1837 with all its weight of increasing
responsibility, he lifts his heart to his divine Lord and Master in
these simple words:

"Lord, Thy servant is a poor man; but he has trusted in Thee and made
his boast in Thee before the sons of men; therefore let him not be
confounded! Let it not be said, 'All this is enthusiasm, and therefore
it is come to naught.'"

One is reminded of Moses in his intercession for Israel, of Elijah in
his exceeding jealousy for the Lord of hosts, and of that prayer of
Jeremiah that so amazes us by its boldness:

"Do not abhor us for Thy name's sake!
_Do not disgrace the throne of Thy glory!"_*

* Comp. Numbers xiv. 13-19; 1 Kings xix. 10; Jer. xiv. 21.

Looking back over the growth of the work at the end of the year 1837, he
puts on record the following facts and figures:

Three orphan houses were now open with eighty-one children, and nine
helpers in charge of them. In the Sunday-schools there were three
hundred and twenty, and in the day-schools three hundred and fifty; and
the Lord had furnished over three hundred and seven pounds for temporal
supplies.

From this same point of view it may be well to glance back over the five
years of labour in Bristol up to July, 1837. Between himself and his
brother Craik uninterrupted harmony had existed from the beginning. They
had been perfectly at one in their views of the truth, in their witness
to the truth, and in their judgment as to all matters affecting the
believers over whom the Holy Ghost had made them overseers. The children
of God had been kept from heresy and schism under their joint pastoral
care; and all these blessings Mr. Muller and his true yoke-fellow humbly
traced to the mercy and grace of the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls.
Thus far over one hundred and seventy had been converted and admitted to
fellowship, making the total number of communicants three hundred and
seventy, nearly equally divided between Bethesda and Gideon. The whole
history of these years is lit up with the sunlight of God's smile and
blessing.

CHAPTER X

THE WORD OF GOD AND PRAYER

HABIT both _shows_ and _makes_ the man, for it is at once historic and
prophetic, the mirror of the man as he is and the mould of the man as he
is to be. At this point, therefore, special attention may properly be
given to the two marked habits which had principally to do with the man
we are studying.

Early in the year 1838, he began reading that third biography