_Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths_--PS. xxv. 4. When we cannot see our way, Let us trust and still obey; He who bids us forward go, Cannot fail the way to show. Though the sea be deep and wide, Though a passage seem denied; Fearless let us still proceed, Since the Lord vouchsafes to lead. ANON. That which is often asked of God, is not so much His will and way, as His approval of our way. S. F. SMILEY. There is nothing like the first glance we get at duty, before there has been any special pleading of our affections or inclinations. Duty is never uncertain at first. It is only after we have got involved in the mazes and sophistries of wishing that things were otherwise than they are, that it seems indistinct. Considering a duty is often only explaining it away. Deliberation is often only dishonesty. God's guidance is plain, when we are true. F. W, ROBERTSON. September 24 _When I awake, I am still with Thee_.--PS. cxxxix. 18. Let the glow of love destroy Cold obedience faintly given; Wake our hearts to strength and joy With the flushing eastern heaven. C. K. VON ROSENROTH. With his first waking consciousness, he can set himself to take a serious, manly view of the day before him. He ought to know pretty well on what lines his difficulty is likely to come, whether in being irritable, or domineering, or sharp in his bargains, or self-absorbed, or whatever it be; and now, in this quiet hour, he can take a good, full look at his enemy, and make up his mind to beat him. It is a good time, too, for giving his thoughts a range quite beyond himself,--beyond even his own moral struggles,--a good time, there in the stillness, for going into the realm of other lives. His wife,--what needs has she for help, for sympathy, that he can meet? His children,--how can he make the day sweeter to them? This acquaintance, who is having a hard time; this friend, who dropped a word to you yesterday that you hardly noticed in your hurry, but that comes up to you now, revealing in him some finer trait, some deeper hunger, than you had guessed before,--now you can think these things over. G. S. MERRIAM. September 25 _Ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee_.--DEUT. xii. 7. Sweet is the smile of home; the mutual look When hearts are of each other sure; Sweet all the joys that crowd the household nook, The haunt of all affections pure. J. KEBLE. Is there any tie which absence has loosened, or which the wear and tear of every-day intercourse, little uncongenialities, unconfessed misunderstandings, have fretted into the heart, until it bears something of the nature of a fetter? Any cup at our home-table whose sweetness we have not fully tasted, although it might yet make of our daily bread a continual feast? Let us reckon up these treasures while they are still ours, in thankfulness to God. ELIZABETH CHARLES.