September 1
Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in welldoing, as unto a faithful Creator.—I PETER iv. 19.
The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.—JAMES v. 11.
On Thy compassion I repose
In weakness and distress:
I will not ask for greater ease,
Lest I should love Thee less;
Oh, ’tis a blessed thing for me
To need Thy tenderness.
A. L. WARING.
Oh, look not at thy pain or sorrow, how great soever; but look from them, look off them, look beyond them, to the Deliverer! whose power is over them, and whose loving, wise, and tender spirit is able to do thee good by them. The Lord lead thee, day by day, in the right way, and keep thy mind stayed upon Him, in whatever befalls thee; that the belief of His love and hope in His mercy, when thou art at the lowest ebb, may keep up thy head above the billows.
Isaac Penington
September 2
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.—MATT. v. 6.
Grant us Thy peace, down from Thy presence falling,
As on the thirsty earth cool night-dews sweet;
Grant us Thy peace, to Thy pure paths recalling,
From devious ways, our worn and wandering feet.
E. Scudder
O God, who art Peace everlasting, whose chosen reward is the gift of peace, and who hast taught us that the peacemakers are Thy children, pour Thy sweet peace into our souls, that everything discordant may utterly vanish, and all that makes for peace be sweet to us forever. Amen.
Gelasian Sacramentary, A. D. 492
Have you ever thought seriously of the meaning of that blessing given to the peacemakers? People are always expecting to get peace in heaven; but you know whatever peace they get there will be ready-made. Whatever making of peace they can be blest for, must be on the earth here: not the taking of arms against, but the building of nests amidst, its “sea of troubles” [like the halcyons]. Difficult enough, you think? Perhaps so, but I do not see that any of us try. We complain of the want of many things—we want votes, we want liberty, we want amusement, we want money. Which of us feels or knows that he wants peace?
J. Ruskin
September 3
The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them their meat in due season.—PS. cxlv. 15.
What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.—PS. lvi. 3.
Late on me, weeping, did this whisper fall:
“Dear child, there is no need to weep at all!
Why go about to grieve and to despair?
Why weep now through thy Future’s eyes, and bear
In vain to-day to-morrow’s load of care?”
H. S. Sutton
The crosses of the present moment always bring their own special grace and consequent comfort with them; we see the hand of God in them when it is laid upon us. But the crosses of anxious foreboding are seen out of the dispensation of God; we see them without grace to bear them; we see them indeed through a faithless spirit which banishes grace. So, everything in them is bitter and unendurable; all seems dark and helpless. Let us throw self aside; no more self-interest, and then God’s will, unfolding every moment in everything, will console us also every moment for all that He shall do around us, or within us, for our discipline.