Saturday Morning.

GENESIS, viii. 15–22.

AND God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark,

thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him; every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth: neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.

NOAH'S SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING. O Lord, give us thankful hearts, for our preservation and redemption.

NOAH's first act, on leaving the ark, was to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving for his won

derful preservation. Though God knew his heart, yet He was pleased at this public act of praise and gratitude, and promised, that as long as the earth remaineth, the seasons shall follow in regular order, without being again interrupted by the calamities of a deluge. Noah's conduct is an example to us. We are often ready to pray for deliverance from danger, but are we not backward in returning thanks for preservation? Perhaps after being kept safe from the danger of storm or pestilence, or some grievous calamity, we may say, 'Thank God;' but, is it not too often that luck or chance have the credit of our escape, and the God, in whose hands our breath is, have we not often failed to glorify?

Another week have we been spared; another week have our lives been preserved; are we preparing our offering of thanksgiving? 'Whoso offereth Me thanks and praise, he honoureth Me,' saith the Lord. Are we now ready to thank Him at home for His goodness, and are we tuning our hearts for public worship in His courts tomorrow?

If we are, then will the King

of kings come down to meet us with a blessing; and the thanks and praise which grateful hearts prepare beforehand to offer, will be acceptable in His sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

is

We never offer to an earthly friend that, which has cost us no previous thought in preparation; but, how often does our thank-offering in God's house enter our minds for the first time, when the prayer read in our name, which is called the general thanksgiving: And we beseech Thee, give us that due sense of all Thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we show forth Thy praise, not only with our lips but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to Thy service and by walking before Thee in holiness and righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

With too many this is a sacrifice of words only. No Saturday thought has reflected on the Sunday service. Food and clothing is prepared for Sunday, but how rarely does Saturday prepare the mind for Sunday.

Let us consider our week's mercies and prepare for to-morrow's duties, that our hearts may be ready to go with our lips, in our sacrifice of praise.

Oh, let us now our thanks prepare,
To offer in God's house of prayer,
And tune our heart with grateful praise,
That we may all our voices raise.
With heart and voice our tribute bring
A thankful off'ring to our King.

Saturday Evening.

ΑΝ

GENESIS, ix. 8-17.

ND God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living. creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.