THOUGHTS ON SILENT WORSHIP.

It is possible that on glancing at the above title, the mental exclamation of some may be, "What a trite subject! We have been schooled into it from childhood, and are perfectly familiar with every argument for and against it. Let us at least have something new and striking." But we may remember that there are some things which, though ancient, are ever new. The blessings showered upon us by our Father in Heaven, though so ancient as to have their source in that which is without beginning, are nevertheless "new every morning." The late Job Scott, in one of his sermons preached in this country, after quoting, "He brought me up out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and hath set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings, and hath put a new song into my mouth," continued, "And though sung by saints on earth, and by angels and archangels in the regions of bliss, it still continues to be a new and living song." And thus we might say that Silent Worship, though offered by saints on earth, and by a great multitude which no man can number, together with angels and archangels in heaven (see Revelation vii. and viii.) still continues, and ever will be a new and living worship. We are familiar with the complaints that are so often made against the manner in which our meetings are conducted; but what is the true cause of these complaints? Not that we have so much, but so little silent worship. Oh! we can none of us complain of real silent worship; for in proportion as we have been so

blessed as to know any measure of this exercise, we have had to acknowledge not only that all worldly pleasures, but even that all other religious privileges were unworthy to be compared with this unspoken union and communion with our God, and have realized the truth of the Psalmist's words, "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand," and that in His presence is fulness of joy. No; the irksomeness of which we have complained has been the irksomeness of a formal and dead silence, wherein our minds have been beset by worldly worldly thoughts, the current of which there has seemed no power to resist or control. We have heard that expression peculiar to our religious Society-" silent waiting". quoted with contempt, yet, is it not full of meaning? Those holy men, the first Friends, seldom adopted any custom or expression without solid ground for it; and it is because in so many instances the empty form has taken the place of the substance that these expressions have lost their deep meaning. Silent waiting would be a term most inappropriately applied to the silence which prevailed over a company whose thoughts were roaming hither and thither, to the farm, to the merchandize, to the family cares, or to the objects of mere earthly love. It belongs only to those who do wait or watch not idly, not listlessly, but "with their loins girded and their lamps burning, as those who wait for their Lord." There is a distinction between waiting and worship: the silent waiter expects the blessing not yet poured out, and "he putteth his mouth as in the dust." The silent worshipper has found what he sought; has been admitted into the presence of his Lord, and he cries, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty."

We know well the difference between a living and a dead silence in things less solemn than worship. Let us for a moment picture to ourselves a family

group in an hour of expectation or waiting. The father has been absent in foreign lands,-months have rolled away since his beloved countenance last shone upon his wife and children;-fervent have been the prayers offered up for his safety, many the alternations of hope and fear; but now the prayers have all been answered; the fear is almost at an end, and the hope is just about to be realized. Tidings of his landing have been received, and in half-an-hour he will be at home. Oh! who can measure the throbbings of that wife's heart, as with her children around her, all capable of entering into the intense feeling of the moment, she awaits the fruition of so many hopes and prayers. They are waiting! How? Words are needless. There is breathless silence; but each knows what is foremost in the hearts of all the others. Is not this a living silence? and is it not a stillness fraught with union and communion which words would only disturb? Shall we go on with the picture? The father has actually arrived; there is no more silence now. But the first burst of thankful rejoicing is over:-each and all have spoken their glad welcome, though perhaps that one which sprang from the deepest source was spoken only in tears. And now the father himself speaks, and from all save him there is once more an intense silence; but this time it is the silence, not of expectation, but of enjoyment, of fruition, of realization. To apply this simple illustration :the love of that earthly father is but the faintest shadow of the love of "our Father who is Heaven;' the expectation of those waiting ones is the image only of what is felt by those who truly wait for their God;—their enjoyment when expectation is realized is but the feeble reflection of that foretaste of bliss that will be the portion of all who have thus waited, when they exclaim in adoring wonder, "Lo, this is

our God! we have waited for Him, we will rejoice and be glad in His salvation."

Now, it cannot be such waiting or such worship that we pronounce unprofitable, or complain of as irksome, but a dull lifeless silence, unanimated by desire, or hope, or blessing. Whence the dulness, whence the lifelessness? If our chief objects in life be the pursuit of pleasure, the acquisition of fame, the exaltation of self, what marvel that it is weary work to wait for that which we neither chiefly desire nor expect! "Ah! but it is not always thus," some may reply; "there are many sincere-hearted ones. who have waited long, and, as it seems to them, vainly for the promised blessing, until they despair of ever finding it in silence." They need not despair -it will come at last! The soul that diligently seeks the Lord never sought Him yet in vain. Elijah waited long in silence for the promised rain; seven times his servant sought in vain its faintest indication; at last it was a little cloud out of the sea, no larger than a man's hand, and then, following that, how rich the outpouring! The impotent man waited many a weary day at the pool of Bethesda; the healing came at last. So with us; we cannot sincerely, earnestly wait on the Lord, and wait in vain. And all the longing, and the hope, and the unfulfilled expectation ?-these may be a very necessary part of that which God works within us, for, as in the outward world, so in the spiritual; the seed comes not to maturity unless it first lie long in darkness and silence underground.

But, reverting to that expression, "We want something new and striking," I would reply that that which is not new to us may still be so to others. Have we no mission of love in this respect to our fellow-Christians; have we never thought of making known to them that which we have profited by and

enjoyed ourselves? It is wonderful that this silent union in worship of the hearts of those who are one in Christ Jesus should have been confined for so many years to the Society of Friends; but, I would ask, has not the time come for it thus to be confined no longer? We have been wont to make it our boast that we are not a proselyting society; but, in our desire to avoid proselytism, have we not run to the other extreme, and neglected evangelization (the bearing of good tidings)? Shall we not arouse our

selves and bear good tidings to the nations? If we have found a blessing in united silent waiting on the Lord, shall we keep that blessing to ourselves, or shall we not rather spread it abroad in all the world? All around we hear of the sound of revival-the nations have heard the voice of the Lord, and those not yet touched by the sacred fire are longing for the blessing. Shall we not encourage them to wait for it? Shall we not each use our mite of influence to introduce the custom of silent waiting as an essential part of all congregational worship and of public prayer-meetings? What would have been the effect if all the earnestness manifested by those 200 or 300 who used daily to meet in Crosby Hall (for instance) to implore the outpouring of the Spirit, had been gathered up into the intense silence of truly waiting souls! "We have tried it long enough," some may answer, "but where are the results ?" Think what you say have we really tried it? have we thus waited in true union of spirit? Can we point out a company of two or three hundred within our borders who daily, or even weekly, wait with one heart upon the Lord, not one indifferent there all else forgotten -every eye directed singly to Him with earnest breathings for His presence? Oh, for such gatherings as this! the waiting would soon be turned into worship and into praise-the voice of prayer, true