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Come, feed on heav'nly bread,
"Twill make you strong to fight;
God will supply your need,

And put your foes to flight:

His arm is strong, his word is true,
Ye saints, go on,"-tho' faint, pursue."

Wage war with ev'ry foe,
For God is on your side;
Let all the nations know

That you in God confide;

Gird on your sword, the fight renew,
Look to the Lord," tho' faint, pursue."

Tho' sin, and death, and hell,
Your heav'nly march oppose;
Fear not, it shall be well;
God will confound your foes;
Go on, ye saints, the fight renew,
And Gideon like,-" tho' faint, pursue."

Ne'er lay your weapons down,
Till death shall close the strife;
Till you receive the crown

Of everlasting life :

On God depend, the fight renew,

As Gideon conquer'd, so shall you.

XXXIV. Believers have that word of Christ fulfilled to them, "In the world ye shall have tribulation." But, then, in due time, they find it as true, "In me (that is in Christ) ye shall have peace." It is certain that inward peace can be had nowhere else. In Christ alone that jewel is to be enjoyed. 'Tis good that things below do frown when they force a child of God to retreat, and shelter himself in the bosom of Him, whose love and good will is everlasting. We have but one care to spend

our thoughts most about-to rest with joy in the WILL of God; seeking his glory; endeavouring after more of Christ's image to be renewed in us and so with faith and patience to breathe after that deliverance that will put an end to sin and trouble. Afflictions are then prosperous, when they are blessed with a right instruction, and weaning efficacy; and, are useful to render the excellency of things not seen more precious and desirable: when they make a soul to search and pray much, and so forsake the world, then they are wholesome medicine. This is that frame we all should aim at: and who can help us in this great work, but He that has promised that he will never quench the smoking flax, till he have brought forth judgment and righteousness to victory.

My spirit looks to God alone,
My rock and refuge is his throne:
In all my fears, in all my straits,
My soul on his salvation waits.

Trust Him, ye saints, in all your ways;
Pour out your hearts before his face :
When helpers fail, and foes invade,
God is our all-sufficient aid.

XXXV. A converted man, without afflictions, is ready to place his trust, and seek his comforts in temporal things. Earthly desires crowd upon him, filling his soul with vanity; and he cannot well taste the comforts of God's word, but under the burden of the cross. Here we often enjoy more solid joy than if we were without the cross. And then, Jesus Christ verifies his declaration, Matt. xi. 30, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Thus our hearts are set against the world-reconciled to trialsraised up to heavenly things,—and easily separated from

many idols, to which we clung before. Well, then, may we bear these wholesome burdens, which, when sanctified, will produce present comfort, and soon issue in eternal rest and glory. And, since the Lord has promised to give STRENGTH SUFFICIENT FOR THE DAY, that we may not be tempted above measure, there is abundant reason to acknowledge that, "His burden is light" indeed.

XXXVI. Afflicted saint, to Christ draw near,

Thy Saviour's gracious promise hear;

His faithful word declares to thee,

That, as thy days, thy strength shall be.”

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XXXVII. Spiritual life is preserved only by repeated trials, which gives us an humiliating experience of our deep sinfulness, and an encouraging experience of the powerful and rich mercy of the Lord, that rises above all our infirmities, relieves all, heals all, pardons all. Thus, "tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope." What man is he in whom we find a steady courage without rashness and without boasting? The soldier who has gone through many a campaign, and has grown old amid the fatigues of war? What trees are the strongest, and have the hardest wood? Those which have grown among the rocks, and amid the tempest? In whom do we find the christian life most vigorous, and christianity most practical? In whom do we find the most genuine humility, the deepest acquaintance with the deceitfulness of the heart, the most unshaken confidence in the promises? In those who have passed through most trials and conflicts, who have been most frequently humbled, who have felt what we are in sickness, in painful separations, in persecution, in distress of mind, and in temptations of every description. These coming out of "great tribulation" have often for the first time discovered their inbred corruptions, and their impotence for everything that is good; these speak not unadvisedly with their lips, nor venture to boast themselves of to-morrow. They go softly, humbly, with caution, Ezek. xvi. 63. Yet at the same time, through the grace of God, with firmness: knowing by experience in whom they have believed, and what are the unlooked-for resources, which God affords his people in the day of trial, they can say with David, "O God, who is like unto thee? Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of

the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side," Psalm lxxi. 19-21.

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Those to whom God has often appeared to show himself severe, and who have frequently been deprived of the light of his countenance, are also those, who, when they have again found that light, and have seen happier days rising upon them, feel best the whole value of that "peace of God, which passeth all understanding,' and cling most firmly to him of whose presence they had been so long bereft. It is such that can say, with the spouse in the book of Canticles, "I found him whom my soul loveth, I held him and would not let him go,” Cant. iii. 4. In a word, the whole tenor of christian experience proves, that it is by frequent bitterness of soul, followed by deliverances, that a man has the life of his spirit: a subject of great consolation to those who often pass through such tribulations! These afflictions, which at first sight appear to them "grievous and not joyous," shall afterwards, when they have "been exercised thereby," produce in them "the peaceable fruits of righteousness." Let them cheer up, and learn to wait; better days will come, when the remembrance of their past afflictions shall be the life of their spirit. The Lord says to them, as to the spouse in Hosea, "Behold I will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." Thus saith the Lord, by another prophet, "Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord," Jer. xxxi. 16, 17.

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As on a serene day there arises in the horizon " little cloud like a man's hand," which in a short time covers the heavens, veils the light of day, and brings the "sound of abundance of rain, and a tempestuous

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