"Yes," he said, "and a curious thing happened that night; this hymn recalled it to my mind. I was on sentry duty on the edge of a wood. It was a dark night and very cold, and I was a little frightened because the enemy were supposed to be very near at hand. I felt very homesick and miserable, and about midnight, when everything was very still, I was beginning to feel very weary and thought that I would comfort myself by praying and singing a hymn. I remember singing this hymn--
'All my trust on Thee is stayed, All my help from Thee I bring. Cover my defenceless head With the shadow of Thy wing.'
"After I had sung those words a strange peace came down upon me, and through the long night I remember having felt no more fear."
"Now," said the other man, "listen to my story. I was a Union soldier, and was in the wood that night with a party of scouts. I saw you standing up, although I didn't see your face, and my men had their rifles focused upon you waiting the word to fire, but when you sang out--
'Cover my defenceless head With the shadow of Thy wing.'
I said, 'Boys, put down your rifles; we will go home.' I couldn't kill you after that."
The Sinner's Heart
When I was in Dublin some years ago I got up to go to an early meeting, and found the servants had not opened the front door; so I pulled back a bolt, but I could not get the door open. Then I turned a key, but the door would not open. Then I found there was another bolt at the top and another bolt at the bottom. Still the door would not open. Then I found there was a bar, and then I found a night-lock. In all I found five or six different fastenings.
I am afraid that door represents every sinner's heart. The door of his heart is double-locked, double-bolted, and double-barred. Oh, my friends, pull back the bolts, and let the King of glory in!
Nothing Small
There are a great many different ways of doing good. A lady once visited a hospital, and noticed with what pleasure the patients would smell and look at the flowers sent to them. Said she:
"If I had known that a bunch of flowers would do so much good, I would have sent some from home."
As soon as she got home, she sent some flowers out of her garden. It was a little thing--a bouquet of flowers. It might be a very insignificant work--very small; but if it was done in the right spirit, God accepted it. A cup of water given in His name is accepted as given to Himself. Nothing that is done for God is small.
An Anecdote about Tennyson
It is said that Tennyson once asked an old Christian woman if there was any news.
"Why, Mr. Tennyson," she replied, "there's only one piece of news that I know, and that is--Christ died for all men."
"That is old news, and good news, and new news," Tennyson responded.
On Satan's Ground
There is a legend that the Apostle John was much distressed over the fall of a young convert. He summoned Satan before him, and reproached him for ruining so good a youth.
"I found your good youth on my ground," said Satan; "so I took him."
The only safe course is to avoid temptation altogether.
Two Bidding for the Soul
There are two who are bidding for your soul and mine--the Lord Jesus and Satan.
Satan bids, and he offers that which he cannot give. He is a liar, and has been from the foundation of the world. I pity the man who is living on the promises of the devil. He will never satisfy. But the Lord Jesus is able to give all that He offers. And what does He offer? He offers peace and joy and comfort that the world knows not of. He offers eternal life in the kingdom of God. He offers a seat in His mansions. We are to sit with Him upon His throne.
May God help you to make a right choice! Make up your mind you will not rest until the great question of eternity is settled, until you have crossed the borderland, and pressed into the kingdom of God.
Tried and Proven
I knew an old lady that marked in the margin of her Bible, opposite the promises. T. P.; T. for "tried," and P. for "proven." What we want is to try the Bible and see if it is not true.
The Prairie Fire
Out in the Western country, in the autumn, when men go hunting, and there has not been any rain for months, sometimes the prairie grass catches fire, and there comes up a very strong wind, and the flames just roll along twenty feet high, and travel at the rate of thirty or forty miles an hour, consuming man and beast. When the hunters see it coming, what do they do? They know they cannot run as fast as the fire can run. Not the fleetest horse can escape. They just take a match and light the grass around them, and let the flames sweep, and then they get into the burnt district and stand safe. They hear the flames roar as they come along, they see death coming toward them, but they do not fear, they do not tremble, because the fire has swept over the place where they are, and there is no danger. There is nothing for the fire to burn.