life, the thoughts of his mind are, comparatively, like one who holds such a cabinet in his hand, and sends it to heaven, and it is opened in its ascent, and the precious things therein come to the angels, who are interiorly delighted with seeing and examining them. This delight of the angels is communicated to man, and makes consociation, and also a communication of perceptions."
It is by the Word that we are searched and tried; and it is by the Word that angelic ministrations are kept in. But, alas! how many thousands who have the Word in their possession yet neglect its daily perusal! And even among professed Christians, how many are there who read a portion daily, and of those who read, how many practically apply? What would become of us, were we left to ourselves? But our merciful Lord does not leave us. He operates upon us by His providential dispensations, and as these to us are often dark and mysterious. He does not always disclose the end He has in view, but we are led into trial and temptation, to humble us and prove us: He allures us into the wilderness; or He takes from us the props on which we leaned and delighted to rest; He removes our selfish supports, He bends our stubborn wills. He leads us through circuitous paths, until He has weakened self-dependence, and brought us to an acknowledgment of our utter inability and weakness. Thus does the Lord search us and know our hearts, thus does He try us and know our anxious thoughts; and the issue is, an humble dependence on the Lord, and a constant prayer that the Lord may lead us in the way everlasting.
