Isabella Graham

“ O then, my darling, hold fast by your Redeemer: he is the Lord your righteousness, and the Lord your strength; he connects your profit with his own glory. You shall in this protracted affliction manifest it, and hold out the word of life to those around you.* You shall witness for him that he is the Lord, and besides him there is no Saviour — that he gathers the lambs in his arms, and carries them in his bosom — that he is to them a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest — as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. ”

“ The whole and every part of it is God's covenant. To me it must be a testament, the new testament in Christ's blood. To me it must be a covenant of gifts and promises. I can be no party, having nothing to give; nothing with which to covenant. He hath said, 'Thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help.' Amen. Be my help, my deliverer.
"'Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be saved; for I am God, and there is none else.' I do look unto thee alone for salvation. Thou art God; there is none else: besides thee there is no Saviour. ”

“ I have witnessed it, I have felt it — suffered the rod with them and for them, but waited for the fruits in hope; and glory to thee, dear Husband and Father, I have not waited in vain. Thou hast written vanity, and opened our eyes to read vanity written on every earthly enjoyment, except so far as thou art enjoyed in them. Thou hast enabled not only thine aged servant, but her children, to put a blank into thy hand, and to say, 'Choose thou for us.' We take hold of thy covenant, and choose it for our portion. ”

“ Do I, O my God, seek for or desire any other foundation? Are not all my hopes for time and eternity built on this foundation? Is not Christ all my salvation and all my desire? Do I not embrace thy covenant just as it is, believing that thou givest unto me eternal life, and that this life is in thy Son, whom thou hast given 'to be a covenant of the people.' Iniquities prevail against me; but thou wilt not only purge them away, but wilt subdue them. Sin shall not have dominion over me, for I am not tinder the law, but under grace. ”

“ If conscious at the time it is the supreme desire of your soul to be washed in his blood, clothed with his righteousness, sanctified by his Spirit, go and take this water of life freely; go as a sinner to a Saviour; go at his command, put honor on his appointment, and repeat the dedication of all that you are, have, or can have, over the symbols of his body broken for you, his blood shed for you; go, trusting in his mercy, and leave all to his management, believing that he will shed abroad his love in your heart, order your footsteps in his ways, and in due time perfect his image in your soul. ”

“ How little do we know of thy work. Many of those providences which appear to us dark and dismal, are wheels turning round 'the truth of thy salvation;' opening our blinded eyes to the issues of sin, and also delivering from the snares of the devil. Deal not, O Lord, with me, and mine, as our iniquities deserve; this has never been thy way with us; but according to thy former loving-kindness, and to all the long-suffering, patience, and pardoning mercy which thy aged servant has experienced through her sinful guilty pilgrimage. Thou hast forgiven me all the way from Egypt. ”

“ Glorify thy name. 'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest and every green tree therein; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.'
"'For if by one man's offence, death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Christ Jesus. ”

“ If thou turn us not, we shall never turn; it is in our nature to backslide for ever.
"But is not the time come to pass when before thy people call thou answerest, and while they are yet speaking, thou hearest? Art thou not calling with power, 'Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings?' and hast thou not prepared their hearts to answer, Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God? truly, in vain is salvation looked for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains; truly, from the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. ”

“ We are not called to stoicism, but to tenderness of heart and spirit. Jesus wept with the two sisters over a brother's grave. But still, the Christian's spirit must be resigned, and say, and try to say with cheerfulness, 'Not my will, but thine be done.' And Oh, my friend, great will be the wisdom and happy the acquisition, if every new bereavement enlarge the room for divine love in the heart, and be filled up with that most noble, most blessed of principles. Seek not, my friend, to replace friendship with any mere worldling; beg of God to fill up the vacuum, then will you be a great gainer. ”

“ I shall soon leave the mortal and join the immortal; five have joined the head, six remain; and one I know nothing of, more than that I cast him on the Lord, and look for mercy. I thank my God that he gave you the grace of resignation, and supported you in the solitary confinement. Alas, my child, did you listen for the voice of your babe? O, what a suspense; but let me stop — he had reached maturity ere that time; without the fight, obtained the victory; he is of the travail of the Redeemer's soul; children are God's heritage, the fruit of the womb his reward. ”

“ Thou hast followed him with thy preserving mercy and temporal bounty. He is still in the land of the living, and among those who are called to look unto thee and live. Still thou feedest my hopes of better things for him. Thou sufferest my prayers to lie on the table of thy covenant. I will trust, I will hope, I will believe, that in an accepted time thou wilt hear me, and in a day of thy power thou wilt bow his stubborn will, and lay him an humble suppliant at thy feet. Oh, I trust thou wilt bring this poor prodigal to himself, and turn his steps towards his Father's house. ”

“ The God of mercy prepared their hearts to pray, and his ear to hear, and the answer did not tarry. Behold, my husband prayeth; confesses sin; applies to the Saviour; pleads for forgiveness for his sake; receives comfort; blesses God for Jesus Christ, and dies with these words on his tongue, 'I hold fast by the Saviour,' Behold another wonder; the idolatress in an ecstasy of joy. She who never could realize a separation for one single minute during his life, now resigns her heart's treasure with praise and thanksgiving. ”

“ If we forsake thy laws, and go astray; if we depart from thee and break thy commandments, wilt thou visit our faults with rods, and our sins with chastisements. Blessed promise; amen, Lord, do as thou hast said: seeing thy loving-kindness is secured to us, and thou wilt not cast us off from being thy people, nor alter that which thou hast spoken; wilt thou keep us as the apple of thine eye? wilt thou cover us with the shadow of thy wing? Art thou my Husband? art thou the Father of my fatherless children? wilt thou be the stay of these orphans, and their and my shield in a strange land? ”

“ Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, for he has redeemed me with his blood. Worthy is the Lamb to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing — to him, to him alone, be the praise; who, of an heir of hell, hath made an heir of heaven, by a substitutional righteousness wrought out in his own person: mine by free gift, in which I am completely justified. ”

“ I know that I am delivered from sin as a master; it hath not dominion over my will, nor entire dominion over my affections; I would be thine, thy servant, thy child, thine in all obedience. I feel this new principle in the desires of my soul. I would do all things to thee, in act and in principle. But O, Lord, the old man is still here, harassing and hindering my new will, which I have received from thee, from acting with freedom and energy. Unhallowed motives steal in, by-ends present themselves; and when outward duty is attained to, there is more of sin than of righteousness. ”

“ I am the chief of sinners, the chief of backsliders; every thing in me, of me, or by me, is vile as far as it is mine. All that is otherwise, all good implanted in me, or done by me, is thine own; it is grace, free grace, the purchase of thine own Anointed, my dear Redeemer, my dying, risen, ascended Saviour, and the fruit of the Holy Ghost, the sent of the Father and of the Son, to set up a kingdom of righteousness in the hearts of the redeemed. ”

“ Alas, Lord, we have, Jeshurun-like, 'waxed fat and kicked;' we have left our first love; we have not watched and prayed, as thou gavest commandment, and thou hast left us to enter into temptation; we have forsaken the counsel of our old men, and given heed to flatterers; we have forgotten our dependence on thee, and said, 'Ashur shall save us, we will ride upon horses.' We have set up our idols in our hearts, and put the stumbling-block of our iniquity before our eyes; we have taken counsel, but not of thee, and covered ourselves with a covering, but not of thy Spirit ”

“ Not that I am yet made free from sin, that is still my burden — want of love and gratitude, indolence in commanded duty, self-will, and nestling in the creature. But my heart's wish and earnest desire is conformity to the divine will. The bent of my will is for God; and if my heart deceive me not, my God is the centre of my best affections. It is by grace that I am what I am, and the same grace engages to perfect the work begun.
"This God is my God; he will guide me even unto death, through death, and be my portion to eternity. ”

“ You know how sweet it is, in the time of tumultuous distress, when the spirit is overwhelmed, when God's mercy seems clean gone for ever, and his promise to fail, how sweet to get even a lean upon the Saviour; but when he, as he does at times, takes the soul out of itself, and away from forebodings, reasonings, and suppositions, to his own divine attributes, and gives it a believing view of its interest in them all, in his wisdom as unerring, his power as almighty, his goodness as boundless, his faithfulness unchanging ”

“ The omniscient, the omnipresent, the omnipotent God is our God, and the God of our house; all that he is is ours, to bless us. Behold, God is become our salvation. Every endearing name known among men he takes to himself, to inspire us with pleasing, confiding love — every name that connects the idea of protection, to keep our minds in quiet peace, in the assurance of safety: Father, Husband, Brother, Friend, Prophet, Priest, King, Physician, Help, Health, Light, Life, Counsellor, Guide, Sanctuary, Anchor — but I should fill my sheet. ”

“ Hast thou not, O God, prepared the hearts of thy people to pray, and thine ear to hear? Is not this Bible Society, and are not these associations for prayer, tokens from thee for good? More and more, Lord, may thy people give thee no rest, until thou make Zion a praise in the earth. O the Hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof, be not as a wayfaring man, that turneth aside for a night. May thy people constrain thee to abide with us for ever, to form us a people for thyself, to show forth thy praise. ”

“ O what a God of patience and long-suffering. And O how rich that well-ordered covenant, that provides suitable grace for all these unsteady seasons. It is my greatest consolation that the Lord knows it all. There are times when I cannot see him, but every moment he sees me. I should fall off and leave him, but he holds me fast and never leaves me. O blessed plan, where God secures us in safety, even from ourselves. We have not only destroyed ourselves, and he has been our help; but we are ever destroying ourselves, and still he renews this help. ”

“ Lord, all things are possible with thee: glorify thy Son, and extend his kingdom by sea and land; take the prey from the strong. I roll him over upon thee. Many friends try to comfort me; miserable comforters are they all. Thou art the God of consolation; only confirm to me thy gracious word, on which thou causedst me to hope in the day when thou saidst to me, 'Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive.' Only let this life be a spiritual life, and I put a blank in thy hand as to all temporal things. 'I wait for thy salvation.' Amen. ”

“ Let the days come when the children of America — the earth is the Lord's — shall 'come with weeping, and seek the Lord their God;' when 'they shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward;' when they shall come, saying, 'Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, never to be forgotten.' O the Hope of Israel and Saviour thereof, is not that day and that time come? ”

“ In holy sovereignty and consummate wisdom thou afflictest, and in thy hand afflictions yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness: the hearts of thy people are melted, and they sing of mercy and of judgment, and glorify thy name. But, O Lord, a look, such as thou gavest to Peter, will melt our hearts and restore our backsliding souls. The announcing of our pardon by the same power, will make them overflow with love. If thou but call us by name, as thou didst her who sought thee at thy sepulchre, with the same power we shall recognize our Saviour and worship him. ”