Do not forget!

(Jared Waterbury, "Meditations and Prayers" 1840)

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits." Psalm 103:2

Were a kind earthly parent to be hourly bringing us new tokens of his favor - would we not express our gratitude for such favors? Why then are we not found praising our heavenly Father, "Who daily loads us with benefits," and "who gives us richly all things to enjoy?"

O, the very abundance and constancy of His gifts seem, in some instances, to harden the heart. Ungrateful man! Often do days and weeks pass away marked by this guilty forgetfulness.

Is it possible, that we can forget that Being "in whom we live and move and have our being" - whose hand is open to satisfy our every reasonable desire, and to whose protecting care we owe our safety? Above all, can we forget the love which He has bestowed upon us, in giving His dear Son to die for our sins - or the compassion which our Savior has manifested in dying to redeem us? Never, never let us forget these infinite favors!


PRAYER
O God, You have given all nature as a vast storehouse for the supply of our needs. And yet too seldom have we eaten our "bread with gladness and singleness of heart."

Through what troubles have You carried us!
From what billows of adversity have You rescued us!
In what perils have You guarded us!
Ten thousand thousand mercies have fallen around our paths!
In darkness, You have been our light.
In sorrow, You have been our consolation.
In despondency, You have been our only trust and stay.
You have been our guide through all our weary pilgrimage.
And O, above all, and as if to crown all, You have given us Your only begotten Son - and have sweetly constrained us to come for salvation.

And shall we forget all these benefits? Shall we, in view of them, refuse to praise You? O, forgive our past ingratitude. Let us pour forth our praises unceasingly to God and to the Lamb. Let us praise the Lord for His innumerable and unmerited mercies. Touch these cold, unfeeling hearts with Your grace; soften them into penitence; and awake in them a permanent feeling of gratitude and love. For the sake of our Advocate and adorable Redeemer. Amen.