when I was a girl of eighteen, and it has continued its power over me till now, over twenty years. It seems to me that ideal Christian service, for women, at all events, is 'a heart at leisure from itself to soothe and sympathise.' Many times these lines, turned into a prayer, have led me to get the better of the demon of selfishness."

51 THE 121st PSALM.

MR. CROCKETT places this psalm second only to the Twenty-third. It was one of the two psalms-the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth being the other that David Livingstone read on the morning of the day when he first quitted Scotland for the African mission-field. It was known as the Traveller's Psalm from the days of Bishop Hooper, who used it before setting out on a journey.

I

TO the hills will lift mine eyes,

from whence doth come mine aid.

My safety cometh from the Lord,
who heav'n and earth hath made.
Thy foot he'll not let slide, nor will
he slumber that thee keeps.

Behold, he that keeps Israel,
he slumbers not, nor sleeps.

The Lord thee keeps, the Lord thy shade
on thy right hand doth stay:

The moon by night thee shall not smite,
nor yet the sun by day.

The Lord shall keep thy soul; he shall
preserve thee from all ill.

Henceforth thy going out and in

God keep for ever will.

TUNE

"SOLOMON," FROM HANDEL.

Mr. Marson notes that Edward, the Black Prince, chose the first clause of the second verse as the motto for the coins struck in England in 1362. In the United States Tate & Brady's paraphrase, beginning, To Sion's Hill I lift my eyes," is the popular version.

VII.- Resignation.

52-LORD, IT BELONGS NOT TO MY CARE.

RICHARD BAXTER, the author of the "Saints' Everlasting Rest," had a tolerably troubled time-without much rest in it on this side the grave. He was troubled by the Independents under Cromwell; by the Royalists after the Restoration, who ejected him; and by Judge Jeffreys, who bullied and abused him. But these were only of the outside and of the surface; within, the old saint had an everlasting rest of his own. The secret of this peace he expressed in the following hymn:

L

ORD, it belongs not to my care,
Whether I die or live;

To love and serve Thee is my share,
And this Thy grace must give.

If life be long I will be glad,
That I may long obey:

If short- yet why should I be sad
To soar to endless day?

Christ leads me through no darker rooms

Than He went through before;

He that into God's kingdom comes,

Must enter by His door.

Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet

Thy blessed face to see;

For if Thy work on earth be sweet,

What will Thy glory be?

Then I shall end my sad complaints
And weary sinful days;

And join with the triumphant saints
To sing Jehovah's praise.

My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim;

But 't is enough that Christ knows all,
And I shall be with Him.

TUNE" ARISTIDES."

An old widow writes: "The hymn that has the sweetest and tenderest memories for me is that of Baxter's. I repeated it in my last farewell words to my husband, and he echoed it with his dying lips, and then said: 'It is enough that Christ knows all, and that I shall be with Him."" A missionary writes to me from Wenchow describing how one verse in this hymn helped him. When a student in Manchester his spirit shrunk from the sacrifice entailed by dedication to the work of a missionary in China. He was convinced that he could not stand the climate, and that he would very shortly die if he went out to the Far East. "One day as I was kneeling in prayer in my room at the College, I was more miserable in spirit than usual, when, like a heaven-sent message, the first three verses of Richard Baxter's beautiful hymn came to me. first verse is, as you know, as follows:

'Lord, it belongs not to my care,
Whether I die or live;

To love and serve Thee is my share,

And this Thy grace must give.'

The

Light, liberty, and strength came with the message of this hymn, which at the time became the words of my prayer, instead of the doubting and hesitating thoughts of my heart. For four years I have been working in this land of China, and the message of Baxter's hymn still abides with me as a source of comfort and strength."

53-0 LORD, HOW HAPPY SHOULD WE BE.

JOSEPH ANSTICE, Professor of Classical Literature at King's College, London, who died in 1836, at the age of twenty-eight, wrote the following hymn, with others, during his last illness:

LORD, how happy should we be,
could call our care on Thee;

If we from self could rest,

And feel, at heart, that One above,
In perfect wisdom, perfect love,
Is working for the best:

Could we but kneel and cast our load,
E'en while we pray, upon our God;
Then rise with lightened cheer,
Sure that the Father, who is nigh
To still the famished raven's cry,
Will hear in that we fear.

How far from this, our daily life!
Ever disturbed by anxious strife,
By sudden, wild alarms:
O could we but relinquish all
Our earthly props, and simply fall
On Thine almighty arms!

TUNE "INNSBRUCK."

54-THY WAY, NOT MINE, O LORD.

THE Scotch Presbyterian, Dr. Bonar, joins in with this familiar hymn:

THY way, not mine, O Lord,

However dark it be;

Lead me by Thine own hand,

Choose out the path for me.

Smooth let it be or rough,
It will be still the best;
Winding or straight, it leads
Right onward to Thy rest.
I dare not choose my lot;
I would not if I might:
Choose Thou for me, my God,
So shall I walk aright.
The kingdom that I seek
Is Thine: so let the way
That leads to it be Thine,
Else I must surely stray.
Take Thou my cup, and it
With joy or sorrow fill,
As best to Thee may seem;
Choose Thou my good and ill.

Choose Thou for me my friends,
My sickness or my health;
Choose Thou my cares for me,
My poverty or wealth.

TUNEST. DENYS " OR "FIDUCIA."

55-T IS MY HAPPINESS BELOW.

COWPER, who had more than the ordinary share of the burdens of life, made the best of his sad case in this hymn, which has dispelled more gloom than ever Cowper suffered.

IS my happiness below,

Not to live without the cross,
But the Saviour's power to know,
Sanctifying every loss.

Trials must and will befall:
But with humble faith to see