He is ever guiding us,
sometimes with the delicacy of a glance, sometimes with the firmer
ministry of a grip, and He moves with us always, even through "the valley
of the shadow of death." Therefore, be patient, my soul! The darkness is
not thy bourn, the tunnel is not thy abiding home! He will bring thee out
into a large place where thou shalt know "the liberty of the glory of the
children of God."

FEBRUARY The Twenty-fifth

_THE FRESH EYE_

"_His compassions fail not: they are new every morning._"
--LAMENTATIONS iii. 22-33.

We have not to live on yesterday's manna; we can gather it fresh to-day.
Compassion becomes stale when it becomes thoughtless. It is new thought
that keeps our pity strong. If our perception of need can remain vivid, as
vivid as though we had never seen it before, our sympathies will never
fail. The fresh eye insures the sensitive heart. And our God's compassions
are so new because He never becomes accustomed to our need. He always sees
it with an eye that is never dulled by the commonplace; He never becomes
blind with much seeing! We can look at a thing so often that we cease to
see it. God always sees a thing as though He were seeing it for the first
time. "Thou, God, seest me," and "His compassions fail not."

And if my compassions are to be like a river that never knows drought, I
must cultivate a freshness of sight. The horrible can lose its horrors.
The daily tragedy can become the daily commonplace. My neighbour's needs
can become as familiar as my furniture, and I may never see either the one
or the other. And therefore must I ask the Lord for the daily gift of
discerning eyes. "Lord, that I may receive my sight." And with an always
newly-awakened interest may I reveal "the compassions of the Lord!"

FEBRUARY The Twenty-sixth

_THE CELLARS OF AFFLICTION_

PSALM xxxiv. 9-22.

Samuel Rutherford used to say that whenever he found himself in the
cellars of afflictions he used to look about for the King's wine. He would
look for the wine-bottles of the promises and drink rich draughts of
vitalizing grace. And surely that is the best deliverance in all
affliction, to be made so spiritually exhilarant that we can rise above
it. I might be taken out of affliction, and emerge a poor slave and
weakling. I might remain in affliction, and yet be king in the seeming
servitude, "more than conqueror" in Christ Jesus. It is a great thing to
be led through green pastures and by