Page:Stalphonsuspraye00ligu.djvu/84

 graven thee  in  My  hands:  thy  walls  are  always before my  eyes"  (Is.  xlix.  16).  Beloved  soul,  says the  Lord,  what  dost  thou  fear  or  mistrust?  I  have thee  written  in  My  hands,  so  as  never  to  forget  to  do thee  good.  Art  thou  afraid  of  thine  enemies?  Know that  the  care  of  thy  defence  is  always  before  Me, so  that  I  cannot  lose  sight  of  it.  Therefore  did David  rejoice,  saying  to  God:  "  Thou  hast  crowned us as  with  a  shield  of  Thy  good  will"  (Ps.  v.  13). Who,  O  Lord!  can  ever  harm  us,  if  Thou  with  Thy goodness  and  love  dost  defend  and  encompass  us round  about?  Above  all,  animate  thy  confidence  at the  thought  of  the  gift  that  God  has  given  us  of  Jesus Christ:  "God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  His only-begotten Son"  (St.  John  iii.  16).  How  can  we ever  fear,  exclaims  the  Apostle,  that  God  would  refuse us  any  good,  after  He  has  vouchsafed  to  give  us His  own  Son?  "He  delivered  Him  up  for  us  all; how hath  He  not  also,  with  Him,  given  us  all things?" (Rom.  viii.  32.)

" My  delights  are  to  be  with  the  children  of  men" (Prov. viii.  31). The paradise  of  God,  so  to  speak, is the  heart  of  man. Does God  love  Thee? Love Him. His delights  are  to  be  with  thee;  let  thine be to  be  with  Himself,  to  pass  all  thy  lifetime  with Him, in  the  delight  of  whose  company  thou  hopest to spend  a  blissful  eternity. Accustom thyself  to speak  with  Him  alone,  familiarly,  with  confidence and love,  as  to  the  dearest  friend  thou  hast,  and  who loves thee  best.

f it  be  a  great  mistake,  as  has  been  already said, to  converse  mistrustfully  with  God, — to be  always  coming  before  Him  as  a  slave full of  fear  and  confusion  comes  before  his  prince,