for this, that it may easily give rise to a sort of spiritual jealousy, making it difficult to believe that the God who has given Himself to millions of others should receive us alone into absolute intimacy and show us the secret of His covenant. Does it seem improper to pray, "Come Lord to me alone, and close the door, that I may have Thee to myself for a day and an hour?" Should this feeling come to us and perplex us, the best way to meet it is to consider the existence of the same mystery in the relation of earthly parents to their children. It matters not whether there be one or ten, each child has the full affection of the father's and mother's heart. If we that are creatures can experience the working of this miracle in our finite lives, how much more can the infinite God be present to a countless number of souls and give to each one of them the same ineffable gift? He is God and not man, the Holy One, both in our midst and in our hearts.
Finally, the possession and enjoyment of Jehovah by Israel has according to the prophet a transforming effect. Here we touch upon the greatest wonder in our fruition of God. This tree, unlike the probation-tree of paradise, has the veritable power of making man like unto God. Those who dwell together in the holy companionship of the covenant grow like unto each other. There is a magic assimilative influence in all the spiritual intimacies of life. But here the mystery is deepest, because it plays between God and man. It works in both directions: as it has caused God's gift of Himself to us to as-
