f God's creatures, however holy pure,
and loving? Go to God, who is light of light, and life of life; the
source of all light, the source of all life, all love, all goodness, all
mercy. From Him all goodness flows. All goodness which ever has been,
shall be, or can be, is His alone, the fruit of His Spirit. Go then to
Him Himself. Out of the depth, however deep, cry unto God and God
Himself. If David, the Jew of old, could do so, much more can we, who
are baptized into Christ; much more can we, who have access by one Spirit
to the Father; much more can we, who--if we know who we are and where we
are--should come boldly to the throne of grace, to find mercy and grace
to help us in the time of need.

Boldness. That is a bold word: but it is St Paul's, not mine. And by
shewing that boldness, we shall shew that we indeed fear God. We shall
shew that we reverence God. We shall shew that we trust God. For so,
and so only, we shall obey God. If a sovereign or a sage should bid you
come to him, would you shew reverence by staying away? Would you shew
reverence by refusing his condescension? You may shew that you are
afraid of him; that you do not trust him: but that is not to shew
reverence, but irreverence.

If God calls, you are bound by reverence to come, however unworthy. If
He bids you, you must obey, however much afraid. You must trust Him; you
must take Him at His word; you must confide in His goodness, in His
justice, in His wisdom: and since He bids you, go boldly to His throne,
and find Him what He is, a gracious Lord.

My friends, to you, every one of you--however weak, however ignorant, ay,
however sinful, if you desire to be delivered from those sins--this grace
is given; liberty to cry out of the depth to God Himself, who made sun
and stars, all heaven and earth; liberty to stand face to face with the
Father of the spirits of all flesh, and cling to the one Being who can
never fail nor change; even to the one immortal eternal God, of whom it
is written, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but
Thou shalt endure. They all shall wax old, like a garment, and as a
vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed. But Thou art
the same, and Thy years shall not fail."

But it is written again, "My soul waits for the Lord." Yes, if you can
trust in the God who cannot change, you can afford to wait