Thou makest his beauty to consume away like moth; Surely every man is vanity. (V. Prayer.) 12 Hear my prayer, O Lord, And give ear unto my cry; REFLECTIONS. a 1. It is an important branch of wisdom to know when to speak and when to be silent. It may be prudent in some sorts of company to be silent even as to good things: but let our minds, though sorrowful, meditate on useful subjects. 2. It becomes us to think frequently on the shortness and uncertainty of human life. Worldly men are anxious to amass wealth; possessions which they must soon leave to others. Happy are they who spend their brief and precarious existence in accumulating the true riches! 3. View the humble believer. His hope is in God: his expectations are from Him: and to Him he prays for pardon and relief. 4. See the true picture of man. he strong and beautiful in youth? He is vanity. Is He is only like a garment which the moth gnaws and consumes. strength will soon fail, and his beauty soon fade. I His 5. All serious reflections on ourselves must lead us to prayer. And what shall we pray for? That our prayers may be heard and answered; that we may feel ourselves to be strangers and sojourners on earth; that we may be spared and recover spiritual strength, and be so renewed in the spirit of our minds that we may be prepared for the hour of our departure hence. PRAYER. Impress our hearts, O Lord, with a just sense of the shortness and uncertainty of human life, and enable us to spend our days in laying up treasures in heaven. Pardon our transgressions; comfort us in all our troubles; and strengthen us with strength in our souls; that we may recover Thine image in righteousness and true holiness, and do Thy will. Thus may we live as strangers and sojourners here, and finally obtain everlasting life, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. PSALM XL. Prophetical. A Psalm of David. Verses 6-8 refer directly to Christ. Heb. x. 5-9. From verse 13 to the end is the same as Psalm 1xx. (I. Praise and thanksgiving.) 1 I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my goings. 3 And He hath put a new song in my mouth, Even praise unto our God And shall trust in the Lord. 4 Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust, And respecteth not the proud, Nor such as turn aside to lies. 5 Many, O Lord my God, are Thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, And Thy thoughts which are to us-ward: They are more than can be numbered. (II. Sacrifice of Christ.) 6 Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; Mine ears hast Thou opened: Burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come : In the volume of the book it is written of me, 8 I delight to do Thy will, O my God: Yea, Thy law is within my heart. (III. Righteousness preached in the world.) 9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: Lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, Thou knowest. 10 I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salva tion: I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation. (IV. Prayer and confession.) 11 Withhold not Thou Thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: Let Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth continually preserve me. 12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: They are more than the hairs of my head: 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: (V. End of the wicked.) 14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it : Let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. 15 Let them be desolate, for a reward of their shame, That say unto me, Aha, aha. (VI. Joy of the godly.) 16 Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: Let such as love Thy salvation say continually, "The Lord be magnified." (VII. Petition.) 17 But I am poor and needy; Yet the Lord thinketh upon me: Thou art my help and my deliverer; REFLECTIONS. 1. Faith waits patiently on God in the time of trouble: and this patient waiting soon leads to deliverance and joy. Then we find the blessedness of making the Lord our trust, and meditate with delight on His wonderful dealings with His people. 2. Behold the Lamb of God. No earthly sacrifices could satisfy divine justice, and remove human guilt: but He, the Word made flesh, offered Himself-the one availing sacrifice for sin. Here we see the riches of redeeming mercy and love: we behold them in our crucified Redeemer. 3. As Christ is the Priest, so is He the prophet of His Church: He has preached righteousness in the world: He has made known the faithfulness and salvation of God. the light of men." "In Him was life; and the life was 4. When evils abound, and when we have a painful sense of our countless sins, what can we do but pray for the tender mercies of God, and seek deliverance and help, peace and comfort, at His gracious hands? 5, 6. Shame, confusion, and desolation will be the portion of the impenitent and unbelieving: but those who love God's salvation shall rejoice, and say continually, "The Lord be magnified." 7. A due sense of our misery and poverty becomes |