HAPPY indeed are those who can rise serenely above the disappointments of life which assail all at some time. Among these fortunates should be found the brethren and sisters of the Lord Jesus. They hold certain convictions which are all bound up with their complete trust in God and His word.

If they suffer disappointment through the conduct of their fellows they remember that the word says: “Put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man, for there is no help in them.” This is not an injunction to distrust one’s neighbour, but a warning against the fallibility and fickleness of human nature. We so tend to put those whom we love or respect on pedestals that their descent to ordinary levels is the more disconcerting. The true child of God shows a generosity of heart that forgives and forgets. It goes further. It continues to love the offender: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

CATHERINE MORGAN, Think on These Things, pages 11,12.

Psalms

146Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners: The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous: The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.