September 29

“/ found IJim whom my soul loveth: I held Him, and would not let Ilim go.” — Canticles iii. 4.

V^.OES Christ receive us when we come to Him, not- V withstanding all our past sinfulness? Does He ncvei chide us for having tried all other refuges first? And is there none on earth like Him? ‘Is He the best of all the good, the fairest of all the fair? Oh, then let us praise Him! Daughters of Jerusalem, extol Him with timbrel and harp! Down with your idols, up with the Lord Jesus. Now let the standards of pomp and pride be trampled under foot, but let (he cross of Jesus, which the world frowns and scoffs at, be lifted on high. Oh for a throne of ivory for our King Solomon! let Him be set on high forever, and let my soul sit at His footstool, and kiss His feet, and wash them with my tears. Oh, how precious is Christ! How can it be that I have thought so little of Him! How is it I can go abroad for joy or comfort when He is so full, so rich, so satisfying? Feilow-believer, make a covenant with thine heart that thou wilt never depart from Him, and ask thy Lord to ratify it. Bid Him set thee as a signet upon His finger, and as a bracelet upon His arm. Ask Him to bind thee about Hioi, as the bride decketh herself with ornaments, and as the bridegroom putteth on his jewels. 1 would live in Christ’s heart; in the clefts of that rock my soul would eternally abide. The sparrow hath made a house, and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, even thine altars, 0 Lord of hosts, my King and my God; and so too would I make my nest, my home, in Thee, and never from Thee may the soul of Thy turtle dove go forth again, but may I nestle close to Tbee, 0 Jesus, my true and only rest.

“When my precious Lord I find,
All my ardent pH?siou8 glow:
Him with cords ol love I bind.
Hold, and will not let Him gc.”