IT is a marvel of mercy that the sun should rise on the rebellious sons of men, and prepare for the undeserving fruitful seasons and days of pleasantness; let us, for this prodigy of goodness, praise the Lord of all. From hour to hour let us renew the strain, for each moment brings its mercy, and when the sun sinks to his rest, let us not cease our music, but lift up the vesper hymn:—
Father of heaven and earth !
I bless Thee for the night,
The soft, still night !
The holy pause of care and mirth,
Of sound and light.
Now far in glade and dell
Flower-cup, and bud, and bell
Have shut around the sleeping wood-lark’s nest,
The bee’s long-murmuring toils are done,
And I, the o’er-wearyed one,
Bless Thee, O God, O Father of the oppressed !
With my last waking thought.
—Spurgeon’s “Treasury of David.”
The Spirit finds sinners in such a helpless condition that they are unable to repent or believe, as they are to purchase salvation.—Gurnall.