Psalms 51:10—Renew a steadfast spirit within me. (R.V., marg.).
Perhaps that is our chiefest need: especially so as we gird up our loins for a new stretch of pilgrimage. We do not need nobler ideals. They flash over our souls. We read of Browning kissing, on each anniversary of his wedding, the steps by which his bride went to the marriage altar; and we vow to lift our wedded life higher. We read of Henry Martyn mourning that he had devoted too much time to public work, and too little to private communion with God; and we vow to pray more. We recall the motto written on Green the historian’s grave at Mentone, "He died learning;" and we vow that each day shall see some lesson learnt from the great store of Truth. We read those noble words of W. C. Burns, "Oh to have a martyr’s heart, if not a martyr’s crown;" and we vow to give ourselves absolutely to witness and suffer for Jesus. But, alas! our ideals fade within a few hours, and the withered petals are all that remain. We need the steadfast spirit.
But this God can give us by his Holy Spirit. He can renew our will from day to day, and infuse into us his own unaltering, unalterable purpose. He can make possible, obedience to the apostolic injunction, "Be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." Hear what comfortable words the Apostle Peter saith: "The God of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ, after that ye have suffered a little while, shall Himself restore, stablish, and settle you." Then we shall move resolutely and unfalteringly onward; like Columbus, undaunted by discouragement, we shall cross unknown seas, till the scent of the land we seek is wafted across the brief intervening distance.