cy shall follow me!" God's grace comes between me and my yesterdays. It
cuts off the heredity from the old Adam, and no far-off plague comes nigh
my dwelling.

AUGUST The Twentieth

_FEEDING THE FLOCK_

ISAIAH xl. 1-11.

Here is the gracious promise of provision. "_He shall feed His flock like
a Shepherd._" He knows the fields where my soul will be best nourished in
holiness. I am sometimes amazed at His choice. He takes me into an
apparent wilderness, but I find rich herbage on the unpromising plain. And
so I would rest in His choice even when it seems adverse to my good.

And here is the gracious promise of gentle discrimination. "_He shall
gather the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom._" Says old
Trapp, "He hath a great care of His little ones, like as He had of the
weaker tribes. In their march through the Wilderness He put a strong tribe
to two weak tribes, lest they should faint or fail." Yes, "He knoweth our
frame." He will not lay upon us more than we can bear. At the back of
every commandment there is a promise of adequate resource. His askings are
also His enablings. The big duty means that we shall have a big lift. And
when we are tired He will lead on gently. Such is the grace and tenderness
of the Lord.

AUGUST The Twenty-first

_SATISFACTION_

"_My people shall be satisfied with My goodness._"
--JEREMIAH xxxi. 10-14.

And how unlike is all this to the feasts of the world! There is a great
show, but no satisfaction. There is much decorative china, but no
nutritious food or drink. "Every one that drinketh of this water shall
thirst again." We rise from the table, and our deepest cravings are
unappeased. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" We know. We have had a
condiment, but no meat; a showy menu-card, but no reviving feast.

Nothing but the goodness of the Lord can satisfy the soul. Whatever else
may be on the table of life, if this be absent we shall go away unfed. We
may have money, and pleasure, and success, and fame, but they are all
delusive husks if the grace of the Lord be absent.

This is the real furnishing of the feast. There are vast multitudes of
things I can do without if only I have the holy bread of life in the
gracious Presence of my Lord. In this sphere it is the Guest who makes the
table! "Thou, O Christ, art all I want!" "Having Him we have all things."
A glorious satisfaction possesses the soul, and though we may not increase
our worldly possess