O my God and Father, what should I do without Thee? In my helplessness, when I lay so weak and ill, and they could do so little for me, what should I have done without Thee? I was quite in Thy hand, and but for Thee I should soon have been gone. But I am as much in Thy hand still. Oh, what should I do without Thee now? If I did not know Thee, if I could not lift up my heart to Thee, and seek and find Thee through Jesus Christ my Saviour, oh, what should I do? But, thanks be to Thee, I can. "In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight -have refreshed-my soul." I love to trace my recovery to Thee, and to feel that I am in Thy hand still. "Unless the Lord had been my help." How often have I had reason to say that! As I lie here, I look back on the past, and see how many distresses and troubles and difficulties and dangers I have passed through, and about them all I say, "Unless the Lord had been my help." These are not among those things that are behind which I am to forget, these I hope I shall never forget. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!" Lord, help me to remember Thee and Thy deliverances; keep me in mind of what Thou hast done for me; in the time of health and ease, give me grace to remember what Thou didst for me in time of sickness and trouble. Keep me thankful and trustful; keep in me a feeling of constant dependence on Thee. May I never become self-sufficient, or depending on myself; may I never lose the feeling that I am nothing, and can do nothing, without Thee, and that every breath I draw depends upon Thy will. "Unless the Lord had been my help!' But the Lord has been my help, and the Lord will be my help. Thou wilt never leave me nor forsake me. Thou wilt give me Thy Holy Spirit, and keep me in mind of Thee, and Thy gracious dealings. I know that even now, if Thou, O my God, shouldst cease to be my help, if Thou shouldst leave me to myself, then indeed I should forget Thee; then I should quickly lose the sense of Thy love, and should forget my own frailty in soul and body, and become proud, and lean on my own understanding, and think to stand in my own strength. Lord, keep me from this. Be Thou my helper, now, to-day, and always. And give me grace, in humble faith to say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me," or anything else that may befall me. CHAPTER XXXVII. NOT OVERWHELMED. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."-Isa. xliii. 2. I AM not told that I shall have no waters to pass through, or that the waters will not be deep; but I am told that they shall not overflow me. I am in deep waters now, rivers of trouble; and it seems as if they must overflow me, and carry me away and drown me; my spirit fails, and I am sore afraid. But here is the promise of God to me, 'They shall not overflow thee.” I am like a traveller overtaken by a flood. The waters have risen, the river through which he passes, has become a rushing torrent, it is very deep, and is growing deeper; when so rapid a stream was breast-high, he was in danger and fear; but now it is up to his neck, and fear and danger are greatly increased: can anything save him? can any power stop the flood from rising higher still, and carrying him away? Yes, God can. Even in the traveller's case, He can say to the flood, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further." Many a traveller has been saved by God's outstretched arm, when all hope seemed gone. But my case is better than his, for I have a definite promise, the word and promise of God, "They shall not overflow thee." They cannot, when God says they shall not. These waves of trouble and distress may be growing deeper and stronger continually; they may be, so to speak, breast-high or neck-high, and seem likely to carry me off my feet, but here is God's word to me, "They shall not overflow thee." O my soul, believe this word, and take comfort; for God speaks to thee, and speaks to thee now. Why can they not overflow me? Because |