December 9
Daily Cheer for All the YearO keep my soul, and deliver me: for I put my trust in Thee.—Ps. xxv, 20.
Out! out, away! Soul, in this alien house thou hast no stay! Seek thou thy dwelling in eternity; 'Tis there shall be Thy hiding-place, thy nest, Where not the world, nor self, can break thy rest. Within the heart of God, There is thy still abode— There may'st thou dwell at rest, and be at home, Howe'er the body here may toil and roam.
GERHARD TERSTEEGEN.
The soul hath never such freedom from sin as when it is in a thankful frame; for thankfulness issues from a heart truly humbled and emptied of itself, truly loving and rejoicing in God.
RICHARD SIBBES.
The soul spreads its own hue over everything; the shroud or wedding garment of nature is woven in the loom of our own feelings. This universe is the express image and direct counterpart of the souls that dwell in it. Be noble-minded, and all nature replies, "I am Divine, the child of God—be thou, too, His child, and noble." Be mean, and all nature dwindles into a contemptible smallness.
F. W. ROBERTSON.
The effect of every burden laid down is to leave us relieved; and when the soul has laid down that of its faults at the feet of Christ, it feels as if it had wings.
EUGÉNIE DE GUÉRIN.