cess." To test the real quality
of a man, let us regard him just when he has slain Goliath! "David behaved
himself wisely"!

He was not "eaten up with pride." He developed no "side." He went among
his friends as though no Goliath had ever crossed his way. He was not for
ever recounting the triumph, and fishing for the compliments of his
audience. He "behaved wisely." So many of us tarnish our victories by the
manner in which we display them. We put them into the shop-window, and
they become "soiled goods."

And in this hour of triumph David made a noble friend. In his noonday he
found Jonathan, and their hearts were knit to each other in deep and
intimate love. It is beautiful when our victories are so nobly borne that
they introduce us into higher fellowships, and the friends of heaven
become our friends.

MAY The First

_THE CONDITIONS OF SERENITY_

PSALM cxxiv.

If I would be like the Psalmist, I must _clearly recognize my perils_. He
sees the "waters," the "proud waters." He beholds the "enemy," and his
"wrath," and his "teeth." He sees "the fowler" with his snare! I must not
shut my eyes, and "make my judgment blind." One of the gifts of grace is
the spirit of discernment, the eyes which not only detect hidden treasure,
but hidden foes. The devil is an expert in mimicry; he can make himself
look like an angel of light. And so must I be able to discover his snares,
even when they appear as the most seductive food.

And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must _clearly recognize my great
Ally_. "If it has not been the Lord, who was on our side!" To see the Ally
on the perilous field, and to see Him on my side, gives birth to holy
confidence and song. "The Lord is on my side, whom shall I fear?" I must
make sure of the Ally, and "victory is secure."

And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must not omit the doxology of
praise. When the prayer is answered, I am apt to forget the praise. My
thanksgivings are not so ready as my requests. And so the apparently
conquered enemy steals in again at the door of an ungrateful heart.

May The Second

_THE HAPPY WARRIOR_

EPHESIANS vi. 10-18.

Here is a portrait of the happy warrior! Let me first look at the warrior,
and then at the implements with which he fights.

"You cannot fight the French merely with red uniforms; there must be men
inside them!" So said Thomas Carlyle. Well, look at this man.
"_Strengthened in the Lord, and in the power of His