y. He cried out of his prison, doubt it not, many a time and
oft--"O God, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded."

And he was not confounded. He came into Egypt a slave. He was cast into
prison on a shameful accusation: but he came out of prison to be a ruler
and a prince, honoured and obeyed by the greatest nation of the old
world. He trusted in God, and he was not confounded for ever; even as
the Lord Christ trusted in God and was not confounded for ever; even as
we, if we do not wish to be confounded for ever, must trust in God; and
instead of being scornful, careless, conceited, must fear Him, and say,
"My flesh trembleth because of Thy righteous judgments." And then the
laughter of fools will end, where it began, in harmless noise, like (says
Solomon) the crackling of thorns under a pot. Then, whosoever may scorn
you on earth, the great God in heaven will not scorn you. You may be
confounded for a moment here on earth. Worldly people may take advantage
of your misfortunes, and cry over you--There, there, so would we have it.
Take him and persecute him, for there is none to deliver him; where is
now his God? So it may be with you; for as surely as you fall, many a
cur will spring up and bark at you, who dared not open his mouth at you
while you stood safe. Or--worse by far than that--the world may take
hold of your really weak points, of your inconsistencies, of your faults
and failings; and cry--Fie on thee, fie on thee. We saw it with our
eyes. For all his high professions, for all his talk of truth and
justice, he is no better than the rest of the world. And that scoff does
go very near to confound a man; because he feels that it is half true,
half deserved, and is afraid that it may be quite true and quite
deserved: and then confounded indeed he would be, by his own conscience
and by God, as well as by man. All he can do is, to cry to God, like him
who wrote the 119th Psalm,--I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O Lord,
confound me not. I know I am weak, ignorant, unsuccessful; full of
faults too, and failings, which make me ashamed of myself every day of my
life. I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost. But seek thy
servant, O Lord, for I do not forget thy commandments. I am trying to
learn my duty. I am trying to do my duty. I have stuck unto thy
testimonies: O Lord, confound me not. Man may confound me. But do not
thou, of thy mercy and pity, O Lord. Do not let me find, wh