KEPT FOR 
 MASTER'S USE 
 
 lllllllll 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 Georgia Stamm 
 
 Chamberlain 
 
 1910-1916 
 
t 
 
 i 
 
 j 
 
Kept for the Master's Use 
 
 American Tract Society 
 New York 
 
LOAN STACK 
 
H3 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 A^v beloved sister Frances finished revising 
 the proofs of this book shortly before her death 
 on Whit Tuesday, June 3, 1879, ^ ut i ts publica- 
 tion was to be deferred till the Autumn. 
 
 In appreciation of the deep and general sym- 
 pathy flowing in to her relatives, they wish that 
 its publication should not be withheld. Know- 
 ing her intense desire that Christ should be 
 magnified, whether by her life or in her death, 
 may it be to His glory that in these pages she, 
 
 being dead, 
 
 "Yet Speaketh!" 
 
 MARIA V. G. HAVERGAL. 
 
 OAKHAMPTON, WORCESTERSHIRE, 
 nth yune, 1879 
 
 022 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. OUR LIVES KEPT FOR JESUS 9 
 
 II. OUR MOMENTS KEPT FOR JESUS .... 33 
 
 III. OUR HANDS KEPT FOR JESUS 43 
 
 IV. OUR FEET KEPT FOR JESUS 60 
 
 V. OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS 67 
 
 VI. OUR LIPS KEPT FOR JESUS 87 
 
 VII. OUR SILVER AND GOLD KEPT FOR JESUS 105 
 
 VIII. OUR INTELLECTS KEPT FOR JESUS . . . 122 
 
 IX. OUR WILLS KEPT FOR JESUS 129 
 
 X. OUR HEARTS KEPT FOR JESUS 140 
 
 XL OUR LOVE KEPT FOR JESUS 146 
 
 XII. OUR SELVES KEPT FOR JESUS 154 
 
 XIII. CHRIST FOR us 164 
 
KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
TAKE my life, and let it be 
 Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. 
 
 Take my moments and my days, 
 Let them flow in ceaseless praise. 
 
 Take my hands, and let them move 
 At the impulse of Thy love. 
 
 Take my feet, and let them be 
 Swift and " beautiful " for Thee. 
 
 Take my voice, and let me sing 
 Always, only, for my King. 
 
 Take my lips, and let them be 
 Filled with messages from Thee. 
 
 Take my silver and my gold ; 
 Not a mite would I withhold. 
 
 Take my intellect, and use 
 
 Every power as Thou shalt choose. 
 
 Take my will and make it Thine; 
 It shall be no longer mine. 
 
 Take my heart ; it is Thine own ; 
 It shall be Thy royal throne. 
 
 Take my love; my Lord, I pour 
 At Thy feet its treasure-store. 
 
 Take myself, and I will be 
 Ever, only, ALL for Thee. 
 
M 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OUR LIVES KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my life that it may be 
 Consecrated, Lord, to Thee ! " 
 
 ANY a heart has echoed the little song, 
 
 (< Take my life, and let it be 
 Consecrated, Lord, to Thee ! " 
 
 And yet those echoes have not been, in every case 
 and at all times, so clear, and full, and firm, so 
 continuously glad as we would wish, and perhaps 
 expected. Some of us have said : 
 
 tl I launch me forth upon a sea 
 
 Of boundless love and tenderness." 
 
 and after a little we have found, or fancied, that 
 there is a hidden leak in our barque and though 
 we are doubtless still afloat, yet we are not sail- 
 ing with the same free, exultant confidence as at 
 first. What is it that has dulled and weakened 
 the echo of pur consecration song ? What is the 
 little leak that hinders the swift and buoyant 
 
 9 
 
io KEPT FOR THE; MASTER'S USE. 
 
 course of our consecrated life ? Holy Father, 
 let Thy loving Spirit guide the hand that writes, 
 and strengthen the heart of every one who reads 
 what shall be written for Jesus' sake. 
 
 While many a sorrowfully-varied answer to 
 these questions may, and probably will, arise 
 from touched and sensitive consciences, each 
 being shown by God s faithful Spirit the special 
 sin, the special yielding to temptation which has 
 hindered and spoiled the blessed life which they 
 sought to enter and enjoy, it seems to me that 
 one or other of two things has lain at the outset 
 of the failure and disappointment. 
 
 First, it may have arisen from want of the 
 simplest belief in the simplest fact, as well as 
 want of trust in one of the simplest and plainest 
 words our gracious Master ever uttered ! The 
 unbelieved fact being simply that He hears us ; 
 the untrusted word being one of those plain, 
 broad foundation-stones on which we rested our 
 whole weight, it may be many years ago, and 
 which we had no idea we ever doubted, or were 
 in any danger of doubting now " Him that 
 cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." 
 
OUR lylVES KKPT FOR JESUS. II 
 
 " Take my life ! " We have said it or sung it 
 before the Lord, it may be many times ; but if 
 it were only once whispered in His ear with full 
 purpose of heart, should we not believe that He 
 heard it ? And if we know that He heard it, 
 should we not believe that He has answered it, 
 and fulfilled this, our heart's desire? For with 
 Him hearing means heeding. Then why should 
 we doubt that He did verily take our lives when 
 we offered them our bodies when we presented 
 them ? Have we not been wronging His faith- 
 fulness all this time by practically, even if uncon- 
 sciously, doubting whether the prayer ever really 
 reached Him ? And if so, is it any wonder that 
 we have not realized all the power and joy of full 
 consecration ? By some means or other He has 
 to teach us to trust implicitly at every step of the 
 way. And so, if we did not really trust in this 
 matter, He has had to let us find out our want of 
 trust by withholding the sensible part of the 
 blessing, and thus stirring us up to find out why 
 it is withheld. 
 
 An offered gift must be either accepted or 
 refused. Can He have refused it when He has 
 said, " Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise 
 
12 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 cast out?" If not, then it must have been 
 accepted. It is just the same process as when 
 we came to Him first of all, with the intolerable 
 burden of our sins. There was no help for it but 
 to come with them to Him, and take His word 
 for it that He would not and did not cast us out. 
 And so coming, so believing, we found rest to 
 our souls ; we found that His word was true, and 
 that His taking away our sins was a reality. 
 
 Some give their lives to Him then and there, 
 and go forth to live thenceforth not at all unto 
 themselves, but unto Him who died for them. 
 This is as it should be, for conversion and con- 
 secration ought to be simultaneous. But practi- 
 cally it is not very often so, except with those in 
 whom the bringing out of darkness into marvel- 
 ous light has been sudden and dazzlhig, and full 
 of deepest contrasts. More frequently the work 
 resembles the case of the Hebrew servant described 
 in Exodus xxi., who, after six years' experience of 
 a good master's service, dedicates himself volunta- 
 rily, unreservedly, and irrevocably to it, saying, 
 " I love my master ; I will not go out free ; " the 
 master then accepting and sealing him to a 
 life-long service, free in law, yet bound in love. 
 
OUR U VKS KEPT FOR JESUS. 13 
 
 This seems to be a figure of later consecration 
 founded on experience and love. 
 
 And yet, as at our first coming, it is less than 
 nothing, worse than nothing that we have to 
 bring; for our lives, even our redeemed and par- 
 doned lives, are not only weak and worthless, 
 but defiled and sinful. But thanks be to God for 
 the Altar that sanctifieth the gift, even our Lord 
 Jesus Christ Himself! By Him we draw nigh 
 unto God; to Him, as one with the Father, we 
 offer our living sacrifice ; in Him, as the Beloved 
 of the Father, we know it is accepted. So, dear 
 friends, when once He has wrought in us the 
 desire to be altogether His own, and put into our 
 hearts the prayer, " Take my life," let us go on 
 our way rejoicing, believing that He has taken 
 our lives, our hands, our feet, our voices, our in- 
 tellects, our wills, our whole selves, to be ever, 
 only, all for Him. Let us consider that a bless- 
 edly settled thing; not because of anything we 
 have felt, or said, or done, but because we know 
 that He heareth us, and because we know that 
 He is true to His word. 
 
 But suppose our hearts do not condemn us in 
 this matter, our disappointment may arise from 
 
14 KEPT FOR THE; MASTER'S USE. 
 
 another cause. It may be that we have not re- 
 ceived, because we have not asked a fuller and 
 further blessing. Suppose that we did believe, 
 thankfully and surely, that the Lord heard our 
 prayer, and that He did indeed answer and accept 
 us, and set us apart for Himself, and yet we find 
 that our consecration was not merely miserably 
 incomplete, but that we have drifted back again 
 almost to where we were before. Or suppose 
 things are not quite so bad as that, still we have 
 not quite all we expected ; and even if we think 
 we can truly say, "O God, my heart is fixed/' 
 we find that, to our daily sorrow, somehow or 
 other the details of our conduct do not seem to 
 be fixed, something or other is perpetually slip- 
 ping through, till we get perplexed and distressed. 
 Then we are tempted to wonder whether, after 
 all, there was not some mistake about it, and the 
 Lord did not really take us at our word, although 
 we took Him at His word. And then the strug- 
 gle with one doubt, and entanglement, and temp- 
 tation only seems to land us in another. What is 
 to be done then? 
 
 First, I think, very humbly and utterly honestly, 
 to search and try our ways before our God; or 
 
OUR UV3S KSPT FOR J3SUS. 15 
 
 rather, as we shall soon realize our helplessness to 
 make such a search, ask Him to do it for us, 
 praying for His promised Spirit to show us unmis- 
 takably if there is any secret thing with us that is 
 hindering both the inflow and outflow of His 
 grace to us and through us. Do not let us shrink 
 from some unexpected flash into a dark corner; 
 do not let us wince at the sudden touching of a 
 hidden plague-spot. The Lord always does His 
 own work thoroughly, if we will only let Him do 
 it; if we put our case into His hands. He will 
 search and probe fully and firmly, though very 
 tenderly. Very painfully, it may be, but only 
 that He may do the very thing we want cleanse 
 us and heal us thoroughly, so that we may set off 
 to walk in real newness of life. But if we do not 
 put it unreservedly into His hands, it will be no 
 use thinking or talking about our lives being con- 
 secrated to Him. The heart that is not entrusted 
 to Him for searching, will not be undertaken by 
 Him for cleansing; the life that fears to come to 
 the light lest any deed should be reproved, can 
 never know the blessedness and the privileges of 
 walking in the light. 
 
 But what then? When He has graciously 
 
1 6 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 again put a new song in our mouth, and we are 
 singing, 
 
 " Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, 
 Who like me His praise should sing ? " 
 
 and again with fresh earnestness we are saying, 
 
 " Take my life, and let it be 
 Consecrated, Lord, to Thee ! " 
 
 are we only to look forward to the same disap- 
 pointing experience over again ? are we always to 
 stand at the threshold ? Consecration is not so 
 much a step as a course ; not so much an act, as a 
 position to which a course of action inseparably 
 belongs. In so far as it is a course and a position, 
 there must naturally be a definite entrance upon 
 it, and a time, it may be a moment, when that 
 entrance is made. That is when we say, ''Take ; " 
 but we do not want to go on taking a first step 
 over and over again. What we want now is to 
 be maintained in that position, and to fulfill that 
 course. So let us go on to another prayer. Hav- 
 ing already said, " Take my life, for I cannot 
 give it to Thee/' let us now say, with deepened 
 conviction, that without Christ we really can do 
 
OUR UVES KEPT FOR JESUS. 17 
 
 nothing "Keep my life, for I cannot keep it for 
 Thee." 
 
 Let us ask this with the same simple trust to 
 which, in so many other things, He has so liberally 
 and graciously responded. For this is the confi- 
 dence that we have in Him, that if we ask any- 
 thing according to His will, He heareth us ; and 
 if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, 
 we know that we have the petitions that we de- 
 sired of Him. There can be no doubt that this 
 petition is according to His will, because it is 
 based upon many a promise. May I give it to 
 you just as it floats through my own mind again 
 and again, knowing whom I have believed, and 
 being persuaded that He is able to keep that 
 which I have committed unto Him ? 
 
 Keep my life, that it may be 
 Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. 
 
 Keep my moments and my days ; 
 Let them flow in ceaseless praise. 
 
 Keep my hands that they may move 
 At the impulse of Thy love. 
 
 Keep my feet that they may be, 
 Swift and " beautiful" for Thee. 
 
1 8 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 Keep my voice that I may sing 
 Always, only, for my King. 
 
 Keep my lips, that they may be 
 Filled with messages from Thee 
 
 Keep my silver and my gold ; 
 Not a mite would I withhold. 
 
 Keep my intellect, and use 
 Every power as Thou shalt choose. 
 
 Keep my will, oh, keep it Thine, 
 For it is no longer mine. 
 
 Keep my heart ; it is Thine own, 
 It is now Thy royal throne. 
 
 Keep my love ; my Lord, I pour 
 At Thy feet its treasure-store. 
 
 Keep myself, that I may be 
 Ever, only, ALL for Thee. 
 
 Yes ! He who is able and willing to take unto 
 Himself, is no less able and willing to keep for 
 Himself. Our willing offering has been made by 
 His enabling grace, and this our King has "seen 
 with joy." And now we pray, " Keep this for- 
 ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the 
 heart of Thy people" (i Chron. xxix. 17, 18). 
 
OUR UVES KSPT FOR JKSUS. 19 
 
 This blessed " taking " once for all, which we 
 may quietly believe as an accomplished fact, fol* 
 lowed by the continual " keeping " for which 
 He will be continually inquired of by us, seems 
 analogous to the great washing by which we have 
 part in Christ, and the repeated washing of the 
 feet for which we need to be continually coming 
 to Him. For with the deepest and sweetest con- 
 sciousness that he has, indeed, taken our lives to 
 be his very own, the need of His active and actual 
 keeping of them in every detail and at every 
 moment is most fully realized. But then we have 
 the promise of our faithful God, " I, the Lord, do 
 keep it, I will keep it night and day." The only 
 question is, Will we trust this promise, or will we 
 not ? If we do, we shall find it come true. If 
 not, of course it will not be realized. For un- 
 claimed promises are like uncashed cheques; they 
 will keep us from bankruptcy, but not from want. 
 But if not, why not? What right have we to 
 pick out one of His faithful sayings, and say we 
 don't expect Him to fulfill that ? What defence 
 can we bring, what excuse can we invent, for so 
 doing ? 
 
 If you appeal to experience against His faith- 
 
20 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 fulness to His word, I will appeal to experience 
 too, and ask you, did you ever really trust Jesus 
 to fulfill any word of His to you, and find your 
 trust deceived ? As to the past experience of the 
 details of your life not being kept for Jesus, look 
 a little more closely at it, and you will find that 
 though you may have asked, you did not trust. 
 Whatever you really did trust Him to keep, He 
 has kept, and the unkept things were never really 
 entrusted. Scrutinize this past experience as you 
 will, and it will only bear witness against }our 
 unfaithfulness, never against His absolute faith- 
 fulness. 
 
 Yet this witness must not be unheeded. We 
 must not forget the things that are behind till 
 they are confessed and forgiven. Let us now 
 bring all this unsatisfactory past experience, 
 and, most of all, the want of trust which has 
 been the poison-spring of its course, to the pre- 
 cious blood of Christ, which cleanseth us, even 
 us, from all sin, even this sin. Perhaps we never 
 saw that we were not trusting Jesus as He 
 deserves to be trusted ; if so, let us wonderingly 
 hate ourselves the more that we could be so trust- 
 less to such a Saviour, and so sinfully dark 
 
. OUR WVES KEPT FOR JESUS. 21 
 
 and stupid that we did not even see it. And 
 oh, let us wonderingly love Him the more that 
 He has been so patient and gentle with us, up- 
 braiding not, though in our slow-hearted foolish- 
 ness we have been grieving Him by this subtle 
 unbelief ; and then by His grace may we enter 
 upon a new era of experience, our lives kept 
 for Him more fully than ever before, because we 
 trust Him more simply and unreservedly to keep 
 them! 
 
 Here we must face a question, and perhaps a 
 difficulty. Does it not almost seem as if we were 
 at this point led to trusting to our trust, making 
 everything hinge upon it, and thereby only re- 
 moving a subtle dependence upon ourselves one 
 step farther back, disguising instead of renounc- 
 ing it? If Christ's keeping depends upon our 
 trusting, and our continuiug to trust depends 
 upon ourselves, we are in no better or safer posi- 
 tion than before, and shall only be landed in a 
 fresh series of disappointments. The old story, 
 something for the sinner to do, crops up again 
 here, only with the ground shifted from "works 1 ' 
 to trust. Said a friend to me, "I see now ! I 
 did trust Jesus to do everything else for me, but 
 
22 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 I thought that this trusting was something that / 
 had got to do." And so, of course, what she 
 "had, got to do" had beem a perpetual effort 
 and frequent failure. We can no more trust and 
 keep on trusting than we can do anything else of 
 ourselves. Even in this it must be " Jesus only ; " 
 we are not to look to Him only to be the Author 
 and Finisher of our faith, but we are to look to 
 Him for all the intermediate fulfillment of the 
 work of faith (2 Thess. i. n); we must ask Him 
 to go on fulfilling it in us, committing even this 
 to His power. 
 
 For we both may and must 
 
 Commit our very faith to Him, 
 
 Entrust to Him our trust. 
 
 What a long time it takes us to come down to 
 the conviction, and still more to the realization 
 of the fact that without Him we can do nothing, 
 but that He must work all our works in us ! This 
 is the work of God, that ye believe in Him whom 
 He has sent. And no less must it be the work of 
 God that we go on believing, and that we go on 
 trusting. Then, dear friends, who are longing 
 to trust Him with unbroken and unwavering 
 
OUR UVES KEPT FOR J3SUS. 23 
 
 trust, cease the effort and drop the burden, and 
 now entrust your trust to Him ! He is just as 
 well able to keep that as any other part of the 
 complex lives which we want Him to take and 
 keep for Himself. And oh, do not pass on con- 
 tent with the thought, "Yes, that is a good idea; 
 perhaps I should find that a great help ! ' ' But, 
 " Now, then, do it" It is no help to the sailor 
 to see a flash of light across a dark sea, if he does 
 not instantly steer accordingly. 
 
 Consecration is not a religiously selfish thing. 
 If it sinks into that, it ceases to be consecration. 
 We want our lives kept, not that we may feel 
 happy, and be saved the distress consequent on 
 wandering, and get the power with God and man, 
 and all the other privileges linked with it. We 
 shall have all this, because the lower is included 
 in the higher ; but our true aim, if the love of 
 Christ constraineth us, will be far beyond this. 
 Not for "me" at all, but "for Jesus; " not for 
 my safety, but for His glory ; not for my comfort, 
 but for His joy; not that I may find rest, but 
 that He may see the travail of His soul, and be 
 satisfied! Yes, for Him I want to be kept. Kept 
 
24 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 for His sake ; kept for His use ; kept to be His 
 witness ; kept for His joy. Kept for Him, that 
 in me He may show forth some tiny sparkle of 
 His light and beauty; kept to do His will and 
 His work in His own way ; kept, it may be, 
 to suffer for His sake ; kept for Him, that He 
 may do just what seemeth Him good with me ; 
 kept, so that no other lord shall have any more 
 dominion over me, but that Jesus shall have all 
 there is to have little enough, indeed, but not 
 divided or diminished by any other claim. Is 
 not this, O you who love the Lord is not this 
 worth living for, worth asking for, worth trust- 
 ing for ? 
 
 This is consecration, and I cannot tell you the 
 blessedness of it. It is not the least use arguing 
 with one who has had but a taste of its blessed- 
 ness, and saying to him, " How can these things 
 be ? " It is not the least use starting all sorts of 
 difficulties and theoretical suppositions about it 
 with such a one, any more than it was when the 
 Jews argued with the man who said, " One thing 
 I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see." 
 The Lord Jesus does take the life that is offered 
 to Him, and He does keep the life for Himself 
 
OUR I.IVKS KEPT FOR JESUS. 25 
 
 that is entrusted to Him ; but until the life is 
 offered we can not know the taking, and until 
 the life is entrusted we can not know or under* 
 stand the keeping. All we can do is to say, " O 
 taste and see ! * ' and bear witness to the reality 
 of Jesus Christ, and set to our seal that we have 
 found Him true to His every word, and that we 
 have proved Him able even to do exceeding 
 abundantly above all we asked or thought. Why 
 should we hesitate to bear this testimony ? We 
 have done nothing at all ; we have, in all our 
 efforts, only proved to ourselves, and perhaps to 
 others, that we had no power either to give or 
 keep our lives. 
 
 Why should we not, then, glorify His grace 
 by acknowledging that we have found Him so 
 wonderfully and tenderly gracious and faith- 
 ful in both taking and keeping as we never 
 supposed or imagined ? I shall never forget the 
 smile and emphasis with which a poor working- 
 man bore this witness to his Lord. I said to 
 him, "Well, H., we have a good Master, have 
 we not ? " "Ah," said he, "a deal better than 
 ever / thought !" That summed up his experi- 
 ence, and so it will sum up the experience of every 
 
26 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 one who will but yield their lives wholly to the 
 same good Master. 
 
 I can not close this chapter without a word 
 with those, especially my younger friends, who, 
 although they have named the name of Christ, 
 are saying, "Yes, this is all very well for some 
 people, or for older people, but I am not ready 
 for it; I can't say I see my way to this sort of 
 thing." I am going to take the lowest ground 
 for a minute, and appeal to your " past experi- 
 ence." Are you satisfied with your experience 
 of the other "sort of thing?" Your pleasant 
 pursuits, your harmless recreations, your nice 
 occupations, even your improving ones, what 
 fruit are you having from them? Your social 
 intercourse, your daily talks and walks, your in- 
 vestments of all the time that remains to you over 
 and above the absolute duties God may have given 
 you, what fruit that shall remain have you from 
 all this ? Day after day passes on, and year after 
 year, and what shall the harvest be? What is 
 even the present return ? Are you getting any real 
 and lasting satisfaction out of it all ? Are you not 
 finding that things lose their flavor, and that you 
 
OUR UVES KEPT FOR JESUS. 27 
 
 are spending your strength day after day for 
 nought ? that you are no more satisfied than 
 you were a year ago rather less so, if any- 
 thing ? 
 
 Does not a sense of hollowness and weariness 
 come over you as you go on in the same round, 
 perpetually getting through things only to begin 
 again ? It can not be otherwise. Over even the 
 freshest and purest earthly fountains the Hand 
 that never makes a mistake has written, " He 
 that drinketh of this water shall thirst again/' 
 Look into your own heart and you will find a 
 copy of that inscription already traced, "Shall 
 thirst again." And the characters are being 
 deepened with every attempt to quench the inevi- 
 table thirst and weariness in life, which can only 
 be satisfied and rested in full consecration to God. 
 For " Thou hast made us for Thyself, and the 
 heart never resteth till it findeth rest in Thee." 
 To day I tell you of a brighter and happier life, 
 whose inscription is, (< Shall never thirst" a life 
 that is no dull round-and -round in a circle of 
 unsatisfactorinesses, but a life that has found its 
 true and entirely satisfactory centre, and set itself 
 towards a shining and entirely satisfactory goal, 
 
28 KE;pr FOR THE; MA .T^R'S USE. 
 
 whose brightness is cast over every step of the 
 way. Will you not seek it ? 
 
 Do not shrink, and suspect, and hang back 
 from what it may involve, with selfish and uncon- 
 fiding and ungenerous half-heartedness. Take 
 the word of any who have willingly offered them- 
 selves unto the Lord, that the life of consecration 
 is " a deal better than they thought ! " Choose 
 this day whom you will serve with real, thorough- 
 going, whole-hearted service, and He will receive 
 you ; and you will find, as we have found, that 
 He is such a good Master that you are satisfied 
 with His goodness, and that you will never want 
 to go out free. Nay, rather take His own word 
 for it ; see what He says : " If they obey and 
 serve Him, they shall spend their days in pros- 
 perity, and their years in pleasures." You can 
 not possibly understand that till you are really in 
 His service ! For He does not give, nor even 
 show, His wages before you enter it. And He 
 says, " My servants shall sing for joy of heart. " 
 But you cannot try over that song to see what it 
 is like, you cannot even read one bar of it, till 
 your nominal or even promised service is ex- 
 changed for real and undivided consecration. 
 
OUR UVES KEPT FOR JESUS. 29 
 
 But when He can call you " My "servant," then 
 you will find yourself singing for joy of heart, 
 because He says you shall. 
 
 "And who, then, is willing to consecrate his 
 service this day unto the Lord ? ' ' 
 
 " Do not startle at the term, or think, because 
 you do not understand all it may include, you 
 are therefore not qualified for it. I dare say it 
 comprehends a great deal more than either you 
 or I understand, but we can both enter into the 
 spirit of it, and the detail will unfold itself as long 
 as our probation shall last. Christ demands a 
 hearty consecration in will, and He will teach us 
 what that involves in act." 
 
 This explains the paradox that " full consecra- 
 iiuti ' ' may be in one sense the act of a moment, 
 and in another the work of a lifetime. It must be 
 complete to be real, and yet, if real, it is always 
 incomplete ; a point of rest, and yet a perpetual 
 progression. 
 
 Suppose you make over a piece of ground to 
 another person. You give it up, then and there, 
 entirely to that other ; it is no longer in your own 
 possession ; you no longer dig and sow, plant and 
 reap, at your discretion or for your own profit. 
 
30 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S usic. 
 
 His occupation of it is total ; no other has any 
 right to an inch of it ; it is his affair thenceforth 
 what crops to arrange for and how to make the 
 most of it. But his practical occupation of it may 
 not appear all at once. There may be waste land 
 which he will take into full cultivation only by 
 degrees, space wasted for want of draining or by 
 over-fencing, and odd corners lost for want of 
 enclosing; fields yielding smaller returns than 
 they might, because of hedgerows too wide and 
 shady, and trees too many and spreading, and 
 strips of good soil trampled into uselessness for 
 want of defined pathways. 
 
 Just so is it with our lives. The transaction of, 
 so to speak, making them over to God is definite 
 and complete. But then begins the practical de- 
 velopment of consecration. And here He leads 
 on "softly, according as the children be able to 
 endure. " I do not suppose any one sees anything 
 like all that it involves at the outset. We have 
 not a notion what an amount of waste of power 
 there has been in our lives; we never measured 
 out the odd corners and the undrained bits, and 
 it never occurred to us what good fruit might be 
 grown in our straggling hedgerows, nor how the 
 
OUR UVS KEPT FOR JESUS. 3! 
 
 shade of our trees has been keeping the sun from 
 the scanty crops. And so, season by season, we 
 shall be sometimes not a little startled, yet always 
 very glad, as we find that bit by bit the Master 
 shows how much more may be made of our ground, 
 how much more He is able to make of it than we 
 did ; and we shall be willing to work under Him 
 and do exactly what He points out, even if it 
 comes to cutting down a shady tree or clearing 
 out a ditch full of pretty weeds and wild-flowers. 
 As the seasons pass on, it will seem as if there 
 was always more and more to be done; the very 
 fact that He is constantly showing us something 
 more to be done in it, proving that it is really 
 His ground. Only let Him have the ground, no 
 matter how poor or overgrown the soil may be, 
 and then " He will make her wilderness like 
 Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord." 
 Yes, even our "desert!" And then we shall 
 sing, " My beloved is gone down into His garden, 
 to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and 
 to gather lilies." 
 
 Made for Thyself, O God! 
 Made for Thy love, Thy service, Thy delight; 
 Made to show forth Thy wisdom, grace, and might; 
 
$2 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 Made for Thy praise, whom veiled archangels laud 
 Oh, strange and glorious thought, that we may be 
 A joy to Thee ! 
 
 Yet the heart turns away 
 From this grand destiny of bliss, and deems 
 J Twas made for its poor self, for passing dreams. 
 Chasing illusions melting day by day, 
 Till for ourselves we read on this world's be*t, 
 
 "This is not rest!" 
 
OUR MOMENTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 33 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OUR MOMENTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my moments and my days; 
 Let them flow in ceaseless praise." 
 
 IT may be a little help to writer and reader if 
 we consider some of the practical details of the 
 life which we desire to have " kept for Jesus M 
 in the order of the little hymn at the beginning 
 of this book, with the one word " take " changed 
 to " keep." So we will take a couplet for each 
 chapter. 
 
 The first point that naturally comes up is that 
 which is almost synonymous with life our time. 
 And this brings us at once face to face with one 
 of our past difficulties, and its probable cause. 
 
 When we take a wide sweep, we are so apt to 
 be vague. When we are aiming at generalities 
 we do not hit the practicalities. We forget that 
 faithfulness to principle is only proved by faith- 
 fulness in detail. Has not this vagueness had 
 something to do with the constant ineffectiveness 
 3 
 
34 KEPT FOR THE; MASTER'S USE. 
 
 of our feeble desire that our time should be de- 
 voted to God ? 
 
 In things spiritual, the greater does not always 
 include the less, but, paradoxically, the less more 
 often includes the greater. So in this case, time 
 is entrusted to us to be traded with for our Lord. 
 But we cannot grasp it as a whole. We instinc- 
 tively break it up ere we can deal with it for any 
 purpose. So when a New Year comes round, we 
 commit it with special earnestness to the Lord. 
 But as we do so, are we not conscious of a feel- 
 ing that even a year is too much for us to deal 
 with? And does not this feeling, that we are 
 dealing with a larger thing than we can grasp, 
 take away from the sense of reality ? Thus we are 
 brought to a more manageable measure ; and as 
 the Sunday mornings or the Monday mornings 
 come round, we thankfully commit the opening 
 week to Him, and the sense of help and rest is 
 renewed and strengthened. But not even the six 
 or seven days are close enough to our hand, even 
 to-morrow exceeds our tiny grasp, and even to- 
 morrow's grace is therefore not given to us. So 
 we find the need of considering our lives as a 
 matter of day by day, and that any more general 
 
OUR MOMENTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 3$ 
 
 committal and consecration of our time does not 
 meet the case so truly. Here we have found 
 much comfort and help, and if results have not 
 been entirely satisfactory, they have, at least, 
 been more so than before we reached this point 
 of subdivision. 
 
 But if we have found help and blessing by 
 going a certain distance in one direction, is it 
 not probable we shall find more if we go farther 
 in the same? And so, if we may commit the 
 days to our Lord, why not the hours, and why 
 not the moments? And may we not expect a 
 fresh and special blessing in so doing ? 
 
 We do not realize the importance of moments. 
 Only let us consider those two sayings of God 
 about them, " In a moment shall they die," and, 
 " We shall all be changed in a moment, " and we 
 shall think less lightly of them. Eternal issues 
 may hang upon any one of them, but it has come 
 and gone before we can even think about it. 
 Nothing seems less within the possibility of our 
 own keeping, yet nothing is most inclusive of all 
 other keeping. Therefore let us ask Him to 
 keep them for us. 
 
 Are they not the tiny joints in the harness 
 
36 KEPT FOR THE; MASTER'S USE. 
 
 through which the darts of temptation pierce us ? 
 Only give us time, we think, and we should not 
 be overcome. Only give us time, and we could 
 pray and resist, and the devil would flee from us ! 
 But he comes all in a moment ; and in a moment 
 an unguarded, unkept one we utter the hasty 
 or exaggerated word, or think the un-Christ-like 
 thought, or feel the un-Christ-like impatience or 
 resentment. 
 
 But even if we have gone so far as to say, 
 "Take my moments," have we gone the step 
 farther, and really let Him take them really en- 
 trusted them to Him ? It is no good saying 
 "take," when we do not let go. How can 
 another keep that which we are keeping hold of? 
 So let us, with full trust in His power, first com- 
 mit these slippery moments to Him, put them 
 right into His hand, and then we may trustfully 
 and happily say, "Lord, keep them for me! 
 Keep every one of the quick series as it arises. 
 I cannot keep them for Thee ; do Thou keep 
 them for Thyself!" 
 
 But the sanctified and Christ-loving heart can 
 not be satisfied with only negative keeping We 
 do not want only to be kept from displeasing 
 
OUR MOMENTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 37 
 
 Him, but to be kept always pleasing Him. Every 
 " kept from" should have its corresponding and 
 still more blessed "keptyfrr." We do not want 
 our moments to be simply kept from Satan's use, 
 but kept for His use ; we want them to be not 
 only kept from sin, but kept for His praise. 
 
 Do you ask, " But what use can He make of 
 mere moments ? " I will not stay to prove or 
 illustrate the obvious truth that, as are the mo- 
 ments so will be the hours and the days which 
 they build. You understand that well enough. 
 I will answer your question as it stands. 
 
 Look back through the history of the Church 
 in all ages, and mark how often a great work and 
 mighty influence grew out of a mere moment in 
 the life of one of God's servants ; a mere moment, 
 but overshadowed and filled with the fruitful 
 power of the Spirit of God. The moment may 
 have been spent in uttering five words, but they 
 have fed five thousand, or even five hundred 
 thousand. Or it may have been lit by the flash 
 of a thought that has shone into hearts and homes 
 throughout the land, and kindled torches that 
 have been borne into earth's darkest corners. 
 The rapid speaker or the lonely thinker little 
 
38 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 guessed what use his Lord was making of that 
 single moment. There was no room in it for even 
 a thought of that. If that moment had not been, 
 though' perhaps unconsciously, ' ' kept for Jesus, ' ' 
 but had been otherwise occupied, what a harvest 
 to His praise would have been missed ! 
 
 The same thing is going on every day. It is 
 generally a moment either an opening or a cul- 
 minating one that really does the work. It is 
 not so often a whole sermon as a single short sen- 
 tence in it, that wings God's arrow to a heart. 
 It is seldom a whole conversation that is the 
 means of bringing about the desired result, but 
 some sudden turn of thought or word which 
 comes with the electric touch of God's power. 
 Sometimes it is less than that ; only a look (and 
 what is more momentary ?) has been used by Him 
 for the pulling down of strongholds. Again, in 
 our own quiet waiting upon God, as moment after 
 moment glides past in the silence at His feet, the 
 eye resting upon a page of His Word, or only 
 looking up to Him through the darkness, have we 
 not found that He can so irradiate one passing 
 moment with His light that its rays never die 
 away, but shine on and on through days and 
 
OUR MOMENTS KEPT FOR JBSUS. 39 
 
 years? Are not such moments proved to have 
 been kept for Him ? And if some, why not all ? 
 
 This view of moments seems to make it clearer 
 that is impossible to serve two masters, for it is 
 evident that the service of a moment cannot be 
 divided. If it is occupied in the service of self, 
 or any other master, it is not at the Lord's dis- 
 posal ; He cannot make use of what is already 
 occupied. 
 
 Oh, how much we have missed by not placing 
 them at His disposal ! What might He not have 
 done with the moments freighted with self or 
 loaded with emptiness, which we have carelessly 
 let drift by ! Oh, what might have been if they 
 had all been kept for Jesus ! How He might 
 have filled them with His light and life, enrich- 
 ing our own lives that have been impoverished by 
 the waste, and using them in far-spreading bless- 
 ing and power ! 
 
 While we have been undervaluing these frac- 
 tions of eternity, what has our gracious God been 
 doing in them ? How strangely touching are the 
 words, "What is man, that Thou shouldest set 
 Thine heart upon him, and that Thou shouldest 
 visit him every morning, and try him every 
 
40 KEPT FOR THE) MASTER'S USK. 
 
 moment?" Terribly solemn and awful would 
 be the thought that He has been trying us every 
 moment, were it not for the yearning gentleness 
 and love of the Father revealed in that wonderful 
 expression of wonder, " What is man, that Thou 
 shouldest set Thine heart upon him ? ' ' Think 
 of that ceaseless setting of His heart upon us, 
 careless and forgetful children as we have been ! 
 And then think of those other words, none the 
 less literally true because given under a figure : " I, 
 the Lord, do keep it ; I will water it every moment" 
 We see something of God's infinite greatness 
 and wisdom when we try to fix our dazzled gaze 
 on infinite space. But when we turn to the mar- 
 vels of the microscope, we gain a clearer view 
 and more definite grasp of these attributes by 
 gazing on the perfection of His infinitesimal 
 handiworks. Just so, while we cannot realize 
 the infinite love which fills eternity, and the infi- 
 nite vistas of the great future are "dark with 
 excess of light" even to the strongest telescopes 
 of faith, we see that love magnified in the micro- 
 scope of the moments, brought very close to us, 
 and revealing its unspeakable perfection of detail 
 to our wondering sight. 
 
OUR MOMENTS KEPT FOR JESUS, 41 
 
 But we do not see this as long as the moments 
 are kept in our own hands. We are like little 
 children closing our fingers over diamonds. 
 How can they receive and reflect the rays of 
 light, analyzing them into all the splendor of 
 their prismatic beauty, while they are kept shut 
 up tight in the dirty little hands? Give them 
 up ; let our Father hold them for us, and throw 
 His own great light upon them, and then we 
 shall see them full of fair colors of His manifold 
 loving-kindnesses ; and let Him always keep them 
 for us ; and then we shall always see His light and 
 His love reflected in them. 
 
 And then surely they shall be filled with praise. 
 Not that we are to be always singing hymns, and 
 using the expressions of other people's praise, any 
 more than the saints in glory are always literally 
 singing a new song. But praise will be the tone, 
 the color, the atmosphere in which they flow ; 
 none of them away from it or out of it. 
 
 Is it a little too much for them all to " flow in 
 ceaseless praise ? ' ' Well, were will you stop ? 
 What proportion of your moments do you think 
 enough for Jesus ? How many for the spirit of 
 praise, and how many for the spirit of heavi- 
 
42 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 ness ? Be explicit about it, and come to an 
 understanding. If He is not to have all, then 
 how much ? Calculate, balance, and apportion. 
 You will not be able to do this in heaven you 
 know it will be all praise there ; but you are free 
 to halve your service of praise here, or to make 
 the proportion what you will. 
 
 Yet, He made you for His glory. 
 
 Yet, He chose you that you should be to the 
 praise of His glory. 
 
 Yet, He loves you every moment, waters you 
 every moment, watches you unslumberingly, cares 
 for you unceasingly. 
 
 Yet, He died for you ! 
 
 Dear friends, one can hardly write it without 
 tears. Shall you or I remember all this love and 
 hesitate to give all our moments up to Him ? 
 Let us entrust Him with them, and ask Him to 
 keep them all, every single one, for His own 
 beloved self, and fill them all with His praise, 
 and let them all be to His praise ! 
 
OUR HANDS KEPT FOR JESUS. 43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OUR HANDS KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 '* Keep my hands, that they may move 
 At the impulse of Thy love." 
 
 WHEN the Lord has said to us, "Is thine 
 heart right, as My heart is with thy 
 heart?" the next word seems to be, 
 "If it be, give Me thine hand." 
 
 What a call to confidence, and love, and free, 
 loyal, happy service is this ! and how different 
 will the result of its acceptance be from the old 
 lamentation: "We labor and have no rest; we 
 have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the 
 Assyrians." In the service of these "other 
 lords," under whatever shape they have presented 
 themselves, we shall have known something of 
 the meaning of having " both the hands full with 
 travail and vexation of spirit." How many a 
 thing have we " taken in hand," as we say, which 
 we expected to find an agreeable task, an interest 
 in life, a something towards filling up that uncon- 
 
44 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 fessed "aching void " which is often most real 
 when least acknowledged ; and after a while we 
 have found it change under our hands into irk- 
 some travail, involving perpetual vexation of 
 spirit ! The thing may have been of the earth 
 and for the world, and then no wonder it failed 
 to satisfy even the instinct of work, which comes 
 natural to many of us. Or it may have been 
 right enough in itself, something for the good of 
 others so far as we understood their good, and 
 unselfish in all but unravelled motive, and yet we 
 found it full of tangled vexations, because the 
 hands that held it were not simply consecrated to 
 God. Well, if so, let us bring these soiled and 
 tangle-making hands to the Lord, "Let us lift 
 up our heart with our hands" to Him, asking 
 Him to clear and cleanse them. 
 
 If He says, "What is that in thine hand? " let 
 us examine honestly whether it is something which 
 He can use for His glory or not. If not, do not let 
 us hesitate an instant about dropping it. It may 
 be something we do not like to part with ; but 
 the Lord is able to give thee much more than 
 this, and the first glimpse of the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord will 
 
OUR HANDS KEPT FOR JESUS. 4$ 
 
 enable us to count those things loss which were 
 gain to us. 
 
 But if it is something which He can use, He 
 will make us do ever so much more with it than 
 before , Moses little thought what the Lord was 
 going to make him do with that " rod in his 
 hand ! " The first thing he had to do with it 
 was to " cast it on the ground," and see it pass 
 through a startling change. After this he was 
 commanded to take it up again, hard and terri- 
 fying as it was to do so. But when it became again 
 a rod in his hand, it was no longer what it was 
 before, the simple rod of a wandering desert 
 shepherd. Henceforth it was " the rod of God 
 in his hand ' ' (Ex. iv. 20), wherewith he should 
 do signs, and by which God Himself would do 
 " marvellous things " (Ps. Ixxviii. 12). 
 
 If we look at any Old Testament text about 
 consecration, we shall see that the marginal read- 
 ing of the word is, "fill the hand" (e. g., Ex. 
 xxviii. 41 ; i Chron. xxix. 5). Now, if our hands 
 are full of " other things,'' they cannot be filled 
 with " the things that are Jesus Christ's; ' there 
 must be emptying before there can be any true 
 
46 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 filling. So if we are sorrowfully seeing that our 
 hands have not been kept for Jesus, let us humbly 
 begin at the beginning, and ask Him to empty 
 them thoroughly, that He may fill them com- 
 pletely. 
 
 For they must be emptied. Either we come 
 to our Lord willingly about it, letting Him un- 
 clasp their hold, and gladly dropping the glitter- 
 ing weights they have been carrying, or, in very 
 love, He will have to force them open, and 
 wrench from the reluctant grasp the "earthly 
 things ' ' which are so occupying them that He 
 cannot have His rightful use of them. There is 
 only one other alternative, a terrible one, to be 
 let alone till the day comes when not a gentle 
 Master, but the relentless king of terrors shall 
 empty the trembling hands as our feet follow him 
 out of the busy world into the dark valley, for 
 " it is certain we can carry nothing out." 
 
 Yet the emptying and the filling are not all 
 that has to be considered. Before the hands of 
 the priests could be filled with the emblems of 
 consecration, they had to be laid upon the em- 
 blem of atonement (Lev. viii. 14, etc.). That 
 
OUR HANDS KEPT FOR JESUS. 47 
 
 came first. " Aaron and his sons laid their 
 hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin- 
 offering/' So the transference of guilt to our 
 Substitute, typified by that act, must precede the 
 dedication of ourselves to God. 
 
 " My faith would lay her hand 
 
 On that dear head of Thine, 
 While like a penitent I stand, 
 And there confess my sin." 
 
 The blood of that Holy Substitute was shed 
 " to make reconciliation upon the altar." With- 
 out that reconciliation we cannot offer and pre- 
 sent ourselves to God ; but this being made, 
 Christ Himself presents us. And you, that were 
 sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind 
 by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in 
 the body of His flesh through death, to present 
 you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in 
 His sight. 
 
 Then Moses " brought the ram for the burnt- 
 offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their 
 hands upon the head of the ram, and Moses 
 burnt the whole ram upon the altar; it was a 
 burnt-offering for a sweet savor, and an offering 
 
48 KSPT FOR THE; MASTER'S USE. 
 
 made by fire unto the Lord." Thus Christ's 
 offering was, indeed, a whole one, body, soul 
 and spirit, each and all suffering even unto 
 death. These atoning sufferings, accepted by 
 God for us, are, by our own free act, accepted 
 by us as the ground of our acceptance. 
 
 Then, reconciled and accepted, we are ready 
 for consecration ; for then " he brought the other 
 ram, the ram of consecration : and Aaron and 
 his sons laid their hands upon the head of the 
 ram." Here we see Christ, " who is consecrated 
 forevermore." We enter by faith into union 
 with Him who said, " For their sakes I sanctify 
 Myself, that they also might be sanctified 
 through the truth. " 
 
 After all this their hands were filled with 
 " consecrations for a sweet savor," so, after lay- 
 ing the hand of our faith upon Christ, suffering 
 and dying for us, we are to lay that very same 
 hand of faith, and in the very same way upon 
 Him as consecrated for us, to be the source and 
 life and power of our consecration. And then 
 our hands shall be filled with "consecrations," 
 filled with Christ, and filled with all that is a 
 sweet savor to God in Him. 
 
OUR HANDS KEPI" FOR JESUS. 49 
 
 "And who then is willing to fill his hand this 
 day unto the Lord ? ' ' Do you want an added 
 motive? Listen again : " Fill your hands to-day 
 to the Lord, that He may bestow upon you a 
 blessing this day. ' ' Not a long time hence, not 
 even to-morrow, but "this day." Do you not 
 want a blessing? Is not your answer to your 
 Father's "What wilt thou?" the same as Ach- 
 sah's, "Give me a blessing!" Here is His 
 promise of just what you so want ; will you not 
 gladly fulfill His condition? A blessing shall 
 immediately follow. He does not specify what it 
 shall be ; He waits to reveal it. You will find it 
 such a blessing as you had not supposed could be 
 for you a blessing that shall verily make you 
 rich, with no sorrow added a blessing this day. 
 
 All that has been said about consecration ap- 
 plies to our literal members. Stay a minute, and 
 look at your hand, the hand that holds this little 
 book as you read it. See how wonderfully it is 
 made; how perfectly fitted for what it has to do; 
 how ingeniously connected with the brain, so as 
 to yield that instantaneous and instinctive obedi- 
 ence without which its beautiful mechanism would 
 be very littk good to us ! Your hand, do you 
 4 
 
50 KEPT FOR THE; MASTER'S USE. 
 
 say? Whether it is soft and fair with an easy 
 life, or rough and strong with a working one, or 
 white and weak with illness, it is the Lord Jesus 
 Christ's. It is not your own at all; it belongs to 
 Him. He made it, for without Him was not 
 anything made that was made, not even your 
 hand. And He has the added right of purchase 
 He has bought it that it might be one of His 
 own instruments. We know this very well, but 
 have we realized it ? Have we really let Him 
 have the use of these hands of ours ? and have we 
 ever simply and sincerely asked Him to keep 
 them for His own use ? 
 
 Does this mean that we are always to be doing 
 some definitely "religious" work, as it is called? 
 No, but that all that we do is to be always defi- 
 nitely done for Him. There is a great difference. 
 If the hands are indeed moving ' ' at the impulse 
 of His love,' 7 the simplest little duties and acts 
 are transfigured into holy service to the Lord. 
 
 " A servant with this clause 
 Makes drudgery divine; 
 Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws, 
 Makes that and the action fine." 
 
 GEORGE HERBERT. 
 
OUR HANDS KKPT FOR J^SUS. 51 
 
 A Christian school-girl loves Jesus ; she wants 
 to please Him all day long, and so she practices 
 her scales carefully and conscientiously. It is at 
 the impulse of His love that her fingers move so 
 steadily through the otherwise tiresome exercises. 
 Some day her Master will find a use for her music ; 
 but meanwhile it may be just as really done unto 
 Him as if it were Mr. Sankey at his organ, sway- 
 ing the hearts of thousands. The hand of a Chris- 
 tian lad traces his Latin verses, or his figures or his 
 copying. He is doing his best, because a banner 
 has been given him that it may be displayed, not 
 so much by talk as by continuance in well-doing. 
 And so, for Jesus' sake, his hand moves accurately 
 and perseveringly. 
 
 A busy wife, or daughter, or servant has a 
 number of little manual duties to perform. If 
 these are done slowly and leisurely, they may be 
 got through ; but there will not be time left for 
 some little service to the poor, or some little 
 kindness to a suffering or troubled neighbor, or 
 for a little quiet time alone with God and His 
 word. And so the hands move quickly, impelled 
 by the loving desire for service or communion, 
 kept in busy motion for Jesus' sake. Or it may 
 
$2 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 be that the special aim is to give no occasion of 
 reproach to some who are watching, but so to 
 adorn the doctrine that those may be won by the 
 life who will not be won by the word. Then the 
 hands will have their share to do ; they will move 
 carefully, neatly, perhaps even elegantly, making 
 everything around as nice as possible, letting their 
 intelligent touch be seen in the details of the 
 home, and even of the dress, doing or arranging 
 all the little things decently and in order for Jesus' 
 sake. And so on with every duty in every position. 
 It may seem an odd idea, but a simple glance 
 at one's hand, with the recollection, "This hand 
 is not mine ; it has been given to Jesus, and it 
 must be kept for Jesus," may sometimes turn the 
 scale in a doubtful matter, and be a safeguard from 
 certain temptations. With that thought fresh in 
 your mind as you look at your hand, can you let 
 it take up things which, to say the very least, are 
 not " for Jesus? " things which evidently cannot 
 be used, as they most certainly are not used, either 
 for Him or by Him ? Cards, for instance ! Can 
 you deliberately hold in it books of a kind which 
 you know perfectly well, by sadly repeated experi- 
 ence, lead you farther from instead of nearer to 
 
OUR HANDS KEPT FOR JESUS. 53 
 
 Him ? books which must and do fill your mind 
 with those "other things" which, entering in, 
 choke the word? books which you would not 
 care to read at all, if your heart were burning 
 within you at the coming of His feet to bless you ? 
 Next time any temptation of this sort approaches, 
 just look at your hand ! 
 
 It was of a literal hand that our Lord Jesus 
 spoke when He said, "Behold, the hand of him 
 that betrayeth Me is with Me on the table ; ' ' 
 and, " He that dippeth his hand with Me in the 
 dish, the same shall betray Me." A hand so 
 near to Jesus, with Him on the table, touching 
 His own hand in the dish at that hour of sweet- 
 est, and closest, and most solemn intercourse, and 
 yet betraying Him ! That same hand taking the 
 thirty pieces of silver ! What a tremendous les- 
 son of the need of keeping for our hands ! Oh 
 that every hand that is with Him at His sacra- 
 mental table, and that takes the memorial bread, 
 may be kept from any faithless and loveless 
 motion ! And again, it was by literal " wicked 
 hands ' ' that our Lord Jesus was crucified and 
 slain. Does not the thought that human hands 
 have been so treacherous and cruel to our beloved 
 
54 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 Lord, make us wish the more fervently that our 
 hands may be totally faithful and devoted to 
 Him? 
 
 Danger and temptation to let the hands move 
 at other impulses is every bit as great to those 
 who have nothing else to do but to render direct 
 service, and who think they are doing nothing 
 else. Take one practical instance our letter- 
 writing. Have we not been tempted (and fallen 
 before the temptation), according to our various 
 dispositions, to let the hand that holds the pen 
 move at the impulse to write an unkind thought 
 of another ; or to say a clever and sarcastic thing, 
 or a slightly colored and exaggerated thing, which 
 will make our point more telling ; or to let out 
 a grumble or a suspicion ; or to let the pen run 
 away with us into flippant and trifling words, 
 unworthy of our high and holy calling? Have we 
 not drifted away from the golden reminder, 
 " Should he reason with unprofitable talk, and 
 with speeches wherewith he can do no good? " 
 Why has this been, perhaps again and again ? Is 
 it not for want of putting our hands into our 
 dear Master's hand, and asking and trusting Him 
 
OUR HANDS K^PT FOR JESUS. 55 
 
 to keep them ? He could have kept ; He would 
 have kept ! 
 
 Whatever our work or our special temptations 
 may be, the principle remains the same, only let 
 us apply it for ourselves. 
 
 Perhaps one hardly needs to say that the kept 
 hands will be very gentle hands. Quick, angry 
 motions of the heart will sometimes force them- 
 selves into expression by the hand, though the 
 tongue may be restrained. The very way in 
 which we close a door or lay down a book may be 
 a victory or a defeat, a witness to Christ's keep- 
 ing or a witness that we are not truly being kept. 
 How can we expect that God will use this member 
 as an instrument of righteousness unto Him, if 
 we yield it thus as an instrument of unright- 
 eousness unto sin ? Therefore let us see to it, that 
 it is at once yielded to Him whose right it is ; 
 and let our sorrow that it should have been even 
 for an instant desecrated to Satan's use, lead us to 
 entrust it henceforth to our Lord, to be kept by 
 the power of God through faith "for the Master's 
 use." 
 
 For when the gentleness of Christ dwells in 
 us, He can use the merest touch of a finger. 
 
56 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 Have you not heard of one gentle touch on a 
 wayward shoulder being the turning-point of a 
 life? I have known a case in which the Master 
 made use of less than that only the quiver of a 
 little finger being made the means of touching a 
 wayward heart. 
 
 What must the touch of the Master's own hand 
 have been ! One imagines it very gentle, though 
 so full of power. Can He not communicate both 
 the power and the gentleness? When He touched 
 the hand of Peter's wife's mother, she arose and 
 ministered unto them. Do you not think the 
 hand which Jesus had just touched must have 
 ministered very excellently? As we ask Him to 
 "touch our lips with living fire," so that they 
 may speak effectively for Him, may we not ask 
 Him to touch our hands, that they may minister 
 effectively, and excel in all that they find to do 
 for Him ? Then our hands shall be made strong 
 by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob. 
 
 It is very pleasant to feel that if our hands are 
 indeed our Lord's, we may ask Him to guide 
 them and strengthen them, and teach them. I 
 do not mean figuratively, but quite literally. In 
 
OUR HANDS KEPT FOR JESUS. 57 
 
 everything they do for Him (and that should be 
 everything we ever tmdertake), we want to do it 
 well better and better. " Seek that ye may 
 excel." We are too apt to think that He has 
 given us certain natural gifts, but has nothing 
 practically to do with the improvement of them, 
 and leaves us to ourselves for that. Why not ask 
 Him to make these hands of ours more handy for 
 His service, more skillful in what is indicated as 
 the " next thynge ' ' they are to do ? The " kept' ' 
 hands need not be clumsy hands. If the Lord 
 taught David's hands to war and his fingers to 
 fight, will He not teach our hands, and fingers 
 too, to do what He would have them do ? 
 
 The Spirit of God must have taught Bezaleel's 
 hands as well as his head, or he was filled with it 
 not only that he might devise cunning works, but 
 also in cutting of stones and carving of timber. 
 And when all the women that were wise- hearted 
 did spin with their hands, the hands must have 
 been made skillful as well as the hearts made wise 
 to prepare the beautiful garments and curtains. 
 
 There is a very remarkable instance of the 
 hand of the Lord, which I suppose signifies in 
 that case the power of His Spirit, being upon the 
 
$8 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 hand of a man. In i Chron. xxix. 19, we read: 
 " All this," said David, "the Lord made me un- 
 derstand in writing by His hand upon me, even 
 all the works of this pattern. ' ' This can not well 
 mean that the Lord gave David a miraculously- 
 written scroll, because a few verses before, it says 
 that he had it all by the Spirit. So what else 
 can it mean but that as David wrote, the hand of 
 the Lord was upon his hand, impelling him to 
 trace, letter by letter, the right words of descrip- 
 tion for all the details of the temple that Solomon 
 should build, with its courts and chambers, its 
 treasuries and vessels ? Have we not sometimes 
 sat down to write, feeling perplexed and ignorant, 
 and wishing some one were there to tell us what 
 to say ? At such a moment, whether it were a 
 mere note for post, or a sheet for press, it is a 
 great comfort to recollect this mighty laying of 
 a Divine hand upon a human one, and ask for 
 the same help from the same Lord. It is sure to 
 be given ! 
 
 And now, dear friend, what about your own 
 hands? Are they consecrated to the Lord who 
 loves you? And if they are, are you trusting 
 
OUR HANDS KEPT FOR JESUS. 59 
 
 Him to keep them, and enjoying all that is in- 
 volved in that keeping ? Do let this be settled 
 with your Master before you go on to the next 
 chapter. 
 
 After all, this question will hinge on another : 
 Do you love Him ? If you really do, there can 
 surely be neither hesitation about yielding them 
 to Him, nor about entrusting them to Him to be 
 kept. Does He love you ? That is the truer 
 way of putting it ; for it is not our love to Christ, 
 but the love of Christ to us which constraineth 
 us. And this is the impulse of the motion and 
 the mode of the keeping. The steam engine 
 does not move when the fire is not kindled, nor 
 when it is gone out ; no matter how complete 
 the machinery and abundant the fuel, cold coals 
 will neither set it going nor keep it working. 
 Let us ask Him so to shed abroad his love in our 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us, 
 that it may be the perpetual and only impulse of 
 every action of our daily life. 
 
60 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OUR FEET KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my feet, that they may be 
 Swift and beautiful for Thee." 
 
 THE figurative keeping of the feet of His 
 saints, with the promise that when they 
 run they shall not stumble, is a most beau- 
 tiful and helpful subject. But it is quite distinct 
 from the literal keeping for Jesus of our literal 
 feet. 
 
 There is a certain homeliness about the idea 
 which helps to make it very real. These very feet 
 of ours are purchased for Christ's service by the 
 precious drops which fell from His own torn and 
 pierced feet upon the cross. They are to be His 
 errand-runners. How can we let the world, the 
 flesh, and the devil have the use of what has been 
 purchased with such payment? 
 
 Shall ' < the world ' ' have the use of them ? Shall 
 they carry us where the world is paramount, and 
 the Master cannot be even named because the 
 
OUR FEET KEPT FOR JESUS. 6l 
 
 mention of His name would be so obviously out 
 of place? I know the apparent difficulties of a 
 subject which will at once occur in connection 
 with this, but they all vanish when our bright 
 banner is loyally unfurled, with its motto, "All 
 for Jesus ! ' ' Do you honestly want your very 
 feet to be "kept for Jesus ! " Let these simple 
 words, "Kept for Jesus" ring out next time the 
 dancing difficulty or any other difficulty of the 
 same kind comes up, and I know what the result 
 will be ! 
 
 Shall " the flesh " have the use of them ? Shall 
 they carry us hither and thither merely because 
 we like to go, merely because it pleases ourselves 
 to take this walk or pay this visit ? And after all, 
 what a failure it is ! If people only would believe 
 it, self-pleasing is always a failure in the end. Our 
 good Master gives us a reality and fulness of 
 pleasure in pleasing Him which we never get out 
 of pleasing ourselves. 
 
 Shall " the devil " have the use of them ? Oh, 
 no, of course not ! We start back at this, as a 
 highly unnecessary question. Yet if Jesus has 
 not, Satan has. For as all are serving either the 
 Prince of Life or the prince of this world, and 
 
62 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 as no man can serve two masters, it follows that 
 if we are not serving the one, we are serving the 
 other. And Satan is only too glad to disguise 
 this service under the less startling form of the 
 world, or the still less startling one of self. All 
 that is not "kept for Jesus/' is left for self or 
 the world, and therefore for Satan. 
 
 There is no fear but that our Lord will have 
 many uses for what is kept by Him for Himself. 
 " How beautiful are the feet of them that bring 
 glad tidings of good things ! ' ' That is the best 
 use of all ; and I expect the angels think those 
 feet beautiful, even if they are cased in muddy 
 boots or goloshes. 
 
 Once the question was asked, " Wherefore wilt 
 thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tid- 
 ings ready? " So if we want to have these beau- 
 tiful feet, we must have the tidings ready which 
 they are to bear. Let us ask Him to keep our 
 hearts so freshly full of His good news of salva- 
 tion that our mouths may speak out of their 
 abundance. ( ' If the clouds be full of rain they 
 empty themselves upon the earth. " The " two 
 olive branches empty the golden oil out of them- 
 
OUR FEET KEPT FOR JESUS. 63 
 
 selves." May we be so filled with the Spirit 
 that we may thus have much to pour out for 
 others ! 
 
 Besides the great privilege of carrying water 
 from the wells of salvation, there are plenty of 
 cups of cold water to be carried in all directions; 
 not to the poor only, ministries of love are 
 often as much needed by a rich friend. But 
 the feet must be kept for these; they will be 
 too tired for them if they are tired out for self- 
 pleasing. In such services we are treading in the 
 blessed steps of His most holy life, who "went 
 about doing good." 
 
 Then there is literal errand-going, just to fetch 
 something that is needed for the household, or 
 something that a tired relative wants, whether 
 asked or unasked. Such things should come first 
 instead of last, because these are clearly indicated 
 as our Lord's will for us to do, by the position in 
 which He has placed us ; while what seems more 
 direct service, may be after all not so directly 
 apportioned by Him. " I have to go and buy some 
 soap," said one with a little sigh. The sigh was 
 waste of breath, for her feet were going to do her 
 *,ord's will for that next half-hour much more 
 
64 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 truly than if they had carried her to her well- 
 worked district, and left the soap to take its 
 chance. 
 
 A member of the Young Women's Christian 
 Association wrote a few words on this subject, 
 which, I think, will be welcome to many more 
 than she expected them to reach : 
 
 " May it not be a comfort to those of us who 
 feel we have not the mental or spiritual power 
 that others have, to notice that the living sacrifice 
 mentioned in Rom. xii. i is our ' bodies ? ' Of 
 course, that includes the mental power, but does it 
 not also include the loving, sympathizing glance, 
 the kind, encouraging word, the ready errand for 
 another, the work of our hands, opportunities for 
 all of which come oftener in the day than for the 
 mental power we are often tempted to envy? 
 May we be enabled to offer willingly that which 
 we have." For if there be first a willing mind, 
 it is accepted according to that a man hath, and 
 not according to that he hath not. 
 
 If our feet are to be kept at His disposal our 
 eyes must be ever toward the Lord for guidance. 
 We must look to Him for our orders where to go. 
 Then He will be sure to give them. " The step? 
 
OUR FEET KEPT FOR JESUS. 65 
 
 of a good man are ordered by the Lord." Very 
 often we find that they have been so very literally 
 ordered for us that we are quite astonished, just 
 as if He had not promised ! 
 
 Do not smile at a very homely thought ! If 
 our feet are not our own, ought we not to take 
 care of them for Him whose they are? Is it 
 quite right to be reckless about " getting wet feet," 
 which might be guarded against either by fore- 
 thought or after- thought, when there is, at least, 
 a risk of hindering our service thereby? Does it 
 please the Master when even in our zeal for His 
 work we annoy anxious friends by carelessness in 
 little things of this kind ? 
 
 May every step of our feet be more and mon 
 like those of our beloved Master. Let us continu- 
 ally consider Him in this, and go where He would 
 have gone, on the errands which He would have 
 done, " following hard " after Him. And let us 
 look on to the time when our feet shall stand in 
 the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, when holy 
 feet shall tread the streets of the holy city; no 
 longer pacing any lonely path, for He hath said, 
 61 They shall walk with Me in white." 
 
66 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 " And He hath said, < How beautiful the feet ! ' 
 The ' feet ' so weary, travel-stained, and worn = 
 The ' feet ' that humbly, patiently have borne 
 
 The toilsome way, the pressure, and the heat. 
 
 "The 'feet,' not hasting on with winged might, 
 Nor strong to trample down the opposing foe ; 
 So lowly, and so human, they must go 
 
 By painful steps to scale the mountain height. 
 
 "Not unto all the tuneful lips are given, 
 The ready tongue, the words so strong and sweetc 
 Yet all may turn, with humble, willing 'feet,' 
 
 And bear to darkened souls the light from heaven. 
 
 "And fall they while the goal far distant lies, 
 With scarce a word yet spoken for their Lord 
 His sweet approval He doth yet accord ; 
 Their * feet ' are beauteous in the Master's eyes. 
 
 "With weary human 'feet ' He, day by day, 
 Once trod this earth to work His acts of love ; 
 And every step is chronicled above 
 His servants take to follow in His way." 
 
 SARAH GERALDINA STOCK C 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 ' Keep my voice, and let me sing 
 Alvr'ays, only, for my King." 
 
 1HAVE wondered a little at being told by an 
 experienced worker, that in many cases the 
 voice seems the last and hardest thing to yield 
 entirely to the King ; and that many who think 
 and say they have consecrated all to the Lord and 
 His service, " revolt M when it comes to be a 
 question whether they shall sing "always, only," 
 for their King. They do not mind singing a few 
 general sacred songs, but they do not see their 
 way to really singing always and only unto and 
 for Him. They want to bargain and balance a 
 little. They question and argue about what pro- 
 portion they may keep for self-pleasing and com- 
 pany-pleasing, and how much they must "give 
 up; " and who will and who won't like it; and 
 what they " really must sing, - * and what they 
 " really must net smg ' ' at certain times and places ; 
 
68 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 and what "won't do," and what they "can't 
 very well help," and so on. And so when the 
 question, " How much owest thou unto my Lord ? ' ' 
 is applied to this particularly pleasant gift, it is 
 not met with the loyal, free-hearted, happy re- 
 sponse, ' ' All ! yes, all for Jesus ! ' ' 
 
 I know there are special temptations around 
 this matter. Vain and selfish ones whispering 
 how much better a certain song suits your voice, 
 and how much more likely to be admired. Faith- 
 less ones suggesting doubts whether you can 
 make the holy song "go." Specious ones ask- 
 ing whether you ought not to please your neigh- 
 bors, and hushing up the rest of the precept, " Let 
 every one of you please his neighbor for his good 
 to edification " (Rom. xv. 2). Cowardly ones 
 telling you that it is just a little too much to ex- 
 pect of you, and that you are not called upon to 
 wave your banner in people's very faces, and pro- 
 voke surprise and remark, as this might do. And 
 so the banner is kept furled, the witness for Jesus 
 is not borne, and you sing for others and not for 
 your Kingo 
 
 The words had passed your lips, " Take my 
 voice ! " And yet you will not let Him have it; 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 69 
 
 you will not let Him have that which cosk you 
 something, just because it costs you something ! 
 And yet He lent you that pleasant voice, that 
 you might use it for Him. And yet He, in the 
 sureness of His perpetual presence, was beside 
 you all the while, and heard every note as you 
 sang the songs which were, as your inmost heart 
 knew, not for Him. 
 
 Where is your faith ? Where is the consecra- 
 tion you have talked about ? The voice has not 
 been kept for Him, because it has not been truly 
 and unreservedly given to Him. Will you not 
 now say, "Take my voice, for I had not given 
 it to Thee ; keep my voice, for I can not keep it 
 for Thee?" 
 
 And He will keep it ! You can not tell, till 
 you have tried, how surely all the temptations flee 
 when it is no longer your battle, but the Lord's; 
 nor how completely and curiously all the difficul- 
 ties vanish, when you simply and trustfully go 
 forward in the path of full consecration in this 
 matter. You will find that the keeping is most 
 wonderfully real. Do not expect to lay down 
 rules and provide for every sort of contingency. 
 If you could, you would miss the sweetness of the 
 
70 KEPT FOR THE; MASTER'S USE. 
 
 continual guidance in the " kept " course. Have 
 only one rule about it just to look up to your Mas- 
 ter about every single song you are asked or feel 
 inclined to sing. If you are " willing and obe- 
 dient," you will always meet His guiding eye. He 
 will always keep the voice that is wholly at His 
 disposal. Soon you will have such experience of 
 His immediate guidance that you will be utterly 
 satisfied with it, and only sorrowfully wonder you 
 did not sooner thus simply lean on it. 
 
 I have just received a letter from one who has 
 laid her special gift at the feet of the Giver, yield- 
 ing her voice to Him with hearty desire that it 
 might be kept for His use. She writes: "I had 
 two lessons on singing while in Germany from 
 our Master. One was very sweet. A young girl 
 wrote to me, that when she had heard me sing, 
 'O come, every one that thirsteth,' she went away 
 and prayed that she might come, and she did 
 come, too. Is not He good ? The other was : I 
 had been tempted to join the Gesang Verein in 
 
 N . I prayed to be shown whether I was 
 
 right in so doing or not. I did not see my way 
 clear, so I went. The singing was all secular. 
 The very first night I went I caught a bad cold 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 11 
 
 on my chest, which prevented me from singing 
 again at all till Christmas. Those were better 
 than any lessons from a singing-master ! ' ' Does 
 not this illustrate both the keeping from and the 
 keeping for? In the latter case I believe she 
 honestly wished to know her Lord's will whether 
 the training and practice were needed for His 
 better service with her music, and that, therefore, 
 she might take them for His sake ; or whether the 
 concomitants and influence would be such as to 
 hinder the close communion with Him which she 
 had found so precious, and that, therefore, she 
 was to trust Him to give her "much more than 
 this." And so, at once, He showed her unmis- 
 takably what He would have her not do, and gave 
 her the sweet consciousness that He Himself was 
 teaching her and taking her at her word. I know 
 what her passionate love for music is, and how 
 very real and great the compensation from Him 
 must have been which could thus make her right 
 down glad about what would otherwise have been 
 an immense disappointment. And then, as to 
 the former of these two " lessons," the song she 
 names was one substituted when she said, " Take 
 my voice,' ' for some which were far more effective 
 
72 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 for her voice. But having freely chosen to sing 
 what might glorify the Master rather than the 
 singer, see how, almost immediately, He gave her 
 a reward infinitely outweighing all the drawing- 
 room compliments or concert-room applause ! 
 That one consecrated song found echoes in 
 heaven, bringing, by its blessed result, joy to the 
 angels and glory to God. And the memory of 
 that song is immortal ; it will live through ages to 
 come, never lost, never dying away, when the 
 vocal triumphs of the world's greatest singers are 
 past and forgotten forever. Now you who have 
 been taking a half-and-half course, do you get 
 such rewards as this ? You may well envy them ! 
 But why not take the same decided course, and 
 share the same blessed keeping and its fulness of 
 hidden reward ? 
 
 If you only knew, dear hesitating friends, what 
 strength and gladness the Master gives when 
 we loyally "sing forth the honor of His Name," 
 you would not forego it ! Oh, if you only knew 
 the difficulties it saves ! For when you sing "al- 
 ways and only for your King," you will not get 
 much entangled by the King's enemies. Singing 
 an out-and-out sacred song often clears one's path 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 73 
 
 at a stroke as to many other things. If you only 
 knew the rewards He gives very often then and 
 there; the recognition that you are one of the 
 King's friends by some lonely and timid one; the 
 openings which you quite naturally gain of speak- 
 ing a word for Jesus to hearts which, without the 
 song, would never have given you the chance of 
 the word ! If you only knew the joy of believing 
 that His sure promise, " My Word shall not return 
 unto me void," will be fulfilled as you wVs^that 
 word for Him ! If you only tasted the solemn 
 happiness of knowing that you have indeed a 
 royal audience, that the King Himself is listening 
 as you sing ! If you only knew and why should 
 you not know ? Shall not the time past of your 
 life suffice you for the miserable, double-hearted 
 calculating service? Let Him have the whole 
 use of your voice at any cost, and see if He does 
 not put many a totally unexpected new song into 
 your mouth ! 
 
 I am not writing all this to great and finished 
 singers, but to everybody who can sing at all. 
 Those who think they have only a very small 
 talent, are often most tempted not to trade with 
 it for their Lord. Whether you have much or 
 
74 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 little natural voice, there is reason for its cul- 
 tivation and room for its use. Place it at your 
 Lord's disposal, and He will show you how to 
 make the most of it for Him ; for not seldom 
 His multiplying power is brought to bear on a 
 consecrated voice. A puzzled singing-master, 
 very famous in his profession, said to one who 
 tried to sing for Jesus, " Well, you have not much 
 voice ; but, mark my words, you will always beat 
 anybody with four times your voice ! ' ' He was 
 right, though he did not in the least know why. 
 
 A great many so-called "sacred songs " are so 
 plaintive and pathetic, that they help to give a 
 gloomy idea of religion. Now don't sing these; 
 come out boldly, and sing definitely and unmis- 
 takably for your King, and of your King, and to 
 your King. You will soon find, and even out- 
 siders will have to own, that it is a good thing 
 thus to show forth His loving kindness and His 
 faithfulness (see Ps. xcii. 1-3). 
 
 Here I am usually met by the query, "But 
 what would you advise me to sing ? " I can only 
 say that I never got any practical help from ask- 
 ing any one but the Master Himself, and so I 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 75 
 
 would advist you to do the same ! He knows ex- 
 actly what will best suit your voice and enable 
 you to sing best for Him ; for He made it, and 
 gave it just the pitch and tone He pleased ; so, 
 of course, He is the best counsellor about it. 
 Refer your question in simplest faith to Him, and 
 I am perfectly sure you will find it answered. He 
 will direct you, and in some way or other the 
 Lord will provide the right songs for you to sing. 
 That is the very best advice I can possibly give 
 you on the subject, and you will prove it to be so 
 if you will act upon it. 
 
 Only one thing I would add : I believe there 
 is nothing like singing His own words. The 
 preacher claims the promise, " My word shall 
 not return unto Me void," and why should not 
 the singer equally claim it ? Why should we use 
 His own inspired words, with faith in their 
 power, when speaking or writing, and content 
 ourselves with human words put into rhyme (and 
 sometimes very feeble rhyme) for our singing ? 
 
 What a vista of happy work opens out here ! 
 What is there to prevent our using this mightiest 
 of all agencies committed to human agents, the 
 Word, which is quick and powerful, and sharper 
 
76 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 than a two-edged sword, whenever we are asked to 
 sing ? By this means even a young girl may be 
 privileged to make that Word sound in the ears 
 of many who would not listen to it otherwise, 
 By this the incorruptible seed may be sown in 
 otherwise unreachable ground. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that it is actually the 
 easiest way thus to take the very highest ground. 
 You will find that singing Bible words does not 
 excite the prejudice or contempt that any other 
 words, sufficiently decided to be worth singing, 
 are almost sure to do. For very decency's sake 
 a Bible song will be listened to respectfully; and 
 for very shame's sake no adverse whisper will be 
 ventured against the words in ordinary English 
 homes. The singer is placed on a vantage 
 ground, certain that at least the words of the 
 song will be outwardly respected, and the pos- 
 sible ground of unfriendly criticism thus narrowed 
 to begin with. 
 
 But there is much more than this. One feels 
 the power of His words for oneself as one sings. 
 One loves them and rejoices in them, and what 
 can be greater help to any singer than that? 
 And one knows they are true, and that they cart 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 77 
 
 not really return void, and what can give greater 
 confidence than that ? God may bless the sing- 
 ing of any words, but He must bless the singing 
 of His own Word, if that promise means what it 
 says ! 
 
 The only real difficulty in the matter is,, that 
 Scripture songs, as a rule, require a little more 
 practice than others. Then practice them a little 
 more ! You think nothing of the trouble of 
 learning, for instance, a sonata, which takes you 
 many a good hour's practice before you can ren- 
 der it perfectly and expressively. But you shrink 
 from a song, the accompaniment of which you 
 cannot read off without any trouble at all. And 
 you never think of such a thing as taking one-tenth 
 the pains to learn that accompaniment that you 
 took to learn that sonata ! Very likely, too, you 
 take the additional pains to learn the sonata off 
 by heart, so that you can play it more effectively. 
 But you do not take pains to learn your accompani- 
 ment by heart, so that you may throw all your power 
 into the expression of the words, undistracted by 
 reading the notes and turning over the leaves. 
 It is far more useful to have half a dozen Scrip- 
 ture songs thoroughly learnt and made your own 
 
78 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 than to have in your portfolios several dozen easy 
 settings of sacred poetry which you get through 
 with your eyes fixed on the notes. And every 
 one thus thoroughly mastered makes it easier to 
 master others. 
 
 You will say that all this refers only to draw- 
 ing-room singing. So it does, primarily, but 
 then it is the drawing-room singing which has 
 been so little for Jesus and so much for self and 
 society ; and so much less has been said about it, 
 and so much less done. There would not be half 
 the complaints of the difficulty of witnessing for 
 Christ in even professedly Christian homes and 
 circles, if every converted singer were also a con- 
 secrated one. For nothing raises or lowers the 
 tone of a whole evening so much as the character 
 of the music. There are few things which show 
 more clearly that, as a rule, a very definite step in 
 advance is needed beyond being a believer or 
 even a worker for Christ. Over how many grand 
 or cottage pianos could the Irish Society's motto, 
 "For Jesus' sake only" be hung, without being 
 either a frequent reproach, or altogether inappro- 
 priate ? 
 
 But what is learnt will, naturally, be sung. And 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 79 
 
 oh ! how many Christian parents give their daugh- 
 ters the advantage of singing ' lessons without 
 troubling themselves in the least about what songs 
 are learnt, provided they are not exceptionally 
 foolish ! Still more pressingly I would say, how 
 many Christian principals, to whom young lives 
 are entrusted at the most important time of all 
 for training, do not give themselves the least con- 
 cern about this matter. As I write, I turn aside 
 to refer to a list of songs learnt last term by a 
 fresh young voice which would willingly be trained 
 for higher work. There is just one " sacred " 
 song in the whole long list, and even that hardly 
 such a one as the writer of the letter above quoted 
 would care to sing in her fervent -spirited service 
 of Christ. All the rest are harmless and pleasing, 
 but only suggestive of the things of earth, the 
 things of the world that is passing away ; not 
 one that might lead upward and onward, not one 
 that might touch a careless heart to seek first the 
 kingdom of God, not one that might show forth 
 the glory and praise of our King, not one that 
 tells of His grace and love, not one that carries 
 His comfort to His weary ones or His joy to His 
 loving ones. She is left to find and learn such 
 
So KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 songs as best she may ; those which she will sing 
 with all the ease and force gained by good teach- 
 ing of them are no help at all, but rather hin- 
 drance in anything like wish or attempt to " sing 
 for Jesus. ' ' 
 
 There is not the excuse that the songs of God's 
 kingdom, songs which waft his own words to the 
 souls around, would not have answered the teach- 
 er's purpose as well. God has taken care of that. 
 He has not left Himself without witness in this 
 direction. He has given the most perfect melo- 
 dies and the richest harmonies to be linked with 
 His own words, and no singer can be trained be- 
 yond His wonderful provision in this way. I 
 pray that even these poor words of mine may 
 reach the consciences of some of those who have 
 this responsibility, and lead them to be no longer 
 unfaithful in this important matter, no longer giv- 
 ing this strangely divided service training, as 
 they profess to desire, the souls for God, and yet 
 allowing the voices to be trained only for the 
 world. 
 
 But we must not run away with the idea that 
 singing sacred songs and singing for Jesus are 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 8 1 
 
 convertible terms. I know by sorrowful personal 
 experience that it is very possible to sing a sacred 
 song and not sing it for Jesus. It is easier to have 
 one's portfolio all right than one's heart, and the 
 repertory is more easily arranged than the motives. 
 When we have taken our side, and the difficulties 
 of indecision are consequently swept away, we have 
 a new set of more subtle temptations to encounter. 
 And although the Master will keep, the servant 
 must watch and pray; and it is through the watch- 
 ing and the praying that the keeping will be effec- 
 tual. We have, however, rather less excuse here 
 than even elsewhere. For we never have to sing 
 so very suddenly that we need be taken unawares. 
 We have to think what to sing, and perhaps find 
 the music, and the prelude has to be played, and 
 all this gives quite enough time for us to recollect 
 whose we are and whom we serve, and to arouse 
 to the watch. Quite enough, too, for quick, 
 trustful prayer that our singing may be kept free 
 from that wretched self-seeking or even self-con- 
 sciousness, and kept entirely for Jesus. Our best 
 and happiest singing will flow when there is a 
 sweet, silent undercurrent of prayerful or praise- 
 ful communion with our Master all through the 
 6 
 
82 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 song. As for nervousness, I am quite sure this is 
 the best antidote to that. 
 
 On the other hand, it is quite possible to sing 
 for Jesus without singing a sacred song. Do not 
 take an ell for the inch; this seems to give and 
 run off with the idea that it does not matter after 
 all what you sing, so that you sing in a good 
 frame of mind ! No such thing ! And the ad- 
 mission needs very careful guarding, and must not 
 be wrested into an excuse for looking back to the 
 world's songs. But cases may and do arise in 
 which it may be right to gratify a weary father, 
 or win a wayward brother, by trying to please 
 them with music to which they will listen when 
 they would not listen to the songs you would 
 rather sing. There are cases in which this may 
 be done most truly for the Lord's sake, and 
 clearly under His guidance. 
 
 Sometimes cases arise in which we can only 
 say, " Neither know we what to do, but our eyes 
 are upon Thee." And when we honestly say 
 that, depend upon it we shall find the promise 
 true, "I will guide thee with Mine eye." For 
 God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be 
 tempted above that ye are able, but will, with the 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 83 
 
 temptation, also make a way (Gr. the way) to 
 escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 
 
 I do not know why it should be so, but it cer- 
 tainly is a much rarer thing to find a young gen- 
 tleman singing for Jesus than a young lady a 
 very rare thing to find one with a cultivated voice 
 consecrating it to the Master's use. I have met 
 some who were not ashamed to speak for Him, to 
 whom it never seemed even to occur to sing for 
 Him. They would go and teach a Bible class 
 one day, and the next they would be practicing 
 or performing just the same songs as those who 
 care nothing for Christ and His blood-bought 
 salvation. They had left some things behind, 
 but they had not left any of their old songs be- 
 hind. They do not seem to think that being 
 made new creatures in Christ Jesus had anything 
 to do with this department of their lives. Nobody 
 could gather whether they were on the Lord's 
 side or not, as they stood and sang their neutral 
 songs. The banner that was displayed in the 
 class-room was furled in the drawing-room. Now, 
 my friends, you who have or may have far greater 
 opportunities of displaying that banner than we 
 womenkind, why should you be less brave and 
 
84 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 loyal than your sisters ? We are weak and you 
 are strong naturally, but recollect that want of 
 decision always involves want of power, and com- 
 promising Christians are always weak Christians. 
 You will never be mighty to the pulling down of 
 strongholds while you have one foot in the ene- 
 my's camp, or on the supposed neutral ground, if 
 such can exist (which I doubt), between the 
 camps. You will never be a terror to the devil 
 till you have enlisted every gift and faculty on the 
 Lord's side. Here is a thing in which you may 
 practically carry out the splendid motto, "All for 
 Jesus/' You cannot be all for Him as long as 
 your voice is not for Him. Which shall it be? 
 All for Him, we partly for Him ? Answer that to 
 Him whom you call Master and Lord. 
 
 When once this drawing-room question is set- 
 tled, there is not much need to expatiate about 
 other forms of singing for Jesus. As we have op- 
 portunity we shall be willing to do good with our 
 pleasant gift in any way or place, and it is won- 
 derful what nice opportunities He makes for us. 
 Whether to one little sick child, or to a thousand 
 listeners, according to the powers and openings 
 granted, we shall take our happy position among 
 
OUR VOICES KEPT FOR JESUS. 85 
 
 those who minister with singing (i Chron. vi. 32). 
 And in so far as we really do this unto the Lord, 
 I am quite sure He gives the hundredfold now in 
 this present time more than all the showy songs 
 or self-gratifying performances we may have left 
 for His sake. As we steadily tread this part of 
 the path of consecration, we shall find the diffi- 
 culties left behind, and the real pleasantness of 
 the way reached, and it will be a delight to say 
 to oneself, " I cannot sing the old songs; " and 
 though you have thought it quite enough to say, 
 "With my song will I please my friends," espe- 
 cially if they happened to be pleased with a mildly 
 sacred song or two, you will strike a higher and 
 happier, a richer and purer note, and say with 
 David, "With my song will I praise Him." 
 David said also, "My lips shall greatly rejoice 
 when I sing unto Thee, and my soul, which Thou 
 hast redeemed. " And you will find that this 
 comes true. 
 
 Singing for Jesus, our Saviour and King ; 
 
 Singing for Jesus, the Lord whom we love ! 
 All adoration we joyously bring, 
 
 Longing to praise as they praise Him above. 
 
86 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 Singing for Jesus, our Master and Friend, 
 
 Telling His love and His marvellous grace, ~ 
 
 Love from eternity, love to the end, 
 
 Love for the loveless, the sinful, and base. 
 
 Singing for Jesus, and trying to win 
 
 Many to love Him, and join in the song ;, 
 
 Calling the weary and wandering in, 
 Rolling the chorus of gladness along. 
 
 Singing for Jesus, our Life and our Light ; 
 
 Singing for Him as we press to the mark j 
 Singing for Him when the morning is bright; 
 
 Singing, still singing, for Him in the dark ! 
 
 Singing for Jesus, our Shepherd and Guide ; 
 
 Singing for gladness of heart that He gives ; 
 Singing for wonder and praise that He died ; 
 
 Singing for blessing and joy that He lives ! 
 
 Singing for Jesus, oh, singing with joy ; 
 
 Thus will we praise Him, and tell out His love s 
 Till He shall call us to brighter employ, 
 
 Singing for Jesus forever above. 
 
OUR WPS KEPT FOR JESUS. 87 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OUR LIPS KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my lips, that they may be 
 Filled with messages from Thee." 
 
 THE days are past forever when we said, " Our 
 lips are our own." Now we know that 
 they are not our own. 
 
 And yet how many of my readers often have the 
 miserable consciousness that they have " spoken 
 unadvisedly with their lips ! ' ' How many pray, 
 " Keep the door of my lips/' when the very last 
 thing they think of expecting is that they will be 
 kept ! They deliberately make up their minds 
 that hasty words, or foolish words, or exaggerated 
 words, according to their respective temptations, 
 must and will slip out of that door, and that it 
 can't be helped. The extent of the real meaning 
 of their prayer was merely that not quite so many 
 might slip out. As their faith went no farther, 
 the answer went no farther, and so the door was 
 not kept. 
 
88 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 Do let us look the matter straight in the face. 
 Either we have committed our lips to our Lord, 
 or we have not. This question must be settled 
 first. If not, oh, do not let another hour pass ! 
 Take them to Jesus, and ask Him to take them. 
 
 But when you have committed them to Him, 
 it comes to this, is He able or is He not able to 
 keep that which you have committed to Him ? If 
 He is not able, of course you may as well give up 
 at once, for your own experience has abundantly 
 proved that you are not able, so there is no help 
 for you. But if He is able nay, thank God 
 there is no "if" on this side! say, rather, as 
 He is able, where was this inevitable necessity of 
 perpetual failure ? You have been fancying your- 
 self virtually doomed and fated to it, and there- 
 fore you have gone on in it, while all the time 
 His arm was not shortened that it could not save, 
 but you have been limiting the Holy One of 
 Israel. Honestly, now, have you trusted Him to 
 keep your lips this day ? Trust necessarily implies 
 expectation that what we have entrusted will be 
 kept. If you have not expected Him to keep, 
 you have not trusted. You may have tried and 
 tried very hard, but you have not trusted, and 
 
OUR WPS KEPT FOR JESUS. 89 
 
 therefore you have not been kept, and your lips 
 have been the snare of your soul (Prov. xviii. 7). 
 
 Once I heard a beautiful prayer which I can 
 never forget ; it was this : " Lord, take my lips, 
 and speak through them ; take my mind, and think 
 through it; take my heart, and set it on fire." 
 And this is the way the Master keeps the lips of 
 His servants, by so filling their hearts with His 
 love that the outflow can not be unloving, by so 
 filling their thoughts that the utterance can not 
 be un-Christ-like. There must be filling before 
 there can be pouring out ; and if there is filling, 
 there must be pouring out, for He hath said, "Out 
 of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.' ' 
 
 But I think we should look for something more 
 direct and definite than this. We are not all 
 called to be the King's ambassadors, but all who 
 have heard the messages of salvation for them- 
 selves are called to be "the Lord's messengers," 
 and day by day, as He gives us opportunity, we 
 are to deliver " the Lord's message unto the peo- 
 ple." That message, as committed to Haggai, 
 was, " I am with you, saith the Lord." Is there 
 not work enough for any lifetime in unfolding 
 and distributing that one message to His own peo- 
 
90 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 pie? Then, for those who are still far off, we 
 have that equally full message from our Lord 
 to give out, which He has condensed for us into 
 the one word, " Come ! " 
 
 It is a specially sweet part of His dealings with 
 His messengers that He always gives us the mes- 
 sage for ourselves first. It is what He has first 
 told us in darkness that is, in the secrecy of our 
 own rooms, or at least of our own hearts that 
 He bids us speak in light. And so the more we 
 sit at His feet and watch to see what He has to 
 say to ourselves, the more we shall have to tell to 
 others. He does not send us out with sealed dis- 
 patches, which we know nothing about, and with 
 which we have no concern. 
 
 There seems a seven-fold sequence in His filling 
 the lips of His messengers. First, they must be 
 purified. The live coal from off the altar must 
 be laid upon them, and He must say, " Lo, this 
 hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken 
 away, and thy sin is purged." Then He will 
 create the fruit of them, and this seems to be the 
 great message of peace, " Peace to him that is far 
 off and to him that is near, saith the Lord ; and 
 I will heal him" (see Isa. Ivii.ip). Then comes 
 
OUR UPS KEPT FOR JESUS. 9! 
 
 the prayer, " O Lord, open Thou my lips," and 
 its sure fulfillment. For then come in the prom- 
 ises, ' ' Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth," 
 and, "They shall withal be fitted in thy lips." 
 Then, of course, "the lips of the righteous feed 
 many," for the food is the Lord's own giving. 
 Everything leads up to praise, and so we come 
 next to " My mouth shall praise Thee with joyful 
 lips, when I remember Thee.' ' And lest we should 
 fancy that "when" rather implies that it is not, 
 or can not be, exactly always, we find that the 
 mediation of Jesus throws this added light upon 
 it, "\>y Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice 
 of praise to God continually ', that is, the fruit of 
 our lips, giving thanks to " (margin, confessing) 
 "His name." 
 
 Does it seem a coming down from the mount 
 to glance at one of our King's commandments, 
 which is specially needful and applicable to this 
 matter of our lips being kept for Him ? " Watch 
 and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." 
 None of His commands clash with or supersede 
 one another. Trusting does not supersede watch- 
 ing ; it does but complete and effectuate it. Un- 
 watchful trust is a delusion, an untrustful watch- 
 
92 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 ing is in vain. Therefore, let us not either will- 
 fully or carelessly enter into temptation, whether 
 of place, or person, or topic, which has any 
 tendency to endanger the keeping of our lips for 
 Jesus. Let us pray that grace may be more and 
 more poured into our lips as it was into His, so 
 that our speech may be alway with grace. May 
 they be pure, and sweet, and lovely, even as " His 
 lips, like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh." 
 
 We can hardly consider the keeping of our lips 
 without recollecting that upon them, more than 
 all else, (though not exclusively of all else), de- 
 pends that greatest of our responsibilities, our 
 influence. We have no choice in the matter ; we 
 can not evade or avoid it ; and there is no more 
 possibility of our limiting it, or even tracing its 
 limits, than there is of setting a bound to the 
 far- vibrating sound-waves, or watching their flow 
 through the invisible air. Not one sentence that 
 passes these lips of ours but must be an invisibly 
 prolonged influence, not dying away into silence, 
 but living away into the words and deeds of others. 
 The thought would not be quite so oppressive if 
 we could know what we have done and shall be 
 
OUR UPS KKPT FOR JESUS. 93 
 
 continuing to do by what we have said. But we 
 never can, as a matter of fact. We may trace it 
 a little way, and get a glimpse of some results for 
 good or evil ; but we never can see any more of 
 it than we can see of a shooting star flashing 
 through the night with a momentary revelation 
 of one step of its strange path. Even if the next 
 instant plunges it into apparent annihilation as it 
 strikes the atmosphere of the earth, we know that it 
 is not really so, but that its mysterious material and 
 force must be added to the complicated materials 
 and forces with which it has come in contact, with 
 a modifying power none the less real because it is 
 beyond our ken. And this is not comparing a great 
 thing with a small, but a small thing with a great. 
 For what is material force compared with moral 
 force ? What are gases, and vapors, and elements 
 compared with souls and the eternity for which 
 they are preparing ? 
 
 We all know that there is influence exerted by 
 a person's mere presence, without the utterance 
 of a single word. We are conscious of this every 
 day. People seem to carry an atmosphere with 
 them, which must be breathed by those whom 
 they approach. Some carry an atmosphere in 
 
94 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 which all unkind thoughts shrivel up and cannot 
 grow into expression. Others carry one in which 
 " thoughts of Christ and things divine" never 
 seem able to flourish. Have you not felt how a 
 happy conversation about the things we love best 
 is checked, or even strangled, by the entrance of 
 one who is not in sympathy? Outsiders have 
 not a chance of ever really knowing what de- 
 lightful intercourse we have one with another 
 about these things, because their very presence 
 chills and changes it. On the other hand, how 
 another person's incoming freshens and develops 
 it, and warms us all up, and seems to give us, 
 without the least conscious effort, a sort of lift ! 
 
 If even unconscious and involuntary influence 
 is such a power, how much greater must it be 
 when the recognized power of words is added ! 
 
 It has often struck me as a matter of observa- 
 tion, that open profession adds force to this in- 
 fluence, on whichever side it weighs ; and also 
 that it has the effect of making many a word and 
 act, which might in other hands have been as 
 nearly neutral as anything can be, tell with by 
 no means neutral tendency on the wrong side. 
 The question of Eliphaz comes with great force 
 
OUR UPS KEPI' FOR JESUS. 95 
 
 when applied to one who desires or professes to 
 be consecrated altogether, life and lips : " Should 
 he reason with unprofitable talk and with speeches 
 wherewith one can do no good ?" There is our 
 standard ! Idle words, which might have fallen 
 comparatively harmlessly from one who had never 
 named the Name of Christ, may be a stumbling- 
 block to inquirers, a sanction to thoughtless 
 juniors, and a grief to thoughtful seniors, when 
 they come from lips which are professing to feed 
 many. Even intelligent talk on general subjects 
 by such a one may be a chilling disappointment 
 to some craving heart, which had indulged the 
 hope of getting help, comfort, or instruction in 
 the things of God by listening to the conversa- 
 tion. It may be a lost opportunity of giving and 
 gaining no one knows how much ! 
 
 How well I recollect this disappointment to 
 myself, again and again, when a mere child ! In 
 those early seeking days I never could understand 
 why, sometimes, a good man whom I heard 
 preach or speak as if he loved Christ very much, 
 talk about all sorts of other things when we came 
 back from church or missionary meeting. I did 
 so wish he would have talked about the Saviour, 
 
96 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 whom I wanted, but had not found. It would 
 have been so much more interesting, even to the 
 apparently thoughtless and merry little girl. How 
 could he help it, I wondered, if he cared for that 
 Pearl of Great Price as I was sure I should care 
 for it if I could only find it ! And oh ! why 
 didn't they ever talk to me about it, instead of 
 about my lessons or their little girls at home ? 
 They did not know how their conversation was 
 observed and compared with their sermon or 
 speech, and how a hungry little soul went empty 
 away from the supper-table. 
 
 The lips of younger Christians may cause, in 
 their turn, no less disappointment. One sorrow- 
 ful lesson I can never forget ; and I will tell the 
 story in hope that it may save others from causes 
 of similar regret. During a summer visit, just 
 after I had left school, a class of girls about my 
 own age came to me a few times for an hour's 
 singing. It was very pleasant indeed, and the 
 girls were delighted with the hymns. They 
 listened to all I had to say about time and expres- 
 sion, and not with less attention to the more 
 shyly-ventured remarks about the words. Some- 
 times I accompanied them afterwards down the 
 
OUR lylPS KEPT FOR JBSUS. 97 
 
 avenue ; and whenever I met any of them I had 
 smiles and plenty of kindly words for each, which 
 they seemed to appreciate immensely. A few 
 years afterwards I sat by the bedside of one 
 of these girlsthe most gifted of them all with 
 both heart and head. She had been led by 
 a wonderful way, and through long and deep 
 suffering, into far clearer light than I enjoyed, 
 and had witnessed for Christ in more ways than 
 one, and far more brightly than I had ever done. 
 She told me how sorrowfully and eagerly she was 
 seeking Jesus at the time of those singing-classes. 
 And I never knew it, because I never asked, and 
 she was too shy to speak first ! But she told me 
 more, and every word was a pang to me, how 
 she used to linger in the avenue on those summer 
 evenings, longing that I would speak to her about 
 the Saviour; how she hoped, week after week, that 
 I would just stretch out a hand to help her ; just 
 say one little word that might be God's message 
 of peace to her, instead of the pleasant, general 
 remarks about the nice hymns and tunes. . And I 
 never did ! And she went on for months, I 
 think for years, after, without the light and glad- 
 ness which it might have been my privilege to 
 7 
 
98 KEPT FOR THK MASTER'S USE. 
 
 bring to her life. God chose other means, for 
 the souls that he has given to Christ cannot be 
 lost because of the unfaithfulness of a human 
 instrument. But she said, and the words often 
 ring in my ears when I am tempted to let an 
 opportunity slip, "Ah, Miss F., I ought to have 
 been yours ! f ' 
 
 Yes, it is true enough that we should show forth 
 His praise not only with our lips, but in our lives ; 
 but with very many Christians the other side of 
 the prayer wants praying they want rousing up 
 even to wish to show it forth not only in their 
 lives, but with their lips. I wonder how many, 
 even of those who read this, really pray, "O 
 Lord, open Thou my lips, and my mouth shall 
 show forth Thy praise/* 
 
 And when opened, oh, how much one does 
 want to have them so kept for Jesus that He may 
 be free to make the most of them, not letting 
 them render second-rate and indirect service 
 when they might be doing direct and first-rate 
 service to His cause and kingdom ! It is terrible 
 how much less is done for Him than might be 
 done, in consequence of the specious notion that 
 if what we are doing or saying is not bad, we are 
 
OUR UPS KEPT FOR JESUS. 99 
 
 doing good in a certain way, and therefore may 
 be quite easy about it. We should think a man 
 rather foolish if he went on doing work which 
 earned five shillings a week, when he might just 
 as well do work in the same establishment and 
 under the same master which would bring him in 
 five pounds a week. But we should pronounce 
 him shamefully dishonest and dishonorable if he 
 accepted such handsome wages as the five pounds, 
 and yet chose to do work worth only five shillings, 
 excusing himself by saying that it was work all 
 the same, and somebody had better do it. Do 
 we not act something like this when we take the 
 lower standard, and spend our strength in just 
 making ourselves agreeable and pleasant, creating 
 a general good impression in favor of religion, 
 showing that we can be all things to all men, and 
 that one who is supposed to be a citizen of the 
 other world can be very well up in all that con- 
 cerns this world ? This may be good, but is there 
 nothing better? What does it profit if we do 
 make this favorable impression on an outsider, if 
 we go no farther and do not use the influence 
 gained to bring him right inside the fold, inside 
 the only ark of safety? People are not converted 
 
100 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 by this sort of work ; at any rate /never met or 
 heard of any one. "He thinks it better for his 
 quiet influence to tell!" said an affectionately 
 excusing relative of one who had plenty of special 
 opportunities of soul- winning, if he had only used 
 his lips as well as his life for his Master. "And 
 how many souls have been converted to God by 
 his ' quiet influence * all these years ? ' ' was my 
 reply. And to that there was no answer ! For 
 the silent shining was all very beautiful in theory, 
 but not one of the many souls placed specially 
 under his influence had been known to be brought 
 out of darkness into marvellous light. If they 
 had, they must have been known, for such light 
 can't help being seen. 
 
 When one has even a glimmer of the tremen- 
 dous difference between having Christ and being 
 without Christ ; when one gets but one shudder- 
 ing glimpse of what eternity is, and of what it 
 must mean, as well as what it may mean, without 
 Christ ; when one gets but a flash of realization of 
 the tremendous fact that all these neighbors of 
 ours, rich and poor alike, will have to spend that 
 eternity either with Him or without Him, it is 
 hard, very hard indeed, to understand how a man 
 
OUR UPS KEPT FOR JKSUS. IOI 
 
 or woman can believe these things at all, and 
 make no effort for anything beyond the temporal 
 elevation of those around, sometimes not even 
 beyond their amusements! ''People must have 
 entertainment," they urge. I do not find that 
 must in the Bible, but I do find, "We must all 
 stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. ' ' And 
 if you have any sort of belief in that, how can you 
 care to use those lips of yours, which might be a 
 fountain of life to the dying souls before you, 
 merely to " entertain " them at your penny read- 
 ing or other entertainment? As you sow, so you 
 reap. The amusing paper is read, or the lively 
 ballad recited, or the popular song sung, and you 
 reap your harvest of laughter or applause, and of 
 complacence at your success in ' i entertaining ' ' 
 the people. And there it ends, when you might 
 have sown words from which you and they should 
 reap fruit unto life eternal. Is this worthy work 
 for one who has been bought with such a price 
 that he must say, 
 
 " Love so amazing, so divine, 
 Demands my soul, my life, my all? " 
 
 So far from yielding "all" to that rightful 
 
102 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 demand of amazing love, he does not even yield 
 the fruit of his lips to it, much less the lips 
 themselves. I cannot refrain from adding, that 
 even this lower aim of "entertaining" is by no 
 means so appreciated as is supposed. As a cot- 
 tager of no more than average sense and intelli- 
 gence remarked, "It was all so trifling at the 
 reading; I wish gentlefolks would believe that 
 poor people like something better than what's 
 just to make them laugh." After all, nothing 
 really pays like direct, straightforward, uncom- 
 promising words about God and His works and 
 word. Nothing else ever made a man say, as a 
 poor Irishman did when he heard the Good News 
 for the first time, " Thank ye, sir; you've taken 
 the hunger off us to-day ! ' ' 
 
 Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord ; 
 what about ours? Well, they are all uttered 
 before the Lord in one sense, whether we will or 
 no ; for there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, 
 Thou, O Lord, knowest it altogether ! How 
 solemn is this thought, but how sweet does it 
 become when our words are uttered consciously 
 before the Lord as we walk in the light of his 
 
OUR UPS KEPT FOR JESUS. IOJ 
 
 perpetual presence ! Oh, that we may so walk, 
 that we may so speak, with kept feet and kept 
 lips, trustfully praying, " Let the meditation of my 
 heart and the words of my mouth be always 
 acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and 
 my Redeemer ! ; ' 
 
 Bearing in mind that it is not only the words 
 which pass their lightly-hinged portal, but our 
 literal lips which are to be kept for Jesus, it can 
 not be out of place, before closing this chapter, 
 to suggest that they open both ways. What 
 passes in should surely be considered as well as 
 what passes out. And very many of us are be- 
 ginning to see that the command, " Whether ye 
 eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the 
 glory of God," is not fully obeyed when we 
 drink, merely because we like it, what is the very 
 greatest obstacle to that glory in this realm of 
 England. What matter that we prefer taking it 
 in a more refined form, if the thing itself is 
 daily and actively and mightily working misery, 
 and crime and death, and destruction to thousands, 
 till the cry thereof seems as if it must pierce the 
 very heavens ! And so it does sooner, a great 
 
104 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 deal, than it pierces the walls of our comfortable 
 dining-room ! I only say here, you who have 
 said, " Take my lips/' stop and repeat that prayer 
 next time you put that to your lips which is bind- 
 ing men and women hand and foot, and deliver- 
 ing them over, helpless, to Satan ! Let those 
 words pass once more from your heart out through 
 your lips, and I do not think you will feel com- 
 fortable in letting the means of such infernal 
 work pass in through them. 
 
OUR SII,VKR AND GOLD KEPT FOR JESUS. I0l| 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OUR SILVER AND GOLD KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my silver and my gold, 
 Not a mite would I withhold." 
 
 " HPHE silver and the gold is Mine,-saith the 
 
 1 Lord of Hosts. ' ' Yes, every coin we have 
 
 is literally our "Lord's money." Simple 
 
 belief of this fact is the stepping-stone to full 
 
 consecration of what He has given us, whether 
 
 much or little. 
 
 " Then you mean to say we are never to spend 
 anything on ourselves?" Not so. Another 
 fact must be considered, the fact that our Lord 
 has given us our bodies as a special personal 
 charge, and that we are responsible for keeping 
 these bodies, according to the means given and 
 the work required, in working order for Him. 
 This is part of our " own work/ 1 A master 
 entrusts a workman with a delicate machine, with 
 which his appointed work is to be done. He 
 also provides him with a sum of money with 
 
106 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 which he is to procure all that may be necessary 
 for keeping the machine in thorough repair. Is 
 it not obvious that it is the man's distinct duty to 
 see to this faithfully ? Would he not be failing in 
 duty if he chose to spend it all on something for 
 somebody else's work, or on a present for his 
 master, fancying that would please him better, 
 while the machine is creaking and wearing for 
 want of a little oil, or working badly for want of 
 a new band or screw ? Just so, we are to spend 
 what is really needful on ourselves, because it is 
 our charge to do so ; but not/^r ourselves, because 
 we are not our own, but our Master's. He who 
 knoweth our frame, knows its need of rest and 
 medicine, food and clothing ; and the procuring 
 of these for our own entrusted bodies should be 
 done just as much " for Jesus " as the greater 
 pleasure of procuring them for some one else. 
 Therefore there need be no quibbling over the 
 assertion that consecration is not real and com- 
 plete while we are looking upon a single shilling as 
 our own to do what we like with. Also the princi- 
 ple is exactly the same, whether we are spending 
 pence or pounds ; it is our Lord's money and 
 must not be spent without reference to Him. 
 
OUR SILVER AND GOI<D KEPT FOR JESUS. 1 07 
 
 When we have asked Him to take, and con- 
 tinually trust Him to keep our money, "shop- 
 ping ' ' becomes a different thing. We look up to 
 our Lord for guidance to lay out His money pru- 
 dently and rightly, and as He would have us lay 
 it out. The gift or garment is selected consciously 
 under His eye, and with conscious reference to 
 Him as our own dear Master, for whose sake we 
 shall give it, or in whose service we shall wear it, 
 and whose own silver or gold we shall pay for it, 
 and then it is all right. 
 
 But have you found out that it is one of the 
 secrets of the Lord, that when any of His dear 
 children turn aside a little bit after having once 
 entered the blessed path of true and conscious 
 consecration, He is sure to send them some little 
 punishment ? He will not let us go back without 
 a sharp, even if quite secret, reminder. Go and 
 spend ever such a little without reference to Him 
 after you have once pledged the silver and gold 
 entirely to Him, and see if you are not in some 
 way rebuked for it ! Very often by being per- 
 mitted to find that you have made a mistake in 
 your purchase, or that in some way it does not 
 prosper. If you "observe these things," you 
 
108 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 will find that the more closely we are walking with 
 our Lord, the more immediate and unmistakable 
 will be His gracious rebukes when we swerve in 
 any detail of the full consecration to which He 
 has called us. And if you have already experi- 
 enced and recognized this part of His personal 
 dealing with us, you will know also how we love 
 and bless Him for it. 
 
 There is always a danger that just because we 
 say "all," we may practically fall shorter than if we 
 had only said "some," but said it very definitely. 
 God recognizes this and provides against it in 
 many departments. For instance, though our 
 time is to be "all" for Him, yet He solemnly 
 sets apart the one day in seven which is to be 
 specially for Him. Those who think they know 
 better than God, and profess that every day is a 
 Sabbath, little know what flood-gates of tempta- 
 tion they are opening by being so very wise above 
 what is written. God knows best, and that should 
 be quite enough for every loyal heart. So, as to 
 money, though we place it all at our Lord's dis- 
 posal, and rejoice to spend it all for Him directly 
 or indirectly, yet I am quite certain it is a great 
 
OUR SILVER AND GOI^D KEPT FOR JESUS. 109 
 
 help and safeguard, and, what is more, a matter 
 of simple obedience to the spirit of His com- 
 mands, to set aside a definite and regular propor- 
 tion of our income or receipts for His direct 
 service. It is a great mistake to suppose that the 
 law of giving the tenth to God is merely Leviti- 
 cal. " Search and look " for yourselves, and you 
 will find that it is, like the Sabbath, a far older 
 rule, running all through the Bible,* and en- 
 dorsed, not abrogated, by Christ Himself. For, 
 speaking of tithes, He said, "These ought ye to 
 have done, and not to leave the other undone." 
 To dedicate the tenth of whatever we have is 
 mere duty; charity begins beyond it; free-will 
 offerings and thank-offerings beyond that again. 
 
 First-fruits, also, should be thus specially set 
 apart. This, too, we find running all through 
 the Bible. There is a tacit appeal to otir grati- 
 tude in the suggestion of them, the very word 
 implies bounty received and bounty in prospect. 
 Bringing "the first of the first-fruits into the 
 
 * See Gen. xiv. 20 xxviii, 22 ; Lev. xxvii. 30, 32; Num. 
 xviii, 21 ; Deut. xiv. 22; 2 Chron. xxxi. 5, 6, 12; Neh. x. 
 37, xii. 44, xiii. 12; Mai. Hi. 8, 10; Mat. xxii. 23; Luke 
 xi. 42; I Cor. xvi. 2; Heb. vii. 8. 
 
110 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 house of the Lord thy God," was like "saying 
 grace ' ' for all the plenty He was going to bestow 
 on the faithful Israelite. Something of gladness, 
 too, seems always implied. "The day of the 
 first-fruits " was to be a day of rejoicing (compare 
 Num. xxviii. 26 with Deut. xvi. 10, n). There 
 is also an appeal to loyalty : we are commanded 
 to honor the Lord with the first-fruits of all our 
 increase. And that is the way to prosper, for the 
 next word is, "So shall thy barns be filled with 
 plenty. " The friend who first called my atten- 
 tion to this command, said that the setting apart 
 first-fruits making a proportion for God's work 
 a first charge upon the income always seemed to 
 bring a blessing on the rest, and that since this 
 had been systematically done, it actually seemed 
 to go farther than when not thus lessened. 
 
 Presenting our first-fruits should be a peculiarly 
 delightful act, as they are themselves the emblem 
 of our consecrated relationship to God. For of 
 His own will begat He us by the word of truth, 
 that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His 
 creatures. How sweet and hallowed and richly 
 emblematic our little acts of obedience in this 
 matter become, when we throw this light upon 
 
OUR SILVER AND GOI<D KEPT FOR JESUS. Ill 
 
 them ! And how blessedly they may remind us 
 of the heavenly company, singing, as it were, a 
 new song before the throne ; for they are the first- 
 fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 
 
 Perhaps we shall find no better plan of detailed 
 and systematic setting apart than the New Testa- 
 ment one : " Upon the first day of the week let 
 every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath 
 prospered him." The very act of literally fulfill- 
 ing this apostolic command seems to bring a 
 blessing with it, as all simple obedience does. I 
 wish, dear friends, you would try it! You will 
 find it a sweet reminder on His own day of this 
 part of your consecration. You will find it an 
 immense help in making the most of your little 
 charities. The regular inflow will guide the out- 
 flow and ensure your always having something for 
 any sudden call for your Masters poor or your 
 Master's cause. Do not say you are "afraid you 
 could not keep to it. ' ' What has a consecrated 
 life to do with being " afraid ?" Some of us 
 could tell of such sweet and singular lessons of 
 trust in this matter, that they are written in golden 
 letters of love on our memories. Of course there 
 will be trials of our faith in this, as well as in 
 
112 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 everything else. But every trial of our faith is 
 but a trial of His faithfulness, and is "much more 
 precious than gold which perisheth." 
 
 "What about self-denial?" some reader will 
 say. Consecration does not supersede this, but 
 transfigures it. Literally, a consecrated life is 
 and must be a life of denial of self. But all the 
 effort and pain of it is changed into very delight. 
 We love our Master ; we know, surely and abso- 
 lutely, that He is listening and watching our every 
 word and way, and that He has called us to the 
 privilege of walking "worthy of the Lord unto 
 all pleasing. ' ' And in so far as this is a reality to 
 us, the identical things which are still z\i-denial 
 in one sense, become actual $\.i-delight in another. 
 It may be self-denial to us to turn away from 
 something within reach of our pursa which it 
 would be very convenient or pleasant to possess. 
 But if the Master lifted the veil, and revealed 
 Himself standing at our side, and let us hear His 
 audible voice asking us to reserve the price of it 
 for His treasury, should we talk about self-denial 
 then? Should we not be utterly ashame'd to 
 think of it ? or rather, should we, for one instant, 
 think about self or self-denial at all ? Would it 
 
OUR SILVER AND GOI,D KEPT FOR JSSUS- 113 
 
 not be an unimaginable joy to do what He asked 
 us to do with that money ? But as long as His 
 own unchangeable promise stands written in His 
 word for us, "Lo, I am with you alway" we 
 may be sure that He is with us, and that His eye 
 is as certainly on our opened or half-opened purse 
 as it was on the treasury, when He sat over against 
 it and saw the two mites cast in. So let us do 
 our shopping " as seeing Him who is invisi- 
 ble." 
 
 It is important to remember that there is no 
 much or little in God's sight, except as relatively 
 to our means and willingness. " For if there be 
 first a willing mind, it is accepted according to 
 that a man hath, and not according to that he 
 hath not. ' ' He knows what we have not, as well 
 as what we have. He knows all about the low 
 wages in one sphere, and the small allowance, or 
 the fixed income with rising prices in another. 
 And it is not a question of paying to God what 
 can be screwed out of these, but of giving Him 
 all, and then holding all at His disposal, and 
 taking His orders about the disposal of all. 
 
 But I do not see at all how self-indulgence and 
 needless extravagance can possibly co-exist with 
 8 
 
114 KEPT FOR TEE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 true consecration. If we really never do go 
 ivithout anything for the Lord's sake, but just 
 because He has graciously given us means, always 
 supply for ourselves not only every need, but 
 " every notion/' I think it is high time we looked 
 into the matter before God. Why should only 
 those who have limited means have the privilege 
 of offering to their Lord that which has really 
 cost them something to offer? Observe, it is not 
 merely going without something we would natur- 
 ally like to have or do, but going without it for 
 Jesus' sake. Not, " I will go without it, because, 
 after all, I can't very well afford it; " or, "be- 
 cause I really ought to subscribe to so and so ; " 
 or, "because I dare say I shall be glad I have not 
 spent the money;" but "I will do without it, be- 
 cause I do want to do a little more for Him who 
 so loves me just that much more than I could do 
 if I did this other thing." I fancy this is more 
 often the heart -language of those who have to cut 
 and contrive, than of those who are able to give 
 liberally without any cutting and contriving at 
 all. The very abundance of God's good gifts 
 too often hinders from the privilege and delight 
 of really doing without something superfluous or 
 
OUR SILVER AND GOI/D KEPT FOR JESUS. 1 15 
 
 comfortable or usual, that they may give just that 
 much more to their Lord. What a pity ! 
 
 The following quotation may (I hope it will) 
 touch some conscience : "A gentleman once told 
 us that his wine-bill was ^100 a year more than 
 enough to keep a Scripture reader always at work 
 in some populous district. And it is one of the 
 countless advantages of total abstinence that it at 
 once sets free a certain amount of money for such 
 work. Smoking, too, is a habit not only injurious 
 to the health in a vast majority of cases, and, to 
 our mind, very unbecoming in a ' temple of the 
 Holy Ghost,' but also one which squanders money 
 which might be used for the Lord. Expenses in 
 dress might in most people be curtailed ; expen- 
 sive tastes should be denied ; and simplicity in 
 all habits of life should be a mark of the followers 
 of Him who had not where to lay His head." 
 
 And again : " The self-indulgence of wealthy 
 Christians, who might largely support the Lord's 
 work with what they lavish upon their houses, 
 their tables, or their personal expenditure, is very 
 sad to see." * 
 
 * Christian Progress, vol. iii., pp. 25, 26. 
 
n6 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 Here the question of jewelry seems to come in. 
 Perhaps it was an instance of the gradual showing 
 of the details of consecration, illustrated on page 
 29, but I will confess that when I wrote, " Take 
 my silver and my gold," it never dawned on me 
 that anything was included beyond the coin of 
 the realm! But the Lord " leads on softly/' 
 and a good many of us have been shown some 
 capital bits of unenclosed, but easily enclosable 
 ground, which have yielded " pleasant fruit. " 
 Yes, very pleasant fruit ! It is wonderfully nice 
 to light upon something that we really never 
 thought of as a possible gift to our Lord, and just 
 to give it, straight away to Him. I do not press 
 the matter, but I do ask my lady friends to give 
 it fair and candid and prayerful consideration. 
 Which do you really care most about a diamond 
 on your finger, or a star in the Redeemer's king- 
 dom, shining for ever and ever ? That is what it 
 comes to, and there I leave it. 
 
 On the other hand, it is very possible to be 
 fairly faithful in much, and yet unfaithful in that 
 which is least. We may have thought about our 
 gold and silver, and yet have been altogether 
 thoughtless about our rubbish ! Some have a 
 
OUR SILVER AND GOIJ) KEPT FOR JESUS. 1 1/ 
 
 habit of hoarding away old garments, " pieces/' 
 remnants, and odds and ends generally, under the 
 idea that they " will come in useful some day ; " 
 very likely setting it up as a kind of mild virtue, 
 backed by that noxious old saying, " Keep it by 
 you seven years, and you'll find a use for it." 
 And so the shabby things get shabbier, and moth 
 and dust doth corrupt, and the drawers and 
 places get choked and crowded ; and meanwhile 
 all this, that is sheer rubbish to you, might be 
 made useful at once, to a degree beyond what 
 you would guess, to some poor person. 
 
 It would be a nice variety for the clever ringers 
 of a lady's maid to be set to work to do up old 
 things ; or some tidy woman may be found in 
 almost every locality who knows how to contrive 
 children's things out of what seems to you only 
 fit for the rag-bag, either for her own little ones 
 or those of her neighbors. 
 
 My sister trimmed seventy or eighty hats every 
 spring, for several years, with the contents of 
 friends' rubbish drawers, thus relieving dozens 
 of poor mothers who liked their children to 
 "go tidy on Sunday," and also keeping down 
 
 finery in her Sunday-school. Those who literally 
 / / 
 
Xl8 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 fulfilled her request for "rubbish " used to marvel 
 at the results. 
 
 Little scraps of carpet, torn old curtains, faded 
 blinds, and all such gear go a wonderfully long 
 way towards making poor cottagers and old or 
 sick people comfortable. I never saw anything in 
 this " rubbish" line yet that could not be turned 
 to good account somehow, with a little considering 
 of the poor and their discomforts. 
 
 I wish my lady reader would just leave this 
 book now, and go straight up-stairs and have a 
 good rummage at once, and see what can be thus 
 cleared out. If she does not know the right 
 recipients at first hand, let her send it off to 
 the nearest working clergyman's wife, and see 
 how gratefully it will be received ! For it is a 
 great trial to workers among the poor not to be 
 able to supply the needs they see. Such supplies 
 are far more useful than treble their small money 
 value. 
 
 Just a word of earnest pleading for needs, 
 closely veiled, but very sore, which might be 
 wonderfully lightened if this wardrobe overhaul- 
 ing were systematic and faithful. There are 
 hundreds of poor clergymen's families to whom a 
 
OUR SILVER AND GOIyD KEPT FOR JESUS. 1 19 
 
 few old garments or any household oddments are 
 as great a charity as to any of the poor under 
 their charge. There are two Societies for aiding 
 these with such gifts, under initials which are ex- 
 plained in the Reports : the P. P. C. Society 
 Secretary, Miss Breay, Battenhall Place, Worces- 
 ter y and the A. F. D. Society Secretary, Miss 
 Hinton, 4 York Place, Clifton. I only ask my 
 lady friends to send for a report to either of these 
 devoted secretaries; and if their hearts are not so 
 touched by the cases of brave and bitter need 
 that they go forthwith to wardrobes and drawers 
 to see what can be spared and sent, they are 
 colder and harder than I give English women 
 credit for. 
 
 There is no bondage in consecration. The 
 two things are opposites, and can not co-exist, 
 much less mingle. We should suspect our conse- 
 cration, and come afresh to our great Counsellor 
 a-uout it, directly we have any sense of bondage. 
 As long as we have an unacknowledged feeling of 
 fidget about our account-book, and a smothered 
 wondering what and how much we "ought" to 
 give, and the hushed-up wishing the thing had 
 not been put quite so strongly before us, depend 
 
I2O KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 upon it we have not said unreservedly, " Take my 
 silver and my gold." And how can the Lord 
 keep what He has not been sincerely asked to 
 take? 
 
 Ah ! if we had stood at the foot of the Cross 
 and watched the tremendous payment of our re- 
 demption with the precious blood of Christ if 
 we had seen that awful price told out, drop by 
 drop, from His own dear, patient brow and 
 torn hands and feet till it was ALL paid, and 
 the central word of eternity was uttered, "It is 
 finished!" should we not have been ready to 
 say, "Not a mite will I withhold /" 
 
 MY JEWELS. 
 
 " Shall I hold them back my jewels ? 
 
 Time has traveled many a day 
 Since I laid them by forever, 
 
 Safely locking them away ; 
 And I thought them yielded wholly, 
 
 When I dared no longer wear 
 Gems contrasting, oh, so sadly ! 
 
 With the adorning I would bear. 
 
 " Shall I keep them still my jewels? 
 Shall I, can I, yet withhold 
 
OUR SILVER AND GOLD KEPT FOR JESUS. 121 
 
 From that living, loving Saviour 
 
 Aught of silver or of gold ? 
 Gold so needed, that His gospel 
 
 May resound from sea to sea ; 
 Can I know Christ's service lacketh 
 
 Yet forget His l unto Me ? > 
 
 * No ; I lay them down my jewels, 
 
 Truly on the altar now. 
 Stay! I see a vision passing 
 Of a gem-encircled brow. 
 Heavenly treasure worn by Jesus, 
 
 Souls won through my gift outpoured ; 
 Freely, gladly I will offer 
 Jewels thus to crown my Lord." 
 
 From Woman's Work. 
 
122 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OUR INTELLECTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my intellect, and use 
 Every power as Thou shalt choose." 
 
 THERE are two distinct sets of temptation 
 which assail those who have, or think they 
 have, rather less, and those who have, or 
 think the have, rather more than an average share 
 of intellect ; while those who have neither less nor 
 more are generally open in some degree to both. 
 The refuge and very present help from both is 
 the same. The intellect, whether great or small, 
 which is committed to the Lord's keeping, will be 
 kept and will be used by Him. 
 
 The former class are tempted to think them- 
 selves excused from effort to cultivate and use 
 their small intellectual gifts ; to suppose they can 
 not or need not seek to win souls, because they 
 are not so clever and apt in speech as So-and-so ; 
 to attribute to want of gift what is really want of 
 grace ; to hide the one talent because it is not 
 
OUR INTSI^ECTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 12* 
 
 five. Let me throw out a thought or two for 
 these. 
 
 Which is greatest, gifts or grace? Gifts are 
 given " to every man according to his several 
 ability." That is, we have just as much given as 
 God knows we are able to use and what He knows 
 we can best use for Him. " But unto every one 
 of us is given grace according to the measure of 
 the gift of Christ." Claiming and using that 
 royal measure of grace, you may, and can and 
 will do more for God than the mightiest intellect 
 in the world without it. For which, in the clear 
 light of His Word, is likely to be most effectual 
 the natural ability which at its best and fullest, 
 without Christ, "can do nothing ," (observe 
 and believe that word !), or the grace of our 
 Almighty God and the power of the Holy Ghost, 
 which is as free to you as it ever was to any one ? 
 
 If you are responsible for making use of your 
 limited gift, are you not equally responsible for 
 making use of the grace and power which are to 
 be had for the asking, which are already yours in 
 Christ, and which are not limited ? 
 
 Also, do you not see that when there are great 
 natural gifts, people give the credit to them, 
 
124 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 instead of to the grace which alone did the real 
 work, and thus God is defrauded of the glory ? 
 So that, to say it reverently, God can get more 
 glory out of a feeble instrument, because then it is 
 more obvious that the excellency of the power is 
 of God and not of us. Will you not henceforth 
 say, " Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory 
 in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may 
 rest upon me ? " 
 
 Don't you really believe that the Holy Spirit is 
 just as able to draw a soul to Jesus, if He will, by 
 your whisper of the one word " Come" as by an 
 eloquent sermon an hour long ? / do ! At the 
 same time, as it is evidently God's way to work 
 through these intellects of ours, we have no more 
 right to expect Him to use a mind which we are 
 wilfully neglecting, and taking no pains whatever 
 to fit for His use, than I should have to expect 
 you to write a beautiful inscription with my pen, 
 if I would not take the trouble to wipe it and 
 mend it. 
 
 The latter class are tempted to rely on their 
 natural gifts, and to act and speak in their own 
 strength ; to go on too fast, without really looking 
 up at every step, and for every word ; to spend 
 
OUR INTEI<I<ECTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 125 
 
 their Lord's time in polishing up their intellects, 
 nominally for the sake of influence and power> 
 and so forth, while really, down at the bottom, 
 it is for the sake of the keen enjoyment of the 
 process ; and perhaps, most of all, to spend the 
 strength of these intellects " for that which doth 
 not profit," in yielding to the specious snare of 
 reading clever books " on both sides," and eat- 
 ing deliberately of the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil. 
 
 The mere mention of these temptations should 
 be sufficient appeal to conscience. If consecra- 
 tion is to be a reality anywhere, should it not be 
 in the very thing which you own as an extra gift 
 from God, and which is evidently closest, so to 
 speak, to His direct action, spirit upon spirit? 
 And if the very strength of your intellect has 
 been your weakness, will you not entreat Him to 
 keep it henceforth really and entirely for Himself? 
 It is so good of Him to have given you something 
 to lay at His feet ; shall not this goodness lead 
 you to lay it all there, and never hanker after 
 taking it back for yourself or the world? Do 
 you not feel that in very proportion to the gift 
 you need the special keeping of it? He may 
 
126 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 lead you by a way you know not in the matter ; 
 very likely He will show you that you must be 
 willing to be a fool for His sake first, before He 
 will condescend to use you much for His glory. 
 Will you look up into His face and say, "Not 
 willing ?" 
 
 He who made every power can use every power 
 memory, judgment, imagination, quickness of 
 apprehension or insight; specialties of musical, 
 poetical, oratorical, or artistic faculty; special 
 tastes for reasoning, philosophy, history, natural 
 science, or natural history, all these may be 
 dedicated to Him, sanctified by Him, and used 
 by Him. Whatever He has given, He will use if 
 we will let Him. Often, in the most unexpected 
 ways, and at the most unexpected turns, some- 
 thing read or acquired long ago suddenly comes 
 into use. We cannot foresee what will thus 
 "come in useful;" but He knew, when He 
 guided us to learn it, what it would be wanted 
 for in His service. So may we not ask Him to 
 bring His perfect foreknowledge to bear on all 
 our mental training and storing ? to guide us to 
 read or study exactly what He knows there will 
 
OUR INTEl,lvECTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 127 
 
 be use for in the work to which He has called or 
 will call us ? 
 
 Nothing is more practically perplexing to a 
 young Christian, whose preparation- time is not 
 quite over, or perhaps painfully limited, than to 
 know what is most worth studying, what is really 
 the best investment of the golden hours, while yet 
 the time is not come for the field of active work 
 to be fully entered, and the " thoroughly furnish- 
 ing" of the mind is the evident path of present 
 duty. Is not His name called " Counsellor ? " 
 and will He not be faithful to the promise of His 
 name in this, as well as in all else ? 
 
 The same applies to every subsequent stage. 
 Only let us be perfectly clear about the principle 
 that our intellect is not our own, either to culti- 
 vate, or to use, or to enjoy, and that Jesus Christ 
 is our real and ever-present Counsellor, and then 
 there will be no more worry about what to read 
 and how much to read, and whether to keep up 
 one's accomplishments, or one's languages, or 
 one's " ologies /" If the Master has need of 
 them, He will show us ; and if He has not, what 
 need have we of them ? If we go forward with- 
 out His leading, we may throw away some talent, 
 
128 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 or let it get too rusty for use, which would have 
 been most valuable when other circumstances 
 arose or different work was given. We must not 
 think that " keeping" means not using at all! 
 What we want is to have all our powers kept for 
 His use. 
 
 In this they will probably find far higher de- 
 velopment than in any other sort of use. I know 
 cases in which the effect of real consecration on 
 mere mental development has been obvious and 
 surprising to all round. Yet it is only a confir- 
 mation of what I believe to be a great principle, 
 viz., that the Lord makes the most of whatever is 
 unreservedly surrendered to Him. There will 
 always be plenty of waste in what we try to cut 
 out for ourselves. But He wastes no material ! 
 
OUR WII<LS KEPT FOR TESUS. I2g 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OUR WILLS KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my will, oh, keep it Thine, 
 For it is no longer mine." 
 
 F)ERHAPS there is no point in which ex- 
 I pectation has been so limited by experience 
 
 as this. We believe God is able to do for 
 us just so much as He has already done, and no 
 more. We take it for granted a line must be 
 drawn somewhere ; and so we choose to draw it 
 where experience ends, and faith would have to 
 begin. Even if we have trusted and proved Him 
 as to keeping our members and our minds, faith 
 fails when we would go deeper and say, " Keep 
 my will ! " And yet the only reason we have to 
 give is, that though we have asked Him to take 
 our will, we do not exactly find that it is alto- 
 gether His, but that self-will crops up again and 
 again. And whatever flaw there might be in this 
 argument, we think the matter is quite settled by 
 the fact that some whom we rightly esteem, and 
 
 9 
 
130 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 who are far better than ourselves, have the same 
 experience, and do not even seem to think it 
 right to hope for anything better. That is 
 conclusive ! And the result of this, as of every 
 other faithless conclusion, is either discourage- 
 ment and depression, or, still worse, acquiescence 
 in an unyielded will, as something that can't be 
 helped. 
 
 Now let us turn from our thoughts to God's 
 thoughts. Verily, they are not as ours ! He 
 says He is able to do exceeding abundantly above 
 all that we ask or think. Apply this here. We 
 ask Him to take our wills and make them His. 
 Does He or does He not mean what He says ? 
 and if He does, should we not trust Him to do 
 this thing that we have asked and longed for, and 
 not less, but more? " Is anything too hard for 
 the Lord ? " " Hath He said, and shall He not 
 do it? " and if He gives us faith to believe that 
 we have the petition that we desired of Him, 
 and with it the unspeakable rest of leaning our 
 will wholly upon His love, what ground have 
 we for imagining that this is necessarily to be a 
 mere fleeting shadow, which is hardly to last an 
 (our, but is necessarily to be exhausted ere the 
 
OUR WIIvI,S KEPT FOR JESUS. 13! 
 
 next breath of trial or temptation comes ? Does 
 He mock our longing by acting as I have seen an 
 older person act to a child, by accepting some 
 trifling gift of no intrinsic value, just to please the 
 little one, and then throwing it away as soon as 
 the child's attention is diverted? Is not the 
 taking rather the pledge of the keeping, if we will 
 but entrust Him fearlessly with it? We give Him 
 no opportunity, so to speak, of proving His faith- 
 fulness to this great promise, because we will not 
 fulfill the condition of reception, believing it. 
 But we readily enough believe instead all that we 
 hear of the unsatisfactory experience of others ! 
 Or, start from another word. Job said, " I know 
 that Thou canst do everything," and we turn 
 round and say, " Oh yes, everything except keep- 
 ing my will!" Dare we add, "And I know 
 that Thou canst not do that ? " Yet that is what 
 is said every day, only in other words; and if 
 not said aloud, it is said in faithless hearts, and 
 God hears it. What does " Almighty " mean, if 
 it does not mean as we teach our little children, 
 " able to do everything?" 
 
 We have asked this great thing many a time, 
 without, perhaps, realizing how great a petition 
 
132 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 we were singing in the old morning hymn, 
 " Guard my first springs of thought and will ! " 
 That goes to the root of the matter, only it im- 
 plies that the will has been already surrendered 
 to Him, that it may be wholly kept and guarded. 
 It may be that we have not sufficiently realized 
 the sin of the only alternative. Our wills belong 
 either to self or to God. It may seem a small 
 and rather excusable sin in man's sight to be self- 
 willed, but see in what a category of iniquity 
 God puts it ! (2 Pet. ii. 10.) And certainly we 
 are without excuse when we have such a promise 
 to go upon as, "It is God that worketh in you 
 both to will and to do of his pleasure." How 
 splendidly this meets our very deepest helpless- 
 ness, "worketh in you to will!'' 1 Oh, let us 
 pray for ourselves and for each other, that we 
 may know " what is the exceeding greatness of 
 His power to usward who believe." It does not 
 say "to usward who fear and doubt;" for if we 
 will not believe, neither shall we be established. 
 If we will not believe what God says He can do, 
 we shall see it with our eyes, but we shall not eat 
 thereof. "They could not enter in because of 
 unbelief." 
 
OUR WHJ<S KEPT FOR JKSUS. 133 
 
 It is most comforting to remember that the 
 grand promise, "Thy people shall be willing in 
 the day of Thy power," is made by the Father 
 to Christ Himself. The Lord Jesus holds this 
 promise, and God will fulfill it to Him. He 
 will make us willing because He has promised 
 Jesus that He will do so. And what is being 
 made willing, but having our will taken and 
 kept? 
 
 All true surrender of the will is based upon 
 love and knowledge of, and confidence in, the 
 one to whom it is surrendered. We have the 
 human analogy so often before our eyes that it is 
 the more strange we should be so slow to own 
 even the possibility of it as to God. Is it 
 thought anything so very extraordinary and high- 
 flown, when a bride deliberately prefers wearing 
 a color which was not her own taste or choice, 
 because her husband likes to see her in it ? Is it 
 very unnatural that it is no distress to her to do 
 what he asks her to do, or to go with him where 
 he asks her to come, even without question or 
 explanation, instead of doing what or going 
 where she would undoubtedly have preferred if 
 she did not know and love him ? Is it very sur- 
 
134 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 prising if this lasts beyond the wedding-day, and 
 if, year after year, she still finds it her greatest 
 pleasure to please him, quite irrespective of what 
 used to be her own ways and likings? Yet in 
 this case she is not helped by any promise or 
 power on his part to make her wish what he 
 wishes. But He who so wonderfully condescends 
 to call Himself the Bridegroom of His church, 
 and who claims our fullest love and trust, has 
 promised and has power to work in us to will. 
 Shall we not claim His promise and rely on His 
 mighty power, and say, not self-confidently, but 
 looking only unto Jesus 
 
 " Keep my will, for it is Thine ; 
 Tt shall be no longer mine ! " 
 
 Only in proportion as our own will is sur- 
 rendered, are we able to discern the splendor of 
 God's will. 
 
 For oh ! it is a splendor, 
 
 A glow of majesty, 
 A mystery of beauty, 
 
 If we will only see ; 
 A very cloud of glory 
 
 Enfolding you and me. 
 
OUR WII<I,S KICPT FOR JKSUS. 1 35 
 
 A splendor that is lighted 
 
 At one transcendent flame, 
 The wondrous Love, the perfect Love, 
 
 Our Father's sweetest name ; 
 For His Name and very Essence 
 
 And His Will are all the same ! 
 
 Conversely in proportion as we see this splendor 
 of His will, we shall more readily or more fully 
 surrender our own. Not until we have presented 
 our bodies a living sacrifice can we prove what is 
 that good, and perfect, and acceptable will of 
 God. But in thus proving it this continual 
 presentation will be more and more seen to be 
 our reasonable service, and becomes more and 
 more a joyful sacrifice of praise 
 
 The connection in Romans xii. i, 2, between 
 our sacrifice which He so graciously calls accept- 
 able to Himself, and our finding out that His will 
 is acceptable to ourselves, is very striking. One 
 reason for this connection may be that only love 
 can really understand love, and love on both 
 sides is at the bottom of the whole transaction l 
 and its results. First, He loves us. Then the 
 discovery of this leads us to love Him. Then, 
 because He loves us, He claims us, and desires to 
 
136 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 have us wholly yielded to His will, so that the 
 operations of love in and for us, may find no 
 hindrance. Then, because we love Him, we 
 recognize His claim and yield ourselves. Then, 
 being thus yielded, He draws us nearer to Him,* 
 and admits us, so to speak, into closer intimacy 
 so that we gain nearer and truer views of His 
 perfections. Then the unity of these perfec- 
 tions becomes clearer to us. Now we not only 
 see His justice and mercy flowing in undivided 
 stream from the cross of Christ, but we see that 
 they never were divided, though the strange dis- 
 tortions of the dark, false glass of sin made them 
 appear so, but that both are but emanations of 
 God's holy love. Then having known and 
 believed this holy love, we see further that His 
 will is not a separate thing, but only love (and 
 therefore all His attributes) in action ; love being 
 the primary essence of His being, and all the 
 other attributes, manifestations and combinations 
 of that ineffable essence, for God is Love. Then 
 this will of God, which has seemed in old far-off 
 
 * " Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, 
 come near" (2 Chron. xxix. 31). 
 
OUR WII,I,S KKPT FOR JESUS. 1 37 
 
 days a stern and fateful power, is seen to be only 
 love energized ; love saying, " I will. ' ' And when 
 once we really grasp this (hardly so much by 
 faith as by love itself), the will of God cannot be 
 otherwise than acceptable, for it is no longer a 
 question of trusting that somehow or other there 
 is a hidden element of love in it, but of under- 
 standing that it is love ; no more to be disso- 
 ciated from it than the power of the sun's rays 
 can be dissociated from their light and warmth. 
 And love recognized must surely be love accepted 
 and reciprocated. So, as the fancied sternness of 
 God's will is lost in His love, the stubbornness of 
 our will becomes melted in that love, and lost in 
 our acceptance of it. 
 
 " Take Thine own way with me, dear Lord, 
 
 Thou canst not otherwise than bless ; 
 I launch me forth upon a sea 
 
 Of boundless love and tenderness. 
 
 " I could not choose a larger bliss 
 
 Than to be wholly Thine ; and mine 
 A will whose highest joy is this 
 To ceaselessly unclasp in Thine. 
 
 " I will not fear Thee, O my God ! 
 The days to come can only bring 
 
138 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 Their perfect sequences of love, 
 Thy larger, deeper comforting. 
 
 " Within the shadow of this love, 
 
 Loss doth transmute itself to gain ; 
 Faith veils earth's sorrows in its light, 
 And straightway lives above her pain. 
 
 " We are not losers thus ; we share 
 
 The perfect gladness of the Son, 
 Not conquered for, behold, we reign ; 
 Conquered and Conqueror are one. 
 
 " Thy wonderful grand will, my God ! 
 
 Triumphantly I make it mine ; 
 And faith shall breathe her glad * Amen* 
 To every dear command of Thine. 
 
 " Beneath the splendor of Thy choice, 
 Thy perfect choice for me, I rest ; 
 Outside it now I dare not live, 
 Within it I must needs be blest. 
 
 " Meanwhile my spirit anchors calm 
 In grander regions still than this; 
 The fair, far-shining latitudes 
 Of that yet unexplored bliss. 
 
 " Then may Thy perfect, glorious will 
 
 Be evermore fulfilled in me, 
 And make my life an answ'ring chord 
 Of glad, responsive harmony. 
 
OUR WII^S KEPT FOR JESUS. 139 
 
 " Oh ! it is life indeed to live 
 
 Within this kingdom strangely sweet ; 
 And yet we fear to enter in, 
 And linger with unwilling feet. 
 
 We fear this wondrous rule of Thine, 
 Because we have not reached Thy heart ; 
 
 Not venturing our all on Thee, 
 
 We may not know how good Thou art." 
 
 JEAN SOPHIA PIGOTT, 
 
140 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OUR HEARTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my heart; it is Thine own; 
 It is now Thy royal throne." 
 
 " TT is a good thing that the heart be established 
 1 with grace," and yet some of us go on as if 
 it were not a good thing even to hope for 
 it to be so. 
 
 We should be ashamed to say that we had be- 
 haved treacherously to a friend; that we had 
 played him false again and again ; that we had 
 said scores of times what we did not really mean ; 
 that we had professed and promised what, all the 
 while, we had no sort of purpose of performing. 
 We should be ready to go off by next ship to New 
 Zealand rather than calmly own to all this, or 
 rather than ever face our friends again after we 
 had owned it. And yet we are not ashamed 
 (some of us) to say that we are always dealing 
 treacherously with our Lord ; nay, more, we own 
 it with an inexplicable complacency, as if there 
 
OUR HEARTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 141 
 
 were a kind of virtue in saying how fickle and 
 faithless and desperately wicked our hearts are ; 
 and we actually plume ourselves on the easy con- 
 fession, which we think proves our humility, and 
 which does not lower us in the eyes of others, nor 
 in our own eyes, half so much as if we had to say, 
 "I have told a story," or, "I have broken my 
 promise." Nay, more, we have not the slightest 
 hope, and therefore not the smallest intention of 
 aiming at an utterly different state of things. 
 Well for us if we do not go a step farther, and 
 call those by hard and false names who do seek 
 to have an established heart, and who believe 
 that as the Lord meant what He said when He 
 promised, " No good thing will He withhold 
 from them that walk uprightly," so He will not 
 withhold this good thing. 
 
 Prayer must be based upon promise, but, thank 
 God, His promises are always broader than our 
 prayers. No fear of building inverted pyramids 
 here, for Jesus Christ is the foundation, and 
 this and all the other " promises of God in 
 Him are yea and in Him amen, unto the glory of 
 God by us." So it shall be unto His glory to 
 fulfill this one to us, and to answer our prayer for 
 
142 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 a "kept" or "established" heart. And its ful- 
 fillment shall work out His glory, not in spite of 
 us, but " by us." 
 
 We find both the means and the result of the 
 keeping in the 1 1 2th Psalm : ' ' His heart is fixed. ' ' 
 Whose heart? An angel? A saint in glory? 
 No ! Simply the heart of the man that feareth 
 the Lord, and delighteth greatly in His command- 
 ments. Therefore yours and mine, as God would 
 have them be ; just the normal idea of a God- 
 fearing heart, nothing extremely and hopelessly 
 beyond attainment. 
 
 "Fixed." How does that tally with the de- 
 ceitfulness and waywardness and fickleness about 
 which we really talk as if we were rather proud 
 of them than utterly ashamed of them ? 
 
 Does our heavenly Bridegroom expect nothing 
 more of us? Does His mighty, all-constraining 
 love intend to do no more for us than to leave us 
 in this deplorable state, when He is undoubtedly 
 able to heal the desperately wicked heart (com- 
 pare verses 9 and 14 of Jeremiah xvii.), to rule 
 the wayward one with His peace, and to establish 
 the fickle one with His grace? Are we not 
 " without excuse ? " 
 
OUR HEARTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 143 
 
 " Fixed, trusting in the Lord." Here is the 
 means of the fixing trust. He works the trust 
 in us by sending the Holy Spirit to reveal God in 
 Christ to us as absolutely, infinitely worthy of our 
 trust. When we " see Jesus" by spirit- wrought 
 faith, we can not but trust Him ; we distrust our 
 hearts more truly than ever before, but we trust 
 our Lord entirely, because we trust Him only. 
 For, entrusting our trust to Him, we know that 
 He is able to keep that which we commit (Y. <?., 
 entrust) to Him. It is His own way of winning 
 and fixing our hearts for Himself. Is it not 
 a beautiful one ? Thus " his heart is established." 
 But we have not quite faith enough to believe 
 that. So what is the very first doubting, and 
 therefore sad thought that crops up? " Yes, but 
 I am afraid 'it will not remain fixed." 
 
 That is your thought. Now see what is God's 
 thought about the case. " His heart is established, 
 he shall not be afraid." 
 
 Is not that enough ? What ts, if such plain 
 and yet divine words are not ? Well, the Gracious 
 One bears with us, and gives line upon line to 
 His poor little children. And so He says, " The 
 peace of God which passeth all understanding, 
 
144 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ 
 Jesus. " And again, "Thy thoughts shall be 
 established/ 1 And again, " Thou wilt keep him 
 in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, 
 because he trusteth in Thee." 
 
 And to prove to us that these promises can be 
 realized in present experience, He sends down to 
 us through nearly 3,000 years the words of the 
 man who prayed, " Create in me a clean heart, O 
 God," and let us hear twice over the new song 
 put by the same Holy Spirit into his mouth : " My 
 heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed " (Ps. 
 Ivii. 7, cviii. i). 
 
 The heart that is established in Christ is also 
 established for Christ. It becomes His royal 
 throne, no longer occupied by His foe, no longer 
 tottering and unstable. And then we see the 
 beauty and preciousness of the promise, " He 
 shall be a Priest upon His throne." Not only 
 reigning, but atoning. Not only ruling, but 
 cleansing. Thus the throne is established " in 
 mercy," but " by righteousness." 
 
 I think we lose ground sometimes by parleying 
 with the tempter. We have no business to parley 
 with an usurper. The throne is no longer his 
 
OUR HEARTS KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 '45 
 
 when we have surrendered it to our Lord Jesus. 
 And why should we allow him to argue with us 
 for one instant, as if it were still an open ques- 
 tion? Don't listen; simply tell him that Jesus 
 Christ is on the long-disputed throne, and no 
 more about it, but turn at once to your King and 
 claim the glorious protection of His sovereignty 
 over you. It is a splendid reality, and you will 
 find it so. He will not abdicate and leave you 
 kingless and defenceless. For verily, "The Lord 
 is our King; he will save us" (Isa. xxxiii. 22). 
 
 Our hearts are naturally 
 
 God can 
 
 make them 
 
 Evil . , . 
 
 Heb. iii. 12 
 
 Clean . . . 
 
 Ps. li. 10 
 
 Desperately 
 
 
 
 
 wicked . 
 
 Jer. xvii. 9 
 
 Good 
 
 Luke viii. 15 
 
 Weak . . . 
 
 Ezek. xvi. 30 
 
 Fixed . . . 
 
 Ps. cxii. 7 
 
 Deceitful . 
 
 Jer. xvii. 9 
 
 Faithful . . 
 
 Neh. ix. 8 
 
 Deceived . 
 
 Isa. xliv. 20 
 
 Understand- 
 
 
 
 
 ing ... 
 
 I Kings iii. 9 
 
 Double . . 
 
 Ps. xii. 2 
 
 Honest . . 
 
 Luke viii. 15 
 
 Impenitent . 
 
 Rom. ii. 5 
 
 Contrite . . 
 
 Ps. li. 17 
 
 Rebellious . 
 
 Ter. v. 21 
 
 True . . . 
 
 Heb. x. 22 
 
 Hard . . . 
 
 J ** * *"O 
 
 Ezek. iii. 7 
 
 Soft . . . 
 
 Job xxiii. 1 6 
 
 Stony . . . 
 
 Ezek. xi. 19 
 
 New . . . 
 
 Ezek. xviii. 32 
 
 Froward . . 
 
 Prov. xvii. 20 
 
 Sound . . . 
 
 Ps. cxix. 80 
 
 Despiteful . 
 
 Ezek. xxv. 15 
 
 Glad . . . 
 
 Ps. xvi. 9 
 
 Stout . . . 
 
 Isa. x. 12 
 
 Established 
 
 Ps. cxii. 8 
 
 Haughty 
 
 Prov. xviii. 12 
 
 Tender . . 
 
 Ephes. iv. 32 
 
 Proud . . . 
 
 Prov. xxi. 4 
 
 Pure . 
 
 Matt. v. 8 
 
 Perverse . . 
 
 Prov. xii. 8 
 
 Perfect . . 
 
 I Chron. xxix. 9 
 
 Foolish . . 
 
 Rom. i. 21 
 
 Wise . . . 
 
 Prov. xi. 20 
 
 10 
 
 
 
146 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OUR LOVE KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my love ; my Lord, I pour 
 At Thy feet its treasure-store." 
 
 NOT as a mere echo from the morning-gilded 
 shore of Tiberias, but as an ever-new, ever- 
 sounding note of divinest power come the 
 familiar words to each of us, " Lovest thou Me ? " 
 He says it who has loved us with an everlasting 
 love. He says it who has died for us. He says 
 it who has washed us from our sins in His own 
 blood. He says it who has waited for our love, 
 waited patiently all through our coldness. 
 
 And if by His grace we have said, " Take my 
 love," which of us has not felt that part of His 
 very answer has been to make us see how little 
 there was to take, and how little of that little has 
 been kept for Him ? And yet we do love Him ! 
 He knows that ! The very mourning and longing 
 to love Him proves it. But we want more 
 that, and so does our Lord. 
 
OUR I,O VE KEPT FOR JESUS. 147 
 
 He has created us to love. We have a sealed 
 treasure of love, which either remains sealed, and 
 then gradually dries up and wastes away, or is un- 
 sealed and poured out, and yet is the fuller and 
 not the emptier for the outpouring. The more 
 love we give, the more we have to give. So far 
 it is only natural. But when the Holy Spirit 
 reveals the love of Christ, and sheds abroad the 
 love of God in our hearts, this natural love is 
 penetrated with a new principle, as it discovers a 
 new Object. Everything that it beholds in that 
 Object gives it new depth and new colors. As it 
 sees the holiness, the beauty, and the glory, it 
 takes the deep hues of conscious sinfulness, un- 
 worthiness, and nothingness. As it sees even a 
 glimpse of the love that passeth knowledge, it 
 takes the glow of wonder and gratitude. And 
 when it sees that love drawing close to its deepest 
 need with blood-purchased pardon, it is in- 
 tensified and stirred, and there is no more time 
 for weighing and measuring; we most pour it 
 out, all there is of it, with our tears, at the feet 
 that were pierced for the love of us. 
 
 And what then ? Has the flow grown gradually 
 slower and shallower? Has our Lord reason to say, 
 
148 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 " My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, 
 and as a stream of brooks they pass away?" It 
 is humiliating to have found that we could not 
 keep on loving Him as we loved in that remem- 
 bered hour when "Thy time was the time of 
 love." We have proved that we were not able. 
 Let this be only the stepping-stone to proving that 
 He is able ! 
 
 There will have been a cause, as we shall see if 
 we seek it honestly. It was not that we really 
 poured out all our treasure, and so it naturally 
 came to an end. We let it be secretly diverted 
 into other channels. We began keeping back a 
 little part of the price for something else. We 
 looked away from, instead of looking away unto, 
 Jesus. We did not entrust Him with our love, 
 and ask Him to keep it for Himself. 
 
 And what has He to say to us ? Ah, He up- 
 braideth not. Listen? "Thus saith the Lord, 
 I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the 
 love of thine espousals." Can any words be more 
 tender, more touching, to you, to me ? Forget- 
 ting all the sin, all the backsliding, all the cold- 
 ness, casting all that into the unreturning depths 
 of the sea, He says He remembers that hour when 
 
OUR I,OV KEPT FOR JESUS. 149 
 
 we first said, " Take my love." He remembers 
 it now, at this minute. He has written it forever 
 on His infinite memory, where the past is as the 
 present. 
 
 His own love is unchangeable, so it could never 
 be His wish or will that we should thus drift away 
 from Him. Oh, "Come and let us return unto 
 the Lord ! ' ' But is there any hope that, thus 
 returning, our flickering love may be kept from 
 again failing ? Hear what He says : "And I will 
 betroth thee unto Me forever." And again: 
 " Thou shalt abide for Me many days ; so will I 
 also be for thee." Shall we trust His word or 
 not ? Is it worthy of our acceptance or not ? 
 Oh, rest on this word of the King, and let Him 
 from this day have the keeping of your love, and 
 He will keep it ! 
 
 The love of Christ is not an absorbing, but a 
 radiating love. The more we love Him, the more 
 ire shall most certainly love others. Some have 
 not much natural power of loving, but the love 
 of Christ will strengthen it. Some have had the 
 springs of love dried up by some terrible earth- 
 quake. They will find * ' fresh springs ' ' in Jesus, 
 
150 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 and the gentle flow will be purer and deeper than 
 the old torrent could ever be. Some have been 
 satisfied that it should rush in a narrow channel, 
 but He will cause it to overflow into many another, 
 and widen its course of blessing. Some have 
 spent it all on their God-given dear ones. Now 
 He is come whose right it is \ and yet in the full- 
 est resumption of that right, He is so gracious 
 that He puts back an even larger measure of the 
 old love into our hand, sanctified with His own 
 love, and energized with His blessing, and 
 strengthened with His new commandment, " That 
 ye love one another, as I have loved you." 
 
 In that always very interesting part, called a 
 "Corner for Difficulties/' of that always very 
 interesting magazine, Woman's Work, the ques- 
 tion has been discussed, " When does love become 
 idolatry? Is it the experience of Christians that 
 the coming in of a new object of affection inter- 
 feres with entire consecration to God ? " I should 
 like to quote the many excellent answers in full, 
 but must only refer my readers to the number for 
 March, 1879. O ne replies: " It seems to me 
 that He who is love would not give us an object 
 for our love unless He saw that our hearts needed 
 
OUR I,OVE KEPT FOR JKSUS. 15! 
 
 expansion; and if the love is consecrated, and 
 the friendship takes its stand in Christ, there is 
 no need for the fear that it will become idolatry. 
 Let the love on both sides be given to God to keep, 
 and however much it may grow, the source from 
 which it springs must yet be greater." Perhaps 
 I may be pardoned for giving, at the same writer's 
 suggestion, a quotation from " Under the Sur- 
 face " on this subject. Eleanor says to Beatrice: 
 
 " I tremble when I think 
 How much I love him ; but I turn away 
 From thinking of it, just to love him more : 
 Indeed, I fear, too much." 
 
 " Dear Eleanor, 
 
 Do you love him as much as Christ loves us ? 
 Let your lips answer me." 
 
 " Why ask me, dear? 
 Our hearts are finite, Christ is infinite." 
 
 " Then, till you reach the standard of that love, 
 Let neither fears nor well-meant warning voice 
 Distress you with * too much. ' For He hath said 
 How much and who shall dare to change His measure ? 
 1 That ye should love AS I have loved you? 
 O sweet command, that goes so far beyond 
 The mightiest impulse of the tenderest heart ! 
 A bare permission had been much ; but He 
 Who knows our yearnings and our fearfulness 
 
I$2 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USB, 
 
 Chose graciously to bid us do the thing 
 
 That makes our earthly happiness, 
 
 A limit that we need not fear to pass, 
 
 Because we cannot. Oh, the breadth and length, 
 
 And depth and height of love that passeth knowledge ; 
 
 Yet Jesus said * As I have loved you.' " 
 
 " O Beatrice, I long to feel the sunshine 
 That this should bring; but there are other words 
 Which fall in chill eclipse. 'Tis written, ' Keep 
 Yourselves from idols.' How shall I obey ? " 
 
 " Oh, not by loving less, but loving more. 
 It is not that we love our precious ones 
 Too much, but God too little. As the lamp 
 A miner bears upon his shadowed brow 
 Is only dazzling in the grimy dark, 
 And has no glare against the summer sky, 
 So, set the tiny torch of our best love 
 In the great sunshine of the love of God, 
 And, though full fed and fanned, it casts no shade, 
 And dazzles not, o'erflowed with mightier light." 
 
 There is no love so deep and wide as that 
 which is kept for Jesus. It flows both fuller and 
 farther when it flows only through Him. Then, 
 too, it will be a power for Him. It will always 
 be unconsciously working for Him, In drawing 
 others to ourselves by it, we shall be necessarily 
 drawing them nearer to the fountain of our love, 
 
OUR I<OVS KEPT: FOR JESUS. 153 
 
 never drawing them away from it. It is the great 
 magnet of His love which alone can draw any 
 heart to Him ; but when our own are thoroughly 
 yielded to its mighty influence, they will be so 
 magnetized that He will condescend to use them 
 in this way. 
 
 Is it not wonderful to think that the Lord Jesus 
 will not only accept and keep, but actually use 
 our love ? 
 
 " Of Thine own have we given Thee," for we 
 love Him because He first loved us. ' ' 
 
 Set apart to love Him, 
 
 And His love to know 
 Not to waste affection 
 On a passing show ; 
 Called to give Him life and heart, 
 
 Called to pour the hidden treasure, 
 That none other claims to measure, 
 Into His beloved hand ! thrice blessed " set apart ! '* 
 
154 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 OUR SELVES KEPT FOR JESUS. 
 
 " Keep my self, that I may be 
 Ever, only, all for Thee." 
 
 R THEE!" That is the beginning and 
 the end of the whole matter of consecra- 
 tion. 
 
 There was a prelude to its " endless song " a 
 prelude whose theme is woven into every follow- 
 ing harmony in the new anthem of consecrated 
 life : " The Son of God who loved me, and gave 
 Himself/^r me. ' ' Out of the realized " for me," 
 grows the practical " for Thee ! " If the former 
 is a living root, the latter will be its living fruit. 
 
 " For Thee / " This makes the difference be- 
 tween forced or formal, and therefore unreasona- 
 ble service, and the " reasonable service," which 
 is the beginning of the perfect service where they 
 see His face. This makes the difference between 
 slave work and free work. For Thee, my Re- 
 deemer ; for Thee, who hast spoken to my heart ; for 
 Thee, who hast done for me what? Let us each 
 
OUR SELVES KEPT FOR JESUS. 15$ 
 
 pause, and fill up that blank with the great things 
 the Lord hath done for us. For Thee, who art to 
 me what ? Fill that up too, before Him ! For 
 Thee, my Saviour Jesus, my Lord and my God ! 
 And what is to be for Him ? My self. We 
 talk sometimes as if, whatever else could be sub- 
 dued unto Him, self could never be. Did St. 
 Paul forget to mention this important exception 
 to the " all things " in Phil. iii. 21 ? David said: 
 "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is 
 within me, bless His Holy Name." Did he, too, 
 unaccountably forget to mention that he only 
 meant all that was within him, except self? If 
 not, then self must be among the "all things" 
 which the Lord Jesus Christ is able to subdue 
 unto Himself, and which are to " bless His Holy 
 Name." It is Self which, once His most treach- 
 erous foe, is now, by full and glad surrender, His 
 own soldier coming over from the rebel camp 
 into the royal army. It is not some one else, 
 some temporarily possessing spirit, which says 
 within us, "Lord, Thou knowest that I love 
 Thee," but our true and very self, only changed 
 and renewed by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 And when we do that we would not, we know 
 
156 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 that "it is no more /that do it, but sin that 
 dwelleth in me." Our true self is the new self, 
 taken and won by the love of God, and kept by 
 the power of God. 
 
 Yes, ' ' kept ! J ' There is the promise on which 
 we ground our prayer ; or, rather, one of the 
 promises. For, search and look for your own 
 strengthening and comfort, and you will find it 
 repeated in every part of the Bible, from " I am 
 with thee and will keep thee," in Genesis, to " I 
 will also keep thee from the hour of temptation/' 
 in Revelation. 
 
 And keptyfrr Him / Why should it be thought 
 a thing incredible with you, when it is only the ful- 
 filling of His own eternal purpose in creating us ? 
 " This people have I formed for Myself .^ Not 
 ultimately only, but presently and continually; 
 for He says, " Thou shalt abide for Me ;" and, 
 " He that remaineth, even he shall be for our 
 God. ' ' Are you one of His people by faith in 
 Jesus Christ ? Then see what you are to Him. 
 You, personally and individually, are part of the 
 Lord's portion (Deut. xxxii. 9), and of His 
 inheritance (i Kings, viii. 53, and Eph i. 18). 
 His portion and inheritance would not be com- 
 
OUR SEI/VES KEPT FOR JESUS. 157 
 
 plete without you ; you are His peculiar treasure 
 (Ex. xix. 5); "a special people" (how warm, 
 and loving, and natural that expression is!) "unto 
 Himself (Deut. vii. 6). Would you call it 
 " keeping, " if you had a "special" treasure, a 
 darling little child, for instance, and let it run 
 wild into all sorts of dangers all day long, some- 
 times at your side, and sometimes out in the 
 street, with only the intention of fetching it safe 
 home at night ? If ye then, being evil, would 
 know better and do better, than that, how much 
 more shall our Lord's keeping be true, and ten- 
 der, and continual, and effectual, when He de- 
 clares us to be His peculiar treasure, purchased 
 (see i Pet. ii. 9, margin) for Himself at such 
 unknown cost ! 
 
 He will keep what thus He sought, 
 Safely guard the dearly bought ; 
 Cherish that which He did choose, 
 Always love and never lose. 
 
 I know what some of us are thinking. " Yes, 
 I see it all plainly enough in theory, but in prac- 
 tice I find I am not kept. Self goes over to the 
 other camp again and again. It is not all for 
 Jesus, though I have asked and wished for it to be 
 
158 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE, 
 
 so." Dear friends, the "all "must be sealed 
 with " only." Are you willing to be " only" for 
 Jesus? You have not given "all" to Jesus 
 while you are not quite ready to be " only " for 
 Him. And it is no use to talk about "ever" 
 while we have not settled the " only" and the 
 "all." You can not be " for Him," in the full 
 and blessed sense, while you are partly " for " 
 anything or any one else. For " the Lord hath 
 set apart him that is godly for Himself." You 
 see, the "for Himself" hinges upon the "set 
 apart. ' ' There is no consecration without separa- 
 tion. If you are mourning over want of realized 
 consecration, will you look humbly and sincerely 
 into this point? "A garden enclosed is my 
 sister, my spouse," saith the Heavenly Bride- 
 groom. 
 
 Set apart for Jesus ! 
 
 Is not this enough ? 
 Though the desert prospect 
 
 Open wild and rough ? 
 Set apart for His delight, 
 
 Chosen for His holy pleasure 
 Sealed to be His special treasure ! 
 Could we choose a nobler joy ? and would we if 
 we might ? * 
 
 * Loyal Responses, p. II. 
 
OUR SEXVES KEPT FOR JESUS. 1 59 
 
 But yielding, by His grace to this blessed set- 
 ting apart for Himself, " The Lord shall establish 
 thee an holy people unto Himself, as He hath 
 sworn unto thee." Can there be a stronger 
 promise ? Just obey and trust His word now, and 
 yield yourselves now unto God, "that He may 
 establish thee to-day for a people unto Himself/* 
 Commit the keeping of your souls to Him in 
 well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator, being per- 
 suaded that He is ABLE TO KEEP that which you 
 commit to Him. 
 
 Now, Lord, I give myself to Thee, 
 
 I would be wholly Thine. 
 As Thou hast given Thyself to me, 
 
 And Thou art wholly mine ; 
 O take me, seal me for Thine own, 
 Thine altogether, Thine alone. 
 
 Here comes in once more that immeasurably 
 important subject of our influence. For it is not 
 what we say or do, so much as what we are, that 
 influences others. We have heard this, and very 
 likely repeated it again and again, but have we 
 seen it to be inevitably linked with the great 
 question of this chapter ? I do not know any- 
 
160 KEPT FOR THE MASTERS USE. 
 
 thing which, thoughtfully considered, makes us 
 realize more vividly the need and the importance 
 of our whole selves being kept for Jesus. Any 
 part not wholly committed, and not wholly kept, 
 must hinder and neutralize the real influence for 
 Him of all the rest. If we ourselves are kept all 
 for Jesus, then our influence will be all kept for 
 Him too. If not, then, however much we may 
 wish and talk and try, we cannot throw our full 
 weight into the right scale. And just in so far as 
 it is not in the one scale, it must be in the other ; 
 weighing against the little which we have tried to 
 put in the right one, and making the short weight 
 still shorter. 
 
 So large a proportion of it is entirely invol- 
 untary, while yet the responsibility of it is so 
 enormous, that our helplessness comes out in ex- 
 ceptionally strong relief, while our past debt in 
 this matter is simply incalculable. Are we feeling 
 this a little? getting just a glimpse, down the 
 misty defiles of memory, of the neutral influence, 
 the wasted influence, the mistaken influence, the 
 actually wrong influence which has marked the 
 ineffaceable although untraceable course ? And 
 all the while we owed Him all that influence ! It 
 
OUR SELVES KEPT FOR JESUS. l6l 
 
 ought to Have been all for Him ! We have noth- 
 ing to say. But what has our Lord to say ? "I 
 forgave thee all that debt ! " 
 
 Then, after that forgiveness which must come 
 first, there comes a thought of great comfort in 
 our freshly felt helplessness, rising out of the very 
 thing that makes us realize this helplessness. Just 
 because our influence is to such a great extent 
 involuntary and unconscious, we may rest assured 
 that if we ourselves are truly kept for Jesus, this 
 will be, as a quite natural result, kept for Him 
 also. It can not be otherwise, for as is the foun- 
 tain, so will be the flow ; as the spring, so the 
 action; as the impulse, so the communicated 
 motion. Thus there may be, and in simple trust 
 there will be, a quiet rest about it, a relief from 
 all sense of strain and effort, a fulfilling of the 
 words, " For he that is entered into his rest, he 
 also hath ceased from his own works, as God did 
 from His. ' ' It will not be a matter of trying to 
 have good influence, but just of having it, as 
 naturally and constantly as the magnetized bar. 
 
 Another encouraging thought should follow. 
 Of ourselves we may have but little weight, no 
 particular talents or position or anything else to 
 
i62 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S uss. 
 
 put into the scale; but let us remember that again 
 and again God has shown that the influence of a 
 very average life, when once really consecrated to 
 Him, may outweigh that of almost any number 
 of merely professing Christians. Such lives are 
 like Gideon's three hundred, carrying not even 
 the ordinary weapons of war, but only trumpets 
 and lamps and empty pitchers, by whom the 
 Lord wrought great deliverance, while He did 
 not use the others at all. For He hath chosen 
 the weak things of the world to confound the 
 things which are mighty. 
 
 Should not all this be additional motive for 
 desiring that our whole selves should be taken and 
 kept? 
 
 I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be 
 forever. Therefore we may rejoicingly say "ever ' ' 
 as well as "only" and "all for Thee! " For 
 the Lord is our Keeper, and He is the Almighty 
 and the Everlasting God, with whom is no vari- 
 ableness, neither shadow of turning. He will 
 never change His mind about keeping us, and no 
 man is able to pluck us out of His hand. Neither 
 will Christ let us pluck ourselves out of His hand, 
 
OUR SEI,V3S K3PT FOR JESUS. 103 
 
 for He says, "Thou shalt abide for Me many 
 days." And He that keepeth us will not slumber. 
 Once having undertaken His vineyard, He will 
 keep it night and day, till all the days and nights 
 are over, and we know the full meaning of the sal- 
 vation ready to be revealed in the last time, unto 
 which we are kept by His power. 
 
 And then, forever for Him ! passing from the 
 gracious keeping by faith for this little while, to 
 the glorious keeping in His presence for all 
 eternity ! Forever fulfilling the object for which 
 He formed us and chose us, we showing forth His 
 praise, and He showing the exceeding riches of 
 His grace in His kindness towards us in the ages 
 to come ! He for us, and we for Him forever! 
 Oh, how little we can grasp this ! Yet this is the 
 fruition of being "kept for Jesus ! " 
 
 Set apart forever 
 
 For Himself alone ! 
 Now we see our calling 
 
 Gloriously shown. 
 Owning, with no secret dread, 
 
 This our holy separation, 
 Now the crown of consecration * 
 Of the Lord our God shall rest upon our willing head. 
 
 * Num. vi. 7. 
 
1&4 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CHRIST FOR US. 
 " So will I also be for Thee." Hos. iii. 3 
 
 HPHE typical promise, "Thou shalt abide for 
 1 Me many days," is indeed a marvel of love. 
 For it is given to the most undeserving, de- 
 scribed under the strongest possible figure of utter 
 worthlessness and treacherousness, the woman 
 beloved, yet an adulteress. 
 
 The depth of the abyss shows the length of the 
 line that has fathomed it, yet only the length of 
 the line reveals the real depth of the abyss. The 
 sin shows the love, and the love reveals the sin. 
 The Bible has few words more touching, though 
 seldom quoted, than those just preceding this 
 wonderful promise : u The love of the Lord toward 
 the children of Israel, who look to other gods, 
 and love flagons of wine." Put that into the 
 personal application which no doubt underlies it, 
 
CHRIST FOR US. 165 
 
 and say, " The love of the Lord toward me, who 
 have looked away from Him, with wandering, 
 faithless eyes, to other helps and hopes, and have 
 loved earthly joys and sought earthly gratifica- 
 tions, the love of the Lord toward even me ! " 
 And then hear Him saying in the next verse, " So 
 I bought her to me ; " stooping to do that in His 
 unspeakable condescension of love, not with the 
 typical silver and barley, but with the precious 
 blood of Christ. Then, having thus loved us, 
 and rescued us, and bought us with a price indeed, 
 He says, still under the same figure, " Thou shalt 
 abide for Me many days." 
 
 This is both a command and a pledge. But 
 the very pledge implies our past unfaithfulness, and 
 the proved need of even our own part being un- 
 dertaken by the ever-patient Lord. He Himself 
 has to guarantee our faithfulness, because there is 
 no other hope of our continuing faithful. Well 
 may such love win our full and glad surrender, 
 and such a promise win our happy and confident 
 trust! 
 
 But He says more. He says, " So will I also 
 be for thee ! ' ' And this seems an even greater 
 marvel of love, as we observe how He meets every 
 
1 66 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 detail of our consecration with this wonderful 
 word.* 
 
 i. His Life " for thee ! " "The Good Shep- 
 herd giveth His life for the sheep." Oh, won- 
 derful gift ! not promised, but given ; not to 
 friends, but to enemies. Given without condi- 
 tion, without reserve, without return. Himself 
 unknown and unloved, His gift unsought and 
 unasked, He gave His life for thee ; a more than 
 royal bounty the greatest gift that Deity could 
 devise. Oh, grandeur of love! "I lay down 
 My life for the sheep ! ' ' And we for whom He 
 gave it have held back, and hesitated to give our 
 lives, not evenyfrr Him (He has not asked us to 
 do that), but to Him ! But that is past, and He 
 has tenderly pardoned the unloving, ungrateful 
 reserve, and has graciously accepted the poor 
 little fleeting breath and speck of dust which was 
 all we had to offer. And now His precious death 
 and His glorious life are all " for thee." 
 
 * The remainder of this chapter is printed in a little penny 
 book, entitled, / also for Thee, by F. R. H., published by 
 Caswell, Birmingham, and by Nisbet & Co. 
 
CHRIST FOB US. 167 
 
 2. His Eternity "for thee." All we can ask 
 Him to take are days and moments the little 
 span given us as it is given, and of this only the 
 present in deed and the future in will. As for 
 the past, in so far as we did not give it to Him, 
 it is too late ; we can never give it now ! But 
 His past was given to us, though ours was not 
 given to Him. Oh, what a tremendous debt 
 does this show us ! 
 
 Away back in the dim depths of past eternity, 
 "or ever the earth and the world were made," 
 His divine existence in the bosom of His Father 
 was all " for thee," purposing and planning "for 
 thee," receiving and holding the promise of 
 eternal life " for thee." 
 
 Then the thirty-three years among sinners on 
 this sinful earth : do we think enough of the 
 slowly-wearing days and nights, the heavy-footed 
 hours, the never-hastening minutes, that went to 
 make up those thirty- three years of trial and 
 humiliation ? We all know how slowly time 
 passes when suffering and sorrow are near, and 
 there is no reason to suppose that our Master was 
 exempted from this part of our infirmities. 
 
 Then His present is " for thee." Even now 
 
i68 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 He " liveth to make intercession ; " even now He 
 " thinkethupon me; " even now He "knoweth," 
 He "careth," He "loveth." 
 
 Then, only to think that His whole eternity 
 will be " for thee ! " Millions of ages of unfo Id- 
 ings of all His love, and of ever-new declarings 
 of His Father's name to His brethren. Think of 
 it ! and can we ever hesitate to give all our poor 
 little hours to His service ? 
 
 3. His Hands " for thee." Literal hands, 
 literally pierced, when the whole weight of His 
 quivering frame hung from their torn muscles and 
 bared nerves ; literally uplifted in parting bless- 
 ing. Consecrated, priestly hands ; ' ( filled ' ' 
 hands (Ex. xxviii. 41, xxix. 9, etc., margin) 
 filled once with His great offering, and now with 
 gifts and blessings "for thee. Tender hands, 
 touching and healing, lifting and leading with 
 gentlest care. Strong hands, upholding and 
 defending. Open hands, filling with good and sat- 
 isfying desire (Ps. civ. 28, and cxlv. 16). Faithful 
 hands, restraining and sustaining. * His left 
 hand is under my head and His right hand doth 
 embrace Me." 
 
CHRIST FOR US. 169 
 
 4. His Feet " for thee." They were weary 
 very often, they were wounded and bleeding 
 once. They made clear footprints as He went 
 about doing good, and as He went up to Jeru- 
 salem to suffer; and these "blessed steps of His 
 most holy life/' both as substitution and example, 
 were (( for thee. ' * Our place of waiting and learn- 
 ing, of resting and loving, is at His feet. And 
 still those "blessed feet" are and shall be "for 
 thee," until He comes again to receive us unto 
 Himself, until and when the word is fulfilled, 
 " They shall walk with Me in white." 
 
 5. His Voice " for thee." The " Voice of my 
 beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my 
 sister, my love ; ' ' the Voice that His sheep "hear " 
 and "know," and that calls out the fervent re- 
 sponse, " Master, say on ! " This is not all. It 
 was the literal voice of the Lord Jesus which 
 uttered that one echoless cry of desolation on 
 the Cross "for thee/' and it will be His own 
 literal voice which will say, " Come, ye blessed ! ' ' 
 to thee. And that same tender and "glorious 
 Voice has literally sung and will sing "for 
 thee." I think He consecrated song for us and 
 
170 KEPT FOR THE; MASTER'S USE. 
 
 made it a sweet and sacred thing forever, when 
 He Himself "sang an hymn," the very last thing 
 before He went forth to consecrate suffering for 
 us. That was not His last song. " The Lord 
 thy God .... will joy over thee with singing/' 
 And the time is coming when He will not 
 only sing " for thee " or " over thee," but with 
 thee. He says He will ! " In the midst of the 
 church will I sing praise unto Thee. " Now what 
 a magnificent glimpse of joy this is! "Jesus 
 Himself leading the praises of His brethren/' * 
 and we ourselves singing, not merely in such a 
 chorus, but with such a leader ! If " singing for 
 Jesus " is such delight here, what will this "sing- 
 ing with Jesus " be ? Surely song may well be a 
 holy thing to us henceforth. 
 
 6. His Lips " for thee." Perhaps there is no 
 part of our consecration which it is so difficult 
 practically to realize, and in which it is therefore 
 so needful to recollect " I also for thee/' It is 
 often helpful to read straight through one or 
 more of the Gospels with a special thought on 
 
 * See A. Newton on the Epistle to the Hebrews, ch. ii., 
 ver. 12. 
 
CHRIST FOR US. 171 
 
 our mind, and see how much bears upon it. 
 When we read one through with this thought, 
 " His lips for me ! "wondering, verse by verse, 
 at the grace which was poured into them, and the 
 gracious words which fell from them, wondering 
 more and more at the cumulative force and infi- 
 nite wealth of tenderness and power and wisdom 
 and love flowing from them, we cannot but de- 
 sire that our lips and all the fruit of them should 
 be wholly for Him. " For t/iee" they were 
 opened in blessing ; "for thee ' ' they were closed 
 when He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And 
 whether teaching, warning, counsel, comfort, or 
 encouragement, commandments in whose keeping 
 there is a great reward, or promises which exceed 
 all we ask or think all the precious fruit of His 
 lips is "for thee," really and truly meant "for 
 thee." 
 
 7 . His Wealth ' ' for thee. " " Though He was 
 rich yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye 
 through His poverty might be made rich." Yes, 
 "through his poverty" the unsearchable riches 
 of Christ are "for thee." Sevenfold riches are 
 mentioned, and these are no unminted treasure 
 or sealed reserve, but all ready coined for our use, 
 
IJ2 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 and stamped with His own image and superscrip- 
 tion, and poured freely into the hand of faith. 
 The mere list is wonderful. "Riches of good- 
 ness," "riches of forbearance and long-suffer- 
 ing," "riches both of wisdom and knowledge," 
 ' ' riches of mercy, " " exceeding riches of grace, ' ' 
 and ' ' riches of glory. ' ' And His own Word says, 
 "All are yours ! " Glance on in faith, and think 
 of eternity flowing on and on beyond the mightiest 
 sweep of imagination, and realize that all " His 
 riches in glory," and " the riches of His glory " 
 are and shall be " for thee ! " In view of this, 
 shall we care to reserve anything that rust doth 
 corrupt for ourselves ? 
 
 8. His "treasures of wisdom and knowledge " 
 for thee. First, used for our behalf and benefit. 
 Why did He expend such immeasurable might of 
 mind upon a world which is to be burnt up, but 
 that He would fit it perfectly to be, not the 
 home, but the school of His children ? The in- 
 finity of His skill is such that the most powerful 
 intellects find a lifetime too short to penetrate a 
 little way into a few secrets of some one small 
 department of His working. If we turn to Provi- 
 
CHRIST FOR US. 173 
 
 dence, it is quite enough to take only one's own 
 life, and look at it microscopically and telescopi- 
 cally, and marvel at the treasures of wisdom lav- 
 ished upon its details, ordering and shaping and 
 fitting the tiny confused bits into the true mosaic 
 which He means it to be. Many a little thing in 
 our lives reveals the same Mind which, according 
 to a well known and very beautiful illustration, 
 adjusted a perfect proportion in the delicate 
 hinges of the snowdrop and the droop of its bell, 
 with the mass of the globe and the force of gravi- 
 tation. How kind we think it if a very talented 
 friend spends a little of his thought and power of 
 mind in teaching us or planning for us ! Have 
 we been grateful for the infinite thought and wis- 
 dom which our Lord has expended upon us and 
 our creation, preservation and redemption ? 
 
 Secondly, to be shared with us. He says, " All 
 that I have is thine." He holds nothing back, 
 reserves nothing from His dear children, and 
 what we cannot receive now He is keeping for us. 
 He gives us "hidden riches of secret places'" 
 now, but by and by He will give us more, and 
 the glorified intellect will be filled continually 
 out of His treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
 
174 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 But the sanctified intellect will be, must be, used 
 for Him, and only for Him, now ! 
 
 9. His Will " for thee." Think first of the 
 infinite might of that will : the first great law and 
 the first great force of the universe, from which 
 alone every other law and every other force has 
 sprung, and to which all are subordinate. "He 
 worketh all things after the counsel of His own 
 will." " He doeth according to His will in 
 the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants 
 of the earth." Then think of the infinite mys- 
 teries of that will. For ages and generations the 
 hosts of heaven have wonderingly watched its 
 vouchsafed un veilings and its sublime develop- 
 ments, and still they are waiting, watching, and 
 wondering. 
 
 Creation and Providence are but the whisper 
 of its power, but Redemption is its music, and 
 praise is the echo which shall yet fill His temple. 
 The whisper and the music, yes, and " the thunder 
 of His power," are all " for thee." For what is 
 "the good pleasure of His will? 1 ' (Eph. i. 5). 
 Oh, what a grand list of blessings purposed, pro- 
 vided, purchased, and possessed, all flowing to us 
 
CHRIST FOR US- 175 
 
 out of it ! And nothing but blessings, nothing 
 but privileges, which we never should have im- 
 agined, and which, even when revealed, we are 
 "slow of heart to believe;" nothing but what 
 should even now fill us c< with joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory!" 
 
 Think of this will as always and altogether on 
 our side always working for us, and in us, and 
 with us, if we will only let it ; think of it as always 
 and only synonymous with infinitely wise and 
 almighty love ; think of it as undertaking all for 
 us, from the great work of our eternal salvation 
 down to the momentary details of guidance and 
 supply, and do we not feel utter shame and self- 
 abhorrence at ever having hesitated for an instant 
 to give up our tiny, feeble, blind will to be not 
 crushed, not even bent, but blent with His glorious 
 and perfect Will ? 
 
 10. His Heart "for thee." " Behold . .. ... 
 
 He is mighty .... in heart," said Job (Job 
 
 xxxvi. 5, margin). And this mighty and tender 
 heart is " for thee ! " If He had only stretched 
 forth His hand to save us from bare destruction, 
 and said, " My hand for thee! '' how could we 
 
176 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 have praised Him enough ? But what shall we 
 say of the unspeakably marvellous condescension 
 which says, "Thou hast ravished (margin, taken 
 away) my heart, my sister, my spouse ! " The 
 very fountain of His divine life, and light, and 
 love, the very centre of His being, is given to His 
 beloved ones, who are not only "set as a seal 
 upon His heart/' but taken into His heart, so that 
 our life is hid there, and we dwell there in the 
 very centre of all safety, and power, and love, and 
 glory. What will be the revelation of "that 
 day," when the Lord Jesus promises, "Ye shall 
 know that I am in My Father, and ye in M* ? ' ' 
 For He implies that we do not yet know it, and 
 that our present knowledge of this dwelling in 
 Him is not knowledge at all compared with what 
 He is going to show us about it. 
 
 Now shall we, can we, reserve any corner of 
 our hearts from Him ? 
 
 ii. His Love " for thee." Not a passive, pos- 
 sible love, but outflowing, yes outpouring of the 
 real, glowing, personal love of His mighty and 
 tender heart. Love, not as an attribute, a quality, 
 a latent force, but an acting, moving, reaching, 
 
CHRIST FOR US. 177 
 
 touching and grasping power. Love, not a cold, 
 beautiful, far-off star, but a sunshine that comes 
 and enfolds us, making us warm and glad, and 
 strong, and bright, and fruitful. 
 
 His love ! What manner of love is it ? What 
 should be quoted to prove or describe it ? First, 
 the whole Bible with its mysteries and marvels of 
 redemption, then the whole book of Providence 
 and the whole volume of creation. Then add 
 to these the unknown records of eternity past and 
 the unknown glories of eternity to come, and then 
 let the immeasurable quotation be sung by " angels 
 and archangels and all the company of heaven/' 
 with all the harps of God, and still that love will 
 be untold, still it will be " the love of Christ 
 that passeth knowledge." But it is " for thee." 
 
 12. Himself "for thee." "Christ also hath 
 loved us, and given Himself for us." "The 
 Son of God . . . loved me and gave Himself 
 for me." Yes, Himself! What is the Bride's 
 true and central treasure? What calls forth 
 the deepest, brightest, sweetest thrill of love 
 and praise ? Not the Bridegroom's priceless 
 gifts, not the robe of His resplendent righteous- 
 
 12 
 
178 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 
 
 ness, not the dowry of unsearchable riches, not 
 the magnificence of the palace home to which 
 He is bringing her, not the glory which she 
 shall share with Him, but HIMSELF ! Jesus 
 Christ, "who His own self bare our sins in 
 His own body on the tree ; " " this same Jesus," 
 "whom having not seen, ye love; " the Son of 
 God, and the Man of Sorrows; my Saviour, 
 my Friend, my Master, my King, my Priest, my 
 Lord and my God. HE says, "/also for thee ! " 
 What an "//" What power and sweetness we 
 feel in it, so different from any human "/," for 
 all His Godhead and all His manhood are con- 
 centrated in it, and all " for thee ! " 
 
 And not only "all," but "ever" for thee. His 
 unchangeableness is the seal upon every attribute ; 
 He will be " this same Jesus " forever. How can 
 mortal mind estimate this enormous promise? 
 How can mortal heart conceive what is enfolded 
 in these words, " I also for thee ? " 
 
 One glimpse of its fulness and glory, and we 
 feel that henceforth it must be, shall be, and by 
 His grace will be our true-hearted, whole-hearted 
 cry 
 
 Take my self t and I will be 
 
 Evtr t ONLY, ALL for Thee I 
 
MY KING 
 
 OR 
 
 Daily Thoughts for the King's Children, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 MY KING. 
 
 DAY PAGE 
 
 1. THE SOURCE OF THE KINGSHIP n 
 
 2. THE PROMISE OF THE KING 13 
 
 3. ALLEGIANCE TO THE KING 16 
 
 4. DECISION FOR THE KING 19 
 
 5. THE FIRST TO MEET THE KING 21 
 
 6. THE CONDESCENSION OF THE KING ... 24 
 /. THE INDWELLING OF THE KING 27 
 
 8. FULL SATISFACTION IN THE KING .... 29 
 
 9. THE SORROW OF THE KING 33 
 
 10. GOING FORTH WITH THE KlNG 36 
 
 11. THE SMITING OF THE KING 38 
 
 12. THE KINSHIP OF THE KING 41 
 
 13. THE DESIRE OF THE KING 44 
 
 14. THE SCEPTRE OF THE KING 47 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 DAY PAGE 
 
 15. CLEAVING TO THE KING 50 
 
 16. THE JOY OF THE KING 53 
 
 17. REST ON THE WORD OF THE KING . , . 55 
 
 18. THE BUSINESS OF THE KING 58 
 
 19. THE READINESS OF THE KING'S SERVANTS 61 
 
 20. THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE KING 65 
 
 21. THE LIGHT OF THE KING'S COUNTENANCE 67 
 
 22. THE TENDERNESS OF THE KING 70 
 
 23. THE TOKEN OF THE KING'S GRACE ... 73 
 
 24. THE OMNISCIENCE OF THE KING 76 
 
 25. THE POWER OF THE KING'S WORD ... 79 
 
 26. THE NAME OF THE KING 82 
 
 27. WORKING WITH THE KING 85 
 
 28. THE RECOMPENSE OF THE KING ..... 87 
 
 29. THE SALVATION OF THE KING 90 
 
 30. GOOD TIDINGS TO THE KING'S HOUSEHOLD 93 
 
 31. THE PROSPERITY OF THE KING 96 
 
MY KING. 
 
 FIRST DAY. 
 
 The Source of the Kingship. 
 
 1 Because the Lord hath loved His people, He hath made 
 thee king over them/ 2 CITRON, ii. u, ix 8. 
 
 /CHRIST said to His Father, < Thou lovedst me 
 Vy before the foundation of the world.' l At 
 that mysterious date, not of time, but of ever- 
 lasting love, God ' chose us in Him.' 2 Be. ore 
 the world began, God, that cannot lie, 3 gave ihe 
 promise of eternal life to Him for us, and made 
 with Him for us ' a covenant ordered in ail 
 things, and sure.' 4 The leading provisions of 
 that covenant were, a Lamb for our atonement, 
 and a King for our government a dying and a 
 living Saviour. This God the Father did for us, 
 and His own divine interest is strongly indicated 
 in the typical words, * God will provide Himself 
 
 1 John xvii. 24. 2 Eph. i. 4. s Titus i. a. 
 
 * 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. 
 
 II 
 
12 MY KING. 
 
 a Lamb,' 1 and 'I have provided me a King.' 2 
 So the Source of the Kingship of Christ is God 
 Himself, in the eternal counsels of His love. It 
 is one of the grand ' thoughts of God.' 3 
 
 Having provided, He appointed and anointed 
 His King : ' Yet have I set (margin, anointed) 
 my King upon my holy hill of Zion.' 4 What a 
 marvellous meeting-place is thus found in the 
 Kingship of Jesus for God's heart and ours ! 
 lie says in His majestic sovereignty, ' I have set 
 my King ; ' and we say in lowly and loving 
 loyalty, ' Thou art my King. ' 5 
 
 God has appointed His King ' to be ruler over 
 Israel and over Judah.' Thus He gives His chil- 
 dren a great bond of union. For ' one King shall 
 be King to them all,' 6 and He shall 'gather together 
 in one the children of God which were scattered 
 abroad/ 7 ' Satan scatters, but Jesus gathers/ 
 Shall we then let the enemy have his way, and 
 induce us to keep apart and aloof from those over 
 whom our beloved King reigns also ? Let us try 
 this day to recollect this, and make it practical in 
 all our contact with His other subjects. 
 
 1 Gen. xxii. 8. 2 x Sam. xvi. i. 3 p s> cxxxix. 17. * Ps. ii. 6. 
 6 Ps. xiiv. 4. 6 Ezek. xxxvii. 22. 7 J o hn xi. 52. 
 
THE: PROMISE: OF THE; KING. 13 
 
 Why has God made Jesus King ? Who would 
 have guessed the right answer ? 'Because the 
 Lord loved His people.' So the very thought of 
 the Kingship of Christ sprang from the everlast- 
 ing love of God to His people. 1 Bring that 
 wonderful statement down to personal reality, - 
 ' His people/ that is, you and me. God made 
 Jesus King over you, because He loved you, and 
 that with nothing less than the love wherewith 
 He loved Him. 2 Which is the more wonderful 
 the love that devised such a gift, or the gift that 
 was devised by such love ! Oh, to realize the glor- 
 ious value of it ! May we, who by His grace know 
 something of God's gift of His Son as our 
 Saviour, learn day by day more of the magnificent 
 preciousness of His gift of His Anointed One as 
 our King ! 
 
 SECOND DAY. 
 The Promise of the King. 
 
 ' I will be thy King,' Hos. xiii. lo. 
 
 HE knows our need of a king. He knows the 
 hopeless anarchy, not only of a world, but of a 
 
 i Jer. xxxi. 3. * John xvii. 26. 
 
14 MY KING. 
 
 heart, ' without a king/ l Is there a more deso- 
 late cry than < We have no king ?' 2 none to 
 reverence and love, none to obey, none to guide 
 and protect us and rule over us, none to keep us 
 in that truest freedom of whole-hearted Ioyalty 
 Have we not felt that we really want a strong 
 hand over our hearts ? that having our own way 
 is not so good as another's way, if only that 
 other is one to whom our hearty and entire con- 
 fidence and allegiance can be and are given? 
 Has there not been an echo in our souls of the 
 old cry, ' Give me a king ?' a cry that nothing 
 can still but this Divine promise, '/ will be thy 
 king!' 3 
 
 But the promise has been given ; and now, if 
 the old desolate wail of a kingless heart comes up 
 in an hour of faithless forgetfulness, His word 
 comes like a royal clarion, ' Now, why dost thou 
 cry out aloud ? Is there no king in thee ?' 4 
 And then the King's gracious assurance falls with 
 hushing power, ' I will be thy King. ' 
 
 How glad we are that He Himself is our King ! 
 For we are so sure that He is able even to subdue 
 
 l Hos. iii. 4. a Hos. x. 3. a Hot. xiii. 10. 
 
 * Mic. iv. 9. 
 
THE PROMISE OF THE KING. 15 
 
 all things unto Himself 1 in this inner kingdom, 
 which we cannot govern at all. We are so glad 
 to take Him at His word, and give up the govern- 
 ment into His hands, asking Him to be our King 
 in very deed, and to set up His throne of peace 
 in the long disturbed and divided citadel, 2 pray- 
 ing that He would bring every thought into 
 captivity to His gentle obedience. 3 
 
 We have had enough of revolutions and revolts, 
 of tyrants and traitors, of lawlessness and of 
 self-framed codes Other lords (and oh, how 
 many !) have had dominion over us. 4 He has 
 permitted us to be their servants, that now, by 
 blessed and restful contrast, we know His service. 5 
 Now we only want ' another King, one Jesus.' 6 
 He has made us willing in the day of His power, 7 
 and that was the first act of His reign, and the 
 token that ' of the increase of His government 
 and peace there shall be no end ' 8 in our 
 hearts. 
 
 Lord, be Thou my King this day ! Reign more 
 absolutely in me than ever before. Let the 
 increase of Thy government be continual and 
 
 1 Phil. iii. 21. 2 Rom. vii. 19. 8 2 Cor. x. 5. 
 
 Isa. xxvi. 13. * 2 Chron. xii. 8. Acts xvii. 7. 
 
 * Ps. ex. 3. 8 Isa. ix. 7. 
 
!6 MY KING. 
 
 mighty in me, so that Thy name may be glorified 
 in me now and forever. 1 
 
 Reign over me, Lord Jesus ! 
 
 Oh, make my heart Thy throne! 
 It shall be thine forever, 
 
 It shall be Thine alone ! 
 
 THIRD DAY. 
 Allegiance to the King. , 
 1 Thou art my King.' Ps. xliv. 4. 
 
 FIRST, can I say it? 
 
 Is Jesus in very deed and truth ' my King ' ? 
 Where is the proof of it ? Am I living in His 
 kingdom of ' righteousness and peace and joy in 
 the Holy Ghost ' now ? 2 Am I speaking the lan- 
 guage of that kingdom ? Am I following ' the 
 customs of the people ' 3 which are not His peo- 
 ple ? or do I ' diligently learn the ways of His 
 people'? 4 Am I practically living under the 
 rule of His laws ? Have I done heart homage to 
 Him? Am I bravely and honestly upholding 
 His cause, because it is His, not merely because 
 those around me do so ? Is my allegiance mak- 
 ing any practical difference to my life to-day ? 
 
 ' 2 Thes. i. is * Rom. xiv. 17. Jer. x. 3. * Jer. xii. 16 
 
TO THE KING. '7 
 
 Next, ought I to say it? 
 
 What ! any question about that ? The King, 
 who came Himself to purchase me from my ty- 
 rant and His foe ; l the King, who laid aside 
 His crown and His royal robes, and left His 
 kingly palace, and came down Himself to save a 
 rebel ; 2 the King, who, though He was rich, 
 yet for my sake became poor, that I i through 
 His poverty might be rich,' 3 ought I to ac- 
 knowledge Him ? is it a question of ' ought I ? ' 
 God has 'called me unto His Kingdom and 
 glory ; ' 4 He ' hath translated me unto the king- 
 dom of the Son of His love ; ' 5 and shall the 
 loyal words falter or fail from my lips, ' Thou 
 art my King ' ? 
 
 Lastly, do I say it ? 
 
 God has said to me, * He is thy Lord, and 
 worship thou Him/ 6 Do my lips say, ' My 
 Lord and My God'? 7 Does my life say, 
 ' Christ Jesus, my Lord/ 8 definitely and per- 
 sonally, ' my Lord ' ? Can I share in His last 
 sweet commendation to His disciples, the more 
 
 * Acts xx. 28. 8 Phil. ii. 7. 2 Cor. viii. 9. 
 
 * i Thess. ii. 12. 8 Col. i. 13. Ps. xlv. n. . 
 
 ^ John xx. 28. Phil. Hi. 8. 
 
 2 
 
1 8 MY KING. 
 
 precious because of its divine dignity, ' Ye call 
 me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I 
 am ' ? ' Have I said, < Thou art my King ' 2 to 
 Jesus Himself, from the depth of my own heart, 
 in unreserved and unfeigned submission to His 
 sceptre ? Am I ashamed or afraid to confess my 
 allegiance in plain English among His friends or 
 before His foes ? 3 Is the seal upon my brow so 
 unmistakable that always and everywhere I am 
 known to be His subject ? Is ' Thou art my 
 King, * blazoned, as it ought to be, in shining 
 letters on the whole scroll of my life, so that it 
 may be ' known and read of all men ? ' 5 
 
 Answer Thou for me, O my King ! ' Search 
 me and try me,' 6 and show me the true state of 
 my case, and then for Thine own sake pardon 
 all my past disloyalty, and make me by Thy 
 mighty grace from this moment totally loyal! 
 For 'Thou art my King.' 7 
 
 * John xiii. 13. 2 p s . bcxxi. 15, margin. 
 
 8 Matt. x. 32. 4 Acts iv. 13. 
 
 6 2 Cor. iii. 2. 
 
 3 Ps. xxxviii. 15, P. B. V. ; ib. cxxxix. 23. 
 
 ; Fs. xxv, ii. 
 
DECISION FOR THE KING. 19 
 
 FOURTH DAY. 
 
 Decision for the King. 
 
 ' Ye fought for David in times past to be king over you. 
 Now, then, do it.' 2 SAM. iii. 17, 18. 
 
 ' IN time past, when Saul was king over us,thou 
 wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel. ' l 
 Chosen, anointed, given by God, continually 
 leading and caring for us, yet not accepted, not 
 crowned, not enthroned by us; 2 our real allegi- 
 ance, our actual service, given to another ! 3 Self 
 has been our Saul, our central tyranny; and 
 many have been its officers domineering in every 
 department. 4 
 
 f Ye sought for David in times past to be king 
 over you.' Well we might, for the bondage of 
 any other lord was daily harder. 5 Well we might, 
 with even a dim glimpse of the grace and glory 
 of the King who waited for our homage. We 
 sought, first, only for something we hardly knew 
 whai restlessly and vaguely ; then for some One, 
 who was not merely * the Desire of all nations, 1 
 
 1 i Sam. v. 2. 2 Ps. Ixxxix. 19, 20; Isa. Iv. 4. 
 
 a Rom. vi. 16. * Rom. vii. 23. 
 
 & Isa. xiv. 3. 
 
20 MY KING. 
 
 but our cwn desire. 1 And yet we did not 
 to the point : we were not ready for His absolute 
 monarchy, for we were loving and doing the will 
 of our old tyrant. 2 
 
 But ' the time past of our life may suffice us to 
 have wrought the will' of self Satan the 
 world. 3 We do not want t to live the rest of our 
 time ' to any but One Will. 4 We come face to 
 face with a great NOW ! ' Now, then, do it !' 5 
 'Now, then,' let us, with full purpose of heart, 
 dethrone the usurper and give the diadem to 
 Him 'whose right it is/ a blood-bought and 
 death-sealed right. 6 
 
 He does not force allegiance, He waits for it. 
 The crown of our own individual love and loyalty 
 must be offered by our own hands. 7 We must 
 'doit.' When? Oh, now ! Now let us come 
 to Jesus as our King. Now let us, first in solemn 
 heart -surrender, and then in open and unmistak- 
 able life-confession, yield ourselves to Him as our 
 Sovereign, our Ruler. 
 
 What a glorious life of victory and peace opens 
 before us when this is done ! What a silencing 
 
 1 Hag. ii. 7. 2 ! Kings xviii. 21. 3 x p e t. iv. 3. 
 
 4 i Pet. iv. 2. & 2 Sam. iii. 18. 6 Ezek xxi. 26, 27 
 
 7 2 Sam. v. 3. 
 
THE FIRST TO MEET THE KING. 21 
 
 of our fears lest the time to come should never- 
 theless be as the time past ! ' Now, then, do it : 
 FOR the Lord hath spoken of David, saying, By 
 the hand of my servant David I will save my 
 people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, 
 and out of the hand of all their enemies. ' l 
 
 Now, do not let us ' take away from the words '* 
 of this promise, and merely hope that our King 
 may save us from some of our enemies. The Lord 
 hath said, ' will save from all? Let us trust our 
 true David this day to fulfil the word of the Lord, 
 and verily we shall not fail to find that according 
 to our faith it shall be unto us. 8 
 
 FIFTH DAY. 
 The First to Meet the King. 
 
 * For thy servant doth know that I have sinned ; there- 
 fore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house 
 of Joseph to meet my Lord the king.' 2 SAM. xix. 20. 
 
 YES, I have sinned. I know that I have sinned. 
 Whether I feel it more or less does not touch the 
 fact : I know it. And what then ? * THEREFORE, 
 behold, I am come the first this day of all . . . 
 to meet my Lord the King.' 
 
 1 3 Sam. iii. 18 2 Rev. xxii. 19. 8 Matt ix. 29. 
 
S2 MY KING. 
 
 Just because I know that I have sinned, I come 
 to Jesus. He came to call sinners, l He came to 
 save sinners, 2 so He came to call and to save me. 
 'This is all my desire.' 3 
 
 Just because I know that / have sinned, I may 
 and must come ' the first of all.' Thousands are 
 coming, but the heart knoweth his own bitterness. 4 
 So, not waiting for others, not coming in order, 
 but ' first of all/ by the pressure of my sore need 
 of pardon, I come. There is no waiting for one's 
 turn in coming to Jesus. 
 
 ' The first of all,' because it is against 'my lord 
 the King ' that I have sinned. I am His servant, 
 so I have the greater sin. 5 ' The first of all, be- 
 cause I have so much to be forgiven, and have 
 already been forgiven so much, that I must, I do, 
 love much ; 6 and love, even of a sorrowing sin- 
 ner, seeks nearness, and cannot rest in distance.' 7 
 
 'Therefore/ also, 'I am corne this day.' I 
 dare not and could not wait till to-morrow. No 
 need to wait, even till to-night ! Now ! He is 
 passing by, 8 and I must ' haste to meet ' Him. 8 
 ' While he is near/ 10 I will tell Him all. 
 
 1 Matt. ix. 13. 2 i Tim. i. 15. 3 a Sam. xxiii. 5. 
 
 * Prov. xiv. 10. 6 Ps. cxvi. 16. 6 Luke vii. 47. 
 
 J Col. ii. 13. 8 Matt. xx. 30. 2 Sam. xix. 16. 10 Isa. Iv. 6. 
 
THE FIRST TO MEET THE KING. 23 
 
 I am come to meet Him, not merely to go to 
 Him : 1 for He is always coming to meet us. He 
 was on His way before I had said, ' I will arise 
 and go.' 2 I come, because He comes to me. 
 
 Yet I could not come with this terrible knowl- 
 edge that I have sinned, but that I know some- 
 thing more. I know that He hath said, * Come 
 unto me.' 3 I know that He hath said, ' Him 
 that cometh I will in no wise cast out. 4 This is 
 enough ; therefore I am come to my Lord the 
 King. 
 
 Not to His servants, but to Himself. Even 
 those who stand near Him may accuse and con- 
 demn, but the King Himself will receive me gra- 
 ciously ; 5 for with Him there is forgiveness, and 
 mercy, and plenteous redemption. 6 
 
 And though the oath of an earthly sovereign 
 may be broken, my King (in glorious contrast to 
 the imperfect human type) ' keepeth His prom- 
 ise for ever.' 7 His covenant will He not break, 
 nor alter the thing that is gone out of His lips. 8 
 Therefore the eternal life which He had prom- 
 ised me is secured to me forever, for He hath 
 
 * Zech. ix. 9. 2 Luke xv. 18. 8 Matt. xi. 28. 
 
 4 John vi. 37. 5 Hos. xiv. 2. e Ps. cxxx. 4, 7. 
 
 * P. CKlYK f. (P,V. Bj 8 p s . IxxXlX. 34. 
 
24 MV KING. 
 
 said, 1 ' I give unto them eternal life, and they 
 shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them 
 out of my hand.' 2 
 
 SIXTH DAY. 
 
 The Condescension of the King. 
 'Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.' ZECH. ix. 9. 
 
 THAT our King should let us come to Him is 
 condescension indeed. But have we praised Him 
 for His still more wonderful condescension: 
 'Thy King cometh unto thee' I 11 Unto thee' 
 rebel, traitor, faithless subject, coward and cold- 
 hearted follower ; for where is the life that has 
 not fallen under these charges, when seen in the 
 double light of the King's perfect law and the 
 King's great love? Yes, he cometh unto thee, 
 and it is enough to break our hearts when we get 
 one contrasted glimpse of this undeserved grace 
 and unparalleled condescension. 
 
 His great promise has had its first fulfillment 
 'unto thee.' It is a finished fact of sevenfold 
 grace. Thy King has come, and His own voice 
 
 1 i John ii. 35. * John x. 28. 
 
 8 Isa. xlviii. 8. 
 
THE CONDESCENSION OF THE KING. 25 
 
 has given the objects of His coming, ' to do 
 Thy will, O God ; l < to fulfil ' the law ; ' ' to call 
 sinners to repentance;' 3 'to seek and to save 
 that which was lost ; ' 4 < that they might have 
 life, and that they might have it more abun- 
 antly ; ' 5 ' a light into the world, that whosoever 
 believeth on me should not abide in darkness.' 6 
 What He came to do He has done, for ' He faileth 
 not. ' 7 On this we may and ought to rest quietly 
 and undoubtingly, for the ' Lord hath <&#* it. ' 8 
 
 But you want a further fulfilment, you want a 
 present coming from your King. You have His 
 most sweet word, ' I will come to you ; ' 9 and 
 you respond, ' Oh, when wilt Thou come unto 
 me ? ' 10 Are you ready to receive the King's 
 own answer now ? Do you so desire His coming, 
 that you do not want it postponed at all ? Can 
 you defer all other comers, and say in reality, 
 * Let my Beloved come ? ' ll 
 
 He has but one answer to that appeal. Hush ! 
 listen ! believe ! for the King speaks to you : I 
 am come to my garden, my sister, my spouse. 111 
 
 i Heb. x. 9. 2 Matt. v. 17. * Matt. ix. 13. 
 
 * Luke xix. 10. 6 John x. 10. John xii. 46 
 
 7 Zeph. iii. 5. 8 Isa. xliv. 23. John xiv. 18. 
 
 w Ps. ci. a. >* Cant. iv. 16. Cant. v. i. 
 
26 MY KING. 
 
 He if come. Do not miss the unspeakable bless- 
 ing and joy of meeting Him and resting in His 
 presence, by hurrying away to anything else, by 
 listening to an outward call. 1 Stay now, lay the 
 little book aside, kneel down at your King's feet, 
 doubt not His word, which is ' more sure ' than 
 even the ' excellent glory ' 2 that apostles be- 
 held, and thank Him for coming to you. Com- 
 mune with Him now of all that is in your heart, 3 
 and ' rejoice greatly/ for ' behold, thy King 
 cometh unto thee.' 
 
 ' Jesus comes to hearts rejoicing, 
 
 Bringing news of sin forgiven ; 
 Jesus comes in sounds of gladness, 
 
 Leading souls redeemed to heaven. 
 
 * Jesus comes again in mercy, 
 
 When our hearts are bowed with care ; 
 
 Jesus comes again, in answer 
 To an earnest, heartfelt prayer.' 
 
 GODFREY THRING. 
 
 * Cant. ii. 3. 2 2 Pet. i. 19. 
 
 8 z Kings x. a. 
 
INDWELLING OF THK KING. 27 
 
 SEVENTH DAY. 
 
 The Indwelling of the King. 
 
 'Is not her King in her?' JER. viii. 19. 
 
 WAITING for a royal coming, What expecta- 
 tion, what preparation, what tension ! A glimpse 
 for many, a full view for some, a word for a fa- 
 vored few, and the pageant is over like a dream. 
 The Sovereign may come, but does not stay. 
 
 Our King comes not thus : He comes not to 
 pass, but to ' dwell in the midst of thee/ 1 not 
 only in His Church collectively, but in each be- 
 liever individually. 2 We pray, ' Abide with us/ 3 
 and He answers in the sublime plural of God- 
 head, ' We will come unto him, and make our 
 abode with him.' * Even this grand abiding with 
 us does not extend to the full marvels of His con- 
 descension ^nd His nearness, for the next time 
 He speaks ot it He changes the 'with ' to ' in,' 
 and thenceforth only speak? of ' I in you/ 'I in 
 him/ 'I in them.' 5 
 
 Now do not let us say, ' How can this be ?' * 
 but, like Mary, 'How shall this be?' 7 This 
 
 1 Zech. ii. 10. 2 2 Cor. vi. 16. 3 Luke xxiv. 39. 
 
 * John xiv. 23. * John xv. 4, 5 ; ib. xvii. 23. 
 
 * John iii. 9. 7 Luke i. 34. 
 
28 MY KING. 
 
 means, though not the mode, of the mystery is 
 revealed for our grasp of adoring wonder : ' That 
 Christ may dwell in your heart by faith.' l It is 
 almost too wonderful to dare to speak of. Christ 
 Himself, my King, coming to me, into me ! abid- 
 ing, dwelling in my very heart ! Really staying 
 there all day, all night, wherever I am, whatever 
 I am doing ; here in my poor unworthy heart at 
 this very moment ! And this only because the 
 grace that flowed from His own love has broken 
 the bars of doubt, and because He has given the 
 faith that wanted Him and welcomed Him. Let 
 us pause a little to take it in ! 
 
 The more we have known of the plague of our 
 own heart, 2 the more inconceivably wonderful 
 this indwelling of Christ will appear, much 
 more wonderful than that He chose a manger as 
 His royal resting-place, 3 for that had never been 
 denied by sin, and had never harbored His 
 enemy. It is no use trying to comprehend this 
 incomprehensible grace of our King, we have 
 only to believe His promise, saying, < Amen ; the 
 Lord God of my Lord the King says so too.' * 
 
 1 Eph. iii. 17. 2 j Kings viii. 38. 
 
 * Luke ii. 7. 4 i Kings i 36. 
 
SATISFACTION IN THK KING. 29 
 
 There should be three practical results of this 
 belief: i. Holiness. We must see to it that we 
 resolutely ' put away ' * all that ought not to be 
 in His royal abode. 2 ' Having, therefore, these 
 promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves 
 from #//filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfect- 
 ing holiness in the fear of God/ 3 2. Confi- 
 dence. What does this citadel fear when an in- 
 vincible general is with it ? ' The Lord thy God 
 in the midst of thee is mighty ; He will save ' * 
 He is ' the wall of fire round about,' and ' the 
 glory in the midst of her ;' 5 and ' he that toucheth 
 you toucheth the apple of His eye.' 6 3. Joy. 
 Yes ! ' Be glad and rejoice with all the heart,' T 
 ' sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion ; for, lo, I 
 come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, 
 saiththe Lord.' 8 
 
 EIGHTH DAY. 
 
 Full Satisfaction in the King. 
 
 ' Yea, let him take all, for as much as my lord the king is 
 come again in peace to his own house.' 2 SAM. xix. 30. 
 
 IT is when the King has really come in peace to 
 His own home in the ' contrite and humble 
 
 1 Eph. iv. 31. * i Cor. Hi. iC, 17. 8 2 Cor vii. T. * Zeph. iii. 17. 
 Zech. ii. 5. 6 Zech. ii. 8 * Zeph. iii. 14. 8 Zech ii. 10. 
 
30 MY KING. 
 
 spirit ' l (not before), when He has entered in to 
 make His abode there 2 (not before), that the 
 soul is satisfied with Him 3 alone, and is ready to 
 let any Ziba take all else, because all else really 
 seems nothing at all in comparison to the con- 
 scious possession of the Treasure of treasures. 4 
 
 Sometimes this is reached at once, in the first 
 flush of wondering joy at finding the King really 
 6 come in peace ' 5 to the empty soul which 
 wanted to be ' His own house.' 6 Sometimes very 
 gradually, as year after year we realize His in- 
 dwelling more and more, and find again and 
 again that He is quite enough to satisfy us in all 
 circumstances ; that the empty corners of the 
 ' house ' are filled one after another ; that the old 
 longings have somehow gone away, and the old 
 ambitions vanished ; that the old tastes and inter- 
 ests in the things of the world are superseded by 
 stronger tastes and interests in the things of 
 Christ ; that He is day by day more really filling 
 our lives, 7 -- -we ( count ' (because we really find) 
 one thing after another ' but loss for the excel- 
 lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord/ 8 
 
 1 Tsa. Ivii. 15. * John xiv. 23. 3 Ps. xxii. 26. 
 
 Matt. xiii. 46. 5 Isa. xxxiii. 6. Heb.iii. 6, 
 
 7 Eph. i. 23. 8 Phil. iii. 8. 
 
SATISFACTION IN THE KING. 31 
 
 till He leads us on to the rapturous joy of the 
 ' Yea, doubtless,' and ' all things !' 
 
 Now, have we got as far as saying ' some 
 things/ without being quite sure about ' all 
 things ?' Do you see that it all hinges upon 
 Jesus coming into the heart as ' His own house/ 
 altogether ' His own ?' J For if there are some 
 rooms of which we do not give up the key, 
 some little sitting-room which we would like to 
 keep as a little mental retreat, with a view from 
 the window, which we do not quite want to give 
 up, some lodger whom we would rather not send 
 away just yet, some little dark closet which we 
 have not resolution to open and set to rights, of 
 course the King has not full possession ; it is not 
 all and really ' His own ;' and the very misgiving 
 about it proves that He has therefore not yet 
 ' come again in peace.' It is no use expecting 
 
 * perfect peace/ 2 while He has a secret contro- 
 versy 3 with us about any withholding of what is 
 
 * His own ' * by purchase. Only throw open all 
 the doors, 5 l and the King of Glory shall come 
 in/ 6 and then there will be no craving for other 
 
 l Acts xxvi. 29. s Isa. xxvi. 3. 8 Mic. vii. 2. 
 
 * Acts v. 2. * Rev. iii. 20. tt Ps. xxi'v. 9. 
 
3 2 MY KING. 
 
 guests. He will ' fill this house with glory/ 1 and 
 there will be no place left for gloom. 
 
 Is it not so ? Bear witness, tell it out, you 
 with whom the King dwells in peace? Life is 
 filled with bright interests, time is filled with 
 happy work or peaceful waiting, the mind is filled 
 with His beautiful words and thoughts, the heart 
 is filled with His presence, and you ' abide satis- 
 fied ' * with Him ! Yes, < tell it out ! ' 
 
 The human heart asks love : but now I know 
 
 That my heart hath from Thee 
 All real, and full, and marvellous affection, 
 So near, so human ! yet Divine perfection 
 Thrills gloriously the mighty glow ! 
 . Thy love is enough for me ! 
 
 There were strange soul-depths, restless, vast and broad, 
 
 Unfathomed as the sea ; 
 An infinite craving for some infinite stilling ; 
 But now Thy perfect love is perfect filling ! 
 Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord my God, 
 
 Then, Thou art enough for me. 
 
 1 Hag. ii. 7. * Prov xx. 23. 
 
THE SORROW OF THE KING. 33 
 
 NINTH DAY. 
 The Sorrow of the King. 
 
 'The king himself also passed over the brook Kidron.' * 
 2 SAM. xv. 23. 
 
 1 JESUS went forth with His disciples over the 
 brook Cedron.' 2 How precisely the Old Testa- 
 ment shadow corresponds with the New Testa- 
 ment fulfilment ! The King, in sorrow and hu- 
 miliation, is here brought before us, passing from 
 his royal home, from all his glory and gladness, 
 passing over into exile and unknown distresses. 3 
 
 There is no need for imagination in dwelling 
 on His sorrows. The pathos of the plain words 
 is more than enough ; no pen has power to add 
 to it. Let us listen to them just as they stand, 
 not hurrying over them because they are only 
 texts, and we know them all beforehand ; they 
 are the Holy Ghost's sevenfold testimony to the 
 sorrow of the King. 
 
 'A man of sorrows and acquainted with 
 grief,' 4 ' I am poor and sorrowful.' 5 * The sor- 
 rows of death compassed me.' ' The sorrows of 
 
 1 Kidron means 'obscurity* ; Cedron is 'black' or 'sad.' 
 
 * John xviii. i. 3 2 Sam. xviii. ao. 
 
 * Isa. liii. 3. 6 Ps. Ixix. 29. 
 
34 MY KING. 
 
 hell compassed me.' l ' Behold and see if there 
 be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. ' 2 'He be- 
 gan to be sorrowful and very heavy. ' 3 ' My soul 
 is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.' 4 Oh, 
 stay a little that you may take it in ! hear Jesus 
 saying to you, ' Hear, I pray you, and behold 
 my sorrow ?' 5 
 
 ' Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried 
 our sorrows. ' 6 The sorrows of the past, the 
 very sorrow that may be pressing heavily at this 
 moment ; all yours, all mine ; all the sorrows of 
 all His children all through the groaning gener- 
 ations ; all that were 'too heavy' 7 for them, 
 Jesus bore them all. ' Is it nothing to you? ' 8 It 
 is when the Lord says, ' No w will I ! gather 
 them' (the rebels and wanderers), that He adds, 
 ' And they shall sorrow a little for the burden of 
 the King of princes.' 9 Have we this proof that 
 He has indeed gathered us ? For ' all the people, ' 
 except the rebels, ' passed over with the king. ' 10 
 Do we know any thing of this passage over 
 Cedron, the brook of sadness, with Him ? Pos- 
 
 1 Ps. xviii. 4, 5. * Lam. i. 12. 3 Matt. xxvi. 37. 
 
 * Matt. xxvi. 38. 5 Lam. i. 18. 6 Isa. liii. 4. 
 
 1 Ps. xxxviii. 4. 8 Lam. i. 12. * Hos. viii. 10. 
 
 10 a Sam. xv. 23. 
 
THE SORROW OF THE KING. 35 
 
 sibly it seems presumptuous to think of sharing 
 1 the fellowship of His sufferings/ 1 that mys- 
 terious privilege ! Bat mark, it was not only the 
 mighty Ittai and '.all his men/ the nobles and 
 the veterans, that passed over, but < all the little 
 ones that were with him ' 2 too. And so ' the 
 little ones, the weak ones/ s the least member of 
 His body, may thus ' continue with '* Jesus ; and 
 nothing brings one closer to another than a 
 shared sorrow. 
 
 But look forward ! Because He has drunk 'of 
 the brook in the way, therefore shall He lift up 
 the head. ' 5 Already the ( exceeding sorrowful ' 6 
 is exchanged for ' Thou hast made Him (the 
 King) exceedingly glad ; ' 7 and when the ran- 
 somed and gathered of the Lord shall return 
 with everlasting joy, 8 ' their King shall also pass 
 before them. ' 9 
 
 1 Phil. iii. 10. a 2 Sam. xv. 22. 
 
 3 i Cor. xii. 26, 27. * Luke xxii. 28. 
 
 Ps. ex. 7. Matt. xxvi. 38. 
 
 1 Ps. xxi. 6. 8 Isa. xxxv. 10. 
 
 Mic. ii. 13. 
 
36 MY KING. 
 
 TENTH DAY. 
 
 Going forth with the King. 
 
 * The king said, Wherefore wentest thou not with me ? ' 
 2 SAM. xix. 25. 
 
 ' WITH me ! ' l To be with our King will be our 
 highest bliss for eternity; and surely it is the 
 position of highest honor and gladness now. 
 But if we would always be with Him, we must 
 sometimes be ready to go with Him. * 
 
 ' The Son of God goes forth to war ' now-a- 
 days. Do we go with Him? His cross is 
 'without the gate.' Do we go ' forth unto Him 
 without the camp, bearing His reproach ' ? 3 Do 
 we really go with Him every day and all day 
 long, following ' the Lamb whithersoever He 
 goeth ' ? 4 What about this week this day ? 
 Have we loyally gone with our King wherever 
 His banner, His footsteps, go before ? 5 
 
 If the voice of our King is heard in our hearts, 
 < Wherefore wentest thou not with me ? f thou 
 who hast eaten ( continually at the King's table ' 6 
 thou who hast had a place among ' the King's 
 sons," thou unto whom the King has shown 
 
 1 John xvii. 24. * i Thess. iv. 17. 3 Heb. xiii. 12, 13. 
 
 * Rev. xiv. 4. 6 i Pet. ii. 21. a Sam. ix. 13. 
 
 7 3 Sam. ix. n. 
 
GOING FORTH WITH THE KING. 37 
 
 'the kindnesss of God/ l we have no 'because' 
 to offer. He would have healed the spiritual 
 lameness that hindered, 2 and we might have run 
 after Him. We are without excuse. 
 
 It is only now that we can go with Jesus into 
 conflict, suffering, loneliness, weariness. It is 
 only now that we can come to the help of the 
 Lord against the mighty 8 in this great battle- 
 field. Shall we shrink from opportunities which 
 are not given to the angels? Surely, even with 
 Him in glory, the disciples mnst ' remember the 
 words of the Lord Jesus, how he said ' * to them, 
 * Ye are they which have continued with me in 
 my temptations/ 5 with a thrill of rapturous 
 thanksgiving that such a privilege was theirs. 
 
 There will be no more suffering with Him in 
 heaven, only reigning with Him; 8 no more 
 fighting under His banner, only sitting with Him 
 on His throne. 7 But to-day we may prove our 
 loving and grateful allegiance to our King in the 
 presence of His enemies, by rising up and going 
 forth with Him, forth from a life of easy idle- 
 ness or selfish business, forth into whatever form 
 
 i 2 Sam. ix. 3. a 2 Sam. xix. a6. * Judges v. 23. 
 
 * Acts xx. 35. * Luke xxii. 28. ' 2 Tim. ii. 12. 
 
 7 Rev. iii. 21. 
 
38 MY KING. 
 
 of blessed fellowship in His work, His wars, or ? 
 it may be, of His sufferings, the King Himself may 
 choose for us. 1 We have heard His call, ' Come 
 unto me. ' To-day He says, 'Come with me. ' 2 
 
 True-hearted, whole-hearted ! Faithful and loyal, 
 King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be 1 
 
 Under Thy standard exalted and royal. 
 
 Strong in Thy strength we will battle for Thee. 
 
 ELEVENTH DAY. 
 The Smiting of the King. 
 ' I will smite the king only.' 2 SAM. xvii. 2. 
 IT may be that this futile threat of a wicked 
 man against the king was like the saying of Caia- 
 phas, 'not of himself,' 3 but written for our 
 learning ' more about Jesus. ' * A deadly stroke 
 was to be aimed at ' the king only,' for he was 
 ' worth ten thousand ' of the people ; 5 if he were 
 smitten, they should escape, Do the words of 
 David in another place tell of his great Anti- 
 type's desire that it should be so ? ' Let Thine 
 hand, I pray Thee, O Lord my God, be on me, 
 . . . but NOT on Thy people. ' 6 ' For the 
 
 1 2 Cor. vi. i ; Phil. iii. 10. 2 Cant. iv. 8. 3 j o hn xi. 51. 
 
 < Rom. xv. 4. 5 Cf. i Kings xxii. 31 ; 2 Sam. xviii. 3. 
 
 6 i Chron. xxi. 17. 
 
THS SMITING OF THE KING. 3$ 
 
 transgression of ray people was the stroke upon 
 Him ' l (margin) ; therefore not upon us, never 
 upon us. The lightning that strikes the con- 
 ductor instead of the building to which it is 
 joined, has spent its fiery force and strikes no more. 
 Not the hand of an impotent foe, but the sharp 
 sword of the omnipotent Lord of hosts, was lifted 
 to smite His Shepherd, our Shepherd-king, 2 The 
 Great, 3 The Chief/ The Good 5 (and The Beau- 
 tiful, as the original implies). Think of the 
 words, 'stricken, smitten of God,' 6 with their 
 unknown depths of agony, and then of Jesus, 
 Him whom we love, 7 fathoming those black 
 depths of agony alone ! ' Jesus, smitten of 
 God !* can we even say the words, and not feel 
 moved as no other grief could move us ? Do 
 not let us shrink from dwelling upon it ; let us 
 rather ask the Holy Spirit, even now, to show us 
 a little of what this awful smiting really was, 
 to show us our dear Lord Jesus Christ, in this 
 tremendous proving of His own and His Father's 
 love, to whisper in our hearts as we gaze upon 
 the Crucified One, ' Behold your King ! ' 9 
 
 1 Isa. liii. 8. 2 Zcch. xiii. 7. 8 Heb. xiii. 20. 
 
 * i Pet. v. 4 5 John x. xx. 6 Isa. liii. 4. 
 
 7 i Pet. i. 8. 8 Isa. Ixiii. 3. * John ix. 14. 
 
40 MY KING. 
 
 'The King only. 9 For, <by Himself H 
 purged our sins.' * Certainly we had nothing to 
 do with it then ! Certainly no other man or 
 means had anything to do with it ! and certainly 
 nothing, and no one now can touch that great 
 fact, so far out of reach of human quibbling 
 and meddling, that Jesus, ' His own self, bare 
 our sins in His own body on the tree. ' 2 Is no* 
 the fact that He 'with whom we have to do,' ? 
 was smitten of God instead of us, enough ? What 
 else can we want to guarantee our salvation ? 
 
 ' The King only' For the sorrow of our King 
 is shared with His people; but in the smiting; 
 we have no part. We can only stand ' afar off,' ' 
 bowed and hushed in shuddering love, as the 
 echoes of the awful stripes that fell on Him float 
 down through the listening centuries, while each 
 throb of the healed heart replies, ' For me! for 
 me!' 5 
 
 ' I have trodden the wine-press alone and of 
 the people there was none with me.' 6 
 
 1 Heb. i. 3. 2 ! Pet. ii. 24. 
 
 3 Heb. iv. 13. 4 Matt, xxvii. 55. 
 
 6 Isa. liii. 5. Isa. Ixiii. 3. 
 
KINSHIP OF THE KING. 41 
 
 TWELFTH DAY. 
 
 The kinship of the King. 
 
 * The king is near of kin to us.' 2 SAM. xix. 42. 
 
 NOT only in the Prophet raised up ' from the 
 midst of thee, of thy brethren/ 1 and in the 
 High Priest, ' thy brother ' 2 ' taken from among 
 men,' 3 do we see the kinship of Christ; but in 
 the divinely chosen King the same wonderful 
 link is given ' One from among thy brethren 
 shalt thou set king over thee : thou mayest not 
 set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.' 4 
 
 How very close this brings us to our glor- 
 ious Lord ! And yet, when we have exhausted 
 all that is contained in the very full and dear 
 idea of ' brother,' we are led beyond, to realize 
 One who 'sticketh closer than a brother,' 5 be- 
 cause no earthly relationship can entirely shadow 
 forth what Jesus is. And whatever relationship 
 we most value or most miss, will be the very one 
 which, whether by possession or loss, will show 
 us most of Him, and yet fall short of His ' re- 
 ality.' For we always have to go beyond the 
 type to reach the antitype. 
 
 Deut. xviii. 15. * Ex. xxviii. x. * Heb. v. x. 
 
 * Deut. xvii. 15. 6 Prov. xviii. 24. 
 
42 MY KING. 
 
 The King is so 'near of kin/ that we may 
 come to Him as the tribes of Israel did, 
 and say, ' Behold, we are Thy bone and Thy 
 flesh ; ' * finding many a sweet endorsement of 
 the type in His word. So near of kin, that He 
 is ' in all things ' ' made like unto His brethren ; ' 2 
 and whatever is included in the flesh and blood 
 of which we are partakers, sin only is excepted. 
 ' He also Himself likewise took part of the same. ' 3 
 
 So * near of kin to us,' and yet God ! There- 
 fore every good thing that we find in near 
 human relationships, we shall find in Jesus the 
 immeasurable proportion of the divine to the 
 human. Is not this worth thinking out, each for 
 ourselves ? worth seeking to enter into ? 
 
 But will He acknowledge the kinship ? He 
 hath said, 'Whosoever shall do the will of my 
 Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother 
 and sister and mother.' * ' How beautiful to be 
 Christ's little sister ' ! said a young disciple. For 
 of course He really menns it. Will not this 
 make our prayer more fervent, ' Teach me to do 
 Thy will ? ' 5 
 
 i 2 Sam. v. i. 2 Heb. ii. 17. 3 Heb. ii. 14. 
 
 * Matt. xii. 50. * Ps. cxliii. 10. 
 
KINSHIP OF THE KING. 43 
 
 If the King is indeed near of kin to us, the 
 royal likeness will be recognizable. Can it be 
 said of us, 'As thou art, so were they; each one 
 resembled the children of a king? 1 Nor let us 
 shrink from aiming at the still higher standard, 
 f - The King's daughter is all glorious within.' 2 
 
 We must not dwell only on a one-sided kinship. 
 If i He is not ashamed to call' us l brethren,' 3 
 shall we ever be ashamed to call Him Master? 
 If He is ready to give us ail that is implied or in- 
 volved in near kinship, should we fail to recipro- 
 cate with all the love and sympathy and faithful- 
 ness which the tie demands on our side ? 
 
 " Also, if we do realize this great privilege, let 
 us prove our loyal love to our Brother-King by 
 * looking for and hasting unto the coming of the 
 day ' * of His return. Let us not incur the touch- 
 ing reproach, ' Ye are my brethren, ye are my 
 bones and my flesh : wherefore then are ye the 
 last to bring back the King? ' 5 
 
 Joined to Christ in mystic union, 
 We Thy members, Thou our Head, 
 
 Sealed by deep and true communion, 
 Risen with Thee, who once were dead. 
 
 l Judges viii. 18. a Ps. xlv. 13. Heb. ii. . 
 
 4 a Pet. Hi. 18. 6 2 Sam. xix. 12. 
 
44 
 
 IvIY KING. 
 
 Saviour, we would humbly claim 
 All the power of this Thy name. 
 
 Instant sympathy to brighten 
 
 All their weakness and their woe, 
 
 Guiding grace their way to lighten, 
 Shall Thy loving members know, 
 
 All their sorrows Thou dost bear, 
 
 All Thy gladness they shall share. 
 
 Everlasting life Thou givest, 
 
 Everlasting love to see ; 
 They shall li e because Thou livest, 
 
 And their life is hid with Thee. 
 Safe Thy members shall be found, 
 When their glorious Head is crowned ! 
 
 THIRTEENTH DAY. 
 
 The Desire of the King. 
 
 So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.' Ps xlv. n e 
 
 CAN this be for us ? What beauty have we that 
 the King can desire ? For the more we have seen 
 of His beauty, 1 the more we have seen of our own 
 utter ugliness. What, then, can He see? ' My 
 comeliness which I had put upon thee.' 2 'The 
 beauty of the Lord our God upon us.' 3 For 
 'He will beautify the meek with salvation.'* 
 And so the desire of the King is set upon us. 
 
 1 Isa. vi. 5. * Ezek. xvi. 14. 3 p s> xc> I7> 4 p s cxlix. 4. 
 
OF THE KING. 45 
 
 Perhaps we have had the dreary idea, ' No- 
 body wants me ! ' We never need grope in that 
 gloom again, when the King Himself desires us ! 
 This desire is love active, love in glow, love going 
 forth, love delighting and longing. It is the 
 strongest representation of the love of Jesus, 
 something far beyond the love of pity or compas- 
 sion ; it is taking pleasure in His people ; l de- 
 lighting in them ; 2 willing (Y. <?. putting forth the 
 grand force of His will) that they should be with 
 Him where He is, with Him now, with Him al- 
 ways. 3 It is the love that does not and will not 
 endure separation, the love that cannot do with- 
 out its object. ' So shall the King desire thy 
 beauty. ' 
 
 He gave us a glimpse of this gracious fervor 
 when He said, ' With desire I have desired to eat 
 this passover with you before I suffer. ' * With 
 Gethsemane and Calvary in fullest view, His 
 heart's desire was to spend those few last hours in 
 closest intercourse with His disciples. 'So* did 
 He desire them. 
 
 Now, if we take the King at His word, and 
 
 < Ps. cxlix. 4 2 l s< l x ,i. 4. a J hn xvii. 24 ; ib. xii. 26. 
 
 * Luke xxii. 15. 
 
46 MY KING. 
 
 really believe that He thus desires us, can we 
 possibly remain cold-hearted and indifferent to 
 Him ? Can we bear the idea of disappointing 
 His \QVQ,such love, and meeting it with any 
 such pale, cool response as would wound any hu- 
 man heart, ' I do not know whether I love you 
 or not !' 
 
 Oh, do let us leave off morbidly looking to see 
 exactly how much we love (which is just like try- 
 ing to warm ourselves with a thermometer, and 
 perhaps only ends in doubting whether we love 
 at all), and look straight away at His love and 
 his desire ! l Think of Jesus actually wanting 
 you, really desiring your love, not satisfied with 
 all the love of all the angels and saints unless you 
 love him too, needing that little drop to fill His 
 cup of joy ! Is there no answering throb, no re- 
 sponsive glow ? 
 
 * Lord, let the glow of Thy great love 
 Through my whole being shine ! ' 
 
 Perhaps it is upon the emphatic 'so,' as point- 
 ing to the context, that the intensity of the em- 
 phatic 'greatly* hinges. It is when the bride 
 
 1 Heb. xii. *-* 
 
&CEPTRE OF THE KING. 47 
 
 forgets her own people and her father's house, 1 
 that is, when her life and love are altogether 
 given to her Royal Bridegroom, that He ' shall 
 greatly desire ' her beauty. When His glorious 
 beauty has so filled our eyes, and His incompre- 
 hensible love has so filled our hearts, 2 that He is 
 first, and most, and dearest of all, when we can 
 say not merely, ' The desire of our souls is to 
 Thy name/ 3 but ' There is none upon earth that I 
 desire beside Thee/ 4 when thus we are, to the 
 very depth of our being, really and entirely our 
 Beloved's, then we may add, in solemn, wonder- 
 ing gladness, ' And His desire is toward me.' 6 
 
 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 us in boundless store; 
 
 Christ's everlasting love ! What wouldst thou more ? 
 
 FOURTEENTH DAY. 
 
 The Sceptre of the King. 
 
 'The king held out the golden sceptre.' EsTH.viit 4. 
 
 JESUS is He ' that holdeth the sceptre, 6 the 
 symbol first of kingly right and authority, and 
 
 1 Ps. xlv. 10. a Eph. iii. 19. * Isa. xxvi. 8. 
 
 * Ps. Ixxiii. 35. * Cant. vii. zo. * Amos. i. 5. 
 
 
48 MY KING. 
 
 next of righteousness and justice. ' A sceptre of 
 righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom/ 1 
 'aright sceptre.' 2 And yet the golden sceptre 
 was held out as the sign of sovereign mercy to 
 one who, by ' one law of his to put him to death/ 
 must otherwise have perished, ' that he may live/ 8 
 Thus, by the combination of direct statement and 
 type, we are shown in this figure the beautiful, 
 perfect meeting of the ' mercy and truth ' of our 
 King, the ' righteousness and peace ' of His king- 
 dom. 4 
 
 Again and again the Holy Ghost repeats this 
 grand blending of seemingly antagonistic attri- 
 butes, confirming to us in many ways this strong 
 consolation. 5 
 
 How precious the tiny word and becomes, as 
 we read, ' He is just, and having salvation.' 6 'A 
 merciful and faithful High Priest.' 7 ' A just God, 
 and a Saviour.' 8 We do not half value God's 
 tittle words. 
 
 " To ' the King's enemies ' the sceptre is a 'rod 
 of iron' 9 (for the word is the same in Hebrew), 
 They cannot rejoice in the justice which they 
 
 1 Heb. i. 8. * Ps. xlv. 6. 3 Esth. iv. u. 
 
 4 Ps. Ixxxv. 10 ; ib. Ixxii. 2, 3. 5 Heb. vi. iR. 
 
 6 Zech. ix. 9. ' Heb. ii. 17. 8 Isa. xlv. 21. 9 Ps.xlv. 5 ; ib. ii. 9 
 
SCEPTRE OF THE KING. 49 
 
 defy. To the King's willing subjects it is indeed 
 golden, a beautiful thing, and a most precious 
 thing. We admire and glory in His absolute 
 justice and righteousness ; it satisfies the depths of 
 our moral being, it is so strong, so perfect. 
 
 His justice is, if we may reverently say so, the 
 strong point of His atoning work. The costly 
 means of our redemption were paid for * at the 
 full price.' 1 He fulfilled the law. There was 
 nothing wanting in all the work which His Father 
 gave Him to do. He finished it. 2 And His 
 Father was satisfied. Thus He was just towards 
 His Father, that He might be faithful and just to 
 forgive us our sins. 3 It is no weak compassion, 
 merely wrought on by misery, but strong, grand, 
 infinite, and equal justice and mercy, balanced as 
 they never are in human minds. For only the 
 ways of the Lord are thus ' equal.' 4 
 
 And oh, how ' sweet is Thy mercy ' ! and just 
 because of the justice, how ' sure ' ! 5 Esther 
 said, * If I perish, I perish.' 6 So need not we, 
 < for His mercy endureth forever. * 7 And so, 
 every time we come into the audience chamber of 
 
 1 i Chron. xxi. 24; Matt. v. 17. 2 John xvii. 4; Isa. xlii. 21. 
 
 8 i John i 9. 4 Ezek. xviii. 25. 
 
 * Ps. cix. 20, P. B. V ; Isa. Iv. 3. 6 Esth. iv. 16. 1 Ps. cxxxvi. i. 
 
 4 
 
5 MY KING. 
 
 our King, we know that the golden sceptre will 
 be held out to us, first ( that we may live,* 1 and 
 then for favor after favor. ' Let us therefore 
 come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we 
 may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time 
 of need.' 2 Not stand afar off and think about it, 
 and keep our King waiting ; but, like Esther, < let 
 us draw near,' 3 and ' touch the top of the sceptre.' 4 
 
 FIFTEENTH DAY. 
 
 Cleaving to the King. 
 
 * The men of Judah clave unto their king.' 2 SAM. xx. 2. 
 
 FOR it is not a matter of course that coining is 
 followed by cleaving. Even when the King 
 Himself, in His veiled royalty, walked and talked 
 with His few faithful followers, ' many of his dis- 
 ciples went back, and walked no more with Him/ 5 
 There was no word of indignation or reproach, 
 only the appeal of infinite pathos from His gra- 
 cious lips, ' Will ye also go away ? ' 6 
 
 Let this sound in our ears to-day, not only in 
 moments of temptation to swerve from truest- 
 hearted loyalty and service, but all through the 
 
 1 Esth. v. 2 ; iv. IT ; viii. 3, 4. 2 Heb. iv. 16. 3 Heb. x. 22. 
 * Esth. v. a 5 John vi. 66. John vi. 67. 
 
CLEAVING TO THE KING. 51 
 
 business of the day; stirring our too easy-going 
 resting into active cleaving ; quickening our fol- 
 lowing afar off l into following hard after Him ; * 
 rousing us to add to the blessed assurance, ' Thine 
 are we, David ! ' the bolder and nobler position, 
 ' and on Thy side ! ' 3 
 
 For this cleaving is not a mere terrified cling- 
 ing for safety, it is the bright, brave resolution^ 
 strengthened, not weakened, by the sight of wa- 
 verers or renegades, to be on His side, come 
 what may, because He is our King, because we 
 love Him, because .His cause and His kingdom 
 are so very dear to us. 
 
 We cannot thus cleave, without loosening from 
 other interests. But what matter ! Let us be 
 noble for Jesus, like the men of might who ' sep- 
 arated themselves unto David,' and who 'held 
 strongly with him in his kingdom. ' 4 Shall we 
 be mean enough to aim at less, when it is our 
 Lord Jesus who would have us entirely 'with 
 Him'? 5 
 
 It is, after all, the easiest and safest course. 
 The especial friends and ' the mighty men which 
 
 Matt. xxvi. 58. 2 Ps. Ixiii. 8. 8 i Chron. xii. 18. 
 
 4 x Chron. xii. 8 ; i Chron. xi. 10, marg. 6 Cant. iv. 8. 
 
54 MY KING. 
 
 King's question says nothing of some day, but of 
 ' this day/ And the question is put to you : if 
 never before, it is sounding in your ears now. 
 Shall your service be His, ' this day,' l and hence- 
 forth ? or not?' 
 
 The result of willing consecration of ourselves 
 and our service is always joy. ' The people re- 
 joiced, for that they offered willingly ;' 2 but was 
 it not far more, far sweeter, that their king ' also 
 rejoiced with great joy ?' How they must have 
 felt when He said, ' Now have I seen with joy 
 Thy people which are present here, to offer will- 
 ingly unto Thee ! ' 3 
 
 For when a heart and life are willingly offered 
 and fully surrendered to Him, He sees of ' the 
 travail of His soul ' 4 in it ; it is a new accom- 
 plishment of the work which He came to do : 
 and what then ? He ' is satisfied. ' If motive 
 were wanting to yield ourselves unto Him, 5 would 
 it not be more than supplied by the thought that 
 it will be satisfaction and joy to Him ' who loved 
 us and washed us from our sins in His own 
 blood ? ' 6 It seems just the one blessed opportu- 
 
 1 Josh. xxiv. 15. * i Chron. xxix. 9. 3 i Chron. xxix 17. 
 
 * Isa. liii. ix. * Rom. vi. 13. 6 Rev. i. 5. 
 
THE WORD OF THE KING. 55 
 
 nity given to us of being His true cup-bearers, 1 
 of bringing the wine of joy to our King ; and 
 in so doing He will make our own cups to run over. 2 
 
 As our own hearts are filled with the intense 
 joy of consecration to oar Lord, a yet intenser 
 glow will come as we remember that His joy is 
 greater than ours, for He is anointed 'with the 
 oil of gladness above ' His ' fellows. ' 3 
 
 Shall not ' this day ' be ' the day of the glad- 
 ness of His heart ?' * Will you not consecrate 
 your service to-day unto Him ? 5 For then ' He 
 will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy ; He 
 will rest in His love ; He will joy over thee with 
 
 ringing.' 6 
 
 Take myself, and I will be, 
 Ever, only, ALL, for Thee ! 
 
 SEVENTEENTH DAY. 
 Rest on the Word of the King. 
 
 * The word of my lord the king shall now be for rest ' 
 (inargiri). 2. SAM. xiv. 17. 
 
 HERE is the whole secret of rest from the very 
 beginning to the very end. The word of our 
 
 1 i Kings x. 5. * Ps. xxiii. 5. 3 p s . x i v . 7> 
 
 ' Cant. iii. n. * i Chron. xxix. 5. Zeph. iii. 17. 
 
56 MY KING. 
 
 King is all we have and all we need for deep, 
 utter heart-rest, which no surface waves of this 
 troublesome world can disturb. 1 What gave l rest 
 from thy sorrow and from thy fear ' 2 at the very 
 first, when we wanted salvation and peace? It 
 was not some vague, pleasing impression, some 
 indefinable hush that came to us (or if it was, the 
 unreality of the rest was soon proved), but some 
 word of our King which we saw to be worthy of 
 all acceptation ; 3 we believed it, 4 and by it Jesus 
 gave us rest. 5 
 
 There is no other means of rest for all the way 
 but the very same. The moment we simply be- 
 lieve any word of the King, we find that it is 
 truly ' for rest/ 6 about the point to which it 
 refers. And if we would but go on taking the 
 King's word about every single thing, we should 
 always find it, then and there, ' for rest.' Every 
 flutter of unrest may, if we look honestly into it, 
 be traced to not entirely and absolutely taking 
 the King's word. His words are enough for rest 
 at all times, and in all circumstances ; therefore 
 we are sinning the great sin of unbelief when- 
 
 1 Job xxxiv. 29. s l sa . x iv. 3, 3 i Tim. i. 15. 
 
 * 2 Thess. ii. 13. 6 Heb. iv. 2, 3. Mark ix. 23. 
 
THE WORD OF THE KING. 57 
 
 ever we allow ourselves in any phase of unrest. 
 It is not infirmity, but sin, to neglect to make 
 use of the promises which He meant for our 
 strong consolation and continual help. 1 And we 
 ought not to a- quiesce in the shadows which are 
 only around us, because we do not hear, or hear- 
 ing do not heed, God's call into the sunshine. 
 
 Take the slightest and commonest instances. 
 If we have an entire and present belief in i My 
 grace is sufficient for thee, ' 2 or, ' Lo, I am with 
 you alway,' 3 should we feel nervous at anything 
 He calls us to do for Him? Would not that 
 word be indeed ' for rest ' 4 in the moment of 
 need' 'rest from the hard bondage' of service 
 to which we feel unequal ? 5 Have we not some- 
 times found it so, and if so, why not always ? I 
 see nothing about ' sometimes ' in any of His 
 promises. If we have an entire and present belief 
 that ' all things work together for good/ 6 or that 
 He leads us ' forth by the right way,' 7 should we. 
 feel worried when some one thing seems to work 
 wrong, and some one yard of the way is not what 
 we think straightest ? 
 
 1 Heb. vi, 18. 2 2 Cor. xii. 9. 8 Matt, xxviii. 20. 
 
 4 Phil. iv. 19. 6 Isa. xiv. 3. Rom. viii. 28. 
 
 T Ps. cvii. 7. 
 
58 MY KING. 
 
 We lean upon the word of the King for ever- 
 lasting life, 1 why not for daily life also ? For it 
 shall ' now be for rest ;' only try it to-day, ' now/ 
 and see if it shall not be so ! When he says ' per- 
 fect peace,' 2 He cannot mean imperfect peace. 
 * The people rested themselves upon the words of 
 Hezekiah king of Judah.' 3 Just so simply let us 
 T est upon the words of our King, Jesus ! 
 
 EIGHTEENTH DAY. 
 
 The Business of the King. 
 
 * The king's business required haste.'- I SAM. xxi. 8. 
 
 AND yet there is no other business about which 
 average Christians take it so easy. They ( must '* 
 go their usual round, they ' must ' write their let- 
 ters, they ' must ' pay off their visits and other 
 social claims, they ' must ' do all that is expected 
 of them ; and then, after this and that and the 
 other thing is cleared off, they will do what they 
 can of the King's business. 5 They do not say 
 ' must ' about that, unless it is some part of His 
 business which is undertaken at second-hand, and 
 
 1 i John ii. 25. a i sa . xxv j 3> 3 2 Chron. xxxii. 8. 
 
 * Luke xir. 20. 6 Luke ix. 59, 61. 
 
BUSINESS OF THE KING. 59 
 
 with more sense of responsibility to one's clergy- 
 man than to one's King. Is this being ' faithful 
 and loyal and single hear led ?' l If it has been so, 
 oh, let it be so no more ! How can ' Jesus Onfy 1 2 
 be our motto, when we have not even said ' Jesus 
 ' 
 
 The King's business requires haste. It is al- 
 ways pressing, and may never be put off. Much 
 of it has to do with souls which may be in eter- 
 nity to-morrow;' * and with opportunities which 
 are gone for ever if not used then and there; 
 there is no ' convenient season ' 5 for it but to-day. * 6 
 Often it is not really done at all, because it is 
 not done in the spirit of holy haste. We meet 
 an unconverted friend again and again, and beat 
 about the bush, and think to gain quiet influence 
 and make way gradually, and call it judicious not 
 to be in a hurry, when the real reason is that we 
 are wanting in holy eagerness and courage to do 
 the King's true business with that soul, and in 
 nine such cases out of ten nothing ever comes 
 out of it ; but * As thy servant was busy here and 
 there, he was gone. ' 7 Have we not found it so ? 
 
 1 Eph. vi. 5, 6. 2 Matt. xvii. 8. Matt. vi. 33. 
 
 * Luke xii. 20. 6 Acts xxiv. 25. 6 Heb. Hi. 13. 
 
 7 z Kings xx. 40. 
 
60 MY KING. 
 
 Delay in the Lord's errands is next to dis- 
 obedience, and generally springs out of it, or is- 
 sues in it. ' God commanded me to make haste. ' l 
 Let us see to it that we can say, < I made haste, 
 and delayed not to keep Thy commandments. * 
 
 We never know what regret and punishment 
 delay in the King's business may bring upon 
 ourselves. Amasa ' tarried longer than the set 
 time which he (the king) had appointed him,' 3 
 and the result was death to him-elf. Contrast 
 the result in Abigail's case, where, except she 
 had hasted, her household would have perished. 4 
 
 We find four rules for doing the King's busi- 
 ness, in His word. We are to do it, first, 
 ' Heartily ; ' 5 second, ' Diligently , ' 6 third, 
 ' Faithfully ;' 7 fourth, < Speedily :* Let us ask 
 Him to give us the grace of energy to apply 
 them this day to whatever He indicates as our 
 part of His business, remembering that He said 
 ' I must be about my Father's business.' 9 
 
 Especially in that part of it which is between 
 Himself and ourselves alone, let us never delay. 
 Oh, the incalculable blessings that we have al- 
 
 1 2 Chron. xxxv. ax. * Ps. cxix. 60. 3 2 Sam. xx. 5. 
 
 i Sam. xxv. 34. 6 Col. iii. 23. 6 Ezra vii. 23. 
 
 * 2 Chron. xxxiv. 12. 8 Ezra vii. ax. * Luke ii. 49. 
 
READINESS OF THK KING'S SERVANTS- 6l 
 
 ready lost by putting off our own dealings with 
 our King ! Abigail first ' made haste ' l to meet 
 David for mere safety; soon afterwards, she 
 again 'hasted and arose and went after the mes- 
 sengers of David, and became his wife.' 2 
 
 Thus hasting, we shall rise from privilege to 
 privilege, and ' go from strength to strength. ' 3 
 
 What shall be our word fcr Jesus ? Master, give it day by 
 
 day; 
 
 Ever as the need arises, teach Thy children what to say. 
 Give us holy love and patience ; grant us deep humiiity, 
 That of self we may be emptied, and our hearts be full of 
 
 Thee; 
 Give us zeal and faith and fervor, make us winning, make 
 
 us wise, 
 Single-hearted, strong and fearless; Thou habt called us, 
 
 we will rise ! 
 
 Let the might of Thy good Spirit go with every loving word ; 
 And by hearts prepared and opened, be our message always 
 
 heard. 
 
 NINETEENTH DAY. 
 The Readiness of the King's Servants. 
 
 ' Thy servants are ready to do whatsover my lord the 
 king shall appoint. ' 2 SAM. xv. 15. 
 
 THIS is the secret of steady and unruffled glad- 
 ness in ' the business of the Lord, and the ser- 
 
 1 x Sam. xxv. 18. a x Sam. xxv. 42. s Ps. Ixxxiv. 7. 
 
62 MY KING. 
 
 vice of the King, ' l whether we are ' over the 
 treasures of the house of God/ 2 or, ' for the out- 
 ward business over Israel.' 3 
 
 It makes all the difference ! If we are really, 
 and always, and equally ready to do whatsoever* 
 the King appoints, all the trials and vexations 
 arising from any change in His appointments, 
 great or small, simply do not exist. If He ap- 
 points me to work there, shall I lament that I 
 am not to work here ? 5 . If he appoints me to 
 wait indoors to-day, am I to be annoyed because 
 I am not to work out-of-doors? If I meant to 
 write His message this morning, shall I grumble 
 because He sends interrupting visitors, rich or 
 poor, to whom I am to speak them or < show 
 kindness ' 6 for His sake, ' or at least obey His 
 command, 'Be courteous? 7 If all my 'mem- 
 bers ' 8 are really at His disposal, why should I 
 be put out if to-day's appointment is some simple 
 work for my hands or errands for my feet, in- 
 stead of some seemingly more important doing 
 of head or tongue? 
 
 Does it seem a merely ideal life? Try it ! be 
 
 1 i Chron. xxvi. 30. i Chron. xxvi. 20. 3 x Chron xxvi. 29. 
 * John ii. 5. 6 Josh. i. 16. z Sam. ix. 3. 
 
 i Pet. tii. 8. 8 Rom. vi. 13. 
 
THE READINESS OF THE KING'S SERVANTS. 63 
 
 gin at once ; before you venture away from this 
 quiet moment, ask your King to take you 
 ' wholly ' into His service, and place all the 
 hours of this day quite simply at His disposal, 
 and ask Him to make and keep you ready to do 
 just exactly what He appoints. Never mind 
 about to-morrow ; l one day at a time is enough. 
 Try it to-day, and see if it is not a day of 
 strange, almost curious peace, so sweet that you 
 will be only too thankful, when to-morrow 
 comes, to ask Him to take it also, till it will be- 
 come a blessed habit to hold yourself simply and 
 ' wholly at Thy commandment ' ' for any manner 
 of service. ' 2 
 
 Then will come, too, an indescribable and un- 
 expected sense of freedom, and a total relief 
 from the self-imposed bondage of ' having to get 
 through ' what we think lies before us. For, ' of 
 the children of Israel did Solomon make no 
 bondmen.' 3 
 
 Then, too, by thus being ready, moment by 
 moment, for whatsoever He shall appoint, we 
 realize very much more that we are not left 
 alone, but that we are dwelling ' with the King 
 
 l Jas. iv. 14. * i Chron. xxviii. ai. i Kings ix. aa. 
 
64 MY KING. 
 
 for His work. ' * Thus the very fact of an other- 
 wise vexatious interruption is transmuted into a 
 precious proof of the nearness of the King. 2 
 His interference implies His interest and His 
 presence. 
 
 The ' whatsoever ' is not necessarily active 
 work. It may be waiting (whether half an hour 
 or half a lifetime), learning, suffering, sitting 
 still. But, dear fellow-servants of 'my Lord the 
 King,' shall we be less ready for these, if any of 
 them are His appointments for to-day ? * What- 
 soever the king did pleased all the people. ' 3 
 
 1 Ready ' implies something of preparation, - 
 not being taken by surprise. So let us ask Him 
 to prepare us for all that He is preparing for us. 
 And may ' the hand of God give ' us 'one heart 
 to do the commandment of the King ! u 
 
 * Lord, I have given my life to Thee, 
 And every day and hour is Thine ; 
 
 What Thou appointest let them be ; 
 Thy will is better, Lord, than mine. 
 
 A. L. WARING. 
 
 1 x Chron. iv. 23. a p s . cxxxix. 5. 
 
 2. Sam. iii. 36. 4 3 Chron. xxx. xa. 
 
FRIENDSHIP OF THF, KING. 65 
 
 TWENTIETH DAY. 
 The Friendship of the King. 
 
 * He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his 
 lips the king shall be his friend.' PROV. xxii. n. 
 
 1 WHO can say, I have made my heart clean, I 
 am pure ' ? * Who must not despair of the 
 friendship of the King if this were the condi- 
 tion? 2 But His wonderful condescension in 
 promising Kis friendship bends yet lower in its 
 tenderly devised condition. Not to the abso- 
 lutely pure in heart, 8 but to the perhaps very sor- 
 rowfully longing lover of that pureness, come the 
 gracious words, l The King shall be his Friend. 7 
 
 Yet there must be some proof of this love ; 
 and it is found in ' the grace of His lips.' ' For 
 out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
 speaketh.' 4 Here, again, we stop and question 
 our claim ; for our speech has not always been 
 ' with grace ; ' 5 and the memory of many a grace- 
 less and idle word rises to bar it. 6 How then 
 shall the King be our Friend ? Another word 
 comes to our help: * Grace is poured into thy 
 
 l Prov. xx. 9. * Hab. i. 13. Matt. v. 8. 
 
 * Matt. xii. 34. * Col. iv. 6. Matt. xii. 36. 
 
 5 
 
66 MY KING. 
 
 lips/ l grace that overflowed in gracious words,' 2 
 such as never man spake, 3 perfectly holy and 
 beautiful ; and we look up to our King and plead 
 that He has Himself fulfilled the condition in 
 which we have failed, that this is part of the 
 righteousness which He wrought for us, and 
 which is really unto us and upon us, because we 
 believe in Him ; 4 and so, for the grace of His 
 own lips, the King shall be our Friend. 
 
 Who has not longed for an ideal and yet a real 
 friend, one who should exactly understand us 5 to 
 whom we could tell everything, 6 and in whom we 
 could altogether confide, one who should be 
 very wise and very true, 7 - one of whose love and 
 unfailing interest we could be certain ? 8 There 
 are other points for which we could not hope, 
 that this friend should be very far above us, and 
 yet the very nearest and dearest, always with us. 9 
 always thinking of us, always doing kind and 
 wonderful things for us ; 10 undertaking and man- 
 aging everything ; u forgetting nothing, failing in 
 nothing; 12 quite certain never to change and 
 
 1 Ps. xlv. 2. 2 Luke iv. 22. 3 John vii. 46. 
 
 Rom. iii. 22. 6 Ps. cxxxix. 2. 6 Mark vi. 3-, 
 
 1 Rev. xix. ii. 8 John xiii. i. 9 Matt, xxxviii o. 
 
 Ps. xl. 17. u Isa. xxxvii'.. 14. 12 Zeph. iii. $. 
 
THE KING'S COUNTENANCE- 67 
 
 never to die, 1 so that this one grand friendship 
 should fill our lives, and that we really never need 
 trouble about anything for ourselves any more at 
 all. 2 
 
 Such is our Royal Friend, and more ; for no 
 human possibilities of friendship can illustrate 
 what He is to those to whom He says, ' ' Ye are 
 my friends." 3 We, even we, may look up to our 
 glorious King, our Lord and our God, and say, 
 ' This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend ! ' 4 
 And then we, even we, may claim the privilege 
 of being ' the King's companion ' 5 and the 
 King's friend. ' 6 
 
 TWENTY FIRST DAY. 
 The Light of the King's Countenance, 
 
 * In the light of the king's countenance is life.' PROV. 
 xvi. 15. 
 
 BUT first fell the solemn words, ' Thou hast set 
 our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance. ' T 
 That was the first we knew of its brightness ; and 
 to some its revelation has been so terrible, that 
 
 1 Mai. iii. 6. 3 i Pet. v. 7. 8 John xv. 14. 
 
 * Cant. v. 16. 6 i Chron. xxvii. 33. i Kings iv. 5. 
 
 T Ps. xc. 8. 
 
68 MY KING. 
 
 they can even understand how the Lord ' shall 
 destroy ' the wicked ' with the brightness of His 
 coming. ' l Yet, though we feel that ' His eyes 
 were as a flame of fire,' 2 we found also that our 
 ' King that sitteth in the throne of judgment, 
 scattereth away all evil with His eyes ; ' 3 and 
 that it was when we stood in that light, that we 
 found the power of the precious blood of Jesus, 
 the Anointed One, to cleanse us from all sin.* 
 
 This gives new value to the promise, They shall 
 walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance ; ' 5 
 for it is when we walk in the light that we may 
 claim and do realize the fulness of its power and 
 preciousness, not for fitful and occasional cleans- 
 ing, but for a glorious, perpetual, present cleansing 
 from all sin. Do not let us translate it into 
 another tense for ourselves, and read, 6 * did 
 cleanse last time we knelt and asked for it,' but 
 keep to the tense which the Holy Ghost has 
 written, and meet the foe-flung darts of doubt 7 
 with faith's great answer, ' The blood of Jesus 
 Christ His Son cleanseth (/. e. goes on cleansing) 
 us from all sin.' 
 
 1 2 Thess ii 8. 2 R ev . i. 14. 8 Prov. xx. 8. 
 
 * x John i. 7. * Ps. Ixxxix. 15. Rev. xxii. 16, 19. 
 
 7 Eph. vi. 16. 
 
THE KING'S COUNTENANCE. 69 
 
 Thus the light of His countenance shall save us. 
 Ivook at Ps. xliv. 3, where we see it as the means 
 of past salvation, l and then at Ps. xlii. 5, where 
 the Psalmist anticipates praise for its future help ; 2 
 while the two are beautifully linked by the mar- 
 ginal reading of the latter, which makes it present 
 salvation : ' Thy presence is salvation.' 
 
 Then follows peace. The waves are stilled, 
 and the storm-clouds flee away noiselessly and 
 swiftly and surely, when He lifts up the light of 
 His countenance upon us, and gives us peace. 3 
 For this uplifting is the shining forth of His 
 favor, 4 the smile instead of the frown ; and as 
 we walk in the light of it, the peace will grow 
 into joy, and we shall be even here and now * ex- 
 ceeding glad with Thy countenance,' 5 while 
 every step will bring us nearer to the resurrection 
 joy of Christ Himself, saying with Him, < Thou 
 shalt make me full of joy with Thy counte- 
 nance.' 6 
 
 So we shall find day by day, that in the light 
 of the King's countenance is cleansing, salvation, 
 peace, joy ; and do not these make up life, the 
 
 1 Ps. xliv. 3, * Ps. xlii. 5. 3 Num. vi 26. 
 
 * a Sam. xxiii. 4. * Ps. xxi. 6. Acts ii. 28. 
 
70 MY KING. 
 
 new life, the glad life of the children of the 
 King? 
 
 ' Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy counten- 
 ance upon us ' l this day, and in it let us have 
 life, yea, ' Life more abundantly. ' 2 
 
 ' He that followeth me shall not walk in dark- 
 ness, but shall have the light of life.' 3 
 
 TWENTY-SECOND DAY. 
 
 The Tenderness of the King. 
 
 ' And the king commanded, saying, Deal gently for my 
 sake with the young man, even with Absalom.' 2 SAM. 
 xviii. 5. 
 
 Even with Absalom ! Even with the heartless, 
 deliberate traitor and rebel. 4 We must recollect 
 clearly what he was, to appreciate the exquisite 
 tenderness of David in such a command to his 
 rough war captains in such untender times. For 
 the sake of his people and his kingdom, he must 
 send them forth against him, but the deep love 
 gushes out in the bidding, ' Deal gently for my 
 sake/ 
 
 It was no new impulse. When Amnon was 
 murdered, the king 'wept very sore,' and 
 
 l Ps. iv. 6. 2 John x. 10. 
 
 3 John viii. 12. * 2 Sam. xv. a-ri. 
 
TENDERNESS OF THE KING. 71 
 
 f mourned for his son every day,' l and yet, when 
 the fratricide had fled, ' the soul of King David 
 longed to go forth unto him/ 2 and ' the king's 
 heart was toward Absalom/ 3 And when God's 
 own vengeance fell upon the wicked son, David's 
 lamentation over hin. Is perhaps unparalleled in 
 its intensity of pathos among the records of 
 human tenderness. 4 
 
 Turn to the Antitype, and see the divine ten- 
 derness of our King. Again and again it gleams 
 out, whether He himself wept, or whether He 
 said, ' Weep not/ 5 whether in the tender look, 
 the tender word, or the tender touch of gentlest 
 mercy. The Gospels are full of His tenderness. 
 There is not room here even for the bare mention 
 of the instances of it ; but will you not give a 
 little time to searching quietly for them, so that, 
 reading them under the teaching of the Holy 
 Spirit, 6 you may get a concentrated view of the 
 wonderful tenderness of Jesus, and yield your 
 heart to be moved by it, and your spirit to be so 
 penetrated by it, that you may share it and reflect 
 it ? Remember that in such a search we learn 
 
 l 2 Sam. xiii. 36, 37. * 2 Sam. xiii. 39. 8 2 Sam. xiv. i. 
 
 * 2 Sam. xviii. 33. 6 Luke xix. 41 ; ib. vii 13 ; ib. xxii. 61 
 
 * John xiv. 26. 
 
72 MY KING. 
 
 not only what He did and said, nor only what He 
 was, but what he is ; and in all His recorded ten- 
 derness we are looking into the present heart of 
 Jesus, and seeing what we shall find for ourselves 
 as we have need. For He is ' this same Jesus ' ? 
 to-day. 
 
 Then let us glance at the volume of our own 
 experience. Who that has had any dealings with 
 Christ at all, but must bear witness that He has 
 indeed dealt gently with us. Has not even suf- 
 fering been sweet when it showed us more of 
 this ? 2 What if He had ever ' dealt with us after 
 our sins M 3 But he never did, and never will. 4 
 He hath dealt gently and will deal gently with 
 us, for His own sake, and according to His own 
 heart, from the first drawings of His loving- 
 kindness, on throughout the measurless develop- 
 ments of his everlasting love. 5 Not till we are 
 in heaven shall we know the full meaning of ' Thy 
 gentleness hath made me great/ 6 
 
 May we not recognize a command in this, as 
 well as a responsibility to follow the example of 
 the gentleness of Christ? 7 Perhaps next time 
 
 1 Acts i. n. 2 Lam. iii. 32. * Ps. ciii. 10. * Job xi. 6. 
 Jer. xxxi. 3. Ps. xviii. 35. * 2 Cor x. x. 
 
TOKEN OF THE KING'S GRACE. 73 
 
 we are tempted to be a little harsh or hasty with 
 an erring or offending one, the whisper will come, 
 * Deal gently, for My sake !' 
 
 Return ! 
 
 O erring, yet beloved ! 
 I wait to bind thy bleeding feet, for keen 
 And rankling are the thorns where thou hast been ; 
 I wait to give thee pardon, love, and rest. 
 (Is not my joy to see thee safe and blest ?) 
 Return ! I wait to hear once more thy voice, 
 To welcome thee anew, and bid thy heart rejoice ! 
 
 Return ! 
 
 O chosen of my love ! 
 
 Fear not to meet thy beckoning Saviour's view; 
 Long ere I called thee by thy name, I knew 
 That very treacherously thou wouldst deal ; 
 Now I have seen thy ways, yet I will heal. 
 Return ! Wilt thou yet linger far from Me? 
 My wrath is turned away, I have redeemed thee ! 
 
 TWENTY-THIRD DAY. 
 The Token of the King's Grace. 
 
 ' To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in 
 thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled 
 the request of his servant.' 2 SAM. xiv. 22. 
 
 AN answered prayer makes us glad for its own 
 sake. But there is grace behind the gift which 
 
74 MY KING. 
 
 is better and more gladdening than the gift itself, 
 For which is most valued, the ' engaged ring/ or 
 the favor of which it is the token ? Setting aside 
 judicial answers to unspiritual prayers, 1 which an 
 honest conscience will have no difficulty in dis- 
 tinguishing, the servants of the King may take it 
 that His answers to their requests are proofs and 
 tokens of His grace and favor, 2 of His real, and 
 present, and personal love to themselves indi- 
 vidually. 
 
 When they are receiving few or none, they 
 should search for the cause, lest it should be some 
 hidden or unrecognized sin. 3 For ' if I regard 
 iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me ; 4 
 so never let us go on comfortably and easily when 
 He is silent to us. And instead of envying others 
 who get ' such wonderful answers, ' ' let us search 
 and try our ways. ' 5 
 
 Personal acceptance comes first. We must be 
 ' accepted in the Beloved ' 6 before we can look 
 to be answered through the Beloved. Is there a 
 doubt about this, and a sigh over the words? 
 There need not be ; for now, at this moment, the 
 
 1 Ps. cvi. 15 ; Hos. xiii. n, etc. 2 i John iii. 22. 3 Job x. 2. 
 * i Sam. xxviii. 6; Ps. xix. 12 ; ib. Ixvi. 18. 6 Lam. iii. 40. 
 
 Eph. i. 6. 
 
TOKEN OF THE KING'S GRACE?. 75 
 
 old promise stands with its unchangeable wel- 
 come to the weary : < Him that cometh to me I 
 will in no wise cast out/ l Then, if you come, 
 now, at this moment, on the strength of His word, 
 you cannot be rejected ; and if not rejected, there 
 is nothing but one blessed alternative ' ac- 
 cepted ! ' 
 
 Then come the answers ! As surely as the 
 prayers go up from the accepted one, so surely 
 will the blessings come down. When Esther had 
 touched the golden sceptre, ' then said the king 
 unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther ? and 
 what is thy request ? it shall be even given thee 
 to the half of the kingdom.' 2 But is there no 
 'half in our King's promise. He says, 'All 
 things ' and ' whatsoever. 3 And He does ' do 
 exceeding abundantly above all that we ask 
 or think/ and more than fulfils our little scanty 
 requests.* 
 
 And then, by every fresh fulfilment we should 
 receive ever new assurance of our acceptance, 
 then (shall it not be c to-day' ?), as we give thanks 
 for each gracious answer, we may look up con- 
 
 1 John vi. 37 ; Heb. vii. 25. * Esth. v. 3. 
 
 3 Matt. xxi. 22 ; John xiv. 13. 4 Eph. iii. 20 ; i Kings x. 13. 
 
76 MY KING. 
 
 fidingly and joyfully, and say, 'Thy servant 
 knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight/ 
 For He says, ' See, I have hearkened to thy voice, 
 and have accepted thy person.' 1 
 
 Accepted, Perfect, and Complete, 2 
 For God's inheritance made meet ! 3 
 How true, how glorious, and how sweet ! * 
 
 TWENTY-FOURTH DAY. 
 The Omniscience of the King. 
 ' There is no matter hid from the king.' 2 SAM. xviii. 13. 
 
 THE very attributes which are full of terror to 
 ' the King's enemies,' 5 are full of comfort to the 
 King s friends. Thus His omniscience is like the 
 pillar, which was ' a cloud and darkness ' to the 
 Egyptians, but ' gave light by night ' to the Is- 
 raelites. 6 
 
 The king's own General complained of a man 
 who did not act precisely as he himself would 
 have acted. In his reply he uses these words, 
 'There is no matter hid from the king. ' The appeal 
 was final, and Joab had no more to say. When 
 others say, like Joab, ' " Wtiy didst tho \ not " do 
 so and so ?' and we know or find that full reasons 
 
 1 i Sam. xxv. 35. 2 Eph. i. 6. ' 3 O>1. i. 28. 
 
 Col.ii. 10. 6 Ps. xlv. 5. Ex. xiv. 20. 
 
OMNISCIENCE OF THE KING. 77 
 
 cannot be given or cannot be understood, what 
 rest it is to fall back upon the certainty that our 
 King knows all about it ! When we are wearied 
 out with trying to make people understand, how 
 restful it is that no explanations are wanted when 
 we come to speak to Him ! 1 ' All things are 
 naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom 
 we have to do ; 2 and the more we have to do with 
 Him, the more glad and thankful we shall be that 
 there ' is not anything ' hid from the King. 3 
 
 In perplexities, when we cannot understand 
 what is going on around us cannot tell whither 
 events are tending cannot tell what to do, be- 
 cause we cannot see into or through the matter 
 before us, let us be calmed and steadied and 
 made patient by the thought that what is hidden 
 from us is not hidden from Him. If He chooses 
 to guide us blindfold, let Him do it ! 4 It will 
 not make the least difference to the reality and 
 Tightness of the guidance. 5 
 
 In mysteries, when we see no clue when we 
 cannot at all understand God's partial revelation 
 when we cannot lift the veil that hangs before 
 
 1 Job xxi : i. 10. * Heb. iv.i3. 8 i Kings x. 3. 
 
 4 Isa. xlii. 16. 6 Ps. cvii. 7. 
 
78 MY KING. 
 
 His secret counsel when we cannot pierce the 
 holy darkness that enshrouds His ways, or tread 
 the great deep of His judgments where His foot- 
 steps are not known, 1 is it not enough that even 
 these matters are not hid from our King ? * My 
 father will do nothing, either great or small, but 
 he will show it me. ' 2 ' For the Father loveth 
 the Son, and showeth Him all things that Him- 
 self doeth.' 3 
 
 Our King could so easily reveal everything to 
 us. and make everything so clear ! It would be 
 nothing to Him to tell us all our questions. 
 When He does not, cannot we trust Him, and 
 just be satisfied that He knows, and would tell us 
 if it were best ? He has ' many things to say ' 
 unto us, but He waits till we can bear them. 4 
 
 May we be glad that even our sins are ' not 
 hid ' from Him ? Yes, surely, for He who 
 knows all can and will cleanse all. He has 
 searched us and known us, 5 as we should shrink 
 from knowing ourselves, and yet He has pardoned, 
 and yet he loves ! 6 
 
 1 Ps. xcvii. 2 ; ib. xxxvi. 6 ; ib. Ixxxvii. 19. 2 r Sam. xx. 2. 
 
 3 John v. 20. 4 John xvi. 12. 
 
 6 Ps. cxxxix. x. 6 isa. x i v iii. 8. 
 
POWER OF THE KING'S WORD. 79 
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH DAY. 
 
 The Power of the King's Word. 
 
 5 Where the word of a king is, there is power.' ECCL. viii. 4. 
 
 THEN the question is, Where is it ? ' Let the 
 word of Christ dwell in you richly/ 1 and ' there/ 
 even ' in you/ will be power. 
 
 The Crowned One, who is now ' upholding all 
 things by the word of His power/ 2 hath said, ' I 
 have given them Thy word. ' 3 And those who 
 have received this great gift, ' not as the word of 
 men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God/ 
 know that ( there is power ' with it, because it 
 f effectually worketh also ' in them. 4 
 
 They know its life-giving power, for they can 
 say, ' Thy word hath quickened me ; ' 5 and its 
 life-sustaining power, for they live ' by every 
 word that proceeded out of the mouth of God/ 6 
 They can say, ' Thy word have I hid in my heart, 
 that I might not sin against Thee ; ' 7 for in pro- 
 portion as the word of the king is present in the 
 heart, ' there is power ' 8 against sin. Then let 
 
 i Col. iii. 16. Heb. ii. 9 ; ib. i. 3. John xvii. 14. 
 
 * i Thess. ii. 13 * Ps. cxix. 50. Matt. iv. 4. 
 
 * Ps. cxix. ii. 8 John vi. 63. 
 
&G MY KING. 
 
 us use this means of absolute power more, and 
 more life and more holiness will be ours. 
 
 ' His word was with power ' l in Capernaum of 
 old, and it will be with the same power in any 
 place now-a-days. His word cannot fail ; it 
 ' shall not return void ; ' it ' shall prosper.' 2 
 Therefore, when our ' words fall to the ground/ 8 
 it only proves that they were not His words. So 
 what we want is not merely that His power may 
 accompany our word, but that we may not speak 
 our own at all, but simply and only the very 
 ' word of the King.' Then there will be power 
 in and with it. Bows drawn at a venture 4 hit in 
 a way that astonishes ourselves, when God puts 
 His own arrows on the string ' 5 
 
 There is great comfort and help in taking this 
 literally. Why ask a little when we may ask 
 much ? The very next time we want to speak or 
 write ' a word for Jesus ' (and of course that 
 ought to be to-day), 6 let us ask Him to give us 
 not merely a general idea what to say, but to 
 give us literally every single word, and ' they 
 shall be withal fitted in thy lips. ' 7 
 
 1 Luke iv. 32. 2 I sa4 J v . n. 3 j Sam. iii. 19. 
 
 * i Kwgs xxii. 34. 6 Ps. xlv. 5. Heb. iii. 13. 
 
 * Prov. xxii. 18. 
 
POWKR OF THE KING'S WORD. 8 1 
 
 For He will not say, ' Thou hast asked a hard 
 thing/ l though it is far more than asking for the 
 mantle of any prophet. He says, ' Behold, I 
 have put My words in thy mouth.' 2 This was 
 not for Jeremiah alone, for soon after we read, 
 ' He that hath My word, let him speak My word 
 faithfully ' 3 (for we must not overlook our re- 
 sponsibility in the matter) ; and then follows the 
 grand declaration of its power, even when spoken 
 by feeble human lips ; ' Is not My word like as a 
 fire ? saith the Lord ; and like a hammer that 
 breaketh the rock in pieces ? ' * ' Behold, I will 
 make My words in thy mouth fire. ' 5 
 
 If we are not even ' sufficient of ourselves to 
 think anything as of ourselves,' 6 how much less to 
 speak anything ! ' Have I now any power at all 
 to say anything ? The word that God putteth in 
 my mouth, that shall I speak.' 7 We would 
 rather have it so, ' that the excellency of the 
 power maybe of God, and not of us.' 8 Our 
 ascended King has said, ' All power is given unto 
 Me. Go ye therefore. ' 9 That is enough for 
 me ; and ' I trust in thy word/ 10 
 
 l 2 Kings ii. 10 8 Jer. i. 9. 3 Jer. xxiii. 28. < Jer. xxiii. 29. 
 6 Jer. v. 14. 6 2 Cor. iii. 5. ^ Num. xxii. 38. 
 
 8 2 Cor. iv. 7. 9 Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. w Ps. cxix. 42 
 
 6 
 
3 2 MY KING. 
 
 Resting on the faithfulness of Christ our Lord, 
 Resting on the fulness of His own sure word, 
 Resting on His power, on His love untold, 
 Resting on His covenant secured of old. 
 
 TWENTY-SIXTH DAY. 
 The Name of the King. 
 
 * A King shall reign. And this is His name whereby 
 He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUS- 
 NESS.' JER. xxiii. 5, 6. 
 
 WE cannot do without this most wonderful 
 name. It can never be an old story to us. It is 
 always a ' new name ' 1 in freshness and beauty 
 and power. It is our daily need and our daily 
 joy. For strength it is indeed ' a strong tower ; 
 the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.' 2 For 
 sweetness it is < as ointment poured forth. ' 3 In 
 it we see at once the highest height and the 
 deepest depth ; Jehovah, God of God, Light of 
 Light, and our need of a righteousness which is 
 not our own at all, because we have none. We 
 stand as upon an Alpine slope, face to face with 
 the highest, grandest, purest summit above, and 
 the darkest, deepest valley below, seeing more of 
 
 l Rev. iii. 12. * Prov. xviii. 10. a Cant. i. 3. 
 
NAME; OF THE KING. 83 
 
 the height because of the depth, and more of the 
 depth because of the height. 
 
 Jesus our King ' hath by inheritance obtained 
 a more excellent name ' * than angels, for His 
 Father has given Him his own name, ( He shall 
 be called Jehovah.' 2 ' But this alone would be too 
 great, too far off for us ; it might find echoes 
 among the harpings of sinless angels, but not 
 among the sighings of sinful souls. And so the 
 name was completed for us, by the very word 
 that expresses our truest, deepest, widest, most 
 perpetual need, and the Holy Ghost revealed 
 the Son of God to us as ' Jehovah our Righteous- 
 ness. ' 
 
 Do not let us be content with theoretically un- 
 derstanding and correctly holding the doctrine of 
 justification by faith. Turn from the words to 
 the reality, from the theory to the Person, and as 
 a little, glad, wondering child, look at the simple, 
 wonderful truth That ' the Righteousness of 
 God ' (how magnificent !) is ' unto all and upon 
 all them that believe;' 3 therefore, at this very 
 moment, unto and upon you and me, instead of 
 our own filthy rags, 4 so that we stand clothed and 
 
 i Heb. i. 4. * Jer. xxiii. 6, marg. Rom. Ui. 22. 
 
 < Isa. Ixiv. 6. 
 
84 MY KING. 
 
 beautiful 1 in the very sight of God, now ; and 
 Jesus can say, l Thou art all fair, my love, ' 2 now ! 
 That it is not any finite righteousness, which 
 might not quite cover the whole, might not be 
 quite enough to satisfy God's all-searching eye ; 
 not a righteousness, but The Righteousness of 
 God ; 3 and this no abstract attribute, but a Per- 
 son, real, living, loving, covering us with His 
 own glorious apparel, 4 representing us before His 
 Father, Christ Jesus Himself ' made unto us 
 Righteousness !' 5 This to-day and this for ever, 
 for ' His name shall endure for ever ' 6 
 
 It is in His kingly capacity that this glorious 
 name is given to Him. For only by ' submitting 
 ourselves to the Righteousness of God,' 7 can we 
 have < the blessedness of the man unto whom God 
 imputeth righteousness' without works.' 8 There 
 can be no compromise, it must be His only or 
 ours only. He must be our King, or He will not 
 be our Righteousness. 
 
 1 Zech. iii. 4, 5. 2 Cant. iv. 7. 
 
 3 Phil. hi. 9. Isa. Ixiii. i. 
 
 5 i Cor. i. 30. Ps. Ixxii. 17. 
 
 ' Rom. x. 3. Rom. iv. 6. 
 
WORKING WITH THE KING. $5 
 
 TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY. 
 
 Working with the King. 
 
 1 There they dwelt with the king for his work.' i CHRON. 
 iv. 23. 
 
 < THERE ! ' Not in any likely place at all, not 
 in the palace, not in ' the city of the great king/ l 
 but in about the last place one would have ex- 
 pected, 'among plants and hedges.' 2 It does 
 not even seem clear why they were i there ' at all, 
 for they were potters, not gardeners, thus giving 
 us the combination of simple labor of the hands, 
 carried on in out-of-the-way places; and yet they 
 were dwellers with the king, and workers with 
 the king. 
 
 The lesson seems twofold, First, that any- 
 where and everywhere we too may dwell ' with 
 the King for His work. ' We may be in a very 
 unlikely or unfavorable place for this, it may be 
 in a literal country life, with little enough to be 
 seen of the ' goings ' 3 of the King around us ; it 
 may be among hedges of all sorts, hindrances in 
 all directions ; it may be, furthermore, with our 
 hands full of all manner of pottery for our daily 
 
 i PS. xlviii. 2. * i Chron. iv. 23. 8 Ps. Ixviii. 24. 
 
86 MY KING. 
 
 task. No matter ! The King who placed us 
 ' there ' will come and dwell there with us ; the 
 hedges are all right, or He would soon do away 
 with them, 1 and it does not follow that what 
 seems to hinder our way 2 may not be for its very 
 protection ; and as for the pottery, why, that is 
 just exactly what He has seen fit to put into our 
 hands, and therefore it is, for the present, i His 
 work.' 3 
 
 Secondly, that the dwelling and the working 
 must go together. If we are indeed dwelling 
 with the King, we shall be working for Him, too, 
 ' as we have opportunity/ * The working will be 
 as the dwelling, a settled, regular thing, what- 
 ever form it may take at His appointment. Nor 
 will His work ever be done when we are not 
 dwelling with Him. It will be our own work 
 then, not His, and it will not 'abide.' 5 We 
 shall come under the condemnation of the vine 
 which was pronounced 'empty, 1 because ' he 
 bringeth forth fruit unto himself. ' 6 
 
 We are to dwell with the King ' for His work ; 7 
 but He will see to it that it shall be for a great 
 
 1 Job iii. 23. 2 Matt. xxi. 33. 3 Mark xiii. 34. 
 
 * Gal. vi. io. 6 j Cor. iii. 14. Hos. x. i. 
 
RECOMPENSE; OF THE KING. 87 
 
 deal besides, for a great continual reward ac- 
 cording to His own heart and out of His royal 
 bounty, for peace, for power, for love, for glad- 
 ness, for likeness to Himself. 
 
 ' Laborers together with God ! ' l ' workers to- 
 gether with him !' 2 ' the Lord working with us ! 3 
 admitted into divine fellowship of work ! will 
 not this thought ennoble everything He gives us 
 to do to-day, even if it is ' among plants and 
 hedges !' Even the pottery will be grand ! 
 
 ' Be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the 
 Lord, and work, FOR I am with you, saith the 
 Lord of hosts. ' 4 
 
 TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY. 
 The Recompense of the King. 
 
 1 Why should the king recompense it me with such a 
 reward?' 2 SAM. xix. 36. 
 
 BARZILLAI ' had provided the king of suste- 
 nance while he lay at Mahanaim, ' 5 exiled from 
 his royal city. When the day of triumphant re- 
 turn came, David said to him, ' Come thou over 
 with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusa- 
 lem.' 6 This was the ' reward.' 
 
 i Cor. iii. 9. * 2 Cor. vi. i. Mark xvi. 20. 
 
 Hag. ii. 4. 63 Sam. xix. 32. 2 Sam xix. 33 
 
SS MY KING. 
 
 But what a privilege and delight it must have 
 been to the loyal old man ! And to come nearer, 
 what a continual joy it must have been to the 
 women who ' ministered ' l to the exiled King of 
 heaven 'of their substance/ How very much 
 one would have liked a share in that ministry ! 
 
 Is there any loving wish which our King does 
 not meet ? Was it not most thoughtful of Him 
 to appoint His continual representatives, so that 
 we might always and every one of us have the op- 
 portunity of ministering to Him ! These oppor- 
 tunities are wider than we sometimes think ; some 
 limit His ' gracious Inasmuch * 2 to services for 
 His sake to the poor only. Yet the ' strangers ' * 
 whom He bids us love, may be rich in all but the 
 friendliness and kindness which we may show 
 them ; and the ' sick ' may be those among our 
 own dear ones who need our ministry. Why 
 should we fancy it is only those who are not near 
 and dear to us, to whom we may minister ' as 
 unto Him * ? * 
 
 But oh, what little services are our cups of cold 
 water ! 5 and how utterly ashamed we feel of ever 
 having thought any of them wearying or irksome, 
 
 * I -like viii. 3. * Matt. xxr. 40. * Deut. x. 19. 
 
 * Eph. vi. 7. * Mark be. 41. 
 
RECOMPENSE OF THE KING. 89 
 
 when we look at ' the recompense of the reward,' l 
 * such a reward ! ' Is there one of us whose 
 heart has not thrilled at the mere imagining of 
 what it will be to hear ' the King say, Come, ye 
 blessed ! ' * Then what will it be to enter into 
 the fulness of the reward, to ' come over with ' * 
 Him, and dwell with Him always in ' the holy 
 Jerusalem,' and 'go no more out. 14 
 
 ' Why should the king recompense it me with 
 such a reward ? ' ' Why should thy servant dwell 
 in the royal city with thee ? ' 5 For there is such 
 a tremendous disproportion between the work 
 and the reward, though such a glorious proportion 
 between His love and His reward. 
 
 And yet there is a beautiful fitness in it. The 
 banquet of everlasting joy for those who gave Him 
 meat ; ' the river of His pleasures for those who 
 gave Him drink ; T the mansions in the Father's 
 home for those who took the stranger in ; 8 the 
 white robes for those who clothed the naked ; f 
 the tree of life and ' no more pain ' for those who 
 visited the sick ; 10 the * gloriou* liberty ' for those 
 
 i Heb. xi. 96. * Matt. aunr. 34. a Sam. xix. 33. 
 
 Rer. jori. 10; ib. in. M. * i Sam. xxrii. $. Matt. JOCT. 3S / etc. 
 
 T Ps. XXXTI. & John znr. *. Rev. TU. 13. 
 
 Rer. judL *; ib. jud. 4. u Rom. vi u. . 
 
90 MY KING. 
 
 who came unto the prisoner ; the crown of all, 
 the repeatedly promised ' with Me ' l for those 
 who were content to be with His sorrowful or 
 suffering ones for His sake. Why all this? I 
 suppose we shall keep on asking that forever ! 
 
 TWENTY-NINTH DAY. 
 
 The Salvation of the King. 
 
 * The Lord is our King ; He will save us.' ISA. xxxiii. 22. 
 
 THE thought of salvation is constantly con- 
 nected with that of kingship. Type, illustration, 
 and prophecy combine them. * Thou shalt anoint 
 him . . . that he may save my people.' 2 'By 
 the hand of my servant David I will save my peo- 
 ple. 3 ' The king saved us. ' 'A King shall reign ; 
 in His days Judah shall be saved.' 4 ' Thy King 
 cometh, . . . having salvation.' 5 
 
 Because Jesus is our Saviour, He has the right 
 to be our King ; but again, because He is King, 
 He is qualified to be our Saviour ; and we never 
 know Him fully as Saviour till we have fully re- 
 ceived Him as King. His kingship gives the 
 strength to His priesthood. It is as the Royal 
 
 l John xvii. 24. 2 , Sam. ix. 16. 3 2 Sam. iii. x8 ; ib. xix. 9. 
 
 * Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. & Zech. ix. 9. 
 
SALVATION OF THE KING. 9 1 
 
 Priest of the order of Melchisedec that He is 
 ' able to save. ' l Thus He is ' a Saviour, and a 
 Great One,' ' mighty to save.' 2 
 
 Our King has not only ' wrought,' and ' brought,' 
 and ' made known His salvation/ 3 but He Him- 
 self is our salvation.* The very names seem used 
 interchangeably. Isaiah says, 'Say ye to the 
 daughter of Zion, Behold, thy Salvation cometh ; ' 5 
 Zechariah bids her rejoice, for ' Behold, thy King 
 cometh.' 6 Again, Isaiah says, ' Mine eyes have 
 seen the King ; ' 7 and Simeon echoes, ' Mine 
 eyes have seen thy Salvation? 8 as he looks upon 
 the infant Jesus, the Light to lighten the Gentiles; 
 reminding us again of David's words, * The Lord 
 is my light and my salvation.' 9 
 
 It is because we need salvation, because we are 
 surrounded by enemies and dangers, and have no 
 power to help ourselves, and have no other help 
 or hope, that He says, ' I will be thy King ; where 
 is any other that may save thee ? ' 10 There is no 
 other. ' He saw that there was no man,' u and 
 He says, ' There is no Saviour beside me.' 12 
 
 1 Heb. vii. x, 17; ib. vii. 25. 2 Isa. xix. 20; ib. Ixiii. i. 
 
 Isa. Ixiii. 5, 4 Ps. xcviii. 2. 6 Isa. Ixii. xx. 6 Zech. ix. 9. 
 
 7 Isa. vi. 5. 8 Luke ii. 30. 9 P*. xxvii. i. 10 Hos. xiii. xo. 
 
 11 Isa. lix. 16. M Hos. xiii. 4. 
 
9 2 MY KING. 
 
 What is our response ? David begins a Psalm 
 by saying, ' Truly my soul waiteth upon God : 
 from Him cometh my salvation ; ' l but he quickly 
 raises the key, and sings, ' He only is my salva- 
 tion.' 2 Perhaps we have long been quite clear 
 that He only is our salvation from ' everlasting 
 destruction ; 3 but are we equally clear that He 
 only is (not will be, but is) our present salvation 
 from everything from which we want to be saved ? 
 from every danger, from every snare,* from 
 every temptation, 5 from ' the hand of all our ene- 
 mies, ' 6 from our sins ? 7 In death we would 
 cling to the words, l Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to save sinners.' 8 Why not in life equally 
 cling to, and equally make real use of, the promise, 
 ' He shall save His people from their sins,' 9 
 not merely from sin in general, but definitely 
 'from /tersins,' personal and plural sins? 'Is 
 my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem ? 
 or have I no power to deliver ? ' 10 
 
 His salvation is indeed finished, His work is 
 perfect ; n and yet our King is still ' working sal- 
 vation in the midst of the earth,' " applying the 
 
 l Ps. Ixii. i. 2 Ps. Ixii. 2. 3 2 Thess. i. 9. 4 p s . xc j. 3 . 
 
 * 2 Pet. ii. 9. r > 2 Sam. iii. iS. i Titus ii. 14. 8 t Tim. i. 15. 
 
 Matt. i. 21. w Isa. i. 2. n JJeut. xxxii. 4. & Ps. Ixxiv. 12. 
 
THE KING'S HOUSEHOLD. 
 
 reality of His salvation (if we will only believe 
 His power) to the daily details of our pilgrimage 
 and our warfare. We need it not only at last, 
 but now every hour, every minute. And the 
 King t shall deliver the needy when he crieth, * 
 'and shall save the souls of the needy/ 2 
 
 May He say to your soul this day, ' I am thy 
 salvation. ' 3 
 
 Look away to Jesus, 
 
 Look away from al) ! 
 Then we need not stumble. 
 
 Then we shall not fall. 
 From each snare that lureth, 
 
 Foe or phantom grim, 
 Safety thus ensureth, 
 
 Look away to Him ! 
 
 THIRTIETH DAY. 
 Good Tidings to the King's Household. 
 
 * We do not well : this day is a day of good tidings, and 
 we hold our peace; if we tarry till the morning light, some 
 mischief will come upon us; now, therefore, come, that we 
 may go and tell the king's household.' 2 KINGS vii. 9. 
 
 Just the last persons who would seem to need 
 'good tidings,' 4 and the last, too, who would 
 
 i Ps. Ixxii. ia Ps. Ixxii. 13. 
 
 8 Ps. xxxv. 3. 4 a Kings vii. a. 
 
94 MY KING. 
 
 seem likely to have them to convey ! But oh, how 
 true the figure is ! how many among the King's 
 own household need the good tidings which these 
 lepers brought ! For they are starving so near to 
 plenty, l and poor within reach of treasure, 2 and 
 thinking themselves besieged when the Lord has 
 dispersed the foe for them. Is it not often the 
 spiritual leper, the conscious outcast, the famine- 
 stricken, possessionless soul, who takes the boldest 
 step into the fullest salvation, and finds deliver- 
 ance and abundance and riches beyond what the 
 more favored and older inmate of the King's 
 household knows anything about ? 
 
 It may be one of the enemy's devices, 3 that we 
 sometimes hold back good tidings, just because 
 we shrink from telling them to the King's house- 
 hold. How many who do not hesitate to speak 
 of Jesus to little children or poor people, or even 
 to persons who openly say, ' We will not have 
 this man to reign over us,' * never say one word 
 to their fellow-subjects about the blessed discover- 
 ies that the Holy Spirit has made to them of the 
 fullness of His salvation, 5 and the reality of His 
 
 1 Ps. Ixxxi. 10-16. 2 i Cor. Hi. ax, 22. 8 2 Cor. ii. xx. 
 
 * Luke xix. 14. 6 John xvi. 14. 15. 
 
THE KING'S HOUSEHOLD. 95 
 
 power, and the treasures of His word, and the 
 satisfaction of His love, and the far-reaching ful- 
 filments of His promises, and the real, actual de- 
 liverance, and freedom, and victory, which He 
 gives, l and the strength and the healing that flow 
 through faith in his name ! * 
 
 Satan even perverts humility into a hinderance 
 in this, and persuades us that of course our friend 
 knows as much or more of this than we do, and 
 that telling of what we have found in Jesus, may 
 seem like or lead to talking about ourselves. Yet 
 perhaps all the while that friend is hungering and 
 feeling besieged, while we are withholding good 
 tidings of plenty and deliverance. 8 Verily, ' we 
 do not well. ' * Have there not been days when 
 the brightest of us would have been most thank- 
 ful foY the simplest word about Jesus, from the 
 humblest Christian ? days when even ' the men- 
 tion of His name ' might have been food and 
 freedom ! 
 
 It does not in the least follow that members of 
 Christian families need no such ' good tidings ' 
 because of their favoured position. They may 
 
 * Rom. viii. 37. * Acts iii. 16. Prov. xi. 24-26. 
 
 4 James iv. 17. 
 
9 6 MY KING. 
 
 need it all the more, because no one thinks it 
 necessary to try and help them. ' As we have 
 therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all 
 men, specially unto them who are of the house- 
 hold of faith. ' * 
 
 And when? The constantly recurring word 
 meets us here again, < Now f 
 
 THIRTY-FIRST DAY. 
 The Prosperity of the King. 
 * A King shall reign and prosper.' JER. xxiii. 5. 
 
 IF we are really interested, heart and soul, in a 
 person, how delighted we are to have positive as- 
 surance of his prosperity, and how extremely in- 
 terested and pleased we feel at hearing anything 
 about it ! Is not this a test of our love to our 
 King ? Are we both interested and happy in the 
 short, grand, positive words which are given us 
 about His certain prosperity ? If so, the pulse of 
 our gladness is beating through to the very heart 
 of God, for * Jehovah hath pleasure in the pros- 
 perity of His servant. ' 2 
 
 His prosperity is both absolute and increasing. 
 
 1 Gal. vi. 10. 2 Ps. xxxv. 27. 
 
PROSPERITY OF THE KING. 97 
 
 Even now, ' Thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth 
 the fame that I heard. ' l If we could get one 
 glimpse of our King in his present glory and joy 
 how we who love Him would rejoice for Him and 
 with Him ! 2 And if we could get one great view 
 of the wide but hidden prosperity of His kingdom 
 at this moment, where would be our discourage- 
 ment and faint-heartedness ! Suppose we could 
 see how His work is going on in every soul that 
 he has redeemed out of every kindred and tongue 
 all over the world, 3 with the same distinctness 
 with which we see it in the last trophy of His 
 grace for which we have been praising Him, 
 would it not be a revelation of entirely overwhelm- 
 ing joy ? Many Christians now-a-days are fore- 
 going an immense amount of cheer, because they 
 do not take the trouble to inquire, or read, or go 
 where they can hear about the present prosper- 
 ity of His kingdom. Those who do not care 
 much, can hardly be loving much or helping 
 much 
 
 But we do care about it ; and so how jubilantly 
 the promises of His increasing prosperity ring out 
 \vus! 'He must increase.' 4 He must reign, 
 
 i Kings x. 7. * i Pet. iii. 22. 8 Rev. v. 9. John iii. 33. 
 7 
 
98 MY SING. 
 
 till He hath put all enemies under his feet.* * Of 
 the increase of His government and peace there 
 shall be no end/ 2 
 
 All our natural delight in progress finds satis- 
 faction here, no stagnation, no reaching a dead 
 level ; we are on an ever winning side, bound 
 up with an ever-progressing cause. A typical 
 light on this point flashes from the story of 
 David. He 'went on and grew great,' 3 or as the 
 margin has it, 'going and growing;' which we 
 cannot forbear connecting with the promise to 
 ourselves, ' Ye shall go forth and grow up. ' 4 
 And then we are told that He 'waxed greater and 
 greater ' (marg.), 'went on going and increasing.^ 5 
 
 But we must not be merely on-lookers. Let 
 us see to it, first, that there be increasing pros- 
 perity in His kindom in our hearts. Pray that 
 He may not only reign but prosper in that do- 
 main. And next let us see to it that we are do- 
 ing all we can to further His prosperity all around 
 us. Translate our daily prayer, ' Thy kingdom 
 come ' 6 into daily, burning, glowing action for 
 its prosperity. 
 
 1 i Cor. xv. 35. 2 Isa. ix. 7. B 2 Sam. v. 10, 
 
 4 Mai. iv. 2. 6 i Chron. xi. 9. 6 Matt. vi. ?o. 
 
 1 Ps. xxiii. 5. 8 2 Sum. xix. 33. 9 Gal. iv. 5 
 
 M Cant. ii. 4. u Cant. v. i. '2 Cant. i. 12. 
 

 till 
 
 * 
 
 s | 
 
 
 0* 
 
 - 
 
 i 
 
 E 
 
 C a 
 
 t 
 
 
 j 
 
 
 Oi 
 
 ho 
 
 
 
 CO