Slike strani
PDF
ePub

with her, of Christ, and they went away hungering for such a realization of Him as they saw she had.

"Ah," said her husband, when he held her hands once more, "I see you took my advice, dear; the fever is quite gone."

The wife hesitated-could she tell her secret? Was it not almost too sacred? Yet-it was the secret of the Lord (not hers), and would glorify Him. Later on, when the two sat together, she told him who had cured her fever, and said quietly, "I see that there is a more important ministry than the housekeeping, though I don't mean to neglect that."

[ocr errors]

Let us ask the Lord to keep hold of our hands," said her husband. "Mine grow feverish in eager money-making, as yours in too eager housekeeping."

This is no fancy sketch. Dear mothers, busy, anxious housekeepers, let us go again and again to Him that He may touch our hands, lest they be feverish, and so we cannot minister, in the highest sense, to those about us." A LADY IN 66 BOSTON CONGREGATIONALIST."

THE MASTER'S TOUCH.

MATTHEW viii. 15.

He touched her hand, and the fever left her,
He touched her hand as He only can,
With the wondrous skill of the Great Physician,
With the tender touch of the Son of Man;
And the fever pains in the throbbing temples
Died out with the flush on brow and cheek,
And the lips that had been so parched and burning
Trembled with thanks that she could not speak ;
And the eyes where the fever light had faded
Looked up, by her grateful tears made dim,
And she rose and ministered in her household,
She rose and ministered unto Him.

"He touched her hand, and the fever left her;

Oh! we need His touch on our fevered hands ; The cool, still touch of the Man of Sorrows,

He knows and loves us and understands.

So many a life is one long fever,

A fever of anxious suspense and care,
A fever of getting, a fever of fretting,
A fever of hurrying here and there.
Oh! what if in winning the praises of others
We miss at the last the King's "well done,"
If our self-taught tasks in the Master's vineyard
Yield "nothing but leaves " at the set of sun.
"He touched her hands, and the fever left her ;
Oh! blessed touch of the Man Divine;
So beautiful then to arise and serve Him,

When the fever is gone from your life and mine. It may be the fever of restless serving,

With heart all thirsty for love and praise,
And eyes all aching and strained with yearning
Towards self-set goals in the future days.
Or it may be a fever of Spirit anguish,

Some tempest of sorrow that dies not down,
Till the cross at last is in weakness lifted,

And the head stoops low for the thorny crown.

Or it may be a fever of pain and anger,

When the wounded spirit is hard to bear, And only the Lord can draw forth the arrows Left carelessly, cruelly, rankling there. Whatever the fever His touch can heal it, Whatever the tempest His voice can still There is only joy as we seek His pleasure, There is only rest as we choose His will. And some day after life's fitful fever,

;

I think we shall say in the Home on high, "If the hands that He touched but did His bidding, How little it mattered what else went by."

"O! Lord, Thou knowest us altogether,

Each heart's sore sickness whatever it be. Touch Thou our hands!

Let the fever leave us,—

And so shall we minister unto Thee.

ACQUIESCENCE.

It is not resignation, Lord, alone, I ask to feel: Submission may be wrung from one whose heart is yet of steel,

Who does not know the Love that wisely, gently deals each blow:

Nay, Lord, I ask for more than this, and Thou canst it bestow.

My Saviour! it is acquiescence in Thy holy will,

With which the careworn troubled heart must on Thy breast lie still,

Which breathed into the inmost soul, a perfect peace doth bring,

For then I'm safely sheltered 'neath the shadow of Thy

wing.

No more to wander forth, and seek, away from Thy dear side,

The happiness that thou to me in wisdom hast denied; For as in Thy long-suffering Thou didst gently lead me back :

Oh! ne'er again will I depart from Thy appointed track.

Do Thou, most Holy Spirit, guide each act of daily life, And guard me thro' temptations which around my path are rife :

Oh! keep me, Lord, as Thou hast promised, ever, day and night,

In sorrow's painful darkness, or in pleasure's dangerous

light.

I wish to consecrate myself, most fully, Lord, to Thee, That now henceforth Thy glory may my life's one object be;

A single eye, a holy walk, a pure and humble frame :— Oh! grant me these, and let my life bring honour to Thy

name.

My will, affections, and desires, are now no longer mine :

Let every thought be blended into harmony with Thine; Let all I have, and all I am, be lost my Lord in Thee, That so I live, "and yet not I"-'tis Christ who lives in me!

S.M.F.C.

THE COMING TRIUMPH.

MINE eyes have seen the dawning of a coming glorious

morn,

Mine ears have heard the angels' song they sang when

Christ was born;

I have caught the word of promise, unto weary hearts

and worn,

That God is marching on.

I can hear the steady treading of ten thousand marching feet,

True men and women moving on through highway,

lane and street.

They will never pause nor falter till the triumph is com

plete.

With God they're marching on.

Let the sobs of little children, crushed by crimes the law allows,

Let the blighted lives of women, lost through manhood's broken vows,

Let the sighs of hopeless sorrow every freeman's heart

arouse:

Since God is marching on.

For the cries of all earth's little ones have reached the Great White Throne,

And the King Himself has hearkened, He has made their cause His own;

He is come to help the helpless, He will make His judgments known :

His strength is marching on.

Though the chains of sin are heavy and they bind our native land,

Though the curse is on the nations, yet our God has raised His hand;

He is calling us to follow, we advance at His command:

With Him we're marching on.

No multitude is mighty that has made a league with sin,

Nor wealth nor wisdom can defend where evil reignswithin ;

For the meek shall overcome them, and the Right the day shall win,

Since God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

That God is marching on.

R. H. THOMAS.

« PrejšnjaNaprej »