In his sorrows sympathizing,

Canst thou make his griefs thine own? Should he cease with hope to bless thee, Should dark fears and doubts distress thee, Still confiding, couldst thou say,

"Jesus, thou art all my stay?"

MARCH 1.

Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.-2 CORINTHIANS iv. 17.

BUT darker now grows life's unhappy day,

Dark with new clouds of evil yet to come; Her pencil sickening fancy throws away,

And weary hope reclines upon the tomb, And points my wishes to that tranquil shore, Where the pale spectre care pursues no more.

CHARLOTTE SMITH.

MARCH 2.

For I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat.

LEVITICUS xvi. 2.

FROM every stormy wind that blows,
From every swelling tide of woes,
There is a calm, a sure retreat,

'Tis found beneath the mercy-seat.

There is a place where Jesus sheds
The oil of gladness on our heads;
A place than all besides more sweet,
It is the blood-bought mercy-seat.

Oh let my hand forget her skill,
My tongue be silent, cold, and still,
This bounding heart forget to beat,
If I forget thy mercy-seat.

MARCH 3.

And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one to say unto him, Lord, is it I ?-MATT. xxvi. 22.

If a traitor was found 'mid the privileged few,

If its own hidden treason each heart could

descry;

Let my poor startled conscience each moment review

The anxious inquiry, "O Lord, is it I?"

Oh, thou searcher of hearts, whose mystical line
Can fathom a breast too deceitful for me,

Try all the recesses and windings of mine,
And help me to cast all its sorrows on Thee.

MARCH 4.

Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. ISAIAH liii. 4.

He knelt, the Saviour knelt and prayed,

When but his Father's eye

Looked through the lonely garden's shade,

On that dread agony.

And was the sinless thus beset,

With anguish and dismay?

How may we meet our conflict yet,

In the dark, narrow way ?

Through Him-through Him that path who trod, Save or we perish, Son of God.

MARCH 5.

I am afflicted very much; quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.-PSALM cxix. 107.

CONSIDER all my sorrows, Lord,

And thy deliverance send;
My soul for thy salvation faints,
When will my trouble end?

I know thy judgments, Lord, are right,

Though they may seem severe;

The sharpest sufferings I endure,

Flow from thy faithful care.

MARCH 6.

For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.-HEB. iv. 15.

WHERE high the heavenly temple stands,
The house of God not made with hands,
A great High Priest our nature wears,
The advocate of saints appears.

Our fellow-sufferer yet retains,
A fellow-feeling in our pains;
And still remembers in the skies,
His tears, and agonies, and cries.

MARCH 7.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.-HEB. iv. 16.

JESUS! in sickness and in pain,

Be near to succor me;