with thee at Hermon?  Hast thou never been on the Delectable Mountains?  Hast thou never been fetched from the den of lions?  Hast thou never escaped the jaw of the lion and the paw of the bear?  Nay, O man, I know thou hast; go back, then, a little way, and take the mercies of yesterday; and tho it is dark now, light up the lamps of yesterday, and they shall glitter through the darkness, and thou shalt find that God hath given thee a song in the night.

But I think, beloved, there is never so dark a night, but there is something to sing about, even concerning that night; for there is one thing I am sure we can sing about, let the night be ever so dark, and that is, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, and because His compassions fail not.”  If we cannot sing very loud, yet we can sing a little low tune, something like this—­“He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”

“Oh!” says one, “I do not know where to get my dinner from to-morrow.  I am a poor wretch.”  So you may be, my dear friend; but you are not so poor as you deserve to be.  Do not be mightily offended about that; if you are, you are no child of God; for the child of God acknowledges that he has no right to the least of God’s mercies, but that they come through the channel of grace alone.  As long as I am out of hell, I have no right to grumble; and if I were in hell I should have no right to complain, for I feel, when convinced of sin, that never creature deserved to go there more than I do.  We have no cause to murmur; we can lift up our hands, and say, “Night! thou art dark, but thou mightst have been darker.  I am poor, but, if I could not have been poorer, I might have been sick.  I am poor and sick—­well, I have some friend left, my lot cannot be so bad, but it might have been worse.”  And therefore, Christian, you will always have one thing to sing about—­“Lord, I thank Thee, it is not all darkness!” Besides, Christian, however dark the night is, there is always a star or moon.  There is scarce ever a night that we have, but there are just one or two little lamps burning up there.  However dark it may be, I think you may find some little comfort, some little joy, some little mercy left, and some little promise to cheer thy spirit.  The stars are not put out, are they?  Nay, if thou canst not see them, they are there; but methinks one or two must be shining on thee; therefore give God a song in the night.  If thou hast only one star, bless God for that one, perhaps He will make it two; and if thou hast only two stars, bless God for the two stars, and perhaps He will make them four.  Try, then, if thou canst not find a song in the night.