The Psalmist prays: “_Incline my heart unto thy testimonies_” (_Ps. 119:36_), while of Lydia it is said: “_whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul_” (_Acts 16:14_). We may say of the Holy Spirit: “He freezes and then melts the soil, He breaks the hard, cold stone, Kills out the rooted weeds so vile,—All this he does alone; And every virtue we possess, And every victory won, And every thought of holiness, Are his, and his alone.” Hence, in _Ps. 90:16, 17_, the Psalmist says, first: “_Let thy work appear unto thy servants_”; then “_establish thou the work of our hands upon us_”—God’s work is first to appear,—then man’s work, which is God’s work carried out by human instruments. At Jericho, the force was not applied to the rams’ horns, but to the walls. When Jesus healed the blind man, his power was applied, not to the spittle, but to the eyes. The impression is prepared, not by heating the seal, but by softening the wax. So God’s power acts, not upon the truth, but upon the sinner. _Ps. 59:10_—“_My God with his lovingkindness will meet me_”; A. V.—“_The God of my mercy shall prevent me_,” _i. e._, go before me. Augustine urges this text as proof that the grace of God precedes all merit of man: “What didst thou find in me but only sins? Before I do anything good, his mercy will go before me. What will unhappy Pelagius answer here?” Calvin however says this may be a pious, but it is not a fair, use of the passage. The passage does teach dependence upon God; but God’s anticipation of our action, or in other words, the doctrine of prevenient grace, must be derived from other portions of Scripture, such as _John 1:13_, and _Eph. 2:10_. “The enthusiasm of humanity” to which J. R. Seeley, the author of Ecce Homo, exhorts us, is doubtless the secret of happiness and usefulness,—unfortunately he does not tell us whence it may come. John Stuart Mill felt the need of it, but he did not get it. Arthur Hugh Clough, Clergyman’s First Tale: “Would I could wish my wishes all to rest, And know to wish the wish that were the best.” Bradford, Heredity, 228—“God is the environment of the soul, yet man has free will. Light fills the spaces, yet a man from ignorance may remain in a cave, or from choice may dwell in darkness.” Man needs therefore a divine influence which will beget in him a disposition to use his opportunities aright.