Or, as St Augustine affirms, "God chose to create me without my aid, but without my aid He does not choose to create me again." But Thy very nature is love; and therefore, in loving, Thou hast always been the first to begin, and still Thou doest it every day, for

Hadst Thou not set on us Thy heart,

We ne'er had sought Thee on our part.

The initiative has always been on Thy side. It is involved in the decree," Let us make man after our own image," for by making men after Thine own image, Thou hast made them free spirits, as Thou Thyself art a Spirit, and hast implanted in their hearts an inextinguishable longing which impels them towards Thee. Yes; at our creation Thou didst so closely link and betroth Thyself to us, that a human soul separated from Thee must needs wander about upon the earth, like a bride bereft of her bridegroom, experiencing a disquiet and a longing which has its source in Thee, and leads back to Thee again. In fact, is not the human soul the bride of the Song of Solomon, who, having lost her Beloved, goeth about in the streets and the broad ways of the city until she has found Him? Yes, O Thou whose nature is love, it has still been Thine to begin. For when in their blindness the sons of men discerned Thee not beneath the veil of nature, Thou didst appear among them in the person of Him who is Thine image, that thus they might be able to embrace Thee. Long before I was capable of thought Thou didst think of me; and long before I knew what love was, I was the object of Thy love.

Thou preservest Thy creatures by daily creating and giving them life and welfare afresh; and Thou doest the same with Thy spiritual creation, the regenerate man. We have not yet become, but are only from day to day becoming, Christians. And so every day dost Thou commence Thy work within us by those gentle stirrings which come from the heavenly Father, and draw us to the Son, who then shows us by whom we were drawn. Thou stationest Thy preachers everywhere—in the

1 Song of Sol. iii. 1-4; v. 6-8.

material creation, in the Holy Scriptures, in the Church of Christ-and provokest us to love Thee in ways without end. And hence, when Thy children seek Thee for the sake of Thy gifts, they but fulfil the saying of Scripture, that "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly." We must already possess some gift of Thine before we can receive Thy other gifts; but who is there who has not already received some gift from Thee?

Thou encouragest us by Thy Word, saying, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."1 How wonderfully in this text hast Thou interwoven Thy work with ours! With so holy earnestness dost Thou enjoin us to work out our own salvation, that we expect nothing else than to be told that the power both to will and to do it is in our own hand. But no; rather dost Thou incite us to work by the thought that both our willing and doing proceed from Thee. And in this, O Heavenly Wisdom, I understand Thy purpose. Thy desire is, to represent as gifts of Thine, and to give a sacred character to, the secret impulses and aspirations of our nature, which begin to stir within us simultaneously with the light that falls upon our bodily eye, in order that, looking upon them as the messengers of a great King who seeks an entrance into our hearts, we may never repel a single one of them, but, without excuse or evasion, may go where they urge, and stand where they stop us. Yes; that is what Thou meanest to tell us by Thy apostle, and it is a sacred truth. O how much holier men would be if they would but receive with fear and trembling the yearnings and impulses in their bosoms, as if these were the heralds of a mighty monarch who brings a blessing with Him where He is welcomed, but where He is repulsed leaves behind Him a curse! The longing of a human soul after Thee is Thy boon; and when a mortal spirit yearns for God, it is a proof that God has already yearned for it. Even an Eastern poet could say,

1 Philip. ii. 12, 13.

Each "Lord, appear," thy lips pronounce, contains My "Here am I”— A special messenger I send, veiled in thine every sigh;

Thy love is but a girdle of the love I bear to thee

And sleeping in thy "Come, O Lord," there lies "Here, son," from Me.

Can any one who has become aware of this do otherwise than yield with fear and trembling to every such incitement? and yet, alas! we may and do repel, and when they are announced, dismiss them with such paltry excuses. It is possible for Thee to apprehend a human being, and yet for him to make his escape from Thy grasp. If it were not so, why did the Saviour weep over Jerusalem? why did He say, "How often would I have gathered thy children together, and ye would not !"1

1

For myself, with holy fear and trembling, I will listen to every word which Thou addressest to my soul, and yield to every incitement by which Thou attractest me to Thyself. Thy apostle says, and I appropriate his words, "I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." I will seek Thee, like the bride, in all streets and broad ways, but chiefly in those places where Thou hast promised to be present-in the assembly of the saints, in the silent closet, in prayer, in the preaching of the Word, and in the Holy Sacrament. I will rise up early and dismiss slumber from mine eyes; at night I will not lay me down upon my bed until I can exult in the assurance that Thou art wholly mine.

And if, dear Master, I am at any time conscious that Thou art absent from me, I will not cast upon Thee the blame, but rather take it to myself. I will not ask of Thee, Why dost Thou deny me Thy presence? but I will ask myself, Why did I not more earnestly sue for it? Thou hast given us a promise in Thy Word, saying, "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." And therefore, when I do not taste the sweetness of Thy presence, ought I not to look upon it as a sure sign that I have not drawn nigh to Thee, or have not sought Thee where Thou art willing to let Thyself be found? Thou * Philip. iii. 12.

1 Luke, xiii. 34; xix. 41.

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hast plainly told us where Thou wilt give our souls an interview; and if I do not attend at the appointed place, the fault is my own. If, however, I listen to Thy Word, and, drawn by the attractive power of Thy grace, wait upon Thee at the place assigned, and if Thou there meet and hold intercourse with me, so that I can affirm, "Now He is mine, and I am His," ought I in such circumstances to say that this is my desert? O tell me, when the hungry man stretches out his hand and receives the bread offered by his benefactor, ought he to say that it is his desert that his hunger has been appeased? No. It would indeed be his folly and his fault were he to reject the bread, and it is wisdom to accept it. But as for desert, that is not the right word. In the spiritual case there is even a greater difference. For didst not Thou implant in my soul the very capacity of hungering after Thee? Is it not to Thee that it owes the power of receiving the Holy Spirit, and holding fellowship with Him when He comes to enlighten and sanctify? And if, moreover, in loving-kindness, patience, and long-suffering, Thou bringest to us upon all our ways this spiritual food, and, though often dismissed, still returnest with it again, how can I say that it is my desert if I be filled? No; there is in this honour, dignity, and blessedness, but no desert of mine.

SOUL.

Dear Lord, Thou art indeed a precious portion, and I rejoice that I possess Thee. But why dost Thou condescend to be found only by those who seek Thee?

GOD THE LORD.

When thou wert created, O man, to be

Thy portion myself I designed;

So I took of my glory to give to thee,
And my image I stamped on thy mind.
Thou art my thought, like the creatures all,
Which with my good gifts I endow ;
But that was an honour for thee too small-
The thought that re-thinks me art thou.

The universe rose when the word I spoke,

My infinite fulness to preach

Like crystal transparent and bright from the rock,
But bereft was the crystal of speech.

Thy mouth I have opened, O man, and thee

Appointed to speak for the mutes;
And thy task is to praise and magnify
My name and my attributes.

34.

Jesus withdrew Nimself and prayed.

"I have no time," is what you say
To God, who seeks by night and day
To draw thee from the world away
To silence and eternity.

MATT. xiv. 23. "Jesus went up into a mountain apart to pray."

LUKE, V. 16. "And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed."

REV. iii. 20. "If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

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HERE are other passages in which, just as in these, it is recorded of the Saviour that He retired into solitude in order to be alone with God; and if He who said, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven," often yearned to leave behind Him all created things, and in thought to be wholly with the heavenly Father, how much more must this be salutary for me! In these times of ours, life is becoming ever more and more noisy and distracting. And yet, notwithstand