iv. 10-17.

And what a promise that is for anyone who is commissioned to proclaim the
King's decrees. Here can teachers and preachers find their strength. God
will be with their mouths. He will control their speech, and order their
words like troops. He does not promise to make us eloquent, but to endow
our words with the "demonstration of power."

"_And I will teach thee what thou shall say._" The Lord will not only be
with our mouths, but with our minds. He will guide our thoughts as well as
our words. He will be as sentinel at the lips. He will be our guide in our
processes of meditation and judgment, and He will bring us to enlightened
ends. All of which is just this: He will give us mouth and matter.

This does not put a premium upon idleness. The Lord guides when men are
honestly groping. He gives us fire when we have built the altar. He works
His miracle when we have provided the five loaves. He sends His light
through diligent thinking. The divine power is given through the
consecrated strength.

MAY The Thirteenth

_COMMONPLACE FIDELITIES_

EXODUS ii. 11-25.

God prepares us for the greater crusades by more commonplace fidelities.
Through the practice of common kindnesses God leads us to chivalrous
tasks. Little courtesies feed nobler reverences. No man can despise
smaller duties and do the larger duties well. Our strength is sapped by
small disobediences. Our discourtesies to one another impair our worship
of God. The neglect of the "pointing" of a house may lead to dampness and
fatal disease.

And thus the only way to live is by filling every moment with fidelity. We
are ready for anything when we have been faithful in everything. "Because
thou hast been faithful in that which is least!" That is the order in
moral and spiritual progress, and that is the road by which we climb to
the seats of the mighty. When every stone in life is "well and truly laid"
we are sure of a solid, holy temple in which the Lord will delight to
dwell. The quality of our greatness depends upon what we do with "that
which is least."

MAY The Fourteenth

_CALAMITY AS REVEALER_

"_In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord._"
--ISAIAH vi. 1-8.

He lost a hero, and he found the Lord. He feared because a great pillar
had fallen: and he found the Pillar of the universe. He thought everything
would topple into disaster, and lo! he felt the strength of the
everlasting arms. When Uzziah lived Isaiah ha