198 THE PRACTICE OF ASSURANCE
^ Madame Guyon, the author of A Short and Easy Method of Prayer, died in 1717, at the age of sixty-nine. Her long life had been one of unceasing trust and communion with God, through many vicissitudes and persecutions in the dark age of Louis XIV. In one of her poems she wrote —
Yield to the Lord with simple heart All that thou hast, and all thou art; Eenounce all strength but strength Divine; And peace shall be for ever thine; Behold the path which I have trod — My path till I go home to God.
A short time before her death she wrote a will, from which the following passage is an extract. It is an affecting evidence of the depth of her piety, and that she relied on Jesus Christ alone : —
" In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."
"This is my last will and testament, which I request my executors, who are named within, to see executed.
" It is to Thee, 0 Lord God, that I owe all things ; and it is to Thee, that I now surrender up all that I am. Do with me, 0 my God, whatsoever Thou pleasest. To Thee, in an act of irrevocable donation, I give up both my body and my soul to be disposed of according to Thy will. Thou seest my nakedness and misery without Thee. Thou knowest that there is nothing in heaven, or in earth, that I desire but Thee alone. Within Thy hands, 0 God, I leave my soul, not relying for my salvation on any good that is in me, but solely on Thy mercies, and the merits and sufferings of my Lord Jesus Christ." ^
4. A quiet committal of ourselves to God is the only thing that will give us quiet hearts amidst the dangers and disappointments and difficulties and conflicts which we have all to encounter in this world. That trust in Him will bring, in the measure of its own depth and constancy, a proportionately deep and constant calm in our hearts.
*[| We boarded a liner at Liverpool and were soon in the midst of a throng of strangers. We were travelling steerage and our bunks and belongings were open to all below, and this gave us some anxiety as we had no safe place to keep what little money we had — when we came on deck we were continually worried thinking that it might be stolen. The wide open sea and the
^ T. C. Upham, Life of Madame Guyon, 498.
2 TIMOTHY I. 12 199
pleasures of the deck we could not enjoy, and every now and again one of us would be going down below to see that all was safe. This anxiety continued for four days, and then we heard that the purser took care of valuables left with him, so we decided to ask him to take charge of our money. He told us we were late, and that people usually came to him at the start of the voyage. We said we were sorry to be late, but we thought better now than not at all. So he took our money and locked it in the great safe, telling us to come to him and get it again before we landed. He spoke kindly and sent us away with light hearts. The rest of the voyage we were able to enjoy to the full, entering into everything with never a care or worry. Life was altogether different, its joy had returned again, and all because we had confidence in the purser. We knew whom we had trusted, and were persuaded that he was able to keep that which we had committed unto him against the day of our landing in the new country at the port of Quebec.^
5. " I am persuaded." The original word is stronger than " persuaded " has come to be with us. It implies an irrefragable conviction. " I am absolutely certain that He is able to keep my deposit " — what I have put into His hands — " and to keep it against that day." "I am persuaded!" The experiment has succeeded, and the initial trembling has passed into final calm- The loose uncertainty has consolidated into firm assurance, and the Apostle now quietly confronts the massed and mighty antagonists of the night with unflinching courage and cheer. " Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea ; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." " I am persuaded ! " The quiet, fruitful, glorious confidence of it ! The Apostle had risked his all upon the venture ; he had committed everything to the proof ! "I am persuaded that he is able to guard my deposit," "that which I have committed unto him against that day."
^ Her soul was enveloped in thick darkness, and her tempta- tions against Faith, ever conquered but ever returning, were there to rob her of all feeling of happiness at the thought of her approaching death. "Were it not for this trial, which is impossible to understand," she would say, " I think I should die of joy at the prospect of soon leaving this earth." By this trial