April 13

"Your streams were floating me along, Down to the gulf of black despair; And while I listened to your song, Your streams had e'en conveyed me there.

"Lord, I adore thy matchless grace, That warned me of that dark abyss; That drew me from these treacherous seas, And bid me seek superior bliss.

"Now, from the shining realms above, I stretch my hands, and glance mine eyes O for the pinions of a dove, To bear me to the upper skies.

"There, from the bosom of my God, Occurs of endless pleasures roll— There would I fix my lost abode, And drown the sorrows of my soul."

APRIL 13.—"The Lord maketh my heart soft."—Job 23:16.

THERE is a soft heart derived from renovation. Thus he makes the heart soft as the God of grace.

Of this the Lord speaks in the new covenant. "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." There cannot be a greater contrast than between these substances as to feeling—but the heart before conversion is stone. And after conversion flesh. Sin hardens the heart; and whatever tenderness there may be in it with regard to other things, it has none towards the things of the Spirit, till the renewing of the Holy Ghost. But when grace makes the heart soft it will appear in the following effects.

It will melt with sorrow for sin. Many are afraid of hell; but they are not affected with the sin that leads to it. Sin is the last thing some people think of; but it is the first thing with the penitent—"My sin is ever before me." And this is the case even in affliction; even then sin oppresses more than trouble. This is the burden too heavy for him to bear. After the loss of an only son, a good woman once said, "Under this loss I have shed many tears for my son, but many more for my sin." Thus Ephraim was heard bemoaning himself; and what was the subject of his complaint? Not his suffering—but his incorrigibleness under it: "Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke—I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth—turn thou me and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God." And what is the divine promise? "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born." And repentance never flows so freely, and we never so much sorrow after a godly sort as when we are led to the cross and view the Saviour dying not only by us but for us.

When the heart is made soft it will be pliant to the word of truth. An instance of this is mentioned in the experience of Josiah. "Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and

against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord." It is the general character of the subjects of divine grace that they "tremble at his word." The sinner sits before among the threatenings of God, as Solomon eat between his twelve lions unalarmed because they were dead. But faith enlivens them and makes them roar; and he now cries, "What must I do to be saved?" Yet we are not to imagine that he feels the divine menaces only; the promises so exceeding great and precious equally awaken his apprehensions. Oh! says he, if I miss them, and come short at last! How many feelings will the reading of one chapter, or the hearing of one sermon, excite in the soul of such a man! The Bible is his only rule, and his only judge. He dares not trifle with its contents; nor question its declarations. He yields himself to its authority without asking how can these things be; and receives with meekness the engrailed word which is able to save the soul.

If the heart be made soft we shall be compassionate towards others. Are our fellow-creatures in penury? We shall have bowels and mercies; and not say, Go in peace; be ye warned, and be ye filled, while we give them not such things as are needful for the body. Are their souls desolate within them? We shall weep with them that weep. Are they in ignorance? In meekness we shall instruct them. Have they fallen? In meekness we shall endeavour to restore them; hating the sin, but pitying the sinner. Have they offended and injured us? We shall not be revengeful or implacable; but tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us.

Such a heart is also very sensible of the divine goodness. The man, instead of complaining of what he wants, wonders at what he possesses and enjoys. He feels that he is unworthy of the least of all his mercies. What claims have I upon him? I was a poor, blind creature, but he has opened mine eyes. I was naked, and he clothed me. I was a child of wrath, and he has made me an heir of glory. What shall I render? Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

A man whose heart God has made tender will be alive to his glory. He will mourn to hear his name blasphemed, and to see his gospel despised. He will be sorrowful for the solemn assembly, and the reproach of it will be his burden. He will be holily fearful lest he should grieve his Holy Spirit, or cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of. His glory will touch every spring of action in his soul; and he will be daily asking the Lord what wilt thou have me to do?

O what a blessing is such a heart as this! It is better than thousands of gold and silver. It prepares for all the manifestations of divine love; and it insures them.

Who feels a hard heart? The very feeling shows some sensibility. Who longs for a soft one? Let him ask of God, who is more ready to hear than we are to pray, and who "despiseth not the prayer of the destitute."