October 24

1 O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:

2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, tending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands:

4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yes, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy.)

5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him treat, down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.

6 Anse, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies; and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.

7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.

8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is to me.

9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.

11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

14 Behold, he traveleth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.

15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.

16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate:

17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

"Even this sorest of evils (Slander) may furnish occasion for a Psalm. What a blessing would it be if we could turn even the most disastrous event into a theme for song, and so turn the tables upon our great enemy. Let us learn a lesson from Luther, who once said, 'David made Psalms; we also will make Psalms, and sing them as well as we can to the honor of our Lord, and to spite and mock the devil.'—C. H. Spurgeon.

"In the first and second verses the danger is stated, and prayer offered. Then the Psalmist most solemnly avows his innocence (3, 4, 5). The Lord is pleaded with to arise to judgment (6, 7). The Lord, sitting upon his throne, hears the renewed appeal of the slandered supplicant (8, 9). The Lord clears His servant, and threatens the wicked (10, 11, 12, 13). The slanderer is seen in vision bringing a curse upon his own head (14, 15, 16), while David retires from trial singing a hymn of praise to his righteous God. We have here a noble sermon upon that text: 'No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that riseth against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.'"—C. H. Spurgeon.

Closet Promise.—God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God—Psaim lxi. 7.

John Wesley caught the spirit of Gerhard Tersteegen and wrote:

"Each moment draw from earth away My heart that lowly waits Thy call; Speak to my inmost soul, and say,

"I am thy love, thy God, thy All! To feel Thy power, to hear Thy voice, To taste Thy love, be all my choice"

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

Breakfast Motto.—There is no want to them that fear Him.—Psa. xxxiv. 9.

Weekly Proverb.—Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.—Poor Richard.

DAILY BIBLE READING.—FIRST SEVEN GREAT EVENTS.

Sunday.—The First Creation.—Gen. i. 1-25.

Monday.—The First Man.—Gen. i. 26-31.

Tuesday.—The First Sabbath.—Gen. ii. 1-17.

Wednesday.—The First Wife.—Gen. ii. 18-25.

Thursday.—The First Sin.—Gen. iii. 1-24.

Friday.—The First Sacrifice.—Gen. iv. 1-7.

Saturday.—The First Death.—Gen. iv. 8-16.

THE LITTLE PRISONERS.

In a queer little house, as round as a ball, And hung high in the air,

Without any doors or windows at all,

Some little things lived the long summer through;

And, strange to declare,

As fast as they grew, their house grew, too.

Summer had pointed their little house green; For the felt very sure

That a prettiest color never was seen.

But when autumn came, she said, with a frown; "Green I cannot endure"

And so she painted the little house brown.

Prisoners they were without any doubt; No light could come in.

And there wasn't a crack where they could look out.

So they had no way of knowing at all How fair to be seen

Was the wonderful world beyond their dark wall.

But when Jack Frost, a jolly old chap, Came along one day,

On the little brown house he gave a sharp rap,

And the walls snapped open! The prisoners were free

And out and away

They went with a bound, the fair world to see.

In a moment more they were all on the ground, Enjoying the air;

But scarcely had they a chance to look round, When two furry creatures, coming that way And spying them there,

Are them all up without any delay.

What was the house as round as a ball, First green and then brown?

What were the names of the prisoners small?

Who were the creatures that came that way And gobbled them down,

So they lived not in freedom even a day?

—Mrs. F. A. Percy.

30

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.—Prov. xxv. 11.

"I don't want to hear naughty words," said little Charlie to one of his school-fellows. "It does not matter," said the other boy: "they go in at one ear, and out at the other." "No," replied Charlie; "the worst of it is, when naughty words get in they stick; so I mean to do my best to keep them out." Dear boys and girls, my advice is, do not speak bad words; and do not listen to them. Bad words have done more evil than battle, murder, and sudden death, all put together. They creep through the ear into the heart, call up all its bad passions, and tempt it to break God's commandments. A few bad words got into the ear of Eve; and they led her to eat the forbidden fruit, and thus to bring death into the world. Then, just think of it, you can never stop the progress of a bad or cruel word which you uttered carelessly perhaps, it will go on, and on, spreading evil on every hand. But a good word! It is like sunshine—it scatters blessings wherever it goes. Let us love pure words; clean words; loving words. And don't forget, "That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."

THE WOODLAND GATE.

I want to talk to you a little while about playing. It is not at all wrong for boys and girls to play. Some ill-tempered people may think it is, but we don't. No; it is quite right for children to jump about, and swing on the "Woodland Gate," and laugh, and be happy. God intended them to play, and to have plenty of it. There is no sin in play—none whatever. But you may put sin into it. It is quite right, but you may make it quite wrong. Do you ask, "How can this be?" I will tell you: 1. By playing in the wrong place. I have found children playing in the house of God, even while kneeling down as though they were praying. Now I am sure that that was wrong. Such conduct is sinful. God is displeased with it. 2. By playing at the wrong time. When mother or father has told them to do something, and, instead of doing it, they went playing. That is disobedience—and that is sinful. 3. By playing in the wrong way. I saw a number of boys and girls playing, the other day. They were playing in the wrong way. Some were very rude. They took great pleasure in teasing others. All they did was in play, but it soon led to angry passions and sinful words, which are displeasing in the sight of God. Always be careful whom you play with. Do not play with those who tell lies; or those who curse and swear; or those who cheat their school-fellows; or those who are disobedient to their parents. Obedient children have become disobedient; honest children have become thieves; those who used to speak the truth have become liars; and some, who a little while ago were very happy, have been made miserable by having wicked play-fellows. The Bible says—"A companion of fools shall be destroyed."

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FORTY-SECOND WEEK.

PEARL TEXT.—And to keep himself unspoiled from the world.—James I. 27.

We need not bid, for cloistered cell, Our neighbor and our work farewell, Not strive to wind ourselves too high For sinful man beneath the sky.

The trivial round, the common task, May furnish all we ought to ask; Room to deny ourselves, a road To bring us, daily, nearer God. —John Keble.

Christ "emptied himself." Behold our pattern.—Ambrose.

How much mud and mire, how many slippery footsteps, and perchance heavy tumbles, might be avoided, if we could tread but six inches above the crust of the world. Physically, we cannot do this; our bodies cannot; but it seems to me that our hearts and minds may keep themselves above moral mud-puddles.—Selected.

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR.