this in the darkness, where there is no applauding crowd. The true
lover does not ask for some dramatic scene where he can die for the
beloved; he delights in obscure services, the feeding and tending of the
sheep of the flock.

But the love that does the humbler thing will be ready for the greater
sacrifice whenever the day shall demand it. Some day the once boastful
denier shall lay down his life for his Saviour, and through martyrdom he
shall pass to his crown.

NOVEMBER The Fifteenth

_THE MUSIC OF RECONCILIATION_

PSALM lxxxv.

Let me listen to this psalm of reconciliation, as it makes music for my
soul to-day.

It tells me of the Divine favour. "_Lord, Thou hast been favourable to Thy
land._" As I write these words, the sun has just slipped out from behind
the cloud. It has been there all the time, but the ministry of the cloud
was needed, and so it appeared as though there would be sun and spring no
more. "Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face."

And it tells me of the Divine forgiveness. "_Thou hast forgiven the
iniquity of Thy people._" Yes, when the sun appears, He loosens the frozen
earth and streams, and turns the bondage into liberty. The soul that was
imprisoned in freezing guilt attains a joyous freedom.

And it tells me of revival. "_Wilt Thou not revive us again?_" It is the
next step in the returning spring. The sleeping, benumbed things will all
awake! "The flowers appear on the earth." Where grace reigns, graces
spring! Forgiveness is attended by renewal, and the wilderness begins to
"blossom like the rose."

NOVEMBER The Sixteenth

_THE MAKING OF A BRAVE MAN_

ACTS iv. 13-22.

Here is a marvellous transformation! I have been wondering at the
littleness of the denier, and now this same denier is making the world
wonder by his majestic boldness! His one resource is now the risen Christ,
and his one moral standard is "whether it be right!" Once he quailed
before an accusing maid; now he stands undaunted before the rulers of the
earth. How has it all come about?

He has been to the empty tomb. The awe of the resurrection is upon his
spirit. Through the once blind cul-de-sac of the grave he has seen the
King and the great white throne.

And he has been by the lake on the morning of reconciliation. The live
coal from the altar of his Lord's love has touched him and has purged away
the uncleanness of his denial.

And he has been in the upper room at Pente