Remember me, O my God, for good

IT is no uncommon thing for our earthly friends to forget us, especially in seasons of trouble, or in circumstances of poverty. But if they remembered us, they could do but little for us. When creatures forget, or slight us, let us turn from them to the Lord. He says, " Thou shalt not be forgotten of me." Let us pray with the man of God, " Remember me, O my God." Kemember my wants, and supply them, for they are many and pressing. Remember my fears, and disperse them, for they are numerous and distressing. Remember my foes, and subdue them, for they are fierce and united. Remember my difficulties, and deliver me out of them, for they fill me with shame and dismay. Remember my weakness, and strengthen me, for I desire to do thy will. Remember my doubts, and remove them, and give me a steady faith in thy word, and a sweet assurance of thy love. " Remember me, O my God, as a child, that incessantly needs a parent's care; as a pilgrim, that needs a guide; and as a soldier, that requires courage and supplies. Remember me, to fill me with the power of the Holy Ghost.

    0 thou, from whom all goodness flows,
    I lift my soul to thee;
In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes.

    Dear Lord, remember me.

Thou hast left thy first love

THIS is a very solemn charge. Let us ask, Is it brought against us ? Our first love was Jesus. When we felt our lost condition, when we saw the danger to which we were exposed, we were directed to him; he received us graciously, he pardoned our sins, he introduced us to his Father, and we enjoyed peace. This filled us with love; we admired his dealings, we adored his person, we espoused his cause, we united with his people, we fearlessly professed his name, and consecrated ourselves to his bervice. Our love to Jesus at first was warm and strong. We thought nothing too hard to undertake for him, we considered nothing too valuable to surrender to him, we felt we could suffer in his cause, and die for his name, if required. But we have declined since then, and, if Jesus is still the object of our love, we do not love him as we did. He deserves our love more than ever. He asks our love, for he prizes it. But, alas ! the world has such power over us, temporal things so powerfully affect us, that we sometimes question whether we love him at all.

O Saviour —
    Give me thy pardoning love to feel.
And freely my backslidings heal.

    Repair my faith's decay;
Restore the sweetness of thy grace,
Reveal the glories of thy face.

    And take my sins away.

His name shall be called Wonderful

AND he will answer to his name; for he is **. Wonderful. Consider the constitution of his person, he is God, he is also man. He possesses the entire nature of God, and the entire nature of man, and yet the two natures united constitute but one person. He is therefore human and divine, infinite and finite—the eternal God, and yet really man. He unites in himself heaven and earth, time and eternity, the Creator and the creature. He is the'mighty God, and the feeble child born. Truly this is wonderful: we can believe it, but we cannot comprehend it. We perceive that it is, but we cannot perceive how it is. His love also is wonderful, for he loves those who are unlovely, and who never had any love to him. There is no reason why he should love them, but plenty of reasons why he should not. And yet he loves them with all the strength of his nature, and has manifested that love in the most wonderful manner. For them he resigned the throne of glory, and gave up all he possessed in heaven. For them he became poor, was hated, persecuted, punished, and executed as a guilty slave. Well may he be called Wonderful.

    Wonderful art thou in power,
    But most wonderful In love:
Be thou all our theme below,

    Be thou all our heaven above.

Preserve me, O God

SELF-CONFIDENT persons are always in & danger. When Peter felt secure, lie fell; and so have thousands beside. Let us always fear a fall when we feel self-confidence working in our hearts. The wisest saints walk closest with the Lord, and fear to be left to themselves for one moment. The man who trusts in himself, or in his circumstances, is a stranger to his own heart, and the many foes by which he is surrounded. Let this be our daily prayer, " Preserve me, O God." No one but God can preserve us, for it requires an omniscient eye, an omnipotent arm, and an ever-present friend to do so. We need to be preserved every moment, and to be under Divine keeping night and day. The holiest are liable to fall into sin, the strongest to be overcome by temptation, and the most confident to yield to unbelief. May the Lord preserve us this day from the wiles of Satan, the snares of the world, the deceitfulness of our own hearts, the influence of carnal professors, and from falling from our own steadfastness. May he preserve us in Christ, by Christ, in fellowship with Christ, and to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ.

    Lord, keep me in thy heavenly way,
    And bid the tempter flee:
And let me never, never stray,

    From happiness and thee.

They soonforgat his works

THAT is a bad memory which buries God's mercies and forgets his works. And who has not to complain of such a memory ! That is remembered longest which impresses most. How long we remember a slight injury or a small offence ; but how soon we forget the mercies of our God. Thus did Israel, and thus do we also who now inherit their forfeited mercies. The works of God in the wilderness were so striking and Bo wonderful, that one would have thought that the people never could have forgot them. But they soon ceased to awake attention, or excite gratitude, and were treated as common things. Lord, what is man ! That we may not forget, let us endeavour to improve by the Lord's works. Let us study them. Let us see his wisdom, kindness, and care in them. Let us record them, and often read the record. Let us often dwell upon our own unworthiness, and admire the grace displayed in the least of them. Let his works in nature be read. Let his work of providence be noticed. Especially let his work of redemption engage our thoughts, our affections, and our gratitude. Never let us forget or slight his wonderful works.

    0! may I ne'er forget
    The mercy of my God.
Nor ever want a tongue to spresid

    His loudest praise abroad.

That the power of Christ may rest upon me

THE Christian's infirmities are many and very painful, they often discourage, deject, and cast him down. They hinder him in every duty, mar his best performances, and give Satan an occasion against him. Pew have learnt the happy art of glorying in their infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon them ; and yet it is our infirmities which render the Saviour so necessary for us, and which endear the Saviour so much to our hearts. His power is put forth in our weakness, and it is in his strength that we must overcome. We can do nothing good without him; but through him we can do all things. The power of Jesus resting upon us will shelter us amidst all the storms of life, protect us from all real danger during our journey home, refresh us amidst all the toils of this weary land, give us rest in our most weary hours, and keep us safe until we are beyond the reach of foes. The power of Christ overshadows his people in their seasons of trial as a tent the traveller in the eastern deserts.

    Must I be tried antl tortur'd still ?
I yield to thy mysterious will;

    But give me, Lord, to prove,
In nature's utter helplessness,
The strength of all-sufficient grace,

    Th' omnipotence of love.

He led them forth by the right way

IT was not the smoothest, or the shortest, or the one most frequented, but it was the best. It was the only right way. He intended to prove them, and to display his wonders, and the way afforded an opportunity for both. Thus it is with all his people. He has marked out the way in his unerring wisdom; he guides them into it, he tries them by it, he leads them along it, and glorifies himself by doing so.s God's way is always contrary to that which flesh and blood would choose. We want ease, plenty, pleasure, and honour. But the Lord intends that we shall have faith, humility, patience, fortitude, and confidence in himself alone. His design is to empty us, and strip us, and humble us, and break us down before his throne; to endear the Saviour, sweeten the promises, and make the good land more desirable. And this he effects by sanctifying the trials, the losses, the disappointments, and the troubles we meet with in the way. Beloved, is yours a rough way, a trying path, a perplexing road? It is the right way. The Lord leads you, and he never leads wrong. He brings into the wilderness before he brings into Canaan.

    The way was right their hearts to prove,
    To make God's glory known,
And show his wisdom, power, and love,

    Engaged to save his own.