Beecher

A Prayer for Times of Trouble

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Judges 10:10-16 (ASV)
And the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, saying, “We have sinned against thee, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baalim.”
And Jehovah said unto the children of Israel, “Did not I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried unto me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will save you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”
And the children of Israel said unto Jehovah, “We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; only deliver us, we pray thee, this day.” And they put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Jehovah, and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

A Prayer for Times of Trouble
Like the Israelites, it’s often easy to forget about God when things are going smoothly and we are healthy, prosperous, and satisfied. Yet all good things come from His hand and when we deny Him we reject the source of our abundance. By turning to Him daily, in good times and bad, He will be ever-faithful to keep us from the self-made snares of our sinful natures.

Words to Remember:
We are always in the forge, or on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.
–Henry Ward Beecher

STILL, STILL WITH THEE

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Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.

Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows,
The solemn hush of nature newly born;
Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,
In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.

When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,
Its closing eye looks up to Thee in prayer;
Sweet the repose beneath the wings o’ershading,
But sweeter still to wake and find Thee there.

So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,
When the soul waketh and life’s shadows flee;
O in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning,
Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee.

About the writer: Harriet Beecher Stowe, the daughter of the famous preacher Lyman Beecher, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut in 1812. Her father became President of Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1832; and in 1833 she was married to Calvin E. Stowe, a professor in the seminary. Her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was first published in 1852 as a serial in the National Era magazine and later in book form, is one of the most widely known and historic volumes in the entire range of American literature. It is a work of fiction which, by means of the pathetic picture which it draws of the ills of slave life and the cruelties involved in slave ownership, did much to precipitate the American Civil War (1861-1865). Mrs. Stowe published more than forty volumes in all, many of them being works of fiction. Her Religious Poems appeared in 1867. She died in 1896.

Key Verse: I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me! –Psalm 139:18

Stowe, Harriet Beecher

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Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), the daughter of the famous preacher Lyman Beecher, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut in 1812. Her father became President of Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1832; and in 1833 she was married to Calvin E. Stowe, a professor in the seminary. Her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was first published in 1852 as a serial in the National Era magazine and later in book form, is one of the most widely known and historic volumes in the entire range of American literature. It is a work of fiction that, by means of the pathetic picture that it draws of the ills of slave life and the cruelties involved in slave ownership, did much to precipitate the American Civil War (1861-1865). Mrs. Stowe published more than forty volumes in all, many of them being works of fiction. Her Religious Poems appeared in 1867. Her book about the evils of slavery, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is credited with raising the passions that ignited the American Civil War.

Beecher, Lyman

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Lyman Beecher (1775-1863) was born at New Haven, Connecticut, the descendant of one of the founders of the New Haven colony. In 1797 he graduated from Yale, having studied under Timothy Dwight. He preached in Presbyterian and Congregational churches in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York before accepting the pastorate of the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati. Here he became president of the newly established Lane Theological Seminary. He was a well-known opponent of Unitarianism, an eloquent preacher, an advocate of temperance, and the father of seven sons who became Congregational ministers and two daughters who became famous writers, especially Harriet who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. His style of preaching and the causes he fought for influenced preachers for several generations.