August 27

5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves; for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

6 And Joshua spoke unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

8 And thou shalt command the priests that

bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come father, and hear the words of the LORD your God.

10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Peritzites, and the Gigasbites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the LORD of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.

12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap.

14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

15 And as they that bare the ark were come

unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest.)

16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zareian; and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off, and the people passed over right against Jericho.

17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

To my thinking, this stepping into a brimming river, when as yet there was no sign of a path, is one of the grandest pictures of faith on record. It required a stronger faith to cross the Jordan than to cross the Red Sea. At the Red Sea the path was made, before the Israelites were called upon to take a single step. But here the path was only made when they stepped. And so in our conversion, we believe in an already accomplished fact; while in the realization of every promise made to the Christian believer, the fact is accomplished when we believe, and the work goes on as we trust.

There are many beautiful illustrations of promises thus proved. A poor traveller called upon a certain good man named Fenneberg, to borrow three dollars; this was the whole amount of money possessed by this modern Nathaniel; but as the poor traveller asked for it in the name of Jesus, he lent him all he had, even to the last penny. Some time after, being in absolute want himself, he remembered the fact while at prayer, and with childlike faith and simplicity, he said: "O Lord, I have lent Thee three dollars, and Thou hast not given them back to me, though Thou knowest how urgently I need them; I pray Thee to return them to me." The very same day a letter arrived containing money, which Gossner, his pastor, delivered to the good man, with these words: "Here, sir, you receive what you advanced." The letter contained two hundred dollars, which was sent to him by a rich man, at the solicitation of the poor traveller to whom he had lent his all. Fenneberg, quite overcome with surprise, said, in his childlike way: "O, dear Lord, one cannot say a single word to Thee, without being put to shame."

Closet Promise.—I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.—Isa. xli. 13.

Just as God leads me, I would go; I would not ask to choose my way; Content with what He will bestow, Assured He will not let me stray. So, as He leads, my path I make, And step by step I gladly take— A child in Him confiding.

Just as God leads me, I abide, In faith, in hope, in suffering, true: His strength is ever by my side; Can aught my hold on Him undo?

I hold me firm in patience, knowing That God my life is still bestowing, The best in kindness sending.

Just as God leads, I onward go, O I amid thorns and friers keen; God does not yet His guidance show, But in the end it shall be seen, How, by a loving Father's will, Faithful and true, He leads me still, My trembling footsteps guiding.

—Lampotius.