The Thirteenth of September.

WE WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE --- Song of Solomon 1:4.

"Draw me, we will run after thee. The King hath brought me into his chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine; the upright love thee." --- Song of Solomon 1:4.

"In thee the fatherless findeth mercy." --- Hosea 14:3.

The needle's point in the seaman's compass never stands still, but quivers and shakes till it comes right against the north pole. The wise men of the east never rested till they were right against the star which appeared unto them, and the star itself never stood still till it came right against that other Star, which shone more brightly in the manager than the sun did in the firmament: and Noah's dove could find no rest for the sole of her foot, all the while she was fluttering over the flood, till she returned to the ark with an olive branch in her mouth.

So the heart of every true Christian, which is the turtle-dove of Jesus Christ, can find no rest all the while hovering over the waters of the world, till with the silver wings of a dove, and the olive branch of faith, it flies to Jesus, the true Noah and rest of our souls, who puts forth his hand out of the ark, and, taking the dove in, receiveth it to himself.

In vain I seek for rest
In all-created good:
It leaves me still unblest,
And makes me cry for God:
And sure at rest I cannot be,
Until my heart finds rest in thee.

Devotion for September 13