"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

 Thy presence, gracious God, afford; Prepare us to receive Thy word; Now let Thy voice engage our ear, And faith be mixed with what we hear; Thus, Lord, Thy waiting servants bless,  And crown Thy gospel with success. [Distracting thoughts and cares remove, And fix our hearts and hopes above;  With food divine may we be fed, And satisfied with living bread.  Thus, Lord, Thy waiting servants bless, And crown Thy gospel with success.] To us the sacred Word  apply, With sovereign power and energy;  And may we, in Thy faith and fear,  Reduce to practice what we hear.  Thus, Lord, Thy waiting servants bless, And crown Thy gospel with success.  Father, in us Thy Son reveal; Teach us to know and do Thy will; Thy saving power and love display,  And guide us to the realms of day. Thus, Lord, Thy waiting servants bless, And crown Thy gospel with success. -Tune: "Faith Of Our Fathers"

  "They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in." - Psalm 107:4 [KJV]   "They wandered in the wilderness   in a solitary way;" —a way not tracked; a path in which each has to walk alone; a road where no company cheers him, and without landmarks to direct his course. This is a mark peculiar to the child of God— that the path by which he travels is, in his own feelings, a solitary way. This much increases his exercises, that they appear peculiar to himself. His perplexities are such as he cannot believe any living soul is exercised with; the fiery darts which are cast into his mind by the wicked one are such as he thinks no child of God has ever experienced; the darkness of his soul, the unbelief and infidelity of his heart, and the workings of his powerful corruptions, are such as he supposes none ever knew but himself. To be without any comfort except what God gives, without any guidance but what the Lord affords, wi...