weeds were wrapped about his head.” It was there he learnt the bitterness of following his own will. He had to be taught in the depths of the ocean the true meaning of the “bit and bridle,” because he would not follow the gentler guidance of the eye. But our God is so gracious, so tender, so patient? He will teach and He will guide His poor feeble, erring children. He spares no pains with us. He occupies Himself continually about us, in order that we may be kept from our own ways, which are full of thorns and briars, and walk in His ways, which are pleasantness and peace. There is nothing in all this world more deeply blessed than to lead a life of habitual dependence upon God; to hang upon Him moment by moment, to wait on Him and cling to Him for every thing, to have all our springs in Him; it is the true secret of peace, and of holy independence of the creature. The soul that can really say, “_All_ my springs are in Thee” is lifted above all creature-confidences, human hopes, and earthly expectations. It is not that God does not use the creature, in a thousand ways, to minister to us; we do not at all mean this. He does use the creature; but if we _lean_ upon the creature, instead of leaning upon Him, we shall very speedily get leanness and barrenness into our souls. There is a vast difference between God’s using the creature to bless us, and our leaning on the creature to the exclusion of Him. In the one case, we are blessed and He is glorified; in the other, we are disappointed and He is dishonored. It is well that the soul should deeply and seriously consider this distinction. We believe it is constantly overlooked. We imagine, ofttimes, that we are leaning upon and looking to God, when, in reality, if we would only look honestly at the roots of things, and judge ourselves in the immediate presence of God, we should find an appalling amount of the leaven of creature-confidence. How often do we speak of living by faith, and of trusting only in God, when, at the same time, if we would only look down into the depths of our hearts, we should find there a large measure of dependence upon circumstances, references to second causes, and the like.