“O Lord, I am ignorant; I know not the mind of the Spirit of promise as thou knowest it.  The promise of the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the earth, of the corn, the wine, and the oil is thine, as are all others.  I am ignorant how far this refers to spiritual prosperity, how far to temporal.  I ask, O Lord, covenant provision, the fruit of the seed sown in the hearts of men by thine own Spirit; and that thou mayest build the ruined cities of thy churches, and fill them ’with men like a flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men, and they shall know that thou art the Lord.’  Thy fair, thy rich, thy beautiful creation is also the fruit of grace.  The wicked possess it, but they enjoy it not.  Thy people are the heirs, but thou, as a wise and merciful Father, givest them to possess according as thy wisdom sees safe and good for them.  When with the things of this world they imbibe the spirit of the men of the world; when they nestle in thy gifts and forget the Giver; when they enjoy with a carnal spirit, and not with thankfulness and a due sense of their dependence on thee as the God of providence as well as of grace; thou, in mercy as in sovereignty, blastest their pleasant things, mixest their cup of prosperity with wormwood and gall, or sweepest all away with a turn of thy hand, that thou mayest teach them that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; that thou mayest withdraw them from sinful purposes, and hide pride from them; that thou mayest open their ears to instruction, and seal it on their hearts:  thou dashest to pieces their broken cisterns, that thou mayest lead them back to the fountain of living waters.

“It is good, O Lord, all good; I lay hold upon it:  be thou the provider of me and mine; feed us with food convenient for us.  Thine own word testifies that ’every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.’  I and the children for whom I pray, possess many, yea, and abundance of temporal good things.  O Lord, give suitable grace, grace for grace.  Spirit of grace, keep us thankful, humble, dependent, spiritual; enable us to receive all through a covenant channel, as the provision of our Father by the way, through this wilderness.  O may all be sanctified by thy word and prayer, and we be enabled ‘to eat and drink to thy glory.’  Amen.

“Read the 138th Psalm:  ’Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly; though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me.  The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me; thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever; forsake not the works of thine own hands.’

“Redeeming work is thy work; regenerating work is thy work; sanctifying work is also thine.

“The first is finished, the second begun, to be perfected in the third.  O Lord, I hang on thy promises, which with Christ are all mine, though I have not at all times the savor of them; this is mine infirmity, and often my sin.  O keep me looking unto Jesus.”