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

"Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, He hath bid His guests." -Zephaniah 1:7 [KJV] My soul, here is a portion of God's word, which, like the pillar of the cloud in the camp of Israel, hath a double aspect; it becomes a cloud of trembling indeed, of darkness, dread, and fear, to all who, spiritually considered, are yet in Egyptian bondage, but a glorious refreshing light to the people of God. The presence of the Lord God is a solemn presence to all, and will command silence, yea, a trembling. "The LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him." And is the day of the Lord at hand? Yea, verily, every day brings it nearer; every breath, every pulse that beats, shortens the distance. There is, there must be, a day, in which "the Lord will judge the world in righteousness, and minister true judgment unto the people."     And observe...

"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD... I also have heard thee, saith the LORD." -II Kings 22:19 [KJV]   This tenderness of heart was a mark in Josiah, on which the Lord, so to speak, put His finger; it was a special token for good which God selected from all the rest, as a testimony in His favour. The heart is always tender which God has touched with His finger; this tenderness being the fruit of the impression of the Lord's hand upon the conscience. You may know the difference between a natural conscience and a heart tender in God's fear by this, that the natural conscience is always superstitious and uncertain; as the Lord says, it "strains out a gnat, and swallows a camel." It is exceedingly observant of self-inflicted austerities, and very fearful of breaking through self-imposed rules; and whilst it will commit sin which a man who has the fear of God in his heart would not do for the world, it wil...