Part 1

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THOUGHTS

FOR

THE QUIET HOUR

Edited By D. L. Moody

Fleming H. Revell Company CHICAGO : NEW YORK : TORONTO _Publishers of Evangelical Literature_

Copyrighted 1900 by Fleming H. Revell Company

TO THE READER

One of the brightest signs of the times is that many Christians in our Young People's Societies and churches are observing a "Quiet Hour" daily. In this age of rush and activity we need some special call to go apart and be alone with God for a part of each day. Any man or woman who does this faithfully and earnestly cannot be more than twenty-four hours away from God.

The selections given in this volume were first published in the monthly issues of the "_Record of Christian Work_," and were found very helpful for devotional purposes. They are also a mine of thoughts, to light up the verses quoted. Being of permanent value, it has been thought desirable to transfer them from the pages of the magazine to this permanent volume.

May they have a helpful ministry, leading many into closer communion with God!

Index of Texts Quoted in This Volume.

=Genesis= 1: 4, 34 2: 7, 36 3: 3, 71 9, 5 24, 109 4:15, 105 6: 8, 128 12: 1, 18 13:12, 124 15, 37 16: 9, 94 18:17, 96 25: 8, 18, 28 11, 68 28:12, 102 15, 60 16, 69, 102 32: 1, 24 32, 119 33: 1, 111

=Exodus= 2: 3, 32 4:13, 32 14:13, 6 19, 112 20: 3, 81 24:18, 11 28: 2, 12 33:14, 88 34: 2, 25

=Numbers= 9:23, 20 11:14, 51 13:27, 38 28, 38

=Deuteronomy= 1: 2, 26 4: 1, 102 18:14, 80 33:25, 63, 69

=Joshua= 4:21, 20 5:14, 26 23:11, 7 24:15, 114

=Judges= 6:14, 78 8:18, 38

=I. Samuel= 1:10, 128 13, 128 27, 50 28, 50 2: 3, 23 12:24, 43

=II. Samuel= 5:19, 57 22:36, 24

=I. Kings= 2:34, 106 8:12, 94 13, 94 17: 3, 52 10, 113

=II. Kings= 6:17, 11 10: 5, 74 25:30, 39, 113

=I. Chronicles= 4:23, 92

=Job= 5:17, 100

=Psalms= 5: 3, 12 16:11, 110 19:12, 74, 124 21: 4, 90 23: 2, 38 3, 31 25: 4, 12 32: 8, 93 34: 1, 51 19, 6 39: 3, 52 55:22, 58 62: 5, 40 63: 1, 45 65: 3, 112 78:14, 91 90: 1, 114 12, 96 91: 3, 104 9, 119 11, 98 100:2, 95 103:2, 122 4, 122 19, 53 118:14, 6 119:117, 72 134: 1, 17 3, 17 145: 2, 9 16, 17

=Proverbs= 4:18, 34 23, 53 11:25, 121 13:25, 47 16:32, 50 27: 1, 21

=Ecclesiastes= 9:10, 78

=Song of Solomon= 1: 5, 57 6, 37 2: 3, 13 15, 35 3: 1, 30 4:16, 70 7:10, 57

=Isaiah= 6: 5, 51 30:18, 19 32:20, 72 40: 8, 104 31, 10, 31, 42, 80 41:13, 43 14, 21 43: 2, 112 48:10, 94 49: 5, 14 23, 44 50:10, 105 56: 2, 72

=Jeremiah= 18: 4, 113 22:21, 104

=Ezekiel= 12: 8, 36 34:26, 85 36:37, 88 37: 3, 101

=Daniel= 5: 1, 122 6:20, 15 9: 9, 89 10: 8, 109

=Hosea= 6: 3, 18

=Jonah= 1:11, 125

=Micah= 7: 8, 100

=Zechariah= 4:10, 64, 116 13: 1, 56

=Malachi= 3: 6, 85 18, 123

=Matthew= 2:10, 100 13, 106 5:14, 45, 55 16, 106 45, 35 48, 65 6: 6, 95 32, 75 33, 30 8: 6, 72 10: 8, 68 42, 52 14:14, 81 23, 81 22, 59 15:28, 44 20:18, 92 28, 93 25:21, 59 26, 59 24-26, 44 26:39, 15 40, 40 27:32, 54 28:16, 107 18, 107 19, 107 20, 41

=Mark= 2: 3, 122 5:36, 99 6:41, 123 7:34, 46 10:17, 120 13:34, 22 14:41, 65 50, 121

=Luke= 2:10, 107 13, 126 14, 126 5: 3, 77 5, 85 7: 5, 19 10:29, 115 39, 98 14:10, 126 11, 49 27, 62 16:10, 8 24:16, 31 18, 13 31, 32 34, 47

=John= 1: 4, 45 36, 71 37, 71 45, 23 46, 23 2:3-5, 48, 76 11, 91 3: 8, 23 4: 6, 67 8, 67 39, 67 34, 40, 70 6:57, 29 8: 9, 110 29, 27 11: 9, 14 21-24, 58 12: 4, 68 6, 6 20:21, 56 25, 124 27, 124 29, 9 21: 3, 37 10, 22 12, 101

=Acts= 1: 3, 67 4, 61, 97 8, 28, 60 2: 1, 61 4, 61 41, 47 4:10, 64 13, 79, 99 6: 5, 20 8:21, 64 19:38, 94 11:26, 123 13: 2, 64 47, 60 14:8-10, 57 17: 6, 63, 119 20:19, 82 24, 119 28, 90 27:23-25, 42

=Romans= 5: 3, 46 6: 4, 15 7:11, 75 8:28, 11, 31 13:11, 89 15:13, 90

=I. Corinthians= 1: 7, 30 28, 95 3:10, 69 7:32, 87 10:12, 76 11: 1, 82 13:13, 124 15:58, 46

=II. Corinthians= 1:21, 116 22, 116 13:5, 114 17, 65

=Galatians= 1: 4, 55 2:20, 96, 103, 115 3:27, 58 6: 2, 33, 39 7, 25 9, 88 14, 127

=Ephesians= 1:13, 21 17, 109 18, 109 2:10, 78, 84 12, 120 21, 16 4:15, 113 5:8, 7, 77 15, 32

=Philippians= 1:21, 27 2:12 39, 41, 73 13, 39, 41, 73 3:13, 24 14, 24 4: 6, 42 12, 48 13, 55, 63 19, 8

=Colossians= 1:27, 96 3: 2, 46, 78 3, 75 11, 16 15, 87 16, 118 17, 54 24, 87 4: 2, 16, 76, 126

=I. Thessalonians= 5: 6, 66 8, 103 19, 27 24, 118

=I. Timothy= 1:15, 73 17, 73

=II. Timothy= 1:12, 61 2: 3, 62 12, 53, 86 15, 60

=Hebrews= 4: 9, 13 6:12, 125 19, 128 7:25, 127 10: 5, 27 19, 41 22, 41 32, 23, 118 11: 7, 83 8, 22 12: 1, 79 2, 79 2, 14 6, 47, 107, 117 13: 5, 118

=James= 1: 2, 8 4, 72 23, 125 25, 125 4: 4, 127 14, 123, 125

=I. Peter= 1:16, 96 21, 121 23, 86 2: 5, 20 21, 81 5: 5, 111

=II. Peter= 1: 5, 70 21, 121 3:18, 44, 74

=I. John= 1: 7, 48 9, 26 2: 6, 18 15, 17, 87 3: 2, 91 4:14, 88 16, 61, 98 18, 42 5: 4, 97

=Jude= 21, 28

=Revelation= 1:10, 117 11, 117 17, 66 2:10, 105 3:19, 20 4: 8, 30 7: 9, 34 22:12, 5 14, 109

=January 1st.=

_Come up in the morning . . . and present thyself . . . to me in the top of the mount. Ex. xxxiv. 2._

My Father, I am coming. Nothing on the mean plain shall keep me away from the holy heights. Help me to climb fast, and keep Thou my foot, lest it fall upon the hard rock! At Thy bidding I come, so Thou wilt not mock my heart. Bring with Thee honey from heaven, yea, milk and wine, and oil for my soul's good, and stay the sun in his course, or the time will be too short in which to look upon Thy face, and to hear Thy gentle voice.

Morning on the mount! It will make me strong and glad all the rest of the day so well begun.--_Joseph Parker._

=January 2nd.=

_My reward is with me. Rev. xxii. 12._

We are to be rewarded, not only for work done, but for burdens borne, and I am not sure but that the brightest rewards will be for those who have borne burdens without murmuring. On that day He will take the lily, that has been growing so long among thorns, and lift it up to be the glory and wonder of all the universe; and the fragrance of that lily will draw forth ineffable praises from all the hosts of heaven.--_Andrew Bonar._

=January 3rd.=

_Where art thou? Gen. iii. 9._

Art thou hiding thyself away from Him who would send thee forth to do His own blessed work in His own way? Oh, let me say to thee this morning, "The Lord hath need of thee." It may seem to be only a little thing He has for you to do, but it is an important one. He has "need of thee." Turn not thy back upon Him; put not thyself out of the way of being employed by Him; do not begin by laying down laws for thyself as to what thou wilt do and what thou wilt not do; but cry out from the very depth of thy heart, "Here am I, send me,"--_W. Hay Aitken._

=January 4th.=

_Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Psa. xxxiv. 19._

All the afflictions of the righteous open out into something glorious. The prisoner is not merely delivered, but he finds an angel waiting for him at the door. And with every deliverance comes a specific blessing. One angel is named faith; another, love; another, joy; another, longsuffering; another, gentleness; another, goodness; another, meekness; another, temperance; another, peace. Each of these graces says, "We have come out of great tribulation."--_G. Bowen._

=January 5th.=

_The Lord is my . . . song. Psa. cxviii. 14._

Let us think of God Himself becoming our song. This is the fulness and perfection of knowing God: so to know Him that He Himself becomes our delight; so to know Him that praise is sweetest, and fullest, and freshest, and gladdest, when we sing of Him. He who has learned this blessed secret carries the golden key of heaven--nay, he hath fetched heaven down to earth, and need not envy the angels now.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=January 6th.=

_Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Ex. xiv. 13._

Often God seems to place His children in positions of profound difficulty--leading them into a wedge from which there is no escape; contriving a situation which no human judgment would have permitted, had it been previously consulted. The very cloud conducts them thither. You may be thus involved at this very hour. It does seem perplexing and very serious to the last degree; but it is perfectly right. The issue will more than justify Him who has brought you hither. It is a platform for the display of His almighty grace and power. He will not only deliver you, but in doing so He will give you a lesson that you will never forget; and to which, in many a psalm and song in after days, you will revert. You will never be able to thank God enough for having done just as He has.--_F. B. Meyer._

=January 7th.=

_Now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light. Eph. v. 8._

The influence we exert in the world is created by our relationship to Jesus Christ; and our relationship to Jesus Christ is revealed by our influence.--_Selected._

=January 8th.=

_Take good heed therefore unto your souls. Josh. xxiii. 11._ (_Margin._)

Gold cannot be used for currency as long as it is mixed with the quartz and rock in which it lies imbedded. So your soul is useless to God till taken out from sin and earthliness and selfishness, in which it lies buried. By the regenerating power of the Spirit you must be separated unto Christ, stamped with His image and superscription, and made into a divine currency, which shall bear His likeness among men. The Christian is, so to speak, the circulating medium of Christ, the coin of the realm by whom the great transactions of mercy and grace to a lost world are carried on. As the currency stands for the gold, so does the Christian stand for Christ, representing His good and acceptable will.--_A. J. Gordon._

=January 9th.=

_He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much. Luke xvi. 10._

The least action of life can be as surely done from the loftiest motive as the highest and noblest. Faithfulness measures acts as God measures them. True conscientiousness deals with our duties as God deals with them. Duty is duty, conscience is conscience, right is right, and wrong is wrong, whatever sized type they be printed in. "Large" and "small" are not words for the vocabulary of conscience. It knows only two words--right and wrong.--_Alex. McLaren._

=January 10th.=

_My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phil. iv. 19._

What a source--"God"! What a standard--"His riches in glory"! What a channel--"Christ Jesus"! It is your sweet privilege to place _all your need_ over against _His riches_, and lose sight of the former in the presence of the latter. His exhaustless treasury is thrown open to you, in all the love of His heart; go and draw upon it, in the artless simplicity of faith, and you will never have occasion to look to a creature-stream, or lean on a creature-prop.--_C. H. M._

=January 11th.=

_Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. James i. 2._

We cannot be losers by trusting God, for He is honored by faith, and most honored when faith discerns His love and truth behind a thick cloud of His ways and providence. Happy those who are thus tried! Let us only be clear of unbelief and a guilty conscience. We shall hide ourselves in the rock and pavilion of the Lord, sheltered beneath the wings of everlasting love till all calamities be overpast.--_Selected._

=January 12th.=

_Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. John xx. 29._

The seen are shadows: the substance is found in the unseen. . . . No doubt, in Christ, the foundation of our faith is unseen; but so is that of yonder tower that lifts its tall erect form among the waves over which it throws a saving light. It appears to rest on the rolling billows; but, beneath these, invisible and immovable, lies the solid rock on which it stands secure; and when the hurricane roars above, and breakers roar below, I could go calmly to sleep in that lone sea tower. Founded on a rock, and safer than the proudest palace that stands on the sandy, surf-beaten shore, it cannot be moved. Still less the Rock of Ages! Who trusts in that is fit for death, prepared for judgment, ready for the last day's sounding trumpet, since, "The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants, and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate."--_Guthrie._

=January 13th.=

_Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit. John xv. 8._

What a possibility, what an inspiration, that we can enhance the glory of "our Father"! Our hearts leap at the thought.

How can this be done? By bearing "leaves,"--a _profession_ of love for Him? No. By bearing _some_ fruit? No. "That ye bear _much_ fruit." In the abundance of the yield is the joy, the glory of the husbandman. We should, therefore, aim to be extraordinary, "hundred-fold" Christians, satisfied with none but the largest yield. Our lives should be packed with good deeds. Then at harvest time we can say, "Father, I have glorified Thee on the earth!"--_W. Jennings._

=January 14th.=

_Every day will I bless Thee; and I will praise Thy name for ever and ever. Psa. cxlv. 2._

There is a very beautiful device by which the Japanese are accustomed to express their wishes for their friends. It is the figure of a drum in which the birds have built their nest. The story told of it is that once there lived a good king, so anxiously concerned for the welfare of his people that at the palace gate he set a drum, and whoever had any wrong to be redressed or any want, should beat the drum, and at once, by day or night, the king would grant the suppliant an audience and relief. But throughout the land there reigned such prosperity and contentment that none needed to appeal for anything, and the birds built their nests within it and filled it with the music of their song.

Such gracious access is granted to us even by the King of Heaven, and day and night His ready hearing and His help are within the reach of all that come to Him; but of all men most blessed are they who have found on earth a blessedness in which all want is forgotten, and trust rests so assured of safety in the Father's care that prayer gives place to ceaseless praise. They _rejoice in the Lord alway_.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=January 15th.=

_They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.--Isa. xl. 31._

This, my soul, is the triumph of thy being--to be able to _walk_ with God! Flight belongs to the young soul; it is the _romance_ of religion. To run without weariness belongs to the _lofty_ soul; it is the _beauty_ of religion. But to walk and not faint belongs to the _perfect_ soul; it is the _power_ of religion.

Canst thou walk in white through the stained thoroughfares of men? Canst thou touch the vile and polluted ones of earth and retain thy garments pure? Canst thou meet in contact with the sinful and be thyself undefiled? _Then_ thou hast surpassed the flight of the eagle!--_George Matheson._

=January 16th.=

_And Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. Ex. xxiv. 18._

The life of fellowship with God cannot be built up in a day. It begins with the habitual reference of all to Him, hour by hour, as Moses did in Egypt. But it moves on to more and longer periods of communion; and it finds its consummation and bliss in days and nights of intercession and waiting and holy intercourse.--_F. B. Meyer._

=January 17th.=

_Elisha said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. 2 Kings vi. 17._

This is the prayer we need to pray for ourselves and for one another, "Lord, open our eyes that we may see"; for the world all around us, as well as around the prophet, is full of God's horses and chariots, waiting to carry us to places of glorious victory. And when our eyes are thus opened, we shall see in all the events of life, whether great or small, whether joyful or sad, a "chariot" for our souls. Everything that comes to us becomes a chariot the moment we treat it as such; and, on the other hand, even the smallest trial may be a Juggernaut car to crush us into misery or despair if we so consider them. It lies with each of us to choose which they shall be. It all depends, not upon what these events are, but upon how we take them. If we lie down under them, and let them roll over us and crush us, they become Juggernaut cars, but if we climb up into them, as into a car of victory, and make them carry us triumphantly onward and upward, they become the chariots of God.--_Smith._

=January 18th.=

_All things work together for good to them that love God. Rom. viii. 28._

In one thousand trials it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer's good, but nine hundred and ninety-nine of them, AND ONE BESIDE.--_George Müller._

=January 19th.=

_Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron. Ex. xxviii. 2._

Have we no garments of blue, and purple, and beautiful suggestiveness? We have garments of praise; we are clothed with the Lord Jesus. And have we no ornaments? The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is, in the sight of God, of great price. And have we no golden bells? We have the golden bells of holy actions. Our words are bells, our actions are bells, our purposes are bells. Whenever we move, our motion is thus understood to be a motion towards holy places, holy deeds, holy character.--_Joseph Parker._

=January 20th.=

_My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up. Psa v. 3._