grace to detect one of the foremost perils of a
busy man in this day of insane hurry. He saw that if we are to feed
others we must be fed; and that even public and united exercises of
praise and prayer can never supply that food which is dealt out to the
believer only in the closet--the shut-in place with its closed door and
open window, where he meets God alone. In a previous chapter reference
has been made to the fact that three times in the word of God we find a
divine prescription for a true prosperity. God says to Joshua, "This
book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt
meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according
to all that is written therein: _for then thou shalt make thy way
prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success"_ (Joshua i. 8.) Five
hundred years later the inspired author of the first Psalm repeats the
promise in unmistakable terms. The Spirit there says of him whose
delight is in the law of the Lord and who in His law doth meditate day
and night, that "he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not
wither; and _whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."_ Here the devout
meditative student of the blessed book of God is likened to an evergreen
tree planted beside unfailing supplies of moisture; his fruit is
perennial, and so is his verdure--and _whatsoever he doeth_ prospers!
More than a thousand years pass away, and, before the New Testament is
sealed up as complete, once more the Spirit bears essentially the same
blessed witness. "Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and
_continueth"_ (i.e. continueth _looking_--meditating on what he there
beholds, lest he forget the impression received through the mirror of
the Word), _"this man shall be blessed in his deed"_ (James i. 25.)

Here then we have a threefold witness to the secret of true prosperity
and unmingled blessing: devout meditation and reflection upon the
Scriptures, which are at once a book of law, a river of life, and a
mirror of self--fitted to convey the will of God, the life of God, and
the transforming power of God. That believer makes a fatal mistake who
_for any cause_ neglects the prayerful study of the word of God. To read
God's holy book, by it search one's self, and turn it into prayer and so
into holy living, is the one great secret of growth in grace and
godliness. The worker _for_ God must first be