_Hide thyself by the brook. 1 Kings xvii. 3._ Not by the _river_, but by the _brook_. The river would always contain an abundant supply, but the brook might dry up at any moment. What does this teach us? God does not place His people in luxuriance here. The world's abundance might withdraw their affections from Him. He gives them not the river, but the brook. The brook may be running to-day, to-morrow it may be dried up. And wherefore does God act thus? To teach us that we are not to rest in His gifts and blessings, but in Himself. This is what our hearts are always doing--resting in the gift, instead of the Giver. Therefore God cannot trust us by the river, for it unconsciously takes up His place in the heart. It is said of Israel that when they were full they forgot God.--_F. Whitfield._ =May 24th.= _His kingdom ruleth over all. Psa. ciii. 19._ _His kingdom ruleth over all_--therefore thou canst find nothing which is not matter for praise, since there is nothing which is not the matter of thy Lord's gracious permission, or planning, or control. _Over all_--nowhere canst thou step outside His realm, nor in anything get beyond His care and government. _Over all_--therefore take all as from God; hold all as from God; and by thy gratitude give all back to God again, and thus complete the circle, making Him the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending of all things.--_Mark Guy Pearse._ =May 25th.= _If we suffer we shall also reign with Him. 2 Tim. ii. 12._ The highest bidder for the crown of glory is the lowliest wearer of the cross of self-denial.--_A. J. Gordon._ =May 26th.= _Keep thy heart with all diligence: for out of it are the issues of life. Prov. iv. 23._ He who would keep his heart pure and holy, must plant a sentinel at every avenue by which sin may find access there, guarding against none more than the "little" sins, as they are called. The man of God has his _eyes_ to keep, and so Job said, "I have made a covenant with mine eyes"--his _tongue_, and hence the exhortation, "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile"--his _ears_, and hence the warning, "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err"--his _feet_, and hence David says, "I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Thy word." And since there is no gate of the five senses by which the enemy may not come in like a flood, unless the Spirit lift up a standard against him, we have need to guard every port, and write over every portal, "Here there entereth nothing to hurt or to defile."--_Guthrie._ =May 27th.= _Whatsoever ye do, . . . do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Col. iii. 17._ Do little things as if they were great, because of the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ, who dwells in thee; and do great things as if they were little and easy, because of His omnipotence.--_Pascal._ =May 28th.=