"What wilt thou?" Bartimaeus had no question what he desired the Lord to do for him-"Rabboni, that I may see" (Mk. 10:51, R. V.). There are needs of that kind, where some great pressing weight rests upon us, and which we can state in almost as few words as did this blind man. Sometimes it may be a bodily infirmity, as in this case, or something in the family which is equally pressing. Or perhaps there are spiritual needs which are equally clear, and which can be definitely stated. Our faith needs strengthening, our love deepening. We need some special guidance, help in some special time of need, and this elicits a clear response to the question, "What wilt thou?" And how often has He answered with equal definiteness.

But sometimes we may find it difficult to express in words all that presses upon us. Perhaps there has been a searching into the depths of our hearts, and the lack of love or faith, of devotion or service, reaches down into depths where all that is of self spreads in a helpless maze before us, and we could scarcely begin to formulate the definite need. Perhaps the nearest we could come to it would be-"Thyself, not I." He who searches the hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, and can interpret the groanings which cannot be uttered by us. Is not all prayer largely summed up in the words-"Thy will be done?" After all we know not what is exactly best, except it is, "Not my will, but thine." We leave the choice with Him.

Can there be any question that His choice will be the best? Let us dwell a little upon His infinitely perfect qualities. It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. The whole vast plan of creation lies in His mind and purpose. And who loved the world? Not we, even enough to ask Him to send His only begotten Son for our redemption. And so with that wondrous cross, and its fruitage of divine love. The Spirit's ministry is His devising, and so with every present or eternal blessing. "Of Him and through Him and to Him are all things" (Rom. 11:36).

"What wilt thou?" And so we return to our question, and reverently ask our blessed Lord to have His way, to do His will in us and for us. As the apostle expresses it in his prayer (Eph. 3)-"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." Will our every need be supplied?-"According to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." And He who gives the blessing can give the joy that goes with it.

"We praise Thee, and would praise Thee more,
To Thee our all we owe;
The precious Saviour and the power
That makes Him precious too."

Toiling in Rowing. Work on a stormy sea through the dark hours of the night is not cheerful occupation, but sometimes it is necessary. In the case referred to (Mk. 6:45) the Lord "compelled," or constrained-literally, "made necessary"-His disciples to embark. If He sent them, would He fail to care for them? So they had the assurance in advance that all would be well. But it is only too easy to lose sight of the One who has sent us, when surrounded by the difficulties of the way.

And where was He? Not indifferent to their difficulties, we surely know, nor beyond stretching forth His arm to succor. He was alone on the mountains, enjoying one of those seasons with His Father, in fellowship with whom He constantly lived. Nor can we think of this absorption in prayer as excluding them. "His own" were dear to Him, and doubtless formed part of the subject of His prayer. While the waves were lashing the water into fury, and when the efforts at rowing doubtless seemed very feeble, He was interceding, and ere long, after a number of "watches" were spent, He comes! He would have gone on, save for their distress and need. "It is I," is the answer of good cheer; "Be not afraid," and their difficulties are over.

He has not changed. We too may know the buffeting of contrary winds and the futility of our "rowing." But "It is I" is the all-sufficient answer to all our fears and difficulties. He, the Man of prayer, the lowly Servant here, is also the omnipotent "I am." His presence is enough. Whether the wind ceases or not is a minor matter compared with His presence in grace with us. May our hearts rest in those words, and be kept from the fears of unbelief-till He "maketh the storm a calm."

And what is our rowing? May we not say that it would include all efforts of our own?-our labor to keep things going, our workings of mind and heart and hand, even our prayers. These are not evil, far from it. But how feeble they are in the face of difficulties! And yet they are not disregarded by our Lord. "I know thy works, and thy labor and thy patience… and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored and hast not fainted" (Rev. 2:2,3). May the sweetness of "first love" be not lacking, for in that case all the toil would be but being "cumbered," and serve as a hindrance to real labor. There is however a toil which is not that, but the effort to meet the difficulties of the path. And the relief of His presence, of His word of cheer-"It is I!" May our hearts rest in this in all toil through which we may be called to pass.

"Under the shadow of the Almighty." The 91st psalm sets before us the Second Man, in contrast with the failed first man whose dirge is sung in the 90th. Moses, the author of that dirge, was, we may say, the best example of human excellence-fruit no doubt of divine grace-but who himself was, in the government of God, subject to the sentence of death which had been pronounced upon all men. In his own generally blameless life he exhibited the fruit of the fallen nature which ends in death. But when we come to the next psalm, we find another Man, a complete Man, and yet One in whom no taint of sin or self-will lurked. Though all power was His, He was here in all the lowliness of a dependent subject One who came to do the will of Him that sent Him.

The typical Man of Faith. Satan quoted a part of this psalm to induce Him to take Himself out of the hands of God's care and from obedience to Him. He would neither doubt that care, by using His own power, nor would He presume upon it by needlessly exposing Himself to danger. At last the enemy of God and man met One unmoved by all his subtle wiles. He had become flesh, taken a servant's form, and no attraction from the path of lowly obedience appealed to Him. He could ever say, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup" (Ps. 16:5), and whatever the path, and the suffering in it, He found all His resources in God His Father-"I live because of the Father" (John 6:57).

He abode in the secret place of the Most High. No wonder the heavens were opened and the voice of God proclaimed His delight in His beloved Son. "He that sent Me is with Me:the Father hath not left Me alone, for I do always those things that please Him" (John 8:39). Thus He abode under the shadow of the Almighty. When His message of mercy was rejected by the unrepentant cities where most of His mighty works had been wrought(Matt. 11:20), He retired into the ; secret place He knew so well-"I thank Thee, O Father I …. because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight" (vers. 25, 26). And, may we not say, into that sanctuary He invites the weary and heavy laden to come through Himself-"Come unto Me."

He yearned to share His joys with others. "God is love," and He who declared Him revealed that love in all its perfectness. For this to be righteously effected called for even more than the perfect life of faith He ever lived. The awful voice of the tempest of judgment against sin was heard, and He whose dwelling-place was the presence of God was left alone outside, forsaken, smitten by what none but Himself could ever bear, and still turn in confiding love to Him who had done what only divine love and righteousness could do-provide the Perfect Sacrifice in the person of His only begotten Son.

"Thine open bosom was my ward, It bore the storm for me."

And thus when "It is finished" was uttered, that obedient, dependent spirit was breathed out to the Father- and the veil was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And faith follows Him into the presence of infinite holiness and love, "under the shadow of the Almighty." "Having… boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

In the sanctuary, apart from the mercy seat and the ark, were seen but two objects-the blood and the cloud of incense-the witness of the finished and accepted work of Christ, and the all-pervading fragrance of His perfect person.

"Naught but Christ His eye can see!
Christ into His joy hath entered,
And in Christ He welcomes me:
Would I know how dear to God?
Priceless as Christ's precious blood."

Here then is the "shadow of Shaddai," the shadow of the Almighty. As almighty, He could justly deal with us for our countless sins, and who could stand before Him? But the Almighty has found, nay, has provided the covering which glorifies Him in affording eternal shelter to the soul that draws near by the blood of Jesus. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" He is "just and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." He is now our protection, according to all that might suggested by His name. Satan, "the restless foe," is ever accusing and recounting sins like a flood-but the blood of Christ hath answered, and there omnipotence eternally reposes. Satan, the world, the flesh, have Him to reckon with- all the infinite sufficiency of God, known now also as Father, "My Father and your Father."

What more can we ask? Our blessed Lord said, "Peace I leave with you"-He made it by the blood of His cross-"My peace I give unto you"-"the shadow of the Almighty." Let us apply it, or rather let the Holy Spirit apply it, to every department and circumstance of our life. Under His shadow we hide from self. He has most blessedly provided the substitute – "Not I, but Christ."

"How sweet away from self to flee, And shelter in our Saviour."

The accusations of Satan we have already spoken of; his wiles are equally futile. The attractions of the world and the fear of man-yea, all things-are powerless here where the Almighty has covered us with His feathers and the wings of His protection. May we know the tonic and delivering power of this blessed shadow till our Lord shall have us forever with Himself, where He is all. S. R.