Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. (Psalm 23:6)
A devout poet sings
Lord, when thou
Puttest in my time a day,
as thou dost now,
Unknown in other years, grant, I entreat,
Such grace illumine it, that whate’er its phase
It add to holiness, and lengthen praise!
This day comes but once in four years…. Up till now goodness and mercy, like two guards, have followed us from day to day, bringing up the rear even as grace leads the van; and as this out-of-the-way day is one of the days of our life, the two guardian angels will be with us today also. Goodness to supply our needs and mercy to blot out our sins—these twain shall attend our every step this day and every day till days shall be no more. Wherefore, let us serve the Lord on this peculiar day with special consecration of heart and sing His praises with more zest and sweetness than ever. Could we not today make an unusual offering to the cause of God or to the poor? By inventiveness of love let us make this twenty-ninth of February a day to be remembered forever.
