A few thoughts suggested by, "Waiting upon God unto Prayer" (Aug. No.).

Faith, which lays hold on God, may not express itself by action; on the contrary, there may be passive waiting-just as much the product of faith, and perhaps more remarkable. The writer remembers well, on two occasions, the words of Isa. 30:15 coming with peculiar power and charm:"In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

David, in Ps. 3, is a beautiful example of this. In him we see a saint of God, hemmed in by the most untoward circumstances (which seem to call for the most active measures to extricate himself from his perilous position), perfectly tranquil, because dependent alone upon an unseen Hand, which may defer intervention, but which faith counts upon.

Restlessness is all too common. In times of stress and perplexity the most natural thing to us seems to be to fight our way out! Of course there are times when activity is called for, when faith must boldly go forward! This we see on the shore of the Red Sea:"Wherefore criest thou to Me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward" (Exod. 14:15). But what confidence in God marked David when, with a nation in revolt and a usurper on the throne, after committing his case to God he laid down and slept, "For," he says, "the Lord sustained me" (Ps. 3:6).

There are times too when the burden may be too heavy for audible prayer, and a groan before God is all that can be uttered; but there is the consciousness that "He knows." Here the heart finds rest.

"Be still, and know that I am God," sweetly assures the soul of His loving interest and readiness to undertake our cause at the right moment. To be "still" surely betokens a spirit of rich reliance on God, and in this we learn how perfect is our resource, and God is known in a way we otherwise would never know Him. How this glorifies God, as faith waits for Him to display His power and grace!

"Their strength is to sit still" (Isa. 30:7) is a verse which has been much before me of late. How restless the flesh is, how ready to run unsent, to act on impulse! We may think it is the "King's business" which "requireth haste" when it is nothing but human effervescence which-sooner or later-will lead us to sorrow. A question arises in our individual or assembly life; how natural it seems to us to answer it by some precipitate action! But we may be just as zealous for the Lord's honor by quietly waiting, as by instant action. "My soul, wait thou ONLY upon God ("Be thou silent unto God," margin), for my expectation is from Him."

And then, how blessed it is to see at length His intervention and sing with the Spirit:

"Thro' waves, thro' storms, thro' clouds,
God gently clears the way;
We wait His time; so shall the night
Soon end in blissful day."

J. W. H. Nichols