THE WORKS OF MISS HAVERGAL.
DEVOTIONAL.
*THE  ROYAL  IRNVITA TION; or, Daily Thoughts on
Coming to Christ. LOYAL RESPONSES; or, Daily Melodies
for the King's Minstrels.  x8mo.  Cloth, red edges, 7 5 cts.
Eithe' of the above, in separate volumes.
Cloth. white edge, each, 25 cts.
ROYAL COMMXANDMENTS; or, Morning Thouglhts for
the King's Servants. ROYAL BOUNTY; or, Evening Thoughts
for the King's Guests. iS8mo. Cloth, 75 cts.
Either of the above in separate volumes.
Cloth, white edge, each, 25 cts.
MY KING; or, Daily Thoughts for the King's Children.
x8mo. Cloth, red edge, 50 cts.
Cloth, white edge, 25 cts.
The beauty and purpose of this little volume are of the va
highest and comfort has an abiding place in every page.
KEP2 FOR THE MASTER'S USE. Cloth, red edge, ink
and gold stamp, 5 0 ets.
Cloth, white edge, 25 cts.;
In this volume the author enforces the great lcon of consecr
tion which she learned so well, and illustrated so perfectl-" vv her
earnest spirit and tireless activity.
RED  LETTER  DA YS.  Cloth, red edge, 85 cts.
A collection of texts and verses, with corresponding blank page
for birthday and other records, for every day in the year.
ECHOES FROM THE WORD FOR THE CHRISTIAN
YEAR. With Prefatory Note, by Rev. Charles Bullock. Cloth,
white edge, 40 cts.
Either or all of the above sent by mail, postage paid, on
receiot of the price. Fractional amounts can be remitted in
Sosta,* #age,
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO.,
900 Broadway, cot. 20th St., New Yvork. 
,THE WORKS OF MAISS HAVERGAL.
POETICAL.
LIFE MOSAIC:  THE  MINISTRY  OF SONG, and UNDER THE
SURFAcE.   In one vol., with twelve colored illustrations of
Alpine Flowers and Swiss Mountain and Lake Seenery, from
drawings by the Baroness Helga Von Cramm.  4to.  Cloth.
gilt, $4.00.
UNDER THE SURRFA CE; or, Our Work and Our Blessings.
24mo. Cloth, gilt, 775 cts.
THE  MINISTRY  OF SOArG. Poems.  t24mo.  Cloth, gilt,
75 cts.
UNDER HIS SHADOW; THE L AST POEMS OF MISS HAV'   ERGAL.  a4mo.  Cloth, gilt, 75 cts.
BOOKS FOR CHILDREN.
MORNING BELLS; or, Waking Thoughst'or the Little Ones.
LIrTTLE PILLOWS; or, Goodl N'\-t Thoughts for the Little Ones.
One vol. 32mo. Cheap Edition, 40 (cts.
Either of the above may be had in separate volumes.
Cloth, white edges, each, 25 cts; paper, each, 10 ets.
MOAr[NNG  STARS.  Cloth, 25 cts.; paper, 10 cts.
Consisting of thirty-one short chapters on as mnany names of tho
Saviour, in which a practical application is made for the benefit of
the individual reader. One feature is the giving of Bible chapters
and books only, Isaving the particular verse to be filled in.
THE FOUR HAPPY DA YS.  x6mo, cloth, 40 cts.
BRUEY, A Little Worker for Christ. Cloth, $1.10.
MEMORIALS.
FRANCES RIDLEY HA VERGAL. THE LAr WEmc. A
Sketch by her Sister. Paper, 10 cts.
THE LIFE OF FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL.
Written by her Sister. With Steel Portrait. $1.75.
Rither or all of the above sent by mail, hostage Maid, on
receiit of the Arice.  Fractional amounts can be remitted in
ostae.tam-e.a
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO.,
9i00 Broadway, cor. 20th St., New York. 
MY KING;
OR,
DAILY THOUGHTS FOR THE
KING'S CHILDREN.
BY
FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL.
"My King and my God! "-Ps. v. a.
TWELFTH THOUSAND.
NEW YORK:
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY,
900 BRO.DWAY, COR. 20th STREET.
- I 
,D I 
PREFATORY NOTE.
HE  number of beautiful texts and topics
"touching the King" is far too large for
the plan of this little book. The difficulty lay
in selection.
None but Old Testament texts, chiefly
typical ones, have been taken for the daily
portions; and the wide, bright fields of the
future-the coming glory and reign of our
King-have been left untouched. Only those
passages have been chosen which concern the
actual present reign of Christ our King, and
the practical present life of His true subjects.
And still there are too many! The Throne,
the Palace, the Royal Bounty, the Wisdom, the 
PREFA TOR Y NO TE.
Favor of the King, and many other points, will
give pleasant opportunity to earnest readers
for further search and study.
It is my happy hope and prayer that these
simple "Daily Thoughts" may  quicken the
glad loyalty and loving praise of some of His
children, and that the blessing of my King
may go forth with every copy. "Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King," and
then "Daily shall HE be praised!"
F. R. H.
December 5, i 8 7 6.
6 
CONTENTS.
i. The Source of the Kingship,..
2. The Promise of the King,..
3. Allegiance to the King,..
4. Decision for the King,..
5. The First to meet the King,.
6. The Condescension of the King,
7. The Indwelling of the King,.
8. Full Satisfaction in the King,.
9. The Sorrow of the King,...
Io. Going forth with the King,.        e
II. The Smiting of the King....
iz. The Kinship of the King,..                 4
I3. The Desire of the King,..
I4. The Sceptre of the King..
I5. Cleaving to the King,....
I6. The Joy of the King...
17. Rest on the Word of the King,.
IS. The Business of the King,...
19. The Readiness of the King's Servants,
zo. The Friendship of the King,
DAY.
PAC.
I2
' I5
x8
!zr
25
28
*:32
36
40
43
46
50
54
58
6i
64
67
7l
75 
CONTENTS.
DAY.
2i. The Light of the King's Countenance,
22. The Tenderness of the King, 
23. The Token of thile King's Grace,
24. The Omniscience of the King,.
25. The Power of the King's Word,.
26. The Name of the King....
27. Working with the King....
28. The Recompense of the King,..
29. The Salvation of the King,..
30o. Good Tidings to the King's Household,
3i. The Prosperity of the King...
.for o5anba,.
I. The Table of the King,. 
2. Listening for the King's Voice,.
3. Seeing the King......
4. Coming to the King,...
5. The Coming of the King,..
8
PAGE.
78
82
86
89
93
97
IOI
Io4
Io8
I I3
II6
,~           Ix9
123
I27
131
~36 
FIRST DAY.
,gt Qourry uf the'iig54i+
"Because the Lord hath loved His peo- 2 Chron. ii,
pie, He hath made thee king over them."; ix. 8
HRIST said to His Father, "Thou lov  edst me before the foundation
.. John xvii. 24of the world." At that mysterious John xvii. 24.
date, not of time, but of everlasting love, God
"chose us in Him." Before the Eph. i. 4.
world began, God, that can not lie, Titus i. 2.
gave the promise of eternal life to Him for us,
and made with Him for us "a cov- 2 am. xxiii.5
2 S~am. xxiii. 5
enant ordered in all things, and sure."
The leading provisions of that covenant were,
a Lamb for our atonement and a King for our
government-a dying and a living Saviour.
This God the Father did for us, and His own
divine interest is strongly indicated in the
(9) 
Mf Y KIVG.
typical words, "God will provide HTims,f a
~en. xxii. 8. Lamb," and "I have provided me a
I Sam. xvi.. King." So the Source of the Kingship of Christ is God Himself, in the eternal
counsels of His love. It is one of the grand
Ps. cXXXiZ. 17 "thoughts of God."
Having provided, He appointed
and anointed His King: "Yet have I set (marPs. iL 6.    gin, anointed) my  King  upon my
holy hill of Zion." What a marvelous
meeting-place is thus found in the Kingship of
Jesus for God's heart and ours! He says in
His majestic sovereignty, " I have set mny King;"
and we say, in lowly and loving loyalty, "Thou 
Ps. xliv 4 art my King."
God has appointed His King "to
35  be ruler over Israel and over Judah."
g  Thus He gives His children a great
bond of union. For "one King shall be King
Ezek. x,,vii. to themt all," and He shall "gathler
22.      together in one the children of God
John x. 52.  which were scattered abroad." "SaJohn xi. $~.
tan scatters, but Jesus gathers." Shall
we then let the enemy have his way, and induce
us to keep apart and aloof from those over whom
I0 
THE SOURCE OF THE KINGSHIP. I 1
our beloved King reigns also? Let us try this
day to recollect this, and make it practical in
all our contact with His other subjects.
Why has God  made  Jesus King?   Who
would have guessed the right answer?  "Because the Lord loved His people." So the very
thought of the Kingship of Christ
sprang from the everlasting love of
God to His people. Bring that wonderful
statement down to personal reality-" His people"-that is, you and me.  God made Jesus
King over you because He loved you, and that
with  nothing  less than the love Jh.
wherewith He loved Him.  Which
is the more wonderful-the love that devised
such a gift, or the gift that was devised by such
love! Oh, to realize the glorious value of it!
May we, who by His grace know something of
God's gift of His Son as our Saviour, learn
day by day more of the magnificent precious.
ness of His gift of His Anointed One as out
King! 
SECOND DAY.
,(r:t I,rnniiut tf to Yig
Hos. xiii. zo.  " I will be thy King."
tH E knows our need of a king.  He knows
the hopeless anarchy, not only of a
lb. iii. 4.   world, but of a heart, "without a
king."   Is there a more desolate
Ib. x. 3.    cry than, "We have no king?"          none to reverence and love, none to
obey, none to guide and protect us and rule
over us, none to keep us in that truest freedom
of whole-hearted loyalty. Have we not felt
Isa. lvii. zo, that we really want a strong hand
I8.      over our hearts? that having out
own way is not so good as another's way, if
only that other is one to whom our hearty and
entire confidence and allegiance can be and
are given? Has there not been an echo in
our souls of the old cry, "Give me a king?'
(Iz) 
THE PROMISE O0 THE KING. 13
-a cry that nothing can still but this Divine
promise, "iv will be thy King! "     Hos. xiii. I.
But the promise has been given;
and now, if the old desolate wail of a kingless
heart comes up in an hour of faithless forgetfulness, His word comes like a royal clarion,
"Now, why dost thou cry out aloud? Mic. iv. 9.
Is there no king in thee?" And then
the King's gracious assurance falls with hushing
power, "I will be tlzy King."
How glad we are that He Himself is our
King!  For we are so sure that He  Phil. iii. 2.
is able even to subdue all things
unto Himself in this inner kingdom  Mic. vii. I9.
which we can not govern at all. We
are so glad to take Him  at His  Rom. ii..
-                    ~~~~~~~~~~Rom. vii. x9.
word, and give up thle government
into His hands, asking Him to be our King in
very deed, and to set up His throne of peace
in the long-disturbed and divided citadel,
praying that He would bring every   Cor. x. 5.
thought into captivity to His gentle
obedience.
We have had enough of revolutions and revolts, of tyrants and traitors, of lawlessness
0o 
M Y KING.
and of self-framed codes.   Other lords (and
Is     xxvi 13 oh, how many!) have had dominIsa.c xxvi. x3..
ion over us. He has permitted us to
be their servants, that now, by blessed and rest2Chron. xii. ful contrast, we may know His serv 8.       ice.   Now we only want "another
Acts xvi 7 King, one Jesus."  He has made us
Acts xvnl. 7.
willing in the day of His power,
and that Was the first act of His
Ps cx 3    reign, and the token that  "of the
I. ix 7  ncrease of  His  government  and
peace there shall be no end" in our
hearts.
Lord, be Thou my King this day! Reign
more absolutely in me than ever before. Let
the increase of Thy government be continual
Thess. i.  and mighty in me, so  that  Thy
2.  namp  may be glorified in me  now
and forever.
Reign over me, Lord Jesus!
Oh, make mny heart Thy throne!
It shall be Thine forever,
It shall be Thine alone!
I4
0 
THIRD DAY.
Itllt [ina        ta   tf   -lr g.
"Thou art my King."       Ps. xliv. 4.
IRST, can I say it?
' Is Jesus in very deed and truth "my
King?" Where is the proof of it? Am I
living in His kingdom of "right- Rom. xiv.'7.
eousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost" now?  Am  I speaking the language of that kingdom? Am I following "the
customs of the people" which are
not His people? or do I "diligently 
learn the ways of  His people? "   I 
Am  I practically living under the
rule of His laws?  Have I done heart homage
to Him? Am I bravely and honestly upholding His cause because it is His, not merely because those around me do so?  Is my  allegianice making any practical difference to my
life to-day?
(I5) 
M Y KING.
Next, ought I to say it?
What! any question about that? The King
ACTS XX. 28. who came Himself to purchase me
Acts xux. 28.
from my tyrant and His foe; the
King, who laid aside His crown and His royal
Phil. ii. 7.  robes and left His kingly palace and
came down Himself to save a rebel;
the King, who, though HIe was rich, yet for my
sake became poor, that I "through His pov  Co. vii..  erty might be rich "-oughAt I to ac          knowledge Him?  Is it a question
Thess. ii. of "ought I?"  God has "called me
12.      unto His kingdom and glory;" He
Co i 3.   "hath translated me into the kingCol. i. x3.
dom of the Son of His love;" and
shall the loyal words falter or fail from my lips,
"Thou art my King?"
Lastly, do I say it?
PS.xlv.  God has said to me, "He is thy
Ps. xlv. IIz.
Lord and worship thou Him."  Do
John xx. 28. my lips say, "My Lord and my
God?"  Does my life say, "Christ
hil.iii 8 Jesus, mAny Lord "-definitely  and
Phil. iii. 8.
personally,  " any Lord?"    Can I
share in His last sweet commendation to His
I6 
ALLEGIANCE TO THE KING.  I7
disciples, the more precious because of its divine dignity, "Ye  call me  Master Johnxiii 13
and Lord, and ye say well, for so I
am?"   Have I said, "Thou art my I,s. lxxxi. s5,
King" to Jesus Himself, from the   mar.
depth of my own heart in unreserved and unfeigned submission to His  sceptre?   Am  I
ashamed or afraid to confess my al                                   Matt.x. 3a.
legiance in plain English among His
friends'or before His foes? Is the seal upon
my brow so unmistakable that always and
everywhere I am known to be His subject?
Is "Thou art my King" blazoned, Acts ij. I3as it ought to be, in shining letters
on the whole scroll of my life, so that   o ii 
it may be "known and read of all
men?"
Answer Thou for me, 0 my King!  "Searchl
me and try me," and show me the Ps. cxxxix.
true state of my case, and then for  23.
Thine own sake pardon all my past  lb. xxv. I.
disloyalty, and make me  by Thy
mighty grace from this moment totally loyal!
For "Thou art my King!'
2
lb 
FOURTH DAY,
:riSiult fir fta  ritig.
e Sam. iii. 17,   "Ye sought for David in times pasi to
I8.       be king over you.  Now, then, do it."
lb.V.2.  "IN  time past, when  Safil was
Ib. v. 2.
king over us, thou wast he
that leddest out and broughtest in Israel."
Ps. ixxxix.  Chosen, anointed, given  by God,
i9,20.    continually leading and caring for
Isa. lV. 4.   US, yet not accepted, not crowned,
not enthroned by us; our real alRom. vi. x6. legiance, our actual service given to
another! Self has been our Saul,
Ib. vii. 2.   our  central  tyranny;  and  many
have been its officers domineering
in every department.
"Ye sought for David in times past to be
king over you." Well we might, for the bond      xiv 3   age of any other  lord  was daily
Isa. xiv.:t.
harder. Well we might, with even
(Li) 
DECISION FOR THE KING.
a dim glimpse of the grace and glory of the
King who waited for our homage. We sought,
first, only for something-we hardly knew what
-restlessly and vaguely; then, for some One,
who was not merely "the Desire of Hag. ii. 7
all nations," but our own desire.
And  yet we did not come to the  Kings xviii.
point; we were not ready for His  21.
absolute monarchy, for we were loving and doing the will of our old tyrant.
But  "the time past of our life  Pet. iv. 3.
may suffice us to have wrought the
will" of self-Satan-the world.  We do not
want "to live the rest of our time"  b. iv..
lb. iv. 2
to any but One Will. We come face
to face with a great NOW! "Now, 2Sam iii..
then, do it!"  "Now, then," let us,
with full purpose of heart, dethrone the usurper
and give the diadem to Him "whose Ezek. xxi. 26
right  it is," a blood-bought  and   27.
death-sealed right.
He does not force allegiance-He waits for
it.  The crown of our own individ                                    2Sam. v. 3.
ual love and loyalty must be offered
by our own hands. We must "do it."  When?
I9 
M Y KING.
Oh, now! N7ow let us come to Jesus as our
King.  NVow let us, first in solemn, heart-surrender, and then in open and unmistakable
life-confession, yield ourselves to Him as our
Sovereign, our Ruler.
What a glorious life of victory and peace
opens before us when this is done! What a
silencing of our fears lest the time to come
should  nevertheless  be  as  the time  past!
2Sam. ii.S.  "Now, then, do it: FOP  the Lord
hath spoken of David, saying, By
the hand of my servant David I will save my
people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies."
Now, do not let us "take away
Rev. xxii. ig.              I
from the words" of this promise,
and merely hope that our King may save us
from some of our enemies.   The  Lord  hath
said, "will save from all."  Let us trust our
true David this day to fulfill the word of the
Lord, and verily we shall not fail to find that
Mtt. i 29. according to our faith it shall be
Munto us.
unto us.
20 
FIFTH DAY.
94t lirot  tu God  tft ling.
"For thy servant doth know that I have, Sam. xis
sinned; therefore, behold, I am come the   20.
first this day of all the house of Joseph to meet my
lord the king."
YES, I have sinned. I know that I have
sinned.  Whether I feel it more or less
does not touch the fact: I know it. And what
then?  "THEREFORE, behold, I am come the
first this day of all.... to meet my lord the
King."
Just because I know that I have Matt.X3
sinned, I come to Jesus.  He came
to call sinners.  He came to save. 
I Tim. X. xs.
sinners, so He came to call and to
save me. "This is all my desire." 2 Sam. xxii
Just because I know that J have   5.
(21) 
MY KI1VG.
sinned, I may and must come "the first of
all." Thousands are coming, but the heart
Pro. xiv. 10. knoweth his own bitterness.    SO,
Prov. x~iv. Io.
not waiting for others, not coming
in order, but "first of all," by the pressure of
tny sore need of pardon, I come. There is no
waiting for one's turn in coming to Jesus.
"The first of all," because it is against " my
lord the King" that I have sinned. I am His
Ps. cxvi. 16. servant, so I have the greater sin.
"The first of all," because I have so
much to be forgiven, and have alLuke vii. 47.
ready been forgiven so much, that I
cOI. ii. 1    must, I do, love much; and love,
even of a sorrowing sinner, seeks
nearness, and can not rest in distance.
"Therefore," also, "I am come this day.'
I dare not and could not wait till toMatt. xx. 30. morrow. No need to wait, even till
Sam. xix. to-night!  Now! He is passing by,
i6.      and I must "haste to meet"  Him.
sa. Iv.6.    "While He is near," I will tell Him
Isall.
Zech. L 9.    I am come to meet Him, not merely
to go to Him; for He is always com9.
to g'o to Him; for He is always corn
22 
THE FIRST TO MEET THE IJNG. 23
ing to meet us. He was on His way  Luke xv
before I had said, "I will arise and
go."' I come, because He comes to me.
Yet I could not come with  this terrible
knowledge that I have sinned, but that I know
something more.  I know that He hath said,
"Come unto me."  I know that He
Matt. xi. 28.
hath said, " Him that cometh I will
in nowise cast out." This is enough;  John vi. 37.
therefore I am come to my Lord the
King.
Not to His servants, but to Him-  Matt. xv. 23.
self.   Even those who  stand near 2Sam., xi.
Him may accuse and condemn, but  21.
the King Himself will receive me
Hlos. xiv. ~.
graciously; for, with Him, there is
forgiveness and mercy and plente- Ps. cxxx. 4,7
ous redemption.
And though the oath of an earthly sovereign may be broken, my King (in  Kings ii. 8.
giolrious contrast to the imperfect  9.
human type) "keepeth His promise Ps. cxlvi..
forever."  His covenant will He not  (P B. v.)
break, nor alter the thing that is p,.lx=,
gone out of His lips.  Therefore,   4 
MY KING.
the eternal life which He hath prom     John ii. 25. ised me is secured to me  forever.
John  28.  for He hath said, " I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never per.
ish, neither shall any man pluck them out of
my hand."
24 
SIXTH DAY.
' Behold, thy King cometh unto thee." Zech. ix. 9.
HAT  our King should let us come to Himn
is condescension indeed.   But have we
praised Him for His still more wonderful condescension: "Thy King cometh unt  Isa. xlviii. 8.
thee?"  "Unto thee," rebel, traitor,
faithless subject, coward, and cold-hearted follower; for where is the life that has not fallen
under these charges when seen in the double
light of the King's perfect law and the King's
great love? Yes, He cometh unto thee, and it
is enough to break our hearts when we get one
contrasted glimpse of this undeserved grace
and unparalleled condescension.
His great promise has had its first fulfillment
"unto thee." It is a finished fact of sevenfold
grace. Thy King has come, and His ownvoice
(25)
{tjt   n  r          ufns  t f  ieting. 
M Y KINAG.
has given the objects of His coming-" to dc
Heb. x. 9.   Thy will, 0 God;" "to fulfill " the
Matt. y. I7.,
Mbtt-'- 73  law;   to call sinners to repent Luke xix. io. ance;" "to seek and to save that
John x. Io.  which wvas lost; " " that they might
have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly; "" a light into the world
lb. xii. 46.                 t
that whosoever believeth on me
should not abide in darkness." What He came
Ib. xvii. 4-  to do He has done, for "He  faileth
Zeph. iii 5. not."  On this we may and ought to
Isa. xliv. 23. rest quietly and undoubtingly, for
"the Lord hath done it."
But you want a further fulfillment-you want
Cat iii..  a present comining of your  King.
You have His most sweet word, "I
John xiv. ]8. will come to you; "  and you rePs. Ci. 2.   spond,  "Oh, zeihe wilt Thou come
unto me?"   Are you ready to receive the
lb. cxliii. 6. King's own answer now? Do you
so desire His coming that you do
not want it postponed at all?  Can you defer
lb. lxxiii. 25. all other comers and say in reality,
Cant. iv. i6. ".Let my Beloved come?"
He  has  kut  one  answer to that appeal
26 
CONDESCENSION OF THE KING. 27
Hush! listen! believe! for the King speaks to
you: "I am come into my garden, Cant. v. I.
my sister, my spouse."  He is come.
Do not miss the unspeakable blessing and joy
of meeting Him and resting in His Ib ii 3
presence by hurrying away to anything else, by listening to any outward call.
Stay now, lay the little book aside, kneel down
at your King's feet, doubt not His word, which
is "more sure " than even the " ex-  2 Pt   9.
cellent glory" that apostles beheld,
and thank Him for coming to you. z Kings x,
Commune with Him now of all that
is in your heart, and "rejoice greatly;" for
"behold, thy King cometh unto thee."
" Jesus comes to hearts rejoicing,
Bringing news of sin forgiven;
Jesus comes in sounds of gladness,
Leading souls redeemed to heaven.
"Jesus comes again in mercy,
When our hearts are bowed with care o
Jesus comes again in answer
To an earnest heartfelt prayer."
-GODFREY THRING. 
SEVENTH EAY.
<t    3n r1klig af tfe Ting.
Jer. viii. z9.    " Is not her King in her?"
AITING for a royal coming-what ex        pectation, what preparation, what tension!  A  glimpse for many, a full view for
some, a word for a favored few, and the pageant is over like a dream. The Sovereign may
come, but does not stay.
Our King comes not thus: He comes not
Zech. ii. O. to pass, but to "dwell in the midst
2 Cor. vi. i6. of thee;" not only in His Church
collectively, but in each believer individually.
Luke xxiv.  We pray, "Abide with us," and LTe
9    answers in the sublime plural of God          head, "We will come unto him, and
John Xiv. 23. make our abode with him." Even
this grand abiding with us does not extend to
(s8) 
THE IND WELLING OF THE KING. 29
.he full marvels of His condescension and His
nearness, for the next time He speaks of it He
changes the "with" to "in," and John xv. 4,5.
thenceforth only speaks of "I in John xvii. 23.
you," " I in him," " I in them."
Now do not let us say, "How can John iii. 9.
this be?" but, like Mary, "How  Luke i. 34.
shall this be?" The means, though not the
mode, of the mystery is revealed for our grasp
of adoring wonder:  "That Christ Eh iii
may dwell in your heart by faith."
It is almost too wonderful to dare to speak of.
Christ Himself, my King, coming to me, into
me! abiding, dwelling  in my  very heart!
Really staying there all day, all night, wherever
I am, whatever I am doing; here in my poor
unworthy heart at this very moment! And
this only because the grace that flowed from
His own love has broken the bars of Jer. xxxi. 2.
doubt, and because He has given Eph. ii. a.
the faith that wanted Him and we!cnomed Him.
Let us pause a little to take it in!
The more we have known of tl e plague of
our own heart, the more inconceiv- i Kings viil
ably wonderful this indwelling of 38. 
MY KING.
Christ will appear-much more wonderful than
k ii that He chose a manger as His royal
restinrlg-place, for that  had  never
been defiled by sin, and had never harbored
His enemy.  It is no use trying to comprehend
this incomprehensible grace of our King-we
have only to believe His promise, saying,
"Amen; the Lord God of my Lord
I Kings i. 36.
the King say so too."
There should be three practical results of
this belief:-i. H5oliness.  We  must see to it
Eph. iv. 31.  that we resolutely "put away" all
I Cor. iii. I6, that ought not to be in His royal
17.o
2 Cor. vii. r. abode. "Having, therefore, these
promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2. Conthlence. What does the citadel fear when an
ixvincible general is within it?  "The Lord
thy God  in the midst of thee is
Zeph. ii. I   mighty;  He  will  save."  He   is
Zech. ii. 5.   " the walof fire round about," and
"the glory in the midst of her;" and "he that
lb. ii. 8.    toucheth you toucheth the apple of
Zeph. iii, I4. His eye."  3. JaY. Yes! "Be glad
30 
['HE IND WELLING OF THE KING. 31
and rejoice with all the heart,"" sing and re.
joice, 0 daughter of Zion; for, lo, I Zech i 
, Zech. ii. ixo.
come, and I will dwell in the midst
of thee, saith the Lord." 
EIGHTH DAY.
2 I Ili if rtiuu              il t Lr ing.
2 Sam. xix.   "Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my
30.         lord the king is come again in peace to
his own house."
T is when the King has really come in
peace to His own home in the "contrite
Isa. lvii. i5. and humble spirit" (not before)John Xiv. 23. when He has entered in to make His
abode there (not before) -that the soul is satisPs. xxii. 26. fled with Him alone, and is ready
to let any Ziba take all else, because all else
really seems nothing at all in comparison to
Matt. xiii. 46. the conscious possession of the
Treasure of treasures.
s. xxxiii. 6.   Sometimes this is reached at once,
Isa. xxxlii. 6.
in the first flush of wondering joy
at finding the King really "come in peace" to
the empty 6oul which wanted to be "His own
(32) 
FULL S4 TISF,4 C TION IN THE KING. 33
house."  Sometimes very gradually Heb. iii. 6.
-as year after year we realize His
indwelling more and more, and find again and
again that He is quite enough to satisfy us in
all circumstances; that the empty corners of
the "house" are filled one after another; that
the old longings have somehow gone P,. iv. 6.
away, and the old ambitions van- Cf. Ecces.
ished; that the old tastes and inter- and Cant.
ests in the things of the world are superseded
by stronger tastes and interests in the things
of Christ; that He is day by day Eph. i. 23.
more really filling our lives-we Phil. iii. 8.
"count" (because we really find) one thing
after another "but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord," till
He leads us on to the rapturous joy of the
"Yea, doubtless," and "all things!"
Now, have we got as far as saying "some
things," without being quite sure about "all
things?" Do you see that it all hinges upon
Jesus coming into the heart as "His own house"
-altogether "His own?"  For if Acts.
there are some rooms of which we
do not give up the key-some little sitting-room
3 
MY KING.
which we would like to keep as a little mental
retreat, with a view from the window, which
we do not quite want to give up-some lodger
whom we would rather not send away just yet
-some little dark closet which we have not
resolution to open and set to rights-of course
the King has not full possession; it is not all
and really" His own;" and the very misgiving
about it proves that He has therefore not yet
"come again in peace."  It is no use expecting
Isa. xxvi. 3.  "perfect peace," while He has a
Mic. vi. 2.   secret controversy with us  about
ACTSV. 2. any withholding of what is "His
own" by purchase.  Only throw open all the
Rev. iii. o.  doors, "and the King of Glory shall
Ps. nv. 9.  come in," and then there will be no
Hag. A. 7.   craving for other guests. He will "fill
this house with glory," and there will be no
place left for gloom.
Is it not so? Bear witness, tell it out, you
with whom the King dwells in peace! Life is
filled with bright interests, time is filled with
happy work or peaceful waiting, the mind is
filled with His beautiful words and thoughts,
the heart is filled with His presence, and you
34 
FULL SA TISFACTION IN 2HE KING. 3 5
"abide satisfied" with Him t  Yes,  Prov..    2
" tell it out! "
The human heart asks love; but now I know
That my heart hath from Thee
All real, and full, and marvelous affection,
So near, so human I yet Divine perfection
Thrills gloriously the mighty glow!
Thy love is enough for me!
There were strange soul-depths, restless, vast, and
broad,
Unfathomed as the sea;
An infinite craving for some infinite stilling;
But now Thy perfect love is perfect filling I
Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God,
Thou, Thou art enough for me. 
NINTH DAY.
act larrom   f tat king.
"The king himself also passed over the
Sam. xv. 23. brook Kidron." *
John xvii. x
ron."f   E
shadow co]
fulfillment    T
tion, is he:
his royal he
2 S.uam. xvii.
20.
There is
on  His  sc
words is m
to add to i
*      Kidron
"black" or
means   "obscurity;"    t Cedron   is
" sad."
(36) 
THE SORRO W OF THE KING.  37
stand-not hurrying over them because they
are only texts, and we know them all before
hand; they are the Holy Ghost's sevenfold tes.
timony to the sorrow of the King.
"A  man  of  sorrows  and  ac- Isa. liii. 3.
quainted with grief."  "I am poor PS-lIxix. 29.
and sorrowful."  "The  sorrows of    
death compassed me."   "The sorrows of hell compassed me."  "Be-  Lm. i.
hold and see if there be any sorrow
like unto my sorrow."  "He began Matt. xxvi.
to be sorrowful and very heavy."  37.
"My  soul is exceeding sorrowful, lb. xxvi. 38.
even unto death."  Oh, stay a little
that you may take it in! Hear Jesus saying to
you, "Hear, I pray you, and be- Lam. i. i8.
hold my sorrow!"
"Surely He hath borne our griefs Isa. liii. 4.
and carried our sorrows." The sorrows of the past, the very sorrow that may be
pressing heavily at this moment; all yours, all
mine; all the sorrows of all His children all
through the groaning generations; all that were
" too heavy " for them-Jesus bore Ps. xxxviii.4
them all. "Is it nothing to you?" Lam. i. x& 
MY KING.
It is when the Lord says, "Now will I gather
them (the rebels and wanderers), that He adds,
Hos. vii. a" And they shall sorrow a little for
Hos. wriii. zo.
the burden of the King of princes."
Have we this proof that He has indeed gath      S. XV. 23 ered us?  For "all the people," exg Sam. xv. ~3.
cept the rebels, "passed over with
the king." Do we know anything of this passage over Cedron, the brook of sadness, with
Him?   Possibly it seems  presumptuous to
Phil. iii. 0.  think of sharing "the fellowship of
His  sufferings,"   that mysterious
privilege!  Tut mark, it was  not only the
mighty Ittai and  "all his men," the nobles
and the veterans, that passed over, but "all
the little ones that were with him,"
Sam. [v. 22.
too. And so "the little ones, the
Cor. XiL 26, weak ones," the least member  of
I Cor, xuL 26,
27.      His   body  may  thus  "continue
LukexXii. 28. with" Jesus; and nothing brings
one closer to another than a shared sorrow.
But look forward! Because He has drunk
I  C   "of the brook in the way, therefore
Ps       shall He lift up the head7.  Already
shall Hie lift up the head." Already
38 
THE SORR0OW OF THE KING.  39
the "exceeding sorrowful" is ex- Matt xxvi
changed for "Thou hast made Him   38.
(the King) exceeding glad;" and Ps. xi. 6.
when the ransomed and gathered  Isa. xxv. ro
of the Lord shall return with everlasting joy, "their King also shall Mi ii. 3.
pass before them." 
TENTH DAY.
(going Jgrty mity t. 4ttig.
Sam. xix    "The  king said, Wherefore  wentest
2s.       thou not with me?"
i 4 aTITH  me! "   To be with
lVV,our King will be our high Thess. iv.  est bliss for eternity; and surely it
x7.      is the position of highest honor and
gladness now. But if we would always be with
Him, we must sometimes be ready to go with
Him.
"The Son of God goes forth to war"' nowadays. Do we go with Him? His cross is
"without the gate." Do we go "forth unto
Heb. X'i:2, Him without the camp, bearing His
I3.      reproach?"  Do we really go with
Him every day and all day long, following
Rev. xiv. 4  "the Lamb  whithersoever He  goRevr. xivr. A.
eth?" What about this week-this
(40) 
GOING FOR TH WI TH THE KING.  41
day? Have we loyally gone with our King
wherever His banner, His footsteps, 2 Prt. ii..
go before?
If the voice of our King is heard in our
hearts, "Wherefore wentest thou not with me"
-thou who hast eaten "continu-  2 Sam. ix 3
ally at the King's table "-thou who
hast had a place among "the King' s Ib. ix. xI.
sons "-thou unto whom the King
has shown "the kindness of God,"  lb. ix. 3.
we have no "because" to offer.
He would have healed the spiritual    am. xi.
Sam. X1X.
lameness  that hindered, and  we   26.
might have run after Him.  We are Cant. i. 4.
without excuse.
It is only now that we can go with Jesus into
conflict, suffering, loneliness, weariness.   It is
only now that we can come to the help of the
Lord against the mighty in this great Judges v. 23.
battle-field. Shall we shrink from op- Luke xi. 23.
portunities which are not given to the angels?
Surely, even with Him in glory, the disciples
must "remember the words of the  Acts xx 35
Lord Jesus, how He said" to them,
"Ye are they which have continued Lukexxii. 28 
MY KING.
with me in my temptations," with a thlrill of
rapturous thanksgiving that such a privilege
was theirs.
There will be no more suffering with Him in
Tim i     heaven, only reigning with Him; no
more  fighting under  His banner,
Rev. 1.2.  only sitting with Him on His throne.
Rev. iii. oz.
But to-day we may prove our loving
and grateful allegiance to our King in the presence of His enemies by rising up and going
forth with Him-forth from a life of easy idleness or selfish business forth into whatever
form of blessed fellowship in His work, His
2 cor. vi. I. wars, or, it may be, of His sufferings,
Phil. iii. Io. the King Himself may choose for us.
We  have heard His call, "Come unto me."
Cant. i-. 8.  To-day He says, "Come with me."
True-hearted, whole-hearted; Faithful and loyal,
King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be!
Under Thy standard exalted and royal,
Strong in Thy strength we will battle for Thee!
42 
ELEVENTH DAY.
(t    iititg  lf te Birg.
"I will smite the king only."  2Sam. xvii.i
T may be that this futile threat of a wicked
man against the king was like the saying of
Caiaphas-" not  of  himself,"  but John xi. 52.
written for our learning "more about Rom. xv. 4.
Jesus." A deadly stroke was to be aimed at
"the king only," for he was "worth cf. Kings
ten thousand" of the people; if he  xxii. 3I.
were smitten, they should escape. 2 Sam. xvii -3
Do the words of David in another place tell of
his great Antitype's desire that it should be so?
"Let Thine hand, I pray Thee, O  Chron.xxi.
Lord my God, be on me,.... but  17.
NOT on Thy people."   "For the
transgression of my people was the
stroke upon Him"  (margin); therefore not
upon us, never upon us.  The lightning that
(43) 
M I 7 KING.
strikes the conductor instead of the building
to which it is joined, has spent its fiery force
and strikes no more.
Not the hand of an impotent foe, but the
sharp sword of the omnipotent Lord of hosts,
Zech. xiii. 7. was lifted to smite His ShepherdHeb. Xiii. 2o. our Shepherd-king, The Great, The
z Pet. v. 4. Chief, The Good (and the Beautiful,
John x. xiI. as the original implies). Think of
Isa. liii. 4.  the words,  "stricken,  smitten  of
i Pet. i. 8. God," with their unknown depths of
agony, and then of Jesus, Him whom we love,
fathoming those black depths of agony alone 
Ia lxiii. 3   "fesus smitten of God!"  can we
even say the words, and not feel
moved as no other grief could move us? Do
not let us shrink from dwelling upon it; let us
rather ask the Holy Spirit, even now, to show
us a little of what this awful smiting really was
-to show us our dear Lord Jesus Christ, in
John xv. 13. this tremendous proving of His own
Rom. v.8. and His Father's love- to whisper
in our hearts as we gaze upon the Crucified
John xix. 14. One, " Behold your King!"
"The King only." For "by Himself He
44 
THE SMITING OF THE IKING.  45
purged our sins."  Certainly we had  Heb. i 3
nothing to do with it then! certainly
no other man or means had anything to do witkh
it! and certainly nothing and no one now can
touch that great fact, so far out of reach of
human  quibbling  and meddling,  that Jesus
"His own self, bare our sins in His I Pet. ii. 24.
own body on the tree." Is not the
fact that He "with whom we have  Heb. iv. 3.
to do "was smitten of God instead of us, enough?
What else can we want to guarantee our salvation?
"The King only." For the sorrow of our
King is shared with His people; but in the
smiting we have no part. We can only stand
"afar off," bowed  and hushed in Matt. xxvii.
shuddering love, as the echoes of the  55awful stripes that fell on Him float down
through the listening centuries, while each
throb of the healed heart replies, Isa..iii. 5.
"For me! for me!"
I have trodden the wine-press  Isa. lxiii. 3.
Isa. ii1. 3.
alone, and of the people there was
none with me." 
TWELFTH DAY.
Ir4    o      nf tt Ts-ing.
a Sam. xlL 42. "The king is near of kin to us."
N    OT only in the Prophet raised up "from
the midst of thee, of thy brethren," and
Deut. xviii. in the High-Priest, "thy brother,"
I5o
Ex. xxvfii. z. "taken from among men," do we
Heb. v.. see the kinship of Christ; but in
Ps. lIx.9. the divinely chosen King the same
Deut. xvii. wonderful link is given - "One
5.'  from among thy brethren shalt thou
set king over thee: thou mayest not set a
stranger over thee, which is not thy brother."
How very close this brings us to our glorious
Lord! And yet, when we have exhausted all
that is contained in the very full and dear idea
of" brother," we are led beyond, to realize One
Prov. xviii, who " sticketh cloaser than a brother,"
24  because no earthly relationship can
(46) 
THE KINSHIP OF THE KING.  47
entirely shadow forth what Jesus is. And
whatever relationship we most value or most
miss, will be the very one which, whether by
possession or loss, will show us most of Him,
and yet fall short of His "reality." For we
always have to go beyond the type to reach
the antitype.
The King is so " near of kin," that we may
come to Him as the tribes of Israel did, and
say, "Behold, we are Thy bone and 2 Sam. V..
Thy flesh;" finding many a sweet
endorsement of the type in His Eph. A30.
Word. So near of kin, that He is "in all
things" "made like unto His breth- Hb.ii
ren;" and whatever is included in'
the flesh and blood of which we are partakers,
sin only excepted, " He also Himself Ib. ii. 4.
likewise took part of the same."
So "near of kin to us," and yet God! Therefore every good thing that we find in near
human relationships, we shall find in Jesus in
the immeasurable proportion of the divine to
the human. Is not this worth thinking out,
each for ourselves?-worth seeking to enter
into? 
MY KING.
But will He acknowledge the kinship?  He.
Matt. xii. 5o. hath said, "Whosoever shall do the'
will of my Father which is in heaven,
the same is my brother and sister and mother."
"How beautiful to be Christ's little sister!"
said a young disciple. For of course He really
means it. Will not this make our prayer
Ps. cxliii. o. more fervent, " Teach me to do Thy
will?"
If the King is indeed near of kin to us, the
royal likeness will be recognizable. Can it be
Judg. viii. i. said of us, "As thou art, so were
they; each one resembled the children of a king?" Nor let us shrink from aim          ing  at the  still higher  standard,
"The King's daughter is all glorious
witAin."
We must not dwell only on a one-sided kin Heb. ii. i. ship. If "Hie is not ashamed to
call " us "brethren," shall we ever
be ashamed to call Him Master? If He is
ready to give us all that is implied or involved
in near kinship, should we fail to reciprocate
with all the love and sympathy and faithfulness
which the tie demands on our side?
48 
THE KINSHIP 01- TIIE KING.   49
Also, if we do realize this great privilege,
let us prove our loyal love to our Brother-King
by "looking for and hasting unto 2 Pet.iii. i8.
the coming of the day" of His return. Let us not incur the touching reproach,
"Ye are my brethren, ye are my 2 Sam. xix.
bones and my flesh: wherefore then "2.
are ye the last to bring back the King?"
Joined to Christ in mystic union,
We Thy members, Thou our Head,
Sealed by deep and true communion,
Risen with Thee, who once were dead
Saviour, we would humbly claim
All the power of this Thy name.
Instant sympathy to brighten
All their weakness and their woe,
Guiding grace their way to lighten,
Shall Thy loving members know.
All their sorrows Thou dost bear,
All Thy gladness they shall share.
Everlasting life Thou gi,.vest,
Everlasting love to see;
They shall live because Thou livest,
And their life is hid with Thee.
Safe Thy members shall be found,
When their glorious Head is crowned I. 
THIRTEENTH DAY.
.I &r~B  if t                 ih   l.
Ps. xlv. II.    " So shall the King greatly desire thy
beauty."
AN  this be for us?  What beauty have we
that the King can desire? For the more
Isa. vi.  we have seen of His beauty, the
Isa. vi. 5          more we have seen of our own utter
ugliness.  What, then, can  He  see?  "My
Ezek. xvi. x4. comeliness which I had put upon
PS- xc. 17.  thee."  "The beauty of the Lord
PS. cix. 4.  our God upon us."  For " Hie will
beautify the meek with salvation."
And so the desire of the King is set upon us.
Perhaps we have had the dreary idea, "Nobody wants me!"  We never need grope in
that gloom again, when the King Himself desires us! This desire is love active, love in
glow, love going forth, love delighting and
(50) 
THE DESIRE OF THE KING. 
5 1
longing. It is the strongest representation of
the love of Jesus-something far beyond the
love of pity or compassion; it is taking pleas.
ure in His people; delighting in Ps. cxlix. 4.
them; willing (i.e., putting forth the Isa. lxii. 4.
grand force of His will) that they Johnxvii. 24
should be with Him where He is, lb. xii. 26.
with Him  now, with Him always.  It is the
love that does not and will not endure separation-the love that can not do without its object. "So shall the King desire thy beauty."
He gave us a glimpse of this gracious fervor
when He said, "With desire I have.
Luke xxii. I5.
desired to eat this passover with
you before I suffer." With Gethsemane and
Calvary in fullest view, His heart's desire was
to spend those few last hours in closest intercourse with His disciples.  "So" did He desire them.
Now, if we take the King at His word, and
really believe that He thus desires us, can we
possibly remain cold-hearted and indifferent to
Him? Can we bear the idea of disappointing
His love-such- love-and meeting it with any
such pale, cool response as would wound any 
MY KING.
human heart, "I do not know whether I love
you or not!"
Oh, do let us leave off morbidly looking to
see exactly how much we love (which is just
like trying to warm ourselves with a thermometer, and perhaps only ends in doubting whether
Heb. Xii. 2. we love at all), and look straight
away at His love and His desire!
Think of Jesus actually wanting you, really
desiring your love, not satisfied with all the
love of all the angels and saints unless you love
Him too-needing that little drop to fill His cup
of joy! Is there no answering throb, no responsive glow?
"Lord, let the glow of Thy great love
Through my whole being shine! "
Perhaps it is upon the emphatic "so," as
pointing to the context, that the intensity of
the emphatic "greatly" hinges.   It is when
Ps. xlv. IO. the bride forgets her own people
and  her father's house- that is,
when her life and love are altogether given to
her Royal Bridegroom-that He "shall greatly
52 
THE DESIRE OF THE KING.  53
desire" her beauty. When His glorious beauty
has so filled our eyes, and His incomprehensible
love has so filled our hearts, that He..
Eph. iii. x9.
is first and most and dearest of all —
when we can say not merely, "The I   vi. 8
desire of our souls is to Thy name,"
but "There is none upon earth that P. XXiii. 25.
Ps. lJxxiU. 25.
I desire beside Thee "-when thus
we are, to the very depth of our being, really
and entirely our Beloved's, then-we may add,
in  solemn,  wondering  gladness,  Ct. 
"AAnd His desire is toward me."
O love surpassing thought,
So bright, so grand, so clear, so true, so glorious;
Love infinite, love tender, love unsought,
Love changeless, love rejoicing, love victorious!
And this great love for us in boundless store;
Christ's everlasting love! What wouldst thou more? 
FOURTEENTH DAY.
~   errptre  uf tet Iing.
"..   The king held out the golden scepEsth. sviii.   tre."
A. ESUS  is He "that holdeth the
Amos i. 5. C   sceptre "-the symbol first of
kingly right and authority, and next of righteHeb. L 8.   ousness and justice.  "A sceptre of
righteousness is the sceptre of Thy
Ps. xlv. 6.   kingdom "-" a right sceptre." And
yet the golden sceptre was held out
as the sign of sovereign mercy to one who, by
" one law of his to put him to death,"
must otherwise have perished, "that
he may live." Thus, by the combination of
direct statement and type, we are shown in this
figure the beautiful, perfect meeting of the
(54) 
THE SCEP TRE OF THE ICING.  5
I 
mercy and truth"  of our King, Ps. lxxxv..
the " righteousness and peace" of lb. lxxii. 2,3.
His kingdom.
Again and again the Holy Ghost repeats this
grand blending of seemingly antagonistic attributes, confirming to us in many Heb. vi. x8S.
ways this strong consolation.
How precious the tiny word and becomes as
we read, "He is just, and having Zech. ix. 9.
salvation." " A merciful and faith- Heb. ii. x7.
ful High-Priest." "A just God and Isa xlv. ix.
a Saviour." We do not half value God's little
words.
To "the King's enemies," the Ps. xlv. 5.
sceptre is a " rod of iron" (for the lb. ii. 9.
word is the same in Hebrew). They can not
rejoice in the justice which  they defy.  To
the King's willing subjects it is in               t,  9    l ~~~~~~~~~~b. ci. r.
deed golden-a beautiful thing and
a most precious thing.  We admire Re, xv. 3, 4
and glory in His absolute justice and Isa. xi. 5.
righteousness; it satisfies the depths  Ps. cxix.'6.
of our moral being-it is so strong, so perfect
His justice is, if we may reverently say so,
the strong point of His atoning w-ork. The 
MY Ki.?G.
costly means of our redemption were paid for
it Chron. xxi.   at the full price."  He fulfilled the
24~
Matt. v. x7. law. There was nothing wanting in
all the work which His Father gave,
John xvii. 4- Him to do. He finished it. And
His Father was satisfied.  Thus He
Jh i was just toward  His Father, that
He might be faithful and  just to
forgive us our sins. It is no weak compassion,
merely wrought on by misery, but strong, grand,
infinite, and equal justice and mercy, balanced,
as they never are in human minds. For only
Ezek. z,vii. the ways of the Lord are thus
25. -  i"equal."
Ps. V. 20,   And oh, how "sweet is Thy mer P. B. V.
IsLa. lv. 3. cy!" and just because of the jusEsth. iv.:6. tice, how "sure! " Esther said, "If
PS. X. I perish, I perish." So need not we,
"for His mercy endureth forever."
And so, every time we come into the audienceCant. i. 4.   chamber of our King, we know that
Esth. v. 2. the golden sceptre will be held out to
iV,., vii. us, first, "that we  may live," and
3, 4.
then for favor after favor.  "Let us
Heb. iv.                     boldly unto  te
therefore come boldly unto the
56 
THE SCEP TRE OF THE'KIATG.  57
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and
find grace to help in time of need "-not stand
afar off and think about it, and keep-our King
waiting; but, like Esther, "let us Heb. X. 22.
draw near" and "touch the top of Esth. v. a,
the sceptre." 
FIF TEENTH DAY.
(LIautig   tn  t~t  -Briig.
"The men of Judah clave unto their
* Sam. x. 2. king."
OR it is not a matter of course that com     ing is followed by cleaving. Even-when
the King Himself, in His veiled royalty, walked
and talked with His few faithful followers,
John vi. 66.  "many of His disciples went back,
and walked no more with Him.'
There was no word of indignation or reproach,
only the appeal of infinite pathos from His
b   6 gracious  lips,  "Will  ye  also  go
Ib. vi. 67.awy
away?"
Let this sound in our ears to-day, not only
in moments of temptation to swerve from
truest- hearted  loyalty and service, but all
through the business of the day; stirring our
too easy-going resting into active cleaving;
(58) 
CLEA ViLLVG TO THE KING.
quickening our following afar off into Matt. xx,i
58.
following hard after Him; rousing Ps. lxiii. 8
us to add to the blessed assurance, I Chron. xii.
"Thine are we, David!" the bolder  x8.
and nobler position, "and on Thy side!"
For this cleaving is not a mere terrified
clinging for safety-it is the bright, brave resolution, strengthened, not weakened, by the sight
of waverers or renegades, to be on  Sam. xv. x
His side, come what may, because
He is our King, because we love Him, because
His cause and His kingdom are so very dear to
us.
WVe can not thus cleave without loosening
from other interests. But what matter! Let
us be noble for Jesus, like the men of might
who  "separated  themselves  unto x Chron. xii.
David," and who "held strongly i chron. xi
yiChron. xi.
with him in his kingdom."  Shall  Io, marg.
we be mean enough to aim at less, when it is
our Lord Jesus who would have us
entirely "with Him? "                ant. iv. 8
It is, after all, the easiest and safest course.
The  especial  friends  and   "the             8.
mighty men which belonged to Da-  Kgs
vid,"' not only didl not follow the usurping
59 
MY KING.
Adonijah, but they were never tempted to do
s o.  "But me, even me thy servant,
x Kings i. u6.
....   hath he not called."  There
is many a temptation, very powerful and dangerous to a camp-follower, which the enemy
knows it is simply useless to present to one of
Matt. vi. 23. the body-guard. Our Father leads
Sam. xxii.  Us "not into temptation," when He
23.      leads us closer to Jesus.
The Bible never speaks of "good resolu2 Tim. iii. x. tions," but again and again of "pur          pose."  And this is what we want,
that  "with purpose of heart"  we  should
"cleave unto the Lord."  Have we
Acts X1. ~3.
Acts xi. 23 this distinct purpose to-day? Do
Josh.. xxii. 5, we really mean, God helping us, to
xxi,i.8.   Cleave to our King to-day? Do not
let us dare to go forth to the certain conflicts
and temptations of the day with this negative
but real disloyalty of want of purfpose in the
..  matter.   And  "if our heart conI John ill. 20.
demn us," let us at once turn to
er. xiii..  Him who says, "I have caused to
cleave unto me the whole house of
Israel."   His grace shall enable us to cleave
unto our King.
60 
SIXTEENTH DAY.
,T4 JU4 uf tat  ing.
"David the  king also rejoiced with X Chron.
great joy."                                      xxix. 9.
0 not let us think of the joy of our King
over His people as only future.  While
we can not look forward too much to the day
when He shall present us "faultless
Jude 24.
before the presence of His glory          
with exceeding joy," let us not overlook the
present gladness which we, even we, who have
so often grieved Him, may give to our King.
Elsewhere we hear of the joy of angels over
repenting sinners; here we have a Luke xv..
Luke xv. xo.
glimpse of the joy of the King of
angels over His consecrated ones. Look at
the whole passage-it is full of typical lightand let us take it "for our learn- Rom. v 
..gRom. r.4
iriS."
(6I) 
M Y KING.
i Chron.     "Who, then, is willing to conse  xxix 5    crate his service this day unto the
Lord?"  Silence is negative here: there must
be a definite heart-response if we are willing.
Are you? If so, when? The King's question
says nothing of some day, but of "this day."
And the question is put to you: if never before, it is sounding in your ears now. Shall
Josh. xxir.  your service be His, "this day," and
Is.      henceforth? or not?
The result of willing consecration of ourselves and our service is always joy. "The
Chron.    people rejoiced, for that they of  XiX.9.   fered willingly; " but was it not far
more, far sweeter, that their king "also rejoiced with great joy?" How they must have
lb. xxix. 7  felt when he said, "Now have I seen
lb. xxix. 17.
with joy Thy people which are present here, to offer willingly unto Thee!"
For when a heart and life are willingly offered and fully surrendered to Him, He sees
.  of " the travail of His soul" in it; it
Isa. lili. ~X. 
is a new accomplishment of the work
which He  came to do: and what then?   He
"is satisfied."  If motive were wantRom. vi. 13. 
ing to yield ourselves alto Him,
62 
THE 70 Y OF THE KING.
would it nct be more than supplied by the
thought that it will be satisfaction and joy to
Him "who loved us and washed us ev. i..
from our sins in His own blood?"
It seems just the one blessed opportunity given
to us of being His true cup-bearers,. Kings x. 5.
of bringing the wine of joy to our
King; and in so doing He will make  Ps. xxiii. S.
our own cups to run over.
As our own hearts are filled with the intense
joy of consecration to our Lord, a yet intenser
glow will come as we remember that His joy is
greater than ours, for He is anointed "with
the oil of gladness  above"  His  Ps xlv. 7
"fellows."
Shall not "this day" be " the day.
of the gladness of His heart?" Will  Cant. iii..
you not consecrate your service to- I Chron.
day unto Him?   For  then  "He   xix.5.
will save, He will rejoice over thee Zeph. iii. z7,
with joy; He will rest in His love; He will
joy over thee with singing."
Take myself, and I will be,
Ever, onZy, ALL for Tliee!
63 
SEVENTEENTH DAY.
4lst 11 tat  unrd  nf tat 4Ttig.
* Sam. xiv.      "The word of my lord the king shall
7.          now be for rest" (margin).
HERE is the whole secret of rest from the
very beginning to the very end. The
zelord of our King is all we have and all we need
for deep, utter heart-rest, which no surface
Jobxxxiv. 29. waves of this troublesome world can
Isa. xiv. 3. disturb. What gave "rest from thy
sorrow and from thy fear" at the very first,
when we wanted salvation and peace?  It was
not some vague, pleasing impression, some undefinable hush that came to us (or if it was,
Eccl. viii. 4. the unreality of the rest was soon
I Tim. i.'5. proved), but some word of our King
Thess. ii.  which we saw to be worthy of all
13.      acceptation; we believed it, and by
les. iv. 2, 3.
i  t Jesus gave us rest.
There is no other means of rest for all the
(64) 
REST ON THE WORD OF THE KING. 65
way but the very same.   The  moment  we
simply believe any word of the King,  Mark iX. 23.
we find that it is truly "for rest"
about the point to which it refers. And if we
would but go on taking the King's word about
every single thing, we should always find it,
then and there, "for rest." Every flutter of
unrest may, if we look honestly into it, be
traced to not entirely and absolutely taking the
King's word. His words are enough for rest at
all times, and in all circumstances; therefore
we are sinning the great sin of unbelief wvhenever we allow ourselves in any phase of unrest.
It is not infirmity, but sin, to neglect to make
use of the promises which He meant Hb     8
for our strong consolation and continual help. And we ought not to acquiesce in
the shadows which are only around us, because
we do not hear, or hearing do not heed, God's
call into the sunshine.
Take the slightest and commonest instances.
If we have an entire and present belief in "My
grace is sufficient for thee," or," I o,  2 Cor. xii.,.
I am with you alway," should we  Matt.xxviii.
20.
feel nervous at anything He calls us 
5 
M Y KING.
to do for Him?  Would  not that word  be
indeed "for rest" in the moment of needPhil. iv. 19.  " rest from the hard bondage" of
Isa. xiv 3.  service to which we feel unequal?
Heb. iv. i6 Have we not sometimes found it so,
and if so, why not always?  I see nothing
about "sometimes" in any of His promises. If
we have an entire and present belief that "all
Rom. viii. 28. things work together for good," or
Ps. cvii. 7. that He leads us "forth by the right
way," should we feel worried when some one
thing seems to work wrong, and some one yard
of the way is not what we think straightest?
John. 25.   We lean upon the word of the
King for everlasting life, why not
for daily life also? For it shall "now be for
rest; " only try it to-day, " now," and see if it
shall not be so!  When  He  says "perfect
Isa. xxvi. 3. peace," He can not mean imperfect
2 Chron.    peace.  "The people rested them xxxii. 8.  selves upon the words of Hezekiah,
king of Judah." Just so simply let us rest upon the words of our King, Jesus!
66 
EIGHTEENTH DAY.
,(Fij  9oiXr-g  uf tat  -iri1ii.
" The king's business required haste."  I Sam. xxi. S.
ND  yet there is no other business about
which average Christians take it so easy.
They "must" go their usual round,
they "must" write their letters, they  Luke xiv. 20.
"must" pay off their visits and other social
claims, they "must" do all that is expected of
them; and then, after this and that
and the other thing is cleared off,  b. x. 59,6.
they will do what they can of the King's business. They do not say "must" about that,
unless it is some part of His business which is
undertaken at second-hand, and with more
sense of responsibility to one's clergyman than
to one's King.  Is this being faithful
and loyal and single-hearted?  If it Eph. vi. 5,6
has been so, oh, let it be so no more! How
(67)
I 
M Y KID.
Matt, xvii. 8. can "Jesus Only" be our motto,
lb. vi. 33.   when we have not even said "Jesus
first?"
The King's business requires haste.  It is
always pressing, and may never be put off.
Much of it has to do with souls which may be
in eternity to-morrow; and with opLuke Xii. 20,.
portunities which are gone forever
if not used then and there; there is no "conActsxxiv.25. venient season" for it but " to-day."
Heb. iii. I3. Often it is not really done at all, because it is not done in the spirit of holy haste.
We meet an unconverted friend again and again,
and beat about the bush, and think to gain
quiet influence and make way gradually, and
call it judicious not to be in a hurry, when the
real reason is that we are wanting in holy
eagerness and courage to do the King's true
business with that soul, and in nine such cases
out of ten nothing ever comes out of it; but
i Kings xx.   As thy servant was busy here and
40.      there, he was gone."  Have we not
found it so?
Delay in the Lord's errands is next to disobedience, and generally springs out of it, or
68 
THE B USriVESS OF THE KING.  69
issues in it. "God commanded me 2 Chron.
to make haste."  Let us see to it  XXXV. 2.
that we can say, " I made haste, and Ps.' cxix. 6o.
delayed not to keep Thy commandments."
We never know what regret and punishment
delay in the King's business may bring upon
ourselves.  Amasa  "tarried. longer
than the set time which he (the king)    Sam. xx.5
had appointed him," and the result was death
to himself. Contrast the result in Abigail's
case, where, except she had hasted,, Sam. xxv.
her household would have perished.  34.
We find four rules for doing the King's business in His word. We are to do it-first,
Heartily; " second, " Diligently; " Col. iii. 23.
third, "Faithfully;" four       eed-  Ezra vii. 23.
"-~ —-—, —,          ~    2 Chron.
ily."  Let us ask Him to give us  XXXiV. I2.
the grace of energy to apply them Ezra Vii. 2.
this day to whatever HIe indicates as our part
of His business, remembering that He said
"I  must  be  about  my  Father's Luke ii. 49.
business."                            John ix. 4.
Especially in that part of it which is between
Himself and ourselves alone, let us never delay.
Oh, the incalculable blessings that we have 
MY KI.VG.
already lost by putting off our own dealings
Sam.,xxv.  with our King!  Abigail first "made
I8.       haste"  to  meet  David  for mere
safety; soon afterward, she again "hasted and
arose and went after the messengers
lb. v. 42.  of David, and became his wife."
Thus hasting, we shall rise from privilege to
Ps. lxxxiv 7 privilege, and "go from strength to
strength."
What shall be our word for Jesus? Master, give it
day by day;
Ever as the need arises, teach Thy children what to
say.
Give us holy love and patience; grant us deep hu    mility,
That of self we may be emptied, and our hearts be full
of Thee;
Give us zeal and faith and fervor, make us winning,
make us wise,
Single-hearted, strong and fearless;-Thou hast called
us, we will rise I
Let the might of Thy good Spirit go with every loving
word;
And by hearts prepared and opened, be our message
always heard!
7o 
NINETEENTH DAY.
i  4      h o       f tl  4Ttiug'o ~rat
"Thy servants are ready to do whatso- 2 Sam. xv. I,
ever my lord the king shall appoint."
HIS is the secret of steady and unruffled
gladness in "the business of I Chron.
the Lord, and the service of the  xxvi- 30
King," whether we  are "over the
lb. Xxvi.' 20.
treasures of the house of God," or
"for  the  outward  business  over
Israel."                              lb. xxvLi. 29.
It makes all the difference!  If we are really
and always, and equally ready to do
whatsoever the King appoints, all the John ii. 5.
trials and vexations arising from any change in
His appointments, great or small, simply do not
exist. If He appoints me to work there, shall
(7I) 
M Y KING.
I lament that I am not to work here?
[osh. i. x6.
If He appoints me to wait %.-dcrs
to-day, am I to be annoyed because I art not
to work out-of-doors?  If I meant to write His
messages this morning, shall I grumble because
Te sends interrupting visitors, rich or poor, to
whom I am to speak them, or "show
kindness" for His sake, or at least
x Pet. iii. 8. obey His command, "Be courtetRom. vi. 3.  ous?"  If all my "members" are
really at His disposal, why should I be put out
if to-day's appointment is some simple work
for my hands or errands for my feet, instead
of some seemingly more important doing of
head or tongue?
Does it seem a merely ideal life?  Try it!
begin at once; before you venture away from
this quiet moment, ask your King to take you
"wholly" into His service, and place all the
hours of this day quite simply at His disposal,
and ask Him to make and keep you ready to
i   do just exactly what He appoints.
Never mind about to-morrow; one
day at a time is enough. Try it to-day, and
see if it is not a day of strange, almost curiotu
72 
THE KING'S SER VANTS.
peace, so sweet that you will be only too thankful, when to-morrow comes, to ask Him to take
it also-till it will become a blessed habit to
hold yourself simply and "wholly at I Chron.
Thy commandment" "for any man-   xxviii 21.
ner of service."
Then will come, too, an indescribable and
unexpected sense of freedom, and a total relief
from the self-imposed bondage of "having to
get through" what we think lies before us.
For "of the children of Israel did Kings 
Solomon make no bondmen."             22.
Then, too, by thus being ready, moment by
moment, for whatsoever He shall appoint, we
realize very much more that we are not left
alone, but that we are dwelling" with  i Chron. ij.
the King for His work."  Thus the  23.
very fact of an otherwise vexatious
Ps. cxxxix. 5.
interruption is transmuted into a
precious proof of the nearness of the King.
His interference implies His interest and His
presence.
The "whatsoever" is not necessarily active
work. It may be waiting (whether half an
hour or half a life-time), learning, suffering, sit
73 
M Y KING.
ting still. But, dear fellow-servants of' my
Lord the King," shall we be less ready for
these, if any of them are His appointments
for to-day?  "Whatsoever the king
8 Sam. iii. 36.
Samiii36 did pleased all the people."
"Ready" implies something of preparation
-not being taken by surprise. So let us ask
Him to prepare us for all that He is preparing
2 Chron.    for us.  And may " the hand of God
XXX. I2.   give " us one heart to do the cornmmnandment of the King!"
"Lord, I have given my life to Thee,
And every day and hour is Thine;
What Thou appointest let them be;
Thy will is better, Lord, than mine."
-A. L. WARING.
74 
TWENTIETH DAY.
"He that loveth pureness of heart, for Prov. xxii.
the grace of his lips the king shall be his  I.
friend."
s;;W HO   can say, I have made Ib.  9.
my  heart  clean,  I am
pure?"  Who  must not despair of
Hab. i.!3,
the friendship of the King if this
were the condition?  But His wonderful condescension in promising His friendship bends
yet lower in its tenderly-devised condition.
Not to the absolutely pure in heart, Matt. v. 8.
but to the perhaps very sorrowfully
longing lover of that pureness come the gracious words, "The King shall be his Friend."
Yet there must be some proof of this love;
and it is found in "the grace of his lips."
"For out of the abundance of the M.
Matt. X.-i. 44.
heart, the mouth speaketh."  Here,
(75)
,Ait rtu5r   if tat mg 
MY KING.
again, we stop and question our claim; for out
Col. iv. 6.   speech has not always been "with
Matt. xii. 36. grace;" and the memory of many a
graceless and idle word rises to bar
it. How, then, shall the King be our Friend?
S. XV. 2.   Another word comes to our help:
"Grace is poured into thy lips "Luke iv. 22. grace that overflowed in gracious
Jh vii 46. words, such as never man  spake,
perfectly holy and beautiful;  and
we look up to our King and plead that He has
Himself fulfilled the condition in which we
have failed-that this is part of the righteousness which He wrought for us, and which is
Ro. iii. 22. really unto us and upon us, because
Romn. 111. 22. 
we believe in Him; and so, for the
grace of His own lips, the King shall be our
Friend.
Who has not longed for an ideal and yet a
CXXIX. 2 real friend-one who should exactly
Ps. cxxxlx. 2.
understand us, to whom we could
tell everything, and in whom  we
could altogether confide-one who should be
Rev. xix. i. very wise  and very true-one of
Johnxiii. I. whose love and unfailing interest we
76 
THE FRIEADSHIP OF THE KING. 77
could be certain? There are other points for
which we could not hope-that this friend
should be very far above us, and yet the very
nearest and dearest, always with us, Matt. xxviii.
always thinking of us, always doing   20.
kind and wonderful things for us; Ps. xl. I7.
Ib. lvii. 2-.
undertaking and managing every- Isalb. xxxvii. 2.
Is~a. xxxviii.
thing; forgetting nothing, failing in  I4.
nothing;  quite  certain  never  to Zeph. iii. 5.
Mal. iii. 6.
change and never to die-so that Heb. vii. 24.
this one grand friendship should fill
our lives, and that we really never  z Pet. v. 7.
need trouble about anything for
ourselves any more at all.
Such is our Royal Friend, and more; for no
human possibilities of friendship can illustrate
what He  is to those to whom  He  John xv 4
John x-. x4.
says, "Ye are my friends," We,
even we, may look up to our glori- Ib.,. 28.
ous King, our Lord and our God, Ct 
and say, "This is my Beloved, and
this is my Friend!"  And then we, even we,
may claim the privilege of being iClron.
"the King's companion" and the  xxvii. 33.
"King's friend."                      IKings iv. S 
TWENTY-FIRST DAY
14D Blegat of tat  tintg'  dInntruanrtv
Prov. xvi. zi. i"In the light of the king's countenance
is life."
UT  first fell the solemn words, "Thou
hast set our secret sins in the light of Thy
xc. & countenance." That was the first we
knew of its brightness; and to some
its revelation has been so terrible, that they
can even understand how the Lord "shall
s Thess. ii.8. destroy"  the wicked   "with  the
brightness of His coining." Yet,
Re. i. 4.   though we feel that "His eyes were
as a flame of fire," we found also
Prov. xx. 8.
that our "King that sitteth in the
throne of judgment, scattereth away all evil
with His eyes;" and that it was when we stood
(78) 
THE KING'S COUNTENA,NCE.  79
in that light, that we found the power of the
precious   blood of Jesus, the An- J 
tJohn i. 7.
ointed One, to cleanne us from all sin.
This gives new value to the promise, " They
shall walk, O  Lord, in the light of Ps. lxxxix. 5
Thy countenance;" for it is when
we walk in the light that we may claim and do
realize the fullness of its power and preciousness-not for fitful and occasional cleansing,
but for a glorious, perpetual, present cleansing
from all sin. Do not let us trans- Rev. xxii. i8,
late it into another tense for our-'9.
selves, and read, "did cleanse last time we
knelt and asked for it," but keep to the tense
which the Holy Ghost has written, and meet
the foe-flung darts of doubt with
faith's great answer, " The blood of Eph vi. 6
Jesus Christ His Son  cleanseth (i.e., goes on
'leansing) us from all sin."
Thus the light of  His counte- Ps xliv 3
nance shall save us. Look at Ps.
xliv. 3, where we see it as the means of past
salvation, and then at Ps. xiiii. 5, Ib. xliii.5.
where   the   Psalmist   anticipates
praise for its future help; while the two are 
MY Kf-I G.
beautifully
the latter,
"Thy pres
Then  fc
and the st
Num. vi. 26.
2 Sam. xxiiu.
4.
favor-the
we walk in
into joy, a
Ps. xxi. 6.
us nearer
Acts ii. 28.
countenan
So we s
of the Ki
tion, peace
life, the n
of the Kin
Ps. iv. 6.
"Lord, lift Thou up the light of
Thy  countenance upon us"  this
80 
THE KING'S CO UNTENA CE.   8 I
day, and in it let us have life, yea, Johnx. o.
"life more abundantly."
"He that followeth me shall not lb. vil 
walk in darkness. but shall have the
light of life."
6 
TWENTY-SECOND DAY.
,TJt  Li           itrut s uf tt Biiug.
i Sam. xviii.    "And  the king commanded, saying,
5         Deal gently for my sake with the young
man, even with Absalom."
IiVEN  with Absalom!   Even  with  the
heartless, deliberate  traitor and rebel.
b. xv. 2-. We must recollect clearly what he
Ib. xv. 2-II.
was, to appreciate the exquisite tenderness of David in such a command to his
rough war-captains in such untender times.
For the sake of his people and his kingdom,
hb must send them forth against him, but the
deep love gushes out in the bidding, "Deal
gently for my sake."
It was no new impulse. When Amnon was
9 Sam. xiii.  murdered,  the  king  "wept  very
36,37.    sore,"  and  "mourned for his son
every day;" and yet, when the fratricide had
(82) 
TENDERNESS OF THE KING.  83
fled,  "the  soul  of King  David 2 Sam. xiii.
longed to go forth unto him," and   39.
"the king's heart was toward Absa- 2 Sam. xiv. I.
lom." And when God's own ven geance fell upon the wicked son, Ib. xviii. 33.
David's lamentation over him is
perhaps unparalleled in its intensity of pathos
among the records of human tenderness.
Turn to the Antitype, and see the divine
tenderness of our King. Again and again it
gleams  out, whether  He  Himself  Luke xix 43
Luke x1x. 43.
wept, or whether He said, "Weep  lb. vii. -3.
not"-whether in the tender look, lb. xxii. 6i.
the tender word, or the tender touch John xiv. I.
Matt. viii.'5.
of gentlest mercy. The Gospels are Mattviii 5
full of His tenderness.  There is not room
here even for the bare mention of the instances
of it; but will you not give a little time to
'searching quietly for them, so that, reading
them  under  the teaching of the Jh. 
IIJohn XiV. 26.
Holy Spirit, you may get a concentrated view of the wonderful tenderness of Jesus, and yield your heart to be moved by it,
and your spirit to be so Penetrated by it, that
you may share it and reflect it. Remember 
M Y KING.
that in such a search we learn not only what
Hie did and said, nor only what He was, but
what He is; and in all His recorded tenderness we are looking into the present heart of
Jesus, and seeing what we shall find for our          selves as we have need. For He is
Acts i. i.   "this same Jesus " to-day.
Then let us glance at the volume of our own
experience. Who that has had any dealings
with Christ at all, but must bear witness that
He has indeed dealt gently with us. Has not
even suffering been sweet when it showed us
Lam. iii. 32.  more of this? What if He had ever
Ps. ciii. lo. "dealt with us after our sins! "
Job xi. 6. But He never did, and never will.
He hath dealt gently, and will deal gently with
us, for His own sake, and according to His
own heart, from the first drawings
3er. xxxi. 3.
of His loving-kindness, on through
out the measureless developments of His everlasting love. Not till we are in heaven shall
P... 35  we know the full meaning of " Thy
lgentleness hath made me great."
May we not recognize a command in this,
as well as a responsibility to follow the example
84 
TEArDERNVESS OF 27'tHE KIrNG.   85
of the  "gentleness  of  Christ?" 
2 Cot. x. z. 
Perhaps next time we are tempted
to be a little harsh or hasty with an erring or
offending one, the whisper will come, "Deal
gently, for my sake!"
Return!
0 erring, yet beloved!
I wait to bind thy bleeding feet, for keen
And rankling are the thorns where thou hast been;
I wait to give thee pardon, love, and rest.
(Is not my joy to see thee safe and blest?)
Return! I wait to hear once more thy voice,
To welcome thee anew, and bid thy heart rejoice!
Return!
0 chosen of my love! 
Fear not to meet thy beckoning Saviour's view;
Long ere I called thee by thy name, I knew
That very treacherously thou wouldst deal;
Now I have seen thy ways-yet I will heal.
Return l Wilt thou yet linger far from Me?
My wrath is turned away, I hasve redeemed thee I 
TWENTY-THIRD DAY.
,cr4t  T nAP   u f   t Tig'o (frrt.
X Sam. xiv.    "To-day thy servant knoweth that I
22.        have found grace in thy sight, my Lord,
0 king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of
his servant."
N answered prayer makes us glad for its
own sake. But there is grace behind the
gift which is better and more gladdening than
the gift itself. For which is most valued, the
"engaged ring," or the favor of which it is the
token? Setting aside judicial answers to unPs. cvi. 5.  spiritual prayers, which an honest
Hos. xiii. II,, conscience will have no difficulty
etc.     in distinguishing, the servants of the
King may take it that His answers to their re Johniii.  22. quests are proofs and tokens of His
grace and favor-of His real, and
(86) 
TOK(EN OF THE KING'S GRACE. 87
present, and personal love to themselves individually.
When they are receiving few or none, they
should search for the cause, lest it Job x. 2.
should be some hidden or unrecog-   I  Sam.
xxviii. 6.
nized sin. For "if I regard iniquity Ps. xix..2.
in my heart, the Lord will not hear lb. lxvi. I8.
me;" so never let us go on comfortably and
easily when He is silent to us. And instead of
envying others who get "such wonderful answers," "let us search and try our Lam. iii. 40.
ways."
Personal acceptance comes first. We must
be " accepted in the Beloved" before we can look to be answered  Eph..6.
through the Beloved. Is there a doubt about
this, and a sigh over the words? There need
not be; for now, at this moment, the old
promise stands with its unchangeable welcome
to the weary: "Him that cometh to John vi. 37.
me  I will in no  wise cast out." Heb. vii. 25.
Then, if you come, now, at this moment, on
the strength of His word, you can not be re jected; and if not rejected, there is nothing
but one blessed alternative-" accepted!'
I 
MY KING.
Then come the answers! As sulirely as the
prayers go up from the accepted one, so surely
will the blessings come down. When Esther
had  touched  the golden sceptre,
"3 then said the king unto her, What
wilt thou, Queen Esther, and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half
of the kingdom."  But there is no "half" in
Matt. xxi. 22. our King's promise.  He says, "All
John xiv. 13. things" and  "whatsoever."   And
He does "do exceeding abundantly above all
Eph. iii. o20. that we ask or think," and more than
I Kags Z. 23- fulfills our little scanty requests.
And then, by every fresh fulfillment we
should receive ever new assurance of our acceptance-then (shall it not be "to-day? ") as
we give thanks for each gracious answer, we
may look up confidingly and joyfully, and say,
"Thy servant knoweth that I have found grace
Sam. xx.  in thy sight."  For He says, "See,
35  I have hearkened to thy voice, and
have accepted thy person."
Eph. i. 6.   Accepted, Perfect, and Complete,
Col. i. 28.   For God's inheritance made meet I
Col. ii. so.  How true, how glorioutts, and how sweet!
88 
TWENTY-FOURTH DAY.
"There  is no  matter hid from the 2 Sam. Xviii.
king."                                     x3.
rHE very attributes which are full of terror
to "the King's enemies," are  Ps. xlv. 5.
full of comfort to the King's friends.
Thus His omniscience is like the pillar, which
was "a cloud and darkness" to the  E. xiv. 2.
Egyptians,  but   "gave  light  by
night" to the Israelites.
The king's own General corn- 2 Sam. xviii
plained of a man who did not act "'
precisely as he himself would have acted. In
his reply he uses these words, "There is no
matter hid from the king." The appeal was
final, and Joab had no more to say. When
others say, like J Dab, "' WAy didst thou not
(89)
((rt (Dmllirirurt uf t4e Butig. 
MY KIJNG.
do so and so?" and we know or find that full
reasons can not be given or can not be understood, what rest it is to fall back upon the certainty that our King knows all about it! When
we are wearied out with trying to make people
Job xx  zo understand, how restful it is that no
Job sxx'd, Io.  
explanations are wanted when we
Ieb. iv. 3.  come to speak to Him!  " All things
are naked and opened unto the eyes
of Him with whom we have to do;" and the
more we have to do with Him, the more glad
and thankful we shall be that there
a Kings x.:3..
is "not anything"  hid from the
King.
In perplexities-when we can not understand
what is going on around us-can not tell
whither events are tending-can not tell what
to do, because we can not see into or through
the matter before us-let us be calmed and
steadied and made patient by the thought that
what is hidden from us is not hidden
Isa. ii. i6.  from Him.  If He chooses to guide
us blindfold, let Him do it!  It will
*c 7.  not make the least difference to the
reality and rightness of the guidance.
9o 
OMNISCIENCE OF THE KING.  91
In mysteries-when we see no clue —when
we can not at all understand God's Rom. ix. 33,
partial revelation-when we can not  34.
lift the veil that hangs before His secret counsel —when we can not pierce the holy  Ps. Xcvii. 2.
darkness that enshrouds His ways,  b. xxxvi. 6.
or tread the great deep of His judg- Ib. lxxvii. I9g.
ments where His footsteps are not
known-is it not enough that even these matters are not hid from our King?  "My father
will do nothing, either great or small, I Sam. xx. 2,
but he will show it me." "For the John v. 20.
Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all
things that Himself doeth."
Our King could so easily reveal everything
to us, and make everything so clear! It would
be nothing to Him to tell us all our
x Kings x. 3.
questions.  When He does not, can
not we trust Him, and just be satisfied that He
knows, and would tell us if it were best? He
has "many things to say" unto us, John xvi..
but He waits till we can bear them.
May we be glad that even our sins ire "not
hid" from Him?  Yes, surely, for He whi 
MY KING.
Ps.cxxxix. i. knows all can and will cleanse all.
Isa. xlviii. 8. He has searched us and known us,
as we should shrink from knowing ourselves,
and yet He has pardoned, and yet He loves!
92 
TWENTY. FIFTHI DAY.
'I4  Tu,   nif th   t          tug'o Not).
"Where the word of a king is, there Eccl. viii. 4.
is power."
HEN  the question is, Where is it?  "Let
the word of Christ dwell in yo  Col. iii..6.
richly," and "there," even "in you,"  Heb. ii. 9.
will be power.
The Crowned One, who is now "upholding
all things by the word of His power," Ib. i. 3.
hath said, "I have given them Thy  John xvii. 14.
word." And those who have received this
great gift, "not as the word of men, I Thess. ii.
but, as it is in truth, the word of  13.
God," know that "there is power" with it, because it "effectually worketh also" in them.
They know its life-giving power, for they car,
say. "Thy  word  hath  quickened Ps. cxix. 5.
me;" and its life-suistaining power,
(93) 
MY KING.
Mtt i for they live "by every word that
proceedeth out  of the mouth of
God."  They can say, "Thy word
Ps, cxix. II,
have I hid in my heart, that I might
not sin against Thee;" for in proportion as
the word of the King is present in the heart,
"there is power" against sin. Then let us use
John vi. 63. this means of absolute power more,
lb. xvii. 27.  and more life and more holiness will
be ours.
Luke iv. 32. "His word was with power" in
Luke iv. 3a.
Capernaum of old, and it will be
with the same power in any place nowadays
Isa. v..   His word can not fail; it " shall not
Isa. Iv. xx.
return void; " it "shall prosper."
Sam. iii. 9. Therefore, when our "words fall to
the ground," it only proves that they
were not His words. So what we want is not
merely that His power may accompany our
word, but that we may not speak our own at
all, but simply and only the very "word of the
King." Then there will be power in and with
z Kings xxii. it. Bows drawn at a venture hit irn
34-      a way that astonishes ourselves, when
God puts His own arrows on the
Ps. T     sv. 5.
string.
94 
POWER OF THE KING'S WORD. 95
There is great comfort and help in taking
this literally. Why ask a little when we may
ask much? The very next time we want to
speak or write "a word for Jesus"
Heb. iii. 13.
(and of course that ought to be today), let us ask Him to give us not merely a
general idea what to say, but to give us literally
every single word, and " they shall  Prov. xxii..
be withal fitted in thy lips."
For He will not say, "Thou hast..
2 Kings ji. zo~
asked a hard thing," though it is far
more than asking for the mantle of any prophet.
He  says,'"Behold, I have put My  jer. i. 9.
words in thy mouth." This was not
for Jeremiah alone, for soon after we read,
"He  that hath My word, let him Ib. XXiii. 2
speak My word faithfully" (for we
must not overlook our responsibility in the
matter); and then follows the grand declaration
of its power, even when spoken by feeble
human lips: "Is not My word like  b.
Ib. XXiii. 29.
as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a
hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
" Behold, I will make My words in lb. V. 4.
thy mouth fire." 
MY KING.
..  If we are not even "sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves," how much less to speak anything!
Num. xxii.    Have I now any power at all to say
38.      anything? The word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak." We
Cor. iv. 7  would rather have it so, "that the
excellency of the power may be of
God, and not of us." Our ascended King has
Matt. xxviii. said, "All power is given unto Me.
.8, i9.
8,9.  Go ye therefore."  That is enough
Ps. exix. 42.  for me; and "I trust in Thy word.'
Resting on the faithfulness of Christ our Lord,
Resting on the fullness of His own sure word,
Resting on His power, on His love untold,
Resting on His covenant secured of old.
96 
TWENTY-SIXTH DAY.
(rt gamt nf the  -ig.
"A King shall reign. And this is His Jer. xxiii.
name whereby He shall be called, THE    5,6.
LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
E can not do without this most wonder       ful name.  It can never be an old story
to us.  It is always a "new name"
Rev. li..
in freshness and beauty and power.
It is our daily need and our daily joy.  For
strength it is indeed "a strong tower; Prov. xviii.
t     h     e       righteous runneth into it,  and is 10
safe." For             sweetness it is "as oint                                      Cant. 1. 3.
ment poured forth."  In it we see at     3
once the highest height and the deepest depth,
Jehovah, God of God, Light of Light, and our
need of a righteousness which is not our own
at all, because we have none. We stand as
7                 (97) 
M Y KING.
upon an Alpine slope, face to face with the
highest, grandest, purest summit above, and
the darkest, deepest valley below, seeing more
of the height because of the depth, and more
of the depth because of the height.
Heb. i.4.' Jesus our King "hath by inherit
ance obtained a more excellent
name" than angels, for His Father has given
Jer. xxiii. 6,  Him His own name-" He shall be
marg.    called Jehovah."   But  this alone
would be too great, too far off for us; it might
find echoes among the harpings of sinless
angels, but not among the sighings of sinful
souls. And so the name was completed for us,
by the very word that expresses our truest,
deepest, widest, most perpetual need, and the
Holy Ghost revealed the Son of God to us as
"Jehovah our Righteousness."
Do not let us be content with theoretically
understanding and correctly holding the doctrine of justification by faith. Turn from the
words to the reality, from the theory to the
Person, and as a little, glad, wondering child,
look at the simple, wonderful truth. That
"the Righteousness of Ged'  (how magnifi.
98 
THE NAMIE OF THE KING.
cent!) is "unto all and upon all
Rom. il.l
them  that believe; " therefore, at
this very moment, unto and upon you and me,
instead of our own filthy rags, so Isa. lxiv. 6.
that we stand clothed and beautiful Zech.iii. 4.5.
in the very sight of God, now; and Jesus can
say, "Thou  art all fair, my love,"ant.iv
now! That it is not any finite righteousness, which might not quite cover the
whole-might not be quite enough to satisfy
God's all-searching eye; not a righteousness,
but The Righteousness of God; and Phil. iii 9.
this no abstract attribute, but a Person, real, living, loving-covering us Isa lxiii x
with His own glorious apparel, representing us before His Father, Christ Jesus
Himself "made unto us Righteous- 
ness!"  This to-day and this for-  Cor. i. 3.
ever, for "His name  shall endure
Ps. lxxii. x7.
forever."
It is in His kingly capacity that this glorious
name is given to Him. For only by "submitting
ourselves to the Righteousness of Rom. x. 3.
God," can we have "the blessedness lb. iv. 6.
of the man unto whom God imputeth righteous 
99 
M Y KING.
ness without works." There can be no com.
promise-it must be His only or ours only. He
must be our King, or He will not be our
Righteousness.
100
I 4 
TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY.
ourkiutg  uits t!t'itg.
"There they dwelt with the king for x Chrnn. iv.
his work."                                 23.
C;    HERE! "-Not in any likely place at
all, not in the palace, not in " the city
of the great king," but in about the Ps. xlviii. 2.
last place one would have expected, i Chron. iv.
"among plants and hedges." It does   23.
not even seem clear why they were "there" at
all, for they were potters, not gardeners-thus
giving us the combination of simple labor of
the hands, carried on in out-of-the-way places;
and yet they were dwellers with the king, and
workers with the king.
The lesson seems twofold-First, that anywhere and everywhere we too may dwell "with
the King for His work." We may be in a very
(ioi)' 
M Y KING.
unlikely or unfavorable place for this-it may
be in a literal country life, with little enough to
be seen of the "goings" of the King
Ps. lxv'fii. a4.
P. ii. 24 around us; it may be among hedges
of all sorts, hinderances in all directions; it may
be furthermore, with our hands full of all manner of pottery for our daily task. No matter!
The King who placed us "there" will come
.  and dwell there with us; the hedges
Job iil. 23.
are all right, or He would soon do
away with them, and it does not follow that
what seems to hinder our way may
Matt. xxl. 33.
not be for its very protection; and
as for the pottery, why, that is just exactly
what He has seen fit to put into our hands, and
-  therefore it is, for the present, "His
Mark xiil. 34. work."
work.,,
Secondly, that the dwelling and the working
must go together. If we are indeed dwelling
with the King, we shall be working for Him
too, "as we have opportunity." The
working will be as the dwellinga
settled, regular thing, whatever form it may
take at His appointment.  Nor will
5   His work ever be done when we are
I02 
G'0ORKING WITH TIIE KING.  103
not dwelling with Him.  It will be our own
work then, not His, and it will not
it~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.Cor. iii. 14.
"abide."  We shall come under the              4
condemnation of the vine which was pro.
nounced  "empty,"  because  "he
bringeth forth fruit unto himself."
We are to dwell with the King "for His
work;" but He will see to it that it shall be for
a great deal besides-for a great 2 Sam. vii. 21.
continual reward according to His  Kings x. 13own heart and out of His royal bounty-for
peace, for power, for love, for gladness, for
likeness to Himself.
"Laborers together with God!" I Cor. iii. 9.
"workers together with Him!" "the 2 Cor. vi. I.
Lord working with" us! admitted Mark xvi. m
into divine fellowship of work!-will not this
thought ennoble everything He gives us to do
to-day, even if it is "among plants and hedges!'
Even the pottery will be grand!
"Be strong, all ye people of the
Hag. ii. 4.
land, saith the Lord, and work, FORag  4
I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts." 
TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY.
,T?      nII IT    Afd  t        L~tJ ifg
2 Sam. xi;   "Why should the king recompense it
36.       me with such a reward?"
ARZILLAI  "had provided the king of
sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim,"
exiled from his royal city.  When
3    the day of triumphant return came,
David said to him, "Come thou over
33   with me, and I will feed thee with
me in Jerusalem." This was the "reward."
But what a privilege and delight it must
have been to the loyal old man!  And to come
nearer, what a continual joy it must have been
to the women who "ministered" to
Luke viii. 3. the exiled King of heaven "of their
substance." How very much one would have
liked a share in that ministry!
(Io04) 
RECOMPENSE OF THE KING.  105
Is there any loving wish which our King
does not meet? Was it not most thoughtful
of Him  to appoint His continual
John xii. 8.
representatives, so that we might
always and every one of us have the opportunity of ministering to Him!  These oppor
tunities are wider than we sometimes think;
some limit His "gracious Inasmuch " Matt xxv
Matt. xxv. 4o.
to services for His sake to the poor
only.  Yet the "strangers" whom   eut.
He bids us love, may be rich in all but the
friendliness and kindness which we may show
them; and the "sick" may be those among
our own dear ones who need our ministry.
Why should we fancy it is only those who are
not near and dear to us, to whom we
Epli. vi. 7.
may minister "as unto Him?"          Epl vi 7
But oh, what little services are our cups of
cold water! and how utterly ashamed
Mark ix. 4'.
we feel of ever having thought any
of them wearying or irksome, when we look at
"the recompense of the reward,""such a reward!"  Is there one of     
us whose heart has not thrilled at the mere
imagining of what it will be to hear "the King 
MY AING.
Mtt. xxv. 34  say,  Come,  ye  blessed!"   Then
Matt. xxv. 34.
what will it be to enter into the full2 Sam. xix.  ness of the reward, to "come over
33-      with " Him, and dwell with Him alRev. xxi. Io. ways in "the holy Jerusalem," and
lb, iii. i2. "go no more out."
" IWhy should the king recompense it me with
~ Sam. xxvii. such a reward?"   " Why  should
5.    thy servant dwell in the royal city
with thee?"  For there is such a tremendous
disproportion between the work and the reward, though such a glorious proportion between His love and His reward.
And yet there is a beautiful fitness in it.
Lukexiv.15. The banquet of everlasting joy for
Matt. xxv.
M35t extcv those who gave Him meat; the river
35, etc.
Ps. xxxvi. 8. of His pleasures for those who gave
John xv. 2   Him drink; the mansions in the Father's home for those who took the stranger
.    in; the white robes for those who
Rev. vii. x3.
clothed the naked; the tree of life
lb. xxii. 2.   and "no more pain " for those who
lb. xxi 4.   visited the sick; the "glorious libRom. viii. 21.
erty" for those who came unto the
prisoner; the crown of all, the repeatedly
Io6 
RECOMPENSE OF THE KING. 107
promised  "with  Me,"'for those  ii
who were content to be with His
sorrowful or suffering ones for His sake. Why
all this?  I suppose we shall keep on asking
that forever! 
TWENTY-NINTH DAY.
(t     aluatinun l f tt giug.
Isa. XXX.2.'"The Lord is our King; He will save
us."
HE thought of salvation is constantly con    nected with that of kingship. Type, illustration,  and   prophecy  combine   them.
I Sam. ix. x6. "4 Thou shalt anoint him.... that
2 Sam. iii.'xg. he may save my people."  "By the
hand of my servant David I will
lb. xix. 9.   save my people."  "The king saved
Jr. xxiii. 5, us." "A King shall reign; in His
6.  *5days, Judah shall be saved."  "Thy
Zech. ix. 9.  King cometh,.... having salva          tion."
Because Jesus is our Saviour, He has the
right to be our King; but again, because He
(loS) 
SAL VA TION OF THE KING.  I og
is King, He. is qualified to be our Saviour; and
we never know Him fully as Saviour till we
have fully received Him as King. His kingship gives the strength to His priesthood. It
is as the Royal Priest of the order Heb.vii.
of Melchisedec that He is "able to  Ib ii25.
lb. vii, 25.
save."  Thus He is "a Saviour, and  Isa. xix. 20.
a Great One," "mighty to save."    Ib. lxiii. i.
Our    King   has   not   only x Sam. xix. 5.
"wrought,"  and  " brought,"  and  Isa, lxiii. 5.
" made known His salvation," but Ps. xcviii. 2.
He Himself is our salvation. The very names
seem used interchangeably. Isaiah says, "Say
ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, Isa. lxii. I.
thy Salvation cometh;" Zechariah Zech. ix. 9.
bids her rejoice, for "Behold, thy King cometh."   Again, Isaiah says, "Mine  Isa vi 5
Isa. Vi. 5.
eyes have seen  the King;"  and
Simeon echoes, "Mine  eyes have.
Luke ih. o,
seen thy Sal,ation," as he looks
upon the infant Jesus, the Light to lb. ii 32
lighten the Gentiles; reminding us
again of David's words, "The Lord
PS. xxvii. I,
is my light and my salvation.'      s xx 
It is because we need salvation, because we 
M Y KING.
are surrounded by enemies anid (langers, and
have no power to help ourselves, and haye no
Hos. xiii. 10. other help or hope, that He says, " I
will be thy King; where is any other
that may save thee?"   There is no other.
Isa. lix. x6.  "C He saw that there was no man,"
Hos. xii. 4.  and He says, "There is no Saviour
beside me."
What is our response?   David begins a
Ps. xii..   psalm by saying, "Truly, my soul
waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation;" but he quickly raises the
lb. lXii. 2.   key, and sings, "He only is my sal           vation."    Perhaps we have long
been quite clear that He only is our salvation
2 Thess. i. 9. from "everlasting destruction;" but
are we equally clear that He only is
(not will be, but is) our present salvation from
Luke x. g.  everything from which we want to be
Ps. xci. 3.   saved-from every danger, from every
P's. xci. 3.
2 Pet. ii. 9.  snare, from every temptation, from
s Sam. iii. iS. " the hand of all our enemies," from
Tit. ii. 14.   our sins? In death we would cling to
X Tim. i. x5. the words, "Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners.'  Why
1I0 
SAL VA TION OF THE KING.  I II
not in life equally cling to, and equally make
real use of, the promise, "He  shall Matt. i. 2.
save His people from their sins"not merely from sin in general, but definitely
"from their sins," personal and plural sins?
"Is My hand shortened at all that  Isa. 1..
it can not redeem? or have I no
power to deliver?"
His salvation is indeed finished,  John xvii. 4.
His work is perfect; and yet our  Deut. xxxii.
King is still "working salvation in   4.
Ps.lxxiv. 12.
the midst of the earth,"  applying PSIXXV2
the reality of His salvation (if we will only believe His power) to the daily details of our pil.
grimage and our warfare. We need it not only
at last, but now-every hour, every minute.
And the King "shall deliver the Ib. lxxii. 12.
needy when he crieth," "and shall lb. lxxii. I3.
save the souls of the needy."
May He say to your soul this day Ib. xxxv..
"I am thy salvation."                   b. xxxv 3
Look away to Jesus,
Look away from all!
Then we need not stumble,
Hot xii. 2.
Ps. cxxi. I —3,
Proy. iii. 23. 
MY KING.
Then we shall not fall.
From each snare that lureth,
Foe or phantom grim,
Safety this ensureth,
Look away to Him!
Prov. iv. 12.
pude 24.
~ xxv. xv.
Luke x. 79.
I Sam. XXll.
P23. 
Ps. xxiv. 5,
6.
II2 
THIRTIETH DAY.
(ano            tajt' fi' tat  ot u tu.
"We do not well: this day is a day of..
2 Kings vii. 9.
good tidings, and we hold our peace; if
we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will
come upon us; now, therefore, come, that we may go
and tell the king's household."
JUST the last persons who would seem to
need "good tidings," and the lb. vi. 3.
last, too, who would seem likely to
have them to convey! But oh, how true the
figure is! how many among the King's own
household need the good tidings which these
lepers brought! For they are starv- Ps. lxxi. xoing  so near to plenty, and poor zcor. iii 2,
within reach of treasure, and think-  22.
ing themselves besieged when the Lord has
dispersed the foe for them   Is it Heb. ii. 14,
not often the spiritual leper, the'5conscious outcast, the famine-stricken, posses.
8                  (I I3) 
MY KING.
sionless soul, who takes the boldest step into
the fullest salvation, and finds deliverance and
abundance and riches beyond what the more
favored and older  inmate of  the
Cor. ii. 12.  King's household knows anything
about?
Cor. i. i.  It may be one of the enemy's de2 Cor. Hl. xx.
vices, that we sometimes hold back
good tidings, just because we shrink from telling them to the King's household. How many
who do not hesitate to speak of Jesus to little
children or poor people, or even to persons
who openly say, "We will not have
Luke xmx. 14.
this man to reign over us," never
say one word to their fellow-subjects about the
John xvi. x4, blessed discoveries that the Holy
75.      Spirit has made to them of the full.
ness of His salvation, and the reality of His
power, and the treasures of His word, and the
satisfaction of His love, and the far-reaching
fulfillments of His promises, ald the real, actual deliverance, and freedom, and victory,
Rom. viii. 37. which He gives, and the strength
Acts iii. i6.  and the healing that flow through
faith in His name!
II4 
THE KIVG'S HOUSEHOLD.
Satan even perverts humility into a hinderance in this, and persuades us that of course
our friend knows as much or more of this than
we do, and that telling of what we have found
in Jesus, may seem like or lead to talking
about ourselves. Yet perhaps all the while
that friend is hungering and feeling Prov,.,i. 24
besieged, while we are withholding 26.
good tidings of plenty and deliverance. Verily, "we do not well."  Have there
not been days when the brightest of         
us would have been most thankful for the simplest word about Jesus from the humblest
Christian-days when even "the mention of
His name" might have been food and freedom!
It does not in the least follow that members
of Christian families need no such "good tidings" because of their favored position. They
may need it all the more, because no one thinks
it necessary to try and help them.  "As we
have therefore opportunity, let us Gal.vi.o
do good unto all men, specially unto
them who are of the household of faith."
And when? The constantly-recurring word
meets us here again, "NVow!"
I I 5 
THIRTY-FIRST DAY.
, t    nrurt        f tte BOX u.
Jcr. xxiii. s. "A King shall reign and prosper."
F we are really interested, heart and soul, in
a person, how delighted we are to have
positive assurance of his prosperity, and how
extremely interested and pleased we feel at
hearing anything about it! Is not this a test
of our love to our King?  Are we both interested and happy in the short, grand, positive
words which are given us about His certain
prosperity? If so, the pulse of our gladness is
Ps. XXXV. 27. beating true to the very heart of God,
Cf. Isa. Iii. for "Jehovah hath pleasure in the
13 (mar.)
and liii. io. prosperity of His servant."
His prosperity is both absolute and increase
K ings x. 7   g.  Even now, " Thy wisdom and
prosperity exceedeth the faie that I
heard."  If we could get one glimpse of our
(ii6) 
PROSPERITY OF THE KING. I 17
King in His present glory and joy,   et. iii. 2.
how we who love Him would rejoice for Him and with Him! And if we
could get one great view of the wide, but hidden prosperity of His kingdom at this moment,
where would be our discouragement and faintheartedness! Suppose we could see how His
work is going on in every soul that He has redeemed out of every kindred and
tongue all over the world, with the Rev. V. 9
same distinctness witb which we see it in the
last trophy of His grace for which we have
been praising Him, would it not be a revelation
of entirely overwhelming joy? Many Christians nowadays are foregoing an immense
amount of cheer, because they do not take the
trouble to inquire, or read, or go where they
can hear about the present prosperity of His
kingdom. Those who do not care much, can
hardly be loving much or helping much.
But we do care about it; and so how jubi.
lantly the promises of His increasing prosperity
ring out to us! "He must increase." John iii. 3o.
"He must reign, till He hath put all i Cor. xv. 2s
enemies under His feet."  "Of the Isa. ix. 7. 
MY KING.
increase of His government and peace there
shall be no end."
All our natural delight in progress finds satisfaction here-no stagnation, no reaching a dead
level; we are on an ever-winning side, bound
up with an ever-progressing cause. A typical
light on this point flashes from the story of
David.   He'" went  on  and grew
great," or, as the margin has it, "going and growing;" which we can not forbear
connecting with the promise to ourselves, "Ye
Mal. iv. 2. shall go forth and grawze up." And
x Chron. xi. then we are told that he "waxed
9.       greater and greater" (marg.), "went
on going and increasing."
But we must not be merely onlookers. Let
us see to it, first, that there be increasing prosperity in His kingdom  in our hearts.  Pray
that He may not only reign, but prosper in that
domain.  And next, let us see to it that we are
doing all we can to further His prosperity all
around us. Translate our daily prayer, "Thy
kingdom come," into daily, burning,
Matt. vi. 10,  glowing action fr its prosperity.
glowmng action for its prosperity.
II8 
FIRST SUNDAY.
ant  Thtt uf tot 4tiig
"As for Mephibosheth, said the king,  Sam.  t
he shall eat at my table, as one of the
king's sons."
N every thought connected with the King's
table we see Jesus only.
He prepares  the feast-" Thou  P. xxiii..
preparest a table before me." He
gives the invitation-" Come thou 2 Sam. xix.
over with me, and I will feed thee  33.
with me." He gives the qualifying position of
adoption, receiving us as "the King's Gal. iv. 5.
sons." He brings us into "His ban- Cant. ii. 4.
queting-houtse."  He bids us partake, saying,
"Eat, O  friends- drink, yea, drink  b.
lb. V. I.
abundantly, O beloved."  He is with
us at the feast, for "the King sitteth Ib. i. 2.
(I I9) 
MY KING.
at His table." He Himself is the heavenly
food, the bread and the meat of His table; for
, John vi. 5.  He  says, "The  bread that I will
lb. vi. 55.   give is My flesh," and "My flesh is
meat indeed."
He Himself! Nothing less is offered to us,
for nothing less could  truly satisfy.   How
wonderfully the spiritual feeding, with its mode
and its means, is expressed in the words of our
Communion Service: " Feed on Him in thy
heart by faith, with thanksgiving." "Feed on
Him!"-not on sacred emblem, not on  "out ward and visible sign," but on Himself. This first
in place, first in thought.  " He that
John'l   7
J  eateth Me" (can words be strong er?), "even he shall live by Me." Then the
mode, "in thy heart;" then the means, "by
faith "-could it close otherwise than "with
thanksgiving?"
It is not occasional, but continual feeding on
Christ that really satisfies the long Ps; evil. 9.
2Sa. ii 9.  ing soul, and fills the hungry soul
2 Sam. ix'3. with goodness. "He did eat con tinually at the king's table."  It is "he that
John i. 35. cometh to Me" who "shall nevei
120 
THE TABLE OF TIlE KING.   I2I
hunger," not "he who did come."
I Pet. ii. 4
"To whom coming," always coming,   
never going away, because we "have  lb. ii. 3.
tasted that the Lord is gracious," we lb. ii. 5.
shall be "built up."
If we are really guests at the King's table in
its fullest sense —if we are feeding upon Christ
Himself, and not on any shadow of the true
substance-we must be satisfied. Here is a
strong, severe test. Christ must satisfy; then,
if we are not satisfied, it must be because we
are not feeding on Him wholly and only. The
fault is not in the provision which is made"For all that came unto King Solo- X Kings iv.
mon's table, they lacked nothing."    27.
When we feel that "we are not worthy so
much as to gather up the crumbs under His
table," how precious are the words, " This man
receiveth sinners, and  eateth with
Luke xv. 2.
them!"  When we remember  that
we were dead in trespasses and sins, Eph. ii..
we may recollect that Lazarus, the
raised one, "was one of them that  John Xii. 2.
sat at the table with Him." When we come
back from the battle-field, weary, yet victorious, 
MY KING.
Heb. vii. 2. we may look for our King of Peace
Gen. xiv. Ia. coming to meet us with bread and
wine and His own priestly blessing, that we
may be strengthened and refreshed by Him.
self.
122 
SECOND SUNDAY.
Tiottg fir Al  4Tnjg'o   airt.
"Let my lord the king now speak."  2 Sam. xiv
i8.
RE we not apt to think more of speaking
- to the King than of the King speaking
to us?  We come to the throne of grace with
the glad and solemn purpose,  "I  2 Sam. xiv.
will now  speak unto the  King."   I5.
And vwe pour out our hearts before Ps. lxii. 8.
Him, and tell Him all the sins and  i Kings x. 2.
all the needs, all the joys and all the Mark Vi. 30.
sorrows, till the very telling seems almost an
answer, because it brings such a sense of relief. It is very sweet, very comforting to do
this.
But this is only half-communion; and we
miss, perhaps, a great deal of unknown  bless
(I23) 
M Y KING.
ing by being content with this one-sided audi.
ence.
We should use another'o now," and say,
"Let my lord the King now speak." WVe expect Him to speak sometime, but not actually
and literally "now," while we kneel before
Him. And therefore we do not listen, and
.    therefore we do not hear what He
Luke vii. 40,
has tQ say to us.
What about last time we knelt in prayer?
Surely He had more to say to us than we had
to say to Him, and yet we never waited a minute to see! We did not give Him opportunity
for His gracious response. We rushed away
from our King's presence as soon as we had
said our say, and vaguely expected Him to
send His answers after us somehow and sometime, but not there and then.  What wonder
if they have not yet reached us! The only
wonder is that He ever speaks at all when we
lb. x 39    act thus. If Mary had talked to the
Lord Jesus all the time she sat at
His feet, she would  not have "heard  His
word." But is not this pretty much what we
lave done?
I24 
THE KIATG'S VOICE.
Not that we should pray less, but listen more
And the more we listen, the more we shall want
to say afterward.  "Thou shalt call,  Job xiii. 22.
and I will answer."   But we may
miss the sweetest whispers of His love by not
saying, "Speak, Lord," and not I Sam. iii. 9.
hushing ourselves to "Aear what Ps. lxxx,,v. 8.
God the Lord will speak." We can x Kings xix.
not hear His "still, small voice" A 2.
during a torrent of noisy, and impatient, and
hurried petition.  "I will watch to
*               ~~~~~~~~Hah. ii. x.
see what He will say unto me."
We must "let the King now speak;" not our
own hearts and our wandering thoughts, not
the world and not the tempter-we must not
let these speak; they must be silenced with
holy determination. And we must let the King
speak as King, meeting His utterance with implicit submission and faith and obedience; re.
ceiving His least hint with total homage, and
love, and gratitude.
He has many a blessed surprise for us in
thus listening.  We may come very diffidently
saying, "Let thine handmaid, I 2 Sam. xiv.
pray thee, speak one word unto my 12'
I25 
M1  Y KING.
lord the King," and, having said it, wait, say.
ing, "Let my Lord the King now speak," and
then find that He has many things to
John xvi. X2.              st
say "to us."
He will be speaking to many this day in His
Isa.1.    house of prayer.  He will "know
how to speak a word in season" to
Hos. ii. 14.  each  listening  heart;   He   will
see marg.  " speak comfortably." And His peo Isa. ii. 6.   ple shall know that it is " He  that
doth speak." Then let our prayer
Cant. iii 13 be,  "The  companions hearken to
Cant. viii 3 Thy voice; cause me to hear it!
Our own beloved Master "hath many things to say;
Look forward to His teaching, unfolding day by day
To whispers of His Spirit, while resting at His feet,
To glowing revelation, to insight clear and sweet.
126 
THIRD SUNDAY.
"Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and  Cant.iii. 
behold King Solomon."
ERHAPS  we have dwelt more upon the
promise, "Thine eyes shall see Isa. xxxiii.
the King in His beauty," than upon'7the command, "Go  forth and behold"  Him.
We are not to be content with languidly saying, "We would see Jesus." If our John xii. 2x
eyes are too dim, let us pray, "Open  Ps. cxix. i8.
Thou mine eyes;" if there is a veil upon our
hearts, let us turn to the Lord the Spirit, and
"it shall be taken away;" if we are, Cor. iii. x6,
standing too far off to see, let us utter
the cry and the resolve, "Draw me, Cant. i. 4
we will run after Thee;" if we are sitting still
in the house, let us arise quickly and John xi.20,
go to meet Jesus.                        29.~
(I27)
Itrtig ta4t Buiigs 
AI Y KING.
This is neither an impossible nor a delusive
comnmand. The eye that looks away up to Jesus
.    will behold Him now.  And what
Heb. xii. 2.
shall we behold? The vision is all of
beauty and glory and coronation now. The sor         sa. Ii. 4   row and the marred visage are past;
and even when we behold Him as
the Lamb of God, it is the Lamb "in
Rev. v. 6.
the midst of the throne" now.
O daughters of Zion, who gaze by faith upon
Jesus our King, what do you see? Oh, the
Heb. ii. 9. music of the answers! —" We see
l-eb. il, 9.
Ps. l. 2.   Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and
honor!"  " Fairer than the children
Isa. iV. 2.
of men!" "Beautiful and glorious!"
Zech. ix. 17.
Zec  " ix 7    How great is His beauty!" " His
Cantv. v.5.  countenance is as Lebanon, excel   Rev. i. z6.  lent as the cedars," and "as the sun
Cant. v. I6. shineth in his strength!" "Yea, He
is altogether lovely!'
When we have seen the beauty of our King
once we want to see it always. Then, not till
then, we really do not care for any other sight,
except in so far as it reflects or illustrates what
e:see in Him; then, not till then, we can say,
o.e *-+
I28
i 
SEEING THE KING.
"One thing have I desired of the Ps xvii 4.
Lord, that will I seek after; that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord."
And when we can honestly say, "One thing,"
then, as has been tellingly said, "life is wonderfully simplified."
Conversely, it is not till we do say, "One
thing," that the desire is fulfilled, and we "see
His face with joy." How can we Job. xxxiii..
"see His face" when we are strain-   26.
ing our eyes to see all sorts of other things!
A true sight of the King will give a terrible
sight of our own uncleanness and deformity;
but the altar-fire shall touch our lips, Isa. vi. 6, 7.
the iniquity shall be taken away and
the sin purged, and then "the beauty ps. xc. x7.
of the Lord our God shall be upon
us," for "we all, beholding with open 2 Cor. iii. i8
face as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are (not
even shall be, but are) changed into the sanie
image, from glory to glory."
Lord Jesus, erable us to'go forth and behold Thee" this day; fulfill Thy promise that
9
I29 
M Y KING.
Thou wilt manifest Thyself to those
who love Thee; and grant us this
day to see Thy beauty, Thy power,
and Thy glory, yea, Thyself, in Thy
Ps. lxiii. 2.
sanctuary!
From glory unto glory! Our faith hath seen the
King;
We own His matchless beauty, as adoringly we sing;
But He hath more to show us! O thought of untold
bliss!
And we press on exultingly in certain hope to this:
To marvelous outpourings of His treasures new and
old,
To largess of His bounty paid in the King's own
gold,
To glorious expansion of His mysteries of grace,
To radiant unveilings of the brightness of His face.
i 
FOURTH SUNDAY.
tmiiuilg  to  tlj p tig.
2 Chron. ix. 1-12.
I.
I CAME from very far away, to see
The King of Salem; for I had been told
Of glory and of wisdom manifold,
And condescension infinite and free.
How could I rest when I had heard His fame
In that dark, lonely land of death from whence
I came?
II.
[ came (but not like Sheba's Queen) alone!
No stately train, no costly gifts to bring;
No friend at court, save One, that One the
King!
(I3I) 
MY KING.
I had requests to spread before His throne,
And I had questions none could solve for me
Of import deep, and full of awful mystery.
III.
I came and communed with that mighty King,
And told Him all my heart; I can not say
In mortal ear what communings were they.
But wouldst thou know, go too, and meekly
bring
All that is in thy heart, and thou shalt hear
His voice of love and power, His answers
sweet and clear.
IV.
Oh, happy end of every weary quest!
He told me all I needed, graciously  Enough for guidance, and for victory 
O'er doubts and fears, enough for quiet rest;
And when some veiled response I could not
read,
It was not hid from Him  this was enough
indeed.
132
i 
COMING TO THE KIVNG
V.
His wisdom and His glories passed before
My wondering eyes in gradual revelation;
The house that He had built, its strong
foundation,
Its living stones, and, brightening more and
more,
Fair glimpses of that palace far away,
Where all His loyal ones shall dwell with Him
for aye.
VI.
True, the report that reached my far-off land
Of all His wisdom and transcendent fame;
Yet I believed not until I cameBowed to the dust, till raised by royal hand.
The half was never told by mortal word:
My King exceeded all the fame that I had
heard!
VIi.
Oh, happy are His servants! happy they
Who stand continually before His face,
Ready to do His will of wisest grace,!
133 
M F KING.
My King! is mine such blessedness to-day?
For I, too, hear Thy wisdom, line by line
Thy ever brightening words in holy radiance
shine.
VIII.
Oh, blessed be the Lord thy God, who set
Our King upon His throne! divine delight
In the Beloved, crowning Thee with might,
Honor and majesty supreme; and yet
The strange and God-like secret opening
thusThe Kingship of His Christ ordained through
love to us!
IX.
What shall I render to my glorious King?
I have but that which I receive from Thee,
And what I give Thou givest back to me,
Transmuted by Thy touch; each worthless
thing
Changed to the preciousness of gem or gold,
And by Thy blessing multiplied a thousand
fold.
134 
COM,ING TO THE KCING.
X.
All my desire Thou grantest, whatsoe'er
I ask! Was ever mythic tale or dream
So bold as this reality-this stream
Of boundless blessings flowing full and free?
Yet more than I have thought or asked of
Thee,
Out of Thy royal bounty still Thou givest
me!
XI.
Now will I turn to mine own land, and tell
What I myself have seen and heard of Thee,
And give Thine own sweet message, "Come
and see!"
And yet in heart and mind forever dwell
With Thee, my King of Peace, in loyal rest,
Within the fair pavilion of Thy presence blest.
"Surely in what place my Lord the King shall be
whether in death or life, even there also will thy ser
vant be."-2 SAM. XV. IS.
"Where I am, there shall also my servant be."JOHN xii. z6.
I35 
FIFTH SUNDAY.
(4   (Unniug  of te sTiitg.
" Behold, He cometh."-Rev. i. 7.
1.
r  HOU art coming, 0 my Saviour!
Thou art coming, 0 my King!
In Thy beauty all-resplendent,
In Thy glory all-transcendent;
Well may we rejoice and sing!
Coming! In the opening east,
Herald brightness slowly swells;
Coming,! 0 my glorious Priest,
Hear we not Thy golden bells?
II.
Thou art coming, Thou art coming!
We shall meet Thee on Thy way;
We shall see Thee, we shall know Theep
We shall bless Thee, we shall show Thee
(I36) 
THE COMING OF THE KING.
All our hearts could never say!
What an anthem that will be,
Ringing out our love to Thee,
Pouring out our rapture sweet
At Thine own all-glorious feet!
III.
Thou art coming.! Rays of glory,
Through the veil Thy death has rent
Touch the mountain and the river
With a golden glowing quiver,
Thrill of light and music blent.
Earth is brightened when this gleam
Falls on flower and rock and stream;
Life is brightened when this ray
Falls upon its darkest day.
IV.
Not a cloud and not a shadow,
Not a mist and not a tear,
Not a sin and not a sorrow,
Not a dim and veiled to-morrow,
For that sunrise grand and clear 
Jesus, Saviour, once with Thee,
137 
MY KING.
Nothing else seems worth a thought!
Oh, how marvelous will be
All the bliss Thy pain hath bought!
V.
Thou art coming! At Thy table
We are witnesses for this,
While remembering hearts Thou meetest,
In communion clearest, sweetest,
Earnest of our coming bliss;
Showing not Thy death alone,
And Thy love exceeding great,
But Thy coming and Thy throne,
All for which we long and wait.
VI.
Thou art coming! We are waiting
With a hope that can not fail,
Asking not the day or hour,
Resting on Thy word of power,
Anchored safe within the veil
Time appointed may be long,
But the vision must be sure:
Certainty shall make us strong;
Joyful patience can endure.
138 
THE COilING OF THE KING.  139
VII.
Oh, the joy to see Thee reigning,
Thee, my own beloved Lord!
Every tongue Thy name confessing,
Worship, honor, glory, blessing,
Brought to Thee with glad accord!
Thee, my Master and my Friend,
Vindicated and enthroned!
Unto earth's remotest end
Glorified, adored, and owned!
!-    o   k           r     r-'    ~'  
"A surprising collection of real gems, which will be welcome ta
many a household."-Philadel.hia Times.
HOME LIFE IN SONG
THE POETS OF TO-DA Y.
AN ENTIRELY NEW COLLECTION OF HOME POETRY,
COMSIPRISING
L. Babyhood. II. Childhood and Youth.
III. Home Life. IV. Granrdparents.
V. Looking Backward.
PREFATORY NOTE.
"In t,is collection the compiler has sought to extress some oe
the many phases and experiences of Home Life. The sim2le
purpose has been to gather-not from the fiublished volumes o/
well-known authors, but from other sources, the magazine and
tewspafer-a portion of the many excellent verses that are constantly floating through then.  It is koped that in this more
accessible and fermnanent form they may prove acceptable to all
who cherish the comnn,on incidents and memories of Domtestic
Life."
"This volume is specially interesting on account of its representative character, as being the poetry of the people, by the people, and for the people."-The Advance.
"It is a book which will interest and instruct persons of all
glasses and of all ages."-Parish Visitor.
"It would be hard to find a more beautiful volume, containing
us much genuine poetry as this contains for the price.' -Interior.
Cloth, Ix6mo, 26I pp., -.-$1.00
"   4to with colored rule,    -    -    -      9.50
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO., Publishers,
900 BROADWAY, COR. 20TH ST., NEw YOux
*0 SenUt by mail, postage paid, on receipt of pdc.
wrrh 
Coooikd  y the Editor of "THE CHANG-D CROSS;"   SHADOW
OF THE ROCK;" " CHAMBER OF PEACE."
THE
HOPEFUL HOUR SERIES.
Three Volumes of Religious Poetry.
The Volumes sold searately.
AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE.
UNTO THE DESIRED HAVEN.
THE PALACE OF THE KING.
PREFATORY NOTE.
The selections in these volumes have been chiefly madefrom
the religious newsfiaers, and zmagazines.   The comileir has
,ought to avoid the refiroduction of hoems already embraced in
'The  Changed  Cross,'   The  Shadow  of  the Rock,''The
Chamber of Peace,' and in similar collections.  The names 0.
the writers have been given, so far as they could be ascertained."
"Their external appearance is in exquisite harmony with their
internal character. There is no mere rhymed trash, baptized with
a sprinkling of Christian sentiment, in one of them.  But more
even than tor their poetry we value these selections for their helpfulness, consolation, and adaptation to the varied phases and ne..
cessities of the Chri Cristian life."-Christin at Work.
"Some of them are very sweet and thoughtful; all of them are,
however, worthy of preservation."-The Churchman.
"A more beautiful appropriate, and acceptable series for a gift
would be hard to find."-Presbyterian 7oournal.
Each volume contains 175 pages, beautifully printed and tastefully bound, with gilt edges. Price, 75 cents each.
The volumes are sold separately: or may be had in a box for
$2.25.
A 1v an edition, the three volumes in one, on larget aper, with
blue border ine, gilt edges. Price, $2.50.
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO.,
900 BROADWAY, COR. 2WTH ST., NEW YORaK
Any  or all of the above will be sent by mail, post-paid, a
rceipt of the price. 
A SONG AND A SIGH.
BY ROSE PORTER,
Author of " Summer Driftwood," etch
12mo, Cloth.  Price,  -   -   $1.25.
"This winning story of a young girl's and a young
wife's life could not lack in the peculiar charm which
invest this author's writings."-New Bedford Standard.
"Miss Porter's stories are neat, unpretentious, and
healthful. Without complicated plot or stirring scene,
they please the fancy and enchain the interest by their
beautiful simplicity and touching sweetness. The char.
acters are winsome, and we follow their lives with a real
regard for them."-Albany Evening Journal.
"Full of sweet suggestion, exquisite description, and
tender thought."- Christian Intelligencer,
"Lit up with the glory of some of the commoner expe
iuces of life."- Congregationalist.
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO.,
900 Broadway, Cor. 20th St., N. Y.
Snt by mate, ost-paid, on receipt of the price. 
PR[ICEs $1.75.
Evenings with the Sacred Poets.
A Series of Quiet Talks about the Singers
and their Songs.
BY THE AUTIIOR OF
"FESTIVAL OF SONG," "SALAD FOR THE
SOLITARY AND THE SOCIAL."
Mr. SANDERs, whose "Salad for the Solitary" has delighted thousands of homes and readers, has just prepared
another volume of far greater value. higher purpose and oi
captivating beauty. He calls it "Evenings with the Sacred
Poets," and his exquisite taste, extensive reading and rare
familiarity with bibliography. shine in these elegant pares.
He roams through all the realms of Poesy, from the earlest
times to our own; wanders among all nations, and through
all climes, culling the sweetest flowers, and giving us all the
most brilliant gems of Song.  It is a book to be kept near
at h          and, for refreshment and strength, for comfort and joy
and, when once read, is all the more attractive to be read
again."-New York Observer.
This volume is not only a library of religious poetry, but
it is the best critical and historical essay upon the subject
with which we are acquainted."-N. YRound Table.
"This volume does something more than string together
a number of pieces of poetry more or less known: the author has evidently broight considerable research and study
to the task of presenting a complete picture of the sacred
poetry and hymnology of the Christian ages. Altogether we
know of no selection of sacred poetry so suitable for Sunday
reading as this. Not the least of its merits is, that it is not
likely to become tiresome, for the comments of the author
give it freshness and variety."-N. Y. Timres.
"This book will be hailed with great satisfaction by all
avers of sacred song,"- Church ]nteligencer.
Published by ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO.,
900 Broadway, cor. 20th St., New York.
*** Sent by mail, prepaid, on receipt of the pric. 
,Il
I