LOWLINESS.

Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly: but the proud He knoweth afar off.—Psalm cxxxviii. 6.

When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.—Proverbs, xi. 2.

Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.—Philippians, ii. 3.

The man whose eye

Is ever on himself, doth look on one

The least of nature’s works, one who might move

The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds

Unlawful ever. O be wiser, Thou!

Instructed that true knowledge leads to love;

True dignity abides with him alone,

Who in the silent hour of inward thought,

Can still suspect, and still revere himself

In lowliness of heart.

Wordsworth.

There are briars besetting every path,

That call for patient care;

There is a cross in every lot,

And an earnest need for prayer;

But a lowly heart that leans on Thee

Is happy anywhere.

Ann L. Waring.

The blessing of a lowly mind

Lord, unto me be given,

Joy in the meanest spot to find,

To see in all of human kind,

But fellow-travellers, designed

To rest at last in heaven.

The pleasures of a lowly state

Oh, let me ne’er despise;

And should I sit among the great,

Ne’er be my heart with pride elate,

But meekly let me watch and wait

In lowliness of guise.

Egone.