He give me further liberty, I
must not take liberties with it. Here is the golden principle, ever to
live, ever to think, ever to work as though the Lord had already arrived.
For indeed, He has, and when the veil is rent I shall find Him at my
side.

MARCH The Twenty-first

_IN THE GOLDEN CITY_

ISAIAH lii. 1-12.

And so these are the glories of the golden city. There is _wakefulness_.
"Awake! awake!" In the golden city none will be asleep. Everybody will be
bright-eyed, clear-minded, looking upon all beautiful things with fresh
and ready receptiveness. "The eyes of them that see shall not be dim."

There is _strength_. "Put on thy strength!" There will be no broken wills
in the golden city, and no broken hearts. No one will walk with a limp!
Everybody will go with a brave stride as to the strains of a band. And no
one will tire of living, and the inhabitant never says, "I am sick."

And there is _beauty_. "Put on thy beautiful garments." Bare strength
might not be attractive. But strength clothed in beauty is a very gracious
thing. The tender mosses on the granite make it winsome. Strength is
companionable when it is united with grace. In the golden city there will
be tender sentiment as well as rigid conviction.

And these glories will be our defence. A positive virtue is our best
rampart against vice. A robust health is the best protection against the
epidemic. "The prince of this world cometh, and he hath nothing in me."

MARCH The Twenty-second

_COUNSEL AND MIGHT_

PSALM cxix. 33-40.

The psalmist prays for an _illumined understanding_. "Teach me, O Lord,
the way of Thy statutes." We are so prone to be children of the twilight,
and to see things out of their true proportions. Therefore do we need to
be daily taught. I must go into the school of the Lord, and in docility of
spirit I must sit at His feet. "O, teach me, Lord, teach even me!"

And the psalmist prays for _rectified inclinations_. "Incline my heart
unto Thy testimonies." We so often have the wrong bias, the fatal taste,
and our desires are all against the will of the Lord. If only my leanings
were toward the Lord how swift my progress would be! I strive to walk
after holiness, while my inclinations are in the realm of sin. And so I
need a clean mouth, with an appetite for the beautiful and the true.
"Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness."

And the psalmist prays for _a strenuous will_. "Make me to go in the pa