O Saviour! till I take my happy flight, PSALM lxxi. Jesus! my Lord!-the holy and the just! IOTA. My tower of strength; and none shall pluck me thence. Thy praise shall be my soul's supreme delight; Be thou my strength, when nature's powers decay, Those who observe me with no friendly eye, My hope is stedfast; cast within the veil ; In weakness, this shall still my glory be, My Wisdom! Righteousness! my Strength! my All! Thy judgments are a vast unfathomed sea: There shall high heaven with thy praise resound; There thy" sure mercies' shall my soul surround; There shall my grateful heart thy ways review, Whose name is FAITHFUL, and whose words are TRUE. My joyful lips shall tune the solemn song, Yes! with exceeding joy my soul shall bless THE FRIENDLY VISITOR. No. 224.] MAY, 1837. [VOL. 19. "COMMIT THY WAY UNTO THE LORD." "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon-day."-PSALM XXXvii. 5, 6. It is a great comfort to a tempted believer to meditate on the wisdom, mercy, and power of God, as displayed towards his children. It often happens that he is brought into great difficulties: He can neither see the finger of divine providence pointing out the path of duty, nor hear "a word behind him saying, this is the way, walk ye in it." Is. xxx. 21. Happy is it for him then to know, "That all the downward tracts of time, And as no event can occur without the knowledge or permission, yea, the appointment of him, "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will," Eph. i. 11. and "sees the end from the beginning," it is the Christian's privilege to "commit his way unto the Lord," and to give up himself to the wise government and tender care of his heavenly Father, who has most graciously declared, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Heb. xiii. 5, 6. When faith can take hold of this precious promise, and plead it in believing prayer, the soul is enabled to acquiesce in the will of God, whether the request is immediately granted or wisely delayed; and the resigned spirit concludes, Thy ways, O Lord, with wise design, Poor mortals thy arrangements view; Not knowing that the least are sure, The recollection of his past experience of the love of God, when divine grace disposed the believer to trust when and E where he could not trace the Lord, dispels misgiving fear from his doubting breast-warms his heart with the glow of hope-brightens his prospects in the darkest seasonsand quickens his lingering footsteps in the way of life. Then he can take down his harp, which unbelief suspended on the weeping willow, and tune it to the praise and glory of his faithful God, and accompany its soothing notes with the warmest expressions of grateful joy. If the desire of his heart is for the glory of God and the good of his soul, and he is enabled to trust in the Lord, he knows that in the best time and manner God will "bring it to pass. In looking back, he sees wisdom and love in every dispensation; in looking forward, he believes that "goodness and mercy shall follow" him all the days of his life. The language of the grateful heart is, "God of my life, how good, how wise, How different now thy ways appear- Thus the eternal God brings forth the righteousness or ADJUTOR. WHAT SEEK YE? Heart searching question! How shall I reply to it? Something I have been ever in quest of since the moment of earliest thought and feeling-something I am still pursuing. Have my researches hitherto brought peace? Have I learned, by past experience, what is the good which will truly yield it; and am I now steadily pursuing it, whithersoever the pursuit may lead me? This foolish heart has indeed often gone far astray, and lost repose when it has seemed most likely to enjoy the good it courted; the object it sought after has, perhaps, been gained; but did it find the possession sufficient to secure the end? Vanity was stamped upon the fancied treasure ; peace was still far off. In its first ardent search after. happiness, did it never flatter itself with the delusion that it sought its enjoyments only in permitted objects? Friends, good opinion, domestic endearments, cultivation of mind, innocent recreation-these were, by turns, pursued with all the eagerness of a soul panting after the attainment of bliss, and believing that a merciful Creator would fulfil the natural desires which were implanted in the mind. Blind, foolish heart! Unenlightened by the Spirit of truth, it discerned not that the things of nature are insufficient to satisfy the cravings of the immortal mind. It was not, that unless the gifts be held in subordination to one ruling end, they are as destructive of true peace as the grosser allurements of sense, or the more agitating emotions of worldly ambition; but, "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," and all these things shall, in their due proportion, minister to the end thou hast in view. Seek Christ in the centre of your souls; seek his kingdom, establishing in your hearts the rule of heavenly love and prompt obedience; seek his graces, to open within your souls the germ of true blessedness, and all thing: are yours." Friends, chosen for Christ's sake, will love you with an affection little liable to the interruptions of caprice. Influence sought for the extension of his kingdom, will neither minister to the tyrannic miserable sway |