DURING the troublous times of Scotland, when the popish court and aristocracy were arming themselves to suppress the Reformation in that land, and the cause of Protestant Christianity was in imminent peril, late on a certain night, John Knox was seen to leave his study, and to pass from the house down into an enclosure to the rear of it. He was followed by a friend; when, after a few moments of silence, his voice was heard as if in prayer. In another moment, the accents deepened into intelligible words, and the earnest petition went up from his struggling soul to Heaven, "O Lord, give me Scotland, or I die!" Then a pause of hushed stillness, when again the petition broke forth, "O Lord, give me Scotland, or I die!" Once more all was voiceless and noiseless, when with a yet more intense pathos, the thrice-repeated intercession struggled forth, "O Lord, give me Scotland or I die!" And God gave him Scotland, in spite of Mary and her Cardinal Beaton; a land and a Church of noble Christian loyalty to Christ and his crown. How could it be otherwise?
So Luther when Germany and the Reformation seemed to be lost, and human help was none; this was the prayer which that second Moses went and laid down at the foot of the eternal throne: "O God, Almighty God, everlasting! how dreadful is this world! behold how its mouth opens to swallow me up, and how small is my faith in thee! If I am to depend upon any strength of the world, all is over. The knell is struck. Sentence is gone forth. O God! O God! O thou my God! help me against all the wisdom of the world. Thou shouldst do this. The work is not mine, but thine. I have no business here. The cause is thine, and it is righteous and everlasting. O Lord, help me. O faithful and unchangeable God! I lean not on man. My God, my God, dost thou not hear? My God art thou no longer living? Nay, thou canst not die. Thou dost not hide thyself. Thou hast chosen me for this work. I know it. Therefore, O God, accomplish thine own will. Forsake me not for the sake of thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, my defence, my buckler, and my stronghold."
But he had not done. Once more the tide of emotion and importunity burst forth, "Lord where art thou? My God, where art thou? Come, I pray thee; I am ready. Behold me prepared to lay down my life for thy truth. For the cause is holy. It is thine own. I will not let thee go; no, nor yet for all eternity! My soul is thine. Yes, I have thine own word to assure me of it. My soul belongs to thee, and will abide with thee forever. Amen! O God, send help! Amen!"
The history of the salvation and sanctification of human souls hitherto, is the history of such praying as this, in spirit, if not in these or any uttered words. Such holy earnestness and familiarity never offends the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through him is the God of all grace and consolation.—Family Treasury.