October 13

29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath bubbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself bright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 34 Yes, thou shalt be as he that deth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that heath upon the top of a mast. 35 They have stricken me, shall thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not, when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

The Bible tells us, "If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy." And how fearfully he defiles this living temple who surrenders himself to the appetite for alcohol! His body becomes a habitation fit only for the most unclean spirits, the most horrible imaginings take possession of his brain, his heart is seized upon by the fiercest passions and the foulest lusts, and his soul is bound with fetters and thrown into the deepest dungeon of despair. How truly in his case does it appear, that he who defiles the temple of God, him will God destroy!

"The cup kills more than the cannon: it causes dropsies, catarrhs, apoplexies; it fills the eye with fire, and the legs with water, and turns the body into a hospital."—T. Watson.

And yet, how often the beginnings of intemperance are to be found in those drinking usages, which derive their force and authority, in the first instance, wholly from those who give law to fashion. "Tell me," said a gentleman to a poor drunkard, when urging him to give up the intoxicating cup, "where it was you took your first steps in this intemperate course?" "At my father's table," replied the unhappy young man. "Before I left home to become a clerk, I had learned to love the drink that has ruined me. The first drop I ever tasted was handed me by my now heart-broken mother." What an awful testimony for parents to face!

Closet Promise.—The Lord preserveth all them that love Him.—Psalm cxlv. 20.

Leave all to God,

Forsaken one, and stay thy tears;

For the Highest knows thy pain,

Sees thy sufferings, and thy fears;

Thou shalt not wait His help in vain.

Leave all to God.

Be still and trust,

For His strokes are strokes of love,

Thou must for thy profit bear;

He thy trial fear would move,

Trust thy Father's loving care,

Be still and trust

Know God is near.

Though thou think Him far away,

Though His mercy long have slept,

He will come, and not delay,

When His child enough hath wept,

For God is near

Oh, teach him not,

When and how to hear Thy prayers;

Never doth our God forget,

He the cross who longest bears,

Finds his sorrows' bounds are set;

Then teach him not.

If thou love Him,

Walking truly in His ways,

Then no trouble, cross, or death,

E'er shall silence faith and praise!

All things serve thee here beneath

If thou love God.

—Anton Ulrich, 1667.