blessing, nor maintain any
communion with God; and without reading the Scriptures you will have
but little desire to pray. We are like people wandering in the dark,
while the Bible is as a bright lamp held out to direct us in the only
safe path. You cannot be a child of God if you do not his will; you
cannot do it unless you know it, and it is by the Bible he is pleased
to communicate that knowledge. Do you begin to see, Edward, that the
Bible is more suitable to be an every-day book than your profane
history?"

"Why, yes, uncle; but the Bible is a grave book, and if I read it so
constantly I never should be merry."

"There is no merriment among the lost, Edward; and that dreadful lot
will be your portion if you neglect the great salvation which the
Scriptures set forth. Besides, there is no foundation for what you
suppose to be the effect of reading the Bible. I have known people
naturally melancholy and discontented, to become cheerful and happy by
studying it; but I never in my life saw an instance of a person's
becoming unhappy because he had a good hope of going to heaven."

Edward paused a moment, and then said, "Uncle, I remember it is
written concerning wisdom, that 'her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.'"

"Most true, my dear boy, 'quietness and assurance forever' is the
portion of God's people. 'Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say,
rejoice.' 'The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion
with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy
and gladness; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.' Are such
expressions as these likely to make us gloomy, Edward?"

"O, no, uncle; and I often wonder that you, who suffer so much pain,
and read the Bible constantly, are not melancholy."

"How can I be melancholy, Edward, when the Bible tells me that all
these things are working together for my spiritual good? that He who
spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, will with him
also freely give us all things? When I think of what my sins deserve,
and see the Lamb of God bearing the chastisement that should fall on
me, how can I be melancholy? When I feel that the Spirit of God is
bringing these things to my remembrance, and enabling me to love the
Lord Jesus, who has done so much for me, must I not rejoice? I know
that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing; and since
God has promised forgiveness to all who seek that blessing