nazarine : 
 Who, fed with heavenly nectar. 
 
 Where foul-like odors play, 
 Draw out the endless leisure 
 
 Of that long vernal day : 
 And through the sacred lihes. 
 
 And flowers on every side, 
 The happy dear-bought people 
 
 Go wandering far and wide. 
 Their breasts are filled with gladness 
 
 Their mouths are turned to praise, 
 What time, now safe forever. 
 
 On former sins thev gaze : 
 The fouler was the error, 
 
 The sadder was the fall. 
 The ampler are the praises 
 
 Of Him who pardoned all. 
 Their one and only anthem, 
 
 The fullness of His love. 
 Who gives, instead of torment. 
 
 Eternal joys above. 
 Instead of torment, glory ; 
 
 Instead of death, that life 
 Wherewith your happy country, 
 
 True Israelites ! is rife. 
 
 Brief life is here our portion ; 
 
 Brief sorrow, short-lived care. 
 The life that knows no ending. 
 
 The tearless life is there, 
 O happy retribution ! 
 
 Short toil, eternal rest ; 
 For mortals and for sinners 
 
 A mansion with the blest ! 
 
mCK'BOOM THOUGHTS AND OLEANINOS 185 
 
 • That we should look, poor M'andVers, 
 To have our home on high ! 
 That worms should seek for dwellings 
 
 Beyond the starry sky ! 
 To all one happy guerdon 
 
 Of one eternal grate ; 
 For all, for all, who mourn their fall 
 
 Is one celestial place : 
 And martyrdom hath roses 
 
 Upon that heavenly ground : 
 And white and virgin lilies 
 
 For virgin-souls abound. 
 There grief is turned to pleasure, 
 
 Such j)leasure as below, 
 No human voice can utter, 
 
 No human heart can know. 
 And after lleshy scandal. 
 
 And after this world's niffht. 
 And after storm and whirlwind. 
 
 Is calm, and joy, and light. 
 And now we fight the battle, 
 
 But then shall wear the crown 
 Of full and everlasting 
 
 And passionless renown : 
 Ard now we watch and struggle. 
 
 And now we live in hope. 
 And Zion in her anguish. 
 
 With Babylon must cope : 
 But He whom now Ave trust in. 
 
 Shall then be seen and known, 
 And they that know and see Him 
 
 Shall have Him for their own, 
 The miserable pleasures 
 
 Of the body shall decay ; 
 The bland and flattering struggles 
 
 Of the flesh shall pass away : 
 And none shall then be jealous. 
 
 And none shall there contend : 
 Fraud, clamor, guile — what say I P 
 
 AUill, all ill, shall end! 
 
136 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 
 
 And there is David's fountain, 
 
 And life in fullest glow. 
 And there the light is golden. 
 
 And milk and honey flow ; 
 The light that hath no evening, 
 
 The health that hath no sore, 
 The life that hath no ending. 
 
 But lasteth evermore. 
 
 There Jesus shall embrace an. 
 
 There Jesus be embraced. 
 That Spirit's food and sunshine 
 
 Whence earthly love is chased 
 Amidst the happy chorus, 
 
 A place however low, 
 Shall show Him us. and, showing. 
 
 Shall satiate evermore. 
 By hope we struggle onward, 
 
 Whi'e here we must be fed 
 By milk, as tender infants. 
 
 But there by Living Bread. 
 The night was full of terror, 
 
 Tr,e morn is bright with gladness. 
 The Cross be- omes our harbor. 
 
 And we triumph after sadness : 
 And Jesus to His true ones 
 
 Brings trophies fair to see : 
 And Jesus shall be loved and 
 
 Beheld in Galilee ; 
 Beheld when morn shall waken, 
 
 And shadov/8 shall decay. 
 And each true-hearted servant 
 
 Shall shine as doth the day. 
 And every ear shall hear it : — 
 
 Behold the King's array. 
 Behold thy King in beauty. 
 
 The Law hath passed away ! 
 Yes ! God, my king and portion. 
 
 In fulness of His grace. 
 
 / 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 137 
 
 / 
 
 We then shall see forever, 
 
 And worship face to tace. 
 Then Jacob into Isreal, 
 
 From earthlier self estranged, 
 And Leah into Rachel, 
 
 Forever shall be changed ; 
 Then all the halls of Zion 
 
 For aye shall be complete. 
 And in the Land ot Beauty, 
 
 All things of beauty meet. 
 
 For thee, O dear, dear country ! 
 
 My eyes their vigils keep ; 
 For very Jove beholding 
 
 The happy name they weep ; 
 The mention of thy glory 
 Js unction to the breast, 
 And medicine in sickness. 
 
 And love, and light, and rest. 
 O one, O only mansion ! 
 
 O Paradise of joy ! 
 Where tears are ever banished, 
 
 And smiles have no alloy ; 
 Beside thy living waters 
 
 All plants are great and small, 
 The cedar of the forest, 
 
 The hyssop of the wall : 
 With jasper glows thy bulwarks. 
 
 Thy streets with emeralds blaze, 
 The sardias and the topaz 
 Unite in thee their rays : 
 Thine ageless walls are bounded 
 
 With amethyst unpriced : 
 Thy saints build up its fabric. 
 
 And the corner-stone is Christ. 
 The cross is all thy splendor, 
 
 The crucified that praise ; 
 His land and benediction 
 Thy ransomed people raise ; 
 
188 BICK-BOOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINOS, 
 
 4 
 
 Jesus, the (rem of Beauty, 
 
 True God and Man, they sing 
 The never-faihng (harden, 
 
 The ever-golden Ring : 
 The Door, the Pledge, the Husband, 
 
 The Guardian of His court ; 
 The Day-star of salvation, 
 
 The Porter and the Port. 
 Thou hast no shore, fair ocean ! 
 
 Thou hast no time, bright day ! 
 Dear fountain of refreshment 
 
 To pilgrims far away ! 
 Upon the Rock of Ages 
 
 They raise thy holy tower : 
 Thine is the victor's laurel. 
 
 And thine the golden dower. 
 Thou leel'st in mystic rapture, 
 
 O bride that know'st no guile, 
 The Prince's sweetest kisses. 
 
 The Prince's loveliest smile ; 
 Unfading lilies, bracelets 
 
 Of living pearl thine own. 
 The Lamb is ever near thee. 
 
 The Bridegroom thine alone ; 
 The Crown is He to guerdon. 
 
 The Buckler to protect ; 
 And He Himself the mansion 
 
 And He the Architect. 
 The only art thou needest, 
 
 Thanksgiving for thy lot ; 
 The only joy thou seekest, 
 
 The Life where Death is not. 
 And all thine endless leisure 
 
 In sweetest accent sings. 
 The ill that was thy merit, 
 
 The wealth that is thy king's. 
 
 Jerusalem the golden 
 
 With milk and honey blest, 
 
81GK-R00M THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. 139 
 
 lieneath thy contemplation 
 
 Sink heart and voice oppressed 
 I know not, O, 1 know not, 
 
 What social joys are there ; 
 What radiancy of glory, 
 
 What light beyond compare ! 
 And when I fain would sing them 
 
 My spirit fails and faints ; 
 And vainly would it image 
 
 The assembly of the saints. • 
 They stand those halls of Zion, 
 
 Conjubilant with song. 
 And bright with many an angel, 
 
 And all the martyi' throng : 
 The Prince is ever in them : 
 
 The daylight is serene ; 
 The pastures of the Blessed 
 
 Are decked in glorious sheen. 
 There is thi throne of David,— 
 
 And there, trom care released, 
 The song of them that triumph, 
 The shout of them that feast : 
 And they who with their leader 
 Have conquered in the fight. 
 Forever and forever 
 Are clad in robes of white. 
 
 O holy, placid harp-notes 
 
 Of that eternal hymn ! 
 O sacred, sweet refection. 
 
 And peace of Seraphim ! 
 O thirst, forever ardent, 
 
 Yet evermore content ! 
 O true peculiar vision 
 
 Of God omnipotent ! 
 Ye know the manv mansions 
 
 For many a glorious name, 
 And divers retributions 
 
 That divers merits claim : 
 
140 SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS 
 
 For midst the constellations 
 That deck our earthly sky, 
 
 This star than that is brighter, — 
 And so it is on high. 
 
 Jerusalem the glorious ! 
 
 The glory of the Elect ! 
 O dear and future vision 
 
 That eager hearts expect : 
 Even now by faith I see thee ; 
 
 Even here thy walls discern : 
 To Thee my thoughts are kindled 
 
 And strive and pant and yearn, 
 
 Jerusalem the only. 
 
 That look'st from heaven below 
 In thee is all my glory ; 
 
 In thee is all my woe : 
 And though the body may not, 
 
 My spirii seeks thee fain. 
 Till flesh and earth return me 
 
 To earth and flesh again. 
 O none can tell the bulwarks. 
 
 How glorious they rise : 
 O none can tell thy capitals 
 
 Of beautiful device : 
 Thy loveliness oppresses 
 
 All human thought and heart : 
 And none, O peace, () Zion, 
 
 Can sing thee as thou art. 
 New mansions of new people, 
 
 Whom God's own love and light 
 Promote, increase, make holy, 
 
 identify, unite. 
 Thou city of the Angels ! 
 
 Thou city of the J^ord ! 
 Whose everlasting music 
 
 Is the glorious deciachord ! * 
 
 •Decachord.— "With reference to the mystical explanation, which seeing 
 in the number ten a type of perfection, understands the " inntruments or 
 ten strings," ot the perfect harmony of Heaven. 
 
SICK-ROOM THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS. lU 
 
 And there the band of Prophets 
 
 United praise ascribes, 
 And there the twelve-ford chorus 
 
 Of TsraePs ransomed tribes : 
 The lilies bed of virgins. 
 
 The rose's martyrs-glow 
 The cohort of the Fathers 
 
 Who kept the faith below. 
 
 And there the Sole-Begotten 
 
 Is Lord in regal state ; 
 He Judah's mystic Lion, 
 
 He, Lamb Immaculate. 
 O fiehls that know no sorrow ! 
 
 O state tl»ftt fears no strife ! 
 
 princely bow'rs ! O land of flowers ! 
 
 realm and home of life ! 
 
 Jerusalem, exalting 
 On that securest shore, 
 
 1 hope thee, wish thee, sing thee 
 
 And love thee evermore ! 
 I ask not for the merit : 
 
 1 seek not to deny 
 My Merit is destruction, 
 
 A child of wrath am I : 
 But yet with Faith I venture 
 
 And hope upon my yuay ; 
 For those perennial guerdons 
 
 I labor night and day. 
 The best and dearest Father 
 
 Who made me and who saved. 
 Bore with me in defilement, 
 
 And from defilement laved : 
 When in His strength I struggle, 
 
 For very joy I leap, 
 When in my sin I totter, 
 
 I weep, or try to weep : 
 And grace, sweet grace celestial. 
 
 Shall all its love display. 
 
I -^ 
 
 142 SICK-ROOM THOUGIITH AND (il.KANINQS. 
 
 And David's IJoyal ioiintain 
 
 Purge every sin away. 
 O mine, my golden Zion ! 
 
 ( ) lovelier far than gold ! 
 With laurel-girt battalions, 
 
 And safe victorious fold : 
 O sweet and blessed country, 
 
 Shall I ever see thy face ? 
 
 sweet and blessed country, 
 Shall I ever win thy grace ? 
 
 1 have the hope within me 
 To comfort and to bless ! 
 
 Shall I ever win the prize itself ? 
 () tell me, tell me, yes ! 
 
 Exult, O dust and ashes ! 
 
 The Lord shall be thy part : • 
 
 His only, Ilis forever, 
 
 Thou shalt be, and thou art ! 
 Exnlt, () dust and ashes ! 
 
 The Lord shall be thy part 
 His only, His forever, 
 
 Thou shalt be and thou art 
 
 THK END. 
 
 /3^ 
 
 7640X2-CJ>A 
 
fNOS.