April 15 2026

Our Wise Guide

The Bible

1. Ps. 31:3 thou

... thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.

2. Ex. 13:17 it, 18, 20–22

... it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. ...

... ¶ And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

3. Ex. 14:5, 8 (to :), 13–16, 19–22, 30 (to ;), 31 2nd and (to 2nd ,)

¶ And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? ...

And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: ...

... ¶ And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. ...

... ¶ And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. ...

Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; ...

... and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, ...

4. Ps. 136:1, 13 (to 1st :), 14

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. ...

To him which divided the Red sea into parts: ...

And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:

5. Prov. 2:6 the

... the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

6. I Kings 3:3 Solomon (to :), 16–28

... Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: ...

... ¶ Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

7. Prov. 9:9, 10

Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

8. Matt. 2:1–5, 7–12

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet, ...

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. ¶ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

9. Eph. 1:17

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

10. Isa. 58:11 the (to 1st ,)

... the LORD shall guide thee continually, ...

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

1. SH 467:13

Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, having that Mind which was also in Christ.

2. SH 566:1

As the children of Israel were guided triumphantly through the Red Sea, the dark ebbing and flowing tides of human fear, — as they were led through the wilderness, walking wearily through the great desert of human hopes, and anticipating the promised joy, — so shall the spiritual idea guide all right desires in their passage from sense to Soul, from a material sense of existence to the spiritual, up to the glory prepared for them who love God. Stately Science pauses not, but moves before them, a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, leading to divine heights.

3. SH 226:25–7

The lame, the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the sick, the sensual, the sinner, I wished to save from the slavery of their own beliefs and from the educational systems of the Pharaohs, who to-day, as of yore, hold the children of Israel in bondage. I saw before me the awful conflict, the Red Sea and the wilderness; but I pressed on through faith in God, trusting Truth, the strong deliverer, to guide me into the land of Christian Science, where fetters fall and the rights of man are fully known and acknowledged.

I saw that the law of mortal belief included all error, and that, even as oppressive laws are disputed and mortals are taught their right to freedom, so the claims of the enslaving senses must be denied and superseded.

4. SH 191:8

As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to “where the young child was,” — even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error.

5. SH vii:2

The wakeful shepherd beholds the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full radiance of a risen day. So shone the pale star to the prophet-shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to benighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morning beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wisemen were led to behold and to follow this daystar of divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony.

6. SH 95:23–32

Led by a solitary star amid the darkness, the Magi of old foretold the Messiahship of Truth. Is the wise man of to-day believed, when he beholds the light which heralds Christ’s eternal dawn and describes its effulgence?

Lulled by stupefying illusions, the world is asleep in the cradle of infancy, dreaming away the hours. Material sense does not unfold the facts of existence; but spiritual sense lifts human consciousness into eternal Truth.

7. SH 7:18–21

If spiritual sense always guided men, there would grow out of ecstatic moments a higher experience and a better life with more devout self-abnegation and purity.

8. SH 25:13–16, 22

Jesus taught the way of Life by demonstration, that we may understand how this divine Principle heals the sick, casts out error, and triumphs over death. ...

Though demonstrating his control over sin and disease, the great Teacher by no means relieved others from giving the requisite proofs of their own piety. He worked for their guidance, that they might demonstrate this power as he did and understand its divine Principle. Implicit faith in the Teacher and all the emotional love we can bestow on him, will never alone make us imitators of him. We must go and do likewise, else we are not improving the great blessings which our Master worked and suffered to bestow upon us. The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus.

9. SH 149:28–31

Whatever guides thought spiritually benefits mind and body. We need to understand the affirmations of divine Science, dismiss superstition, and demonstrate truth according to Christ.

10. SH 202:15

Outside of this Science all is mutable; but immortal man, in accord with the divine Principle of his being, God, neither sins, suffers, nor dies. The days of our pilgrimage will multiply instead of diminish, when God’s kingdom comes on earth; for the true way leads to Life instead of to death, and earthly experience discloses the finity of error and the infinite capacities of Truth, in which God gives man dominion over all the earth.

11. SH 298:22

Spiritual ideas lead up to their divine origin, God, and to the spiritual sense of being.

12. SH 167:24

There is but one way — namely, God and His idea — which leads to spiritual being. The scientific government of the body must be attained through the divine Mind. It is impossible to gain control over the body in any other way. On this fundamental point, timid conservatism is absolutely inadmissible. Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized.

13. SH 459:24

To mortal sense Christian Science seems abstract, but the process is simple and the results are sure if the Science is understood. The tree must be good, which produces good fruit. Guided by divine Truth and not guesswork, the theologus (that is, the student — the Christian and scientific expounder — of the divine law) treats disease with more certain results than any other healer on the globe. The Christian Scientist should understand and adhere strictly to the rules of divine metaphysics as laid down in this work, and rest his demonstration on this sure basis.

14. SH 428:30–32; 429:4

The author has healed hopeless organic disease, and raised the dying to life and health through the understanding of God as the only Life. ... We must begin, however, with the more simple demonstrations of control, and the sooner we begin the better. The final demonstration takes time for its accomplishment. When walking, we are guided by the eye. We look before our feet, and if we are wise, we look beyond a single step in the line of spiritual advancement.

15. SH 299:7

My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys. Angels are God’s representatives. These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain “angels unawares.”

16. SH 454:18–19

Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way.

17. SH 106:7–14

God has endowed man with inalienable rights, among which are self-government, reason, and conscience. Man is properly self-governed only when he is guided rightly and governed by his Maker, divine Truth and Love.

Man’s rights are invaded when the divine order is interfered with, and the mental trespasser incurs the divine penalty due this crime.

18. SH 183:26

Truth casts out all evils and materialistic methods with the actual spiritual law, — the law which gives sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, voice to the dumb, feet to the lame. If Christian Science dishonors human belief, it honors spiritual understanding; and the one Mind only is entitled to honor.

19. SH 538:3

Truth should, and does, drive error out of all selfhood. Truth is a two-edged sword, guarding and guiding. Truth places the cherub wisdom at the gate of understanding to note the proper guests. Radiant with mercy and justice, the sword of Truth gleams afar and indicates the infinite distance between Truth and error, between the material and spiritual, — the unreal and the real.

Hymns

1. Hymn. 53

Everlasting arms of Love / Are beneath, around, above; / God it is who bears us on, / His the arm we lean upon. /

He our ever-present guide / Faithful is, whate’er betide; / Gladly then we journey on, / With His arm to lean upon. /

From earth’s fears and vain alarms / Safe in His encircling arms, / He will keep us all the way, / God, our refuge, strength and stay.

Words: BASED ON A HYMN BY JOHN R. MACDUFF

Music: Melody by John Dowland

2. Hymn. 563

Quiet, Lord, my stubborn heart, / Make me gentle, pure, and mild, / Upright, simple, free from art; / Make me as a little child, / From distrust and envy free, / Pleased with all that pleases Thee. /

What You shall today provide / Let me as a child receive, / What tomorrow may betide / Calmly to Your wisdom leave; / It’s enough that You will care, / Why should I the burden bear? /

As a little child relies / On a care beyond its own, / Being neither strong nor wise, / Will not take a step alone, / Let me thus with You abide, / As my Mother, Friend, and Guide.

Words: JOHN NEWTON, ADAPT., ALT.

Music: Pontoppidan’s Den Nye Psalme-Bog, 1740; harm. CSPS

3. Hymn. 437

All my hope on God is founded; / Day by day my trust is new. / Through the trials of life He guides me, / Only good and only true. / God alone, dearly known, / Calls my heart to be His own. /

Earthly treasures, pride and glory, / Human power and worldly trust, / Though with care and toil are builded, / In the end will fall to dust. / But God’s power, hour by hour, / Is my temple and my tower. /

Daily does th’almighty Giver / Bounteous gifts on us bestow. / Love’s desire our soul delighteth, / Joy attends us where we go. / Blessings stand at God’s hand, / Healing flows at Love’s command. /

Now from man to God eternal / Endless thanks and praise be sung. / Hearts made new are anthems raising / Through the love of Christ, His Son. / Hear God’s call, one and all, / We who follow shall not fall.

Words: JOACHIM NEANDER; TR. ROBERT BRIDGES; ADAPT. FENELLA BENNETTS, ALT.

Music: Herbert Howells

CONCORD: A CHRISTIAN SCIENCE STUDY RESOURCE, published by The Christian Science Board of Directors in Boston, MA, USA at concord.christianscience.com. This content may be under copyright and may not be further reproduced or distributed, unless permitted under the Terms of Service.