The Sixth of September.

O GOD, FORSAKE ME NOT --- Psalm 71:18.

"Now also, when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not." --- Psalm 71:18.

"O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee." --- Psalm 25:20, 21.

"Divine Answer: Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and deliver you." --- Isaiah 46:3, 4.

God never does forsake a true believer, since he is as closely united to Christ as a child to its mother. Yea, a mother may forget her sucking child; but Jesus never forgets his ransomed people. His eyes are upon them for good continually: they are graven on the palms of his hands, and lodged in his pierced side, close to his heart.

We may expect everything confidently from him, and this confidence pleaseth him above all things. Then, oh may I "be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make my requests known unto God." (Philippians 4:6); always trusting that he will certainly carry thee through all difficulties to come, as he has done hitherto; so that I may even give him thanks for it beforehand. O Lord, gRant that I may practise this better still.

Devotion for September 6