all that are against us; for we are still in the hands of an omnipotent God, and good angels our guardians.

Thirdly. "Thine is the glory."

1. The glory of God may be considered to signify the bright shining forth of the excellence of his inconceivable Majesty with which he is clothed, and his absolute perfections which are so wonderfully displayed in all his works of providence and grace. When the priests brought "the ark of the covenant" into the holy of holies, the glory of the Lord filled the house. "And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud : for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.” 1 Kings viii. 11, 10.

The symbols of the divine glory and presence appear to have filled the place, so that Solomon knew that God had acknowledged the place with his presence. Likewise when the Holy Ghost descended on the disciples of our Lord on the day of Pentecost, "as a mighty rushing wind," Acts ii. 1, it gave them the strongest evidence that their risen Lord was ascended to the Father's right hand to fill the mediatorial seat, and that the Holy Ghost was freely given; that pardon, salvation, holiness, and eternal life, were free for all; and that God was present with and in them; for "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." Acts ii. 4. Again it is said, Acts iv. 31, "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled:" a supernatural evidence of the presence of God, and a direct answer to their prayers; God was glorified in them.

2. The glory ascribed to God, is the acknowledgment of his excellence, by esteeming, loving, honouring, and trusting in him; commending all to his keeping, and praying to him; faithfully acknowledging him in all our ways to be what he is, "The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace." Isaiah ix. 6. We reverently adore him because he is worthy to receive all honour, power, and glory. Being so good, so great and glorious, infinitely exalted above all other beings; and although God Almighty cannot receive any accession from any act of ours, yet undoubtedly it is well pleasing in his sight, that we should have worthy apprehensions of him, and giving full proofs of our deep concern for his honour and glory, and publishing far and wide his praises to all nations, that all may be induced to worship and "glorify God in their bodies and spirits which are his."

It is our privilege to be purified from all sin, and to possess principles the most holy, and motives the most pure, and to do all we do with a single eye to the glory of God; that whether we buy or sell, eat or drink, pray or preach, exhort or give lec

tures on any subject, to do all to His praise and honour. "I am the LORD, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another." We should attend to all the means of grace with a view to get good and to do good, and all our deportment of life evincing pure desires for the honour and glory of God, by coming forth to the help of the Lord freely to support his righteous, cause and to send the Bible and the Missionary to enlighten the Heathen, praying that the blessing of the Lord may attend all our efforts. We are taught to direct all our actions to proclaim the glory of His holy name; and we here acknowledge that all glory is his due. Having offered up our petitions to him, it is right that we should also render him our praise and thanksgiving for what we have received, and to acknowledge him to be the eternal God whom we ought to worship; that his power is absolutely infinite, and the ground of our confidence on which we depend for all further blessings and happiness, in time and eternity. In order to seek all temporal and spiritual blessings with a sincere desire to glorify God, all selfish and worldly views must give place to that one great desire of the soul, that "God may be all in all." With these views and feelings, our prayer of faith will rise like incense before our heavenly Father's throne, when offered in the name of Jesus Christ, under the influence and power of the Holy Ghost.

Fourthly. His eternal existence and immutability, are expressed in those words, "for ever, and ever," in relation to what went before; "for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory; for ever and ever." God being immutable and eternal, "The Alpha and Omega," he cannot cease to exist, therefore he cannot cease to be the proper object of our hope and confidence, that he will protect, defend, and save us, seeing he is ever able to do it, the same "yesterday, to-day, and for ever," the immoveable centre of our faith, hope, and confidence. We may ask what we will, "in faith, nothing doubting," and it will be granted. Christ says, 66 Whatever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you;" therefore we may come "boldly unto the throne of grace," and ask for pardon and entire sanctification, and power to rise above all the powers of darkness, and it will be granted unto us: yea, we may ask for the wide diffusion of the gospel of the kingdom among all nations and people, all tongues and languages; for the final destruction of Antichrist on every shore-the everlasting ruin of satan's kingdom-the establishment of the kingdom of Christthe final triumph of the church militant, and her everlasting reign in the Father's kingdom of glory, and we shall not pray in vain; for the gospel of the kingdom, accompanied by the power of God, is sure to lay the "man of sin" low before it, in answer to faithful prayer. When the church by faith takes hold on the arm of God that conquers all, antichrist will

not only shake, but finally fall, and the triumphant praises of God will ascend up before his throne: "Hallelujah; the Lord Omnipotent reigneth."

2. An expression of unanimous consent is signified in the word "Amen." This word was frequently in use among the Jews, and was also used by the Saviour in this divine prayer; and when the prayer is rehearsed by us, it may be considered as our hearty, sincere consent to the particulars it contains, with a desire for the honour of God, that his kingdom may be established, that the will of God may be done on earth faithfully, that the power of God may be displayed in the destruction of sin, that his glory may shine forth with unclouded brightness among all nations, and that we may receive power to do his will in all things. In all respects this pregnant word expresses our hearty consent to the important prayer, as "Amen," or, "so be it;""Thine is the kingdom," &c. The word "Amen" added at the conclusion of a discourse or prayer, is intended to affirm what has been said before; declaring our approbation and consent thereto; and the word here joined to the prayer, appears to be intended to express our wish and desire that it may be granted. When our Lord said, "Behold! I come quickly!" the Apostle immediately answered, “amen; even so come Lord Jesus;" that is, "May it be as thou hast promised;" and it is with this signification the word is added at the end of those benedictions with which most of the Epistles in the New Testament are concluded.

It is very common in our public worship, when prayer is uttered by one, for the people to signify their consent and concurrence in the whole prayer, by saying, "Amen;" and the word used in private devotion is a fresh breathing forth of the soul in all those pious desires and affections of the mind, that had been before more largely expressed. As we are here taught by our Lord to add this word to the end of our prayers, to testify our consent thereto, it plainly appears that all public prayer ought to be expressed in such language as all may understand, or how can they say amen to their approval of it?

The language used in prayer in which all present are to join, should be plain, and easy to be understood. It would be absurd to pray in an unknown tongue-in a language not understood perhaps by one in ten of the congregation. St. Paul says, "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing that he understandeth not what thou sayest?" When we say "amen" to a petition addressed to God, it supposes that we have given attention to what went before, and understanding it, we give our consent to,

and declare our approbation of it; but how can we do so, unless we prayerfully attend to what is said?

3. By the word "amen," we are instructed in another part of our duty in prayer, namely, to keep our hearts and minds with all diligence; to be faithfully engaged with God; to avoid all wandering thoughts; to be deeply affected with the solemn importance of the discharge of this duty; and in every part of the prayer uttered, either by ourselves or the person speaking in prayer, so that every word may impress our minds with its important signification. Unless we diligently attend to these things, our service will be only lip-worship, and not acceptable to God, nor profitable to ourselves; but if we in our hearts give consent to every petition we offer up, and sensibly feel the truth of it, the word "amen" freely flows from the fulness of the heart at the end of the sentence or prayer, with such telling energy, and devotional flame, as stimulates the whole company with which we are assembled. Thus the church assembled should unanimously join in the worship of God, with one soul, striving to get the faith of the gospel, and we should have a gracious outpouring of the Spirit of God, and a revival of pure religion. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God."

WILLIAM HILL.

THE CHRISTIAN'S PORTION.

"O God, thou art my God."-Psalm lxiii. 1.

THIS is not the language of all men. It is the felt language of the christian only of that man whose heart has been renewed, and whose mind has been transformed by the Spirit and grace of God. It is not the language of the miser, who makes his gold his god; nor of the sensualist and debauchee, whose greatest object and highest ambition is the gratification of his base and unholy passions and lusts; nor of the lover of worldly pleasure, who, like a butterfly, wanders from flower to flower in search of happiness; nor of the undecided, who "halt between two opinions;" nor of the lukewarm and lifeless professor; it is the language of that man who has chosen God for his portion and delight; who loves Him with all the heart; whose affections glow and rise towards Him, and are placed supremely upon Him; who can look up and say, "Whom have I in heaven, but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire be

side thee."

In this language there are two things implied:

1. That God was the Psalmist's by donation or gift. 2. That the Psalmist was God's by consecration.

In reading the scriptures of the Old Testament we frequently find Jehovah pledging Himself by promise and covenant engagement, to His ancient people, the Jews. See Genesis xv. 1; xvii. 1—7; xxviii. 13–15. Exodus vi. 7, &c. &c. Now God having given himself thus to the children of Israel, the Psalmist felt that all the fulness and riches of Jehovah were made over to him; that God was pledged to be with him in all places, to support and defend, to comfort and to cheer; and that the infinite power, wisdom, goodness, justice, pity, love, and truth of God were all engaged on his behalf, so that all he might need, or could possibly desire, was secured to him. And then, Jehovah was not merely pledged to be the Psalmist's for a limited period, for a day, or a week, or a month, or a year; but for ever! So that David had in God a portion suited to his wants, and to his immortal desires. He could therefore say, "This God is my God for ever and ever," &c. What a treasure then, did the Psalmist possess ! The same treasure every Christian now possesses; for God is his portion and friend; made over to him by promise and covenant engagement. The christian may not have much of this world's wealth; he may not be dignified by any worldly titles or honours: "no foot of land may he possess, no cottage in this wilderness, but be a poor wayfaring man;" he may not have his name on the banker's books; he may be unknown to the merchant princes of this world; he may not have for his residence a gorgeous palace, or a stately mansion; but notwithstanding all this, he has a treasure far more noble, far more lasting than any earthly portion-for he has God, the Infinite, Almighty, Unoriginated, Self-existent, Independent, Omnipresent, and All-wise, God for his portion, his treasure, his shepherd, his counsellor, his shield, his delight, his all! The words used by David not only imply that God was his by donation, but

2. That the Psalmist was God's by consecration. Although Jehovah, as we have seen, made himself over to the Israelites of old by promise and covenant, it was only when the children of Israel complied with the conditions of the Divine covenant— when they walked in the statutes, and obeyed the commands of God, they could consistently claim the Lord as their God and Friend, and expect His favour and blessing. Failing in these conditions, the wrath of God rested on them, the presence, protection, and blessing of God were withdrawn or withheld, and they were brought into difficulty and distress. The Psalmist was well acquainted with the conditions of the covenant. knew that God was the author of his being, and also of all the mercies with which his life was crowned; he knew also that Jehovah was the governor of the moral, as well as the physical

He