March 9

"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel." — Psalms 73:24.

RELIGION is the only source of true happiness; it yields us the purest pleasures in time, and reveals to us the brightest joys in eternity. It is a system admirably adapted to the immortal nature of man, and nothing else can restore us to primeval happiness. It enables its possessor to exercise unshaken confidence in God, both with regard to this world and that which is to come. Let us consider what God secures to his people in this life.

DIVINE GUIDANCE. How necessary is this! Many of our dangers we do not perceive till we have passed them. These arise from various sources: our inward corruptions, the stratagems of Satan, and the influence of the world. There is nothing so dangerous to our bodies, as the world is to our souls. How does God guide his people?

By the directions of his word. The Bible is our Divine chart; a map of the celestial as well as the terrestrial world: here are marked out in legible characters, the way we are to pursue, the innumerable dangers to which we are exposed, and the heavenly country to which we are bound. If we have not open manifestations of his presence, still we have the epistles of his love.

By the teaching of his Spirit. By nature we are wandering in error, but he guides us into all truth, and keeps us in the way everlasting. We must watch the motions and leadings of his Spirit; and thus seek Divine direction.

By the intimations of his providence. The Providence of God is to us what the pillar of cloud and fire was to the Israelites. We must not move when the cloud rests, nor remain stationary while it is in motion.

"Let the fiery, cloudy pillar Lead me all my journey through."