The Memory of Thy Great Goodness.—Published by C. J. Farnecombe & Sons, Ltd., 55 South End, Croydon. Price 2/10, post free. This book according to its title page is “a brief account of the Lord’s tender dealings in providence and grace with Miss Mary Davey, of Brighton. This remarkable lady who reached the age of 108 years, and who died last October, was one who truly feared the Lord, and the volume before us is an account, given by herself of His gracious dealings with her during her long life. Her religion is not the superficial religion so much in vogue in our day, but that which is accompanied by a deep experience of the depravity of human nature, the deceitfulness of the heart, the abundant mercy of God, and His faithfulness towards all who trust in Him. In reading the book we were very much struck with the way her pastor, the late Mr. J. K. Popham, was enabled in the public preaching to meet with her perplexities, give guidance and administer comfort, and thus be a messenger of God to
her soul. However, without any disparagement to him, one may be permitted to say that it was small wonder though he should be so eminently useful in feeding the little flock of Christ, as he undoubtedly was, when he had even one such hearer in the pew. There is one point which may cause a difficulty to many readers, namely, the number of portions of hymns which are quoted in the book, giving one the impression that these uninspired hymns are placed on an equal footing with God’s inspired Word as a means of giving relief and administering comfort. We would venture to say that this difficulty is more apparent than real, and that the hymns quoted are more or less an expression of the feelings of the heart. In cases where they are quoted as grounds of encouragement, that is done pretty much in the same way as others would quote extracts from a gospel sermon. We think this can be proved in the case of Miss Davey from page 86 of the book under review, where she says after quoting a verse of an evangelical hymn, “I felt such a firm standing in the Lord’s faithfulness, that He would never leave me nor forsake me, and that He had given me this precious hymn so far; but I so desired I might have some portion from His blessed Book, and the words came: ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the Glory of God,’ and with it such willingness to be restored if it were the Lord’s will.” We wish the volume a wide circulation and that the testimony raised on behalf of the “great goodness” of God may be blessed to many.
The Sower.—Price 3/4, post free. The Little Gleaner.—Price 2/9, post free. Messrs Farncombe & Sons are issuing the volumes of the above magazines for 1940, nicely bound. They contain much that is interesting and instructive, and although they are the Magazines of the year that is past, they are not out-of-date, as they contain much of the gospel which never grows old. We wish them a wide circulation.