​August 31

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up — Dan. 3:17, 18.
 
The answer of the Hebrews to Nebuchadnezzar, "Our God whom we serve," is worthy of note. They not only acknowledged God and worshiped Him, but they additionally served Him, according as they had opportunity. … Let us resolve, dear brethren, as did the three Hebrews, that we will worship and serve only the Lord our God, that we will neither worship nor serve sectarianism, in any of its many forms, nor mammon, with its enticements and rewards, nor fame, nor friends, nor self. God "seeketh such to worship him as worship him in spirit and in truth," is the declaration of our Lord and Head—Z '99, 172 (R 2494).
 
Whenever threats are made to God's servants to influence them to the wrong or to restrain them from the right, let them remember that it is their part to persevere in well-doing and leave their deliverance or non-deliverance to the Lord's will and power. Let them have the full assurance of faith that He is able to deliver them, if He will; and even if He does not deliver their humanity, which at most is devoted to death, let them remember that if they are faithful, their new heart, mind and will, receiving no harm, will by the fiery furnace be freed from the cords that bind them to earth, as in the type He delivered the three Hebrew youths—P '33, 111.
 
Parallel passages: Gen. 32:11; 50:20; Num. 20:16; Deut. 23:4, 5; 2 Kings 19:16, 19; 1 Chron. 5:20; 2 Chron. 14:11; Esth. 7:10; Psa. 31:1-4, 9, 14-17; 50:15; 105:14, 15; 146:8, 9; Prov. 16:7, 9; Rom. 8:28; Phil. 1:12.

Hymns: 67, 56, 57, 216, 313, 330, 333.
Poems of Dawn, 206: Wait Upon the Lord.
Tower Reading: Z '99, 168 (R 2494).

Questions: Have I this week trusted the Lord in trouble? How? Why? With what results?

---

WAIT UPON THE LORD

WHEN clouds hang heavy o'er thy way,
And darker grows the weary day,
And thou, oppressed by anxious care,
Art almost tempted to despair,
Still wait upon the Lord.

When friends betray thy loving trust,
And thou art humbled in the dust,
When dearest joys from thee have fled,
And Hope within thy heart lies dead,
Still wait upon the Lord.

When Death comes knocking at thy door,
And in thy home are sorrows sore,
Though age comes on and eyes grow dim,
Still look to Christ, still trust in Him,
And wait upon the Lord.

Whate'er thy care, believe His word;
In joy or grief, trust in the Lord.
Good courage He will give to thee,
And strong, indeed, thy heart shall be,
By waiting on the Lord.

---