"Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight."—Matt. xi. 26.

O God, I come into Thy presence this night, rejoicing that amid all earth\'s vicissitudes, I have in Thee a rock that cannot be shaken. Thou doest according to Thy will in the armies of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth! Thou doest all things well, and nothing {79} but what is well. There is no finite wisdom in Thy dealings. All is the result of combined faithfulness, power, and love. Let me repose in the righteous ordinations of Thy will. If Thou withhold from me earthly blessings, let me feel that the very denial is precious because it is Thy sovereign pleasure. Covenant love and wisdom cannot lead or teach me wrong; every burden is imposed by Thee. The lot may be thrown into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.

O Thou who turnest the shadow of death into the morning, may every wilderness-storm only drive me nearer Thyself, my true shelter. Thou takest the sting from every cross, the bitterness from every cup. Let me recognise in all that befalls me the tokens of a Father\'s love; and if sense and sight should at times fail to descry "the bright light in the cloud," may I see written over every dark trial Thine own unanswerable challenge, "He that spared not his own Son, but gave Him up to the death for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

Lord! the end of all Thy sovereign dealings {80} is to subjugate my wayward will, and to unfold more of the preciousness of Jesus. Blessed Spirit of all grace! do Thou take of the things t............