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Jeremiah's Prayer.

SERMON IV.

1

JER. XV. 15.

Remember me, and visit me.

THIS is what we desire and expect from an intimate friend. If he be at a distance, we love that he should remember us; and if there be nothing to prevent, that he should visit us. Think on me, said Joseph, when it shall be well with thee. We desire the presence of a friend, to direct us in our difficulties, and comfort us under our sorrows. It is the nature of christian friendship especially, freely to unbosom ourselves to each other; to weep with them that weep, to rejoice with them that do rejoice, to bear each others burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Even the bowels of an apostle have sometimes been thus refreshed, as well as those of weaker christians. When Paul saw some of the brethren who met him on his way to Rome, he thanked God, and took courage. And he longed to see his friends at that place, that I may be comforted (said he) together with you, by the mutual faith both of you and me. Acts. xxviii. 15. Rom. i. 12.

But if it be desirable to be remembered by our brethren, and to enjoy their company and converse; how much more for God to remember us with the favour which he beareth unto his people, and to visit us with his salvation! This is the import of the pro

phet's prayer. He was forgotton and forsaken by his own people, and had suffered rebuke from his persecators; and if the Lord did not think upon him, he must perish among the captives. Oh Lord, says he, remember me, and visit me!

I. Consider the prophet's prayer. He offers up two requests, and they are such as every good man would offer.

1. Remember me, oh Lord! It is our duty to remember our Creator, especially in the days of our youth; and if we do so, we may hope that he will remember us; yea, it will be an evidence of it; for as we love him because he first loved us, so if we remember him it is because he first remembered us.

There is a sense in which God may be said to remember his people so as to take particular knowledge of them, and all that pertains to them. He remembers their persons, knows their exact number, and not one of them shall be lost. "Oh Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me, for I have redeemed theeZion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands: thy walls are continually before me." (Isai. xliv. 21, 21. xlix. 14-16.) He remembers their frailties and infirmities; how unable they are to bear affliction without his support, and hears the gentle whisper and the secret groan with parental tenderness. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him; for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. He also remembers their exercises of faith and love, the breathings of their souls after him, even from their earliest days, and would have them to know

how pleasant and acceptable they were to him. "Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the first-fruits of his encrease.'

(Jer. ii. 2. S.) He remembers all their endeavours to serve and please him, however weak and imperfect they have been; and in instances where they pitied and relieved any of his needy and afflicted ones, without the prospect of reward, and from love to him, he will bring it to remembrance and return it all into their bosom. "For God is not uurighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister." (Heb. vi. 10) All the prayers of his people are come up as a memorial before him, and shall not be forgotten. Sooner or later they shall all be answered, whether they live to see it or not; for God sometimes answers the prayers of his people after they are gone to their graves, in blessings on their connections and posterity. They die in the Lord, and their works shall follow them. I die, said Joseph to his brethren, but God shall be with you. And after David had slept with his fathers, and had seen corruption, the Lord remembered him, and all his afflictions; how he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. As the Lord tells the wanderings of his people, so he also puts their tears into his bottle. All their spiritual conversation and communion with each other, all their tender concern about his kingdom and glory in the world, is graciously noticed by him and stands upon record. When they that feared the Lord in an evil time, spake often one to another, "the Lord hearkened, and heard ; and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name." (Mal. iii.

16.) Thus God will remember his people, and thus they desire to be remembered by him.

Farther the Lord not only remembers his people so as to know and notice them, as he does his other works; but in a special manner, so as to delight in them to do them good, and feel a satisfaction in them. He taketh pleasure in the prosperity of his servants, and will exert himself on their behalf. He will so remember them as to direct them in their difficulties, succour them in their temptations, guard them when in danger, and bring them out of trouble. Thus God remembered Noah, and Rachel, by bringing him out of the ark, and making her the joyful mo-. ther of children. It was the prayer of the dying thief, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. I shall soon be forgotten by others, as if he had said, and some may even be glad to forget me when I am gone: but Lord, do thou remember me, and all will be well! Job also, in the prospect of the grave, prays that he may not be forgotten when he dwells in silence, but that he may have part in a joyful resurrection. Appoint me a set time, and remember me. The prayer of the prophet in our text is similar to that of the devout psalmist, and corresponds with the desires of every renewed heart: Remember me, oh Lord, with the favour thou bearest unto thy people. Oh visit me with thy salvation; that I. may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance. (Psal. cvi. 4, 5.) But this is not all: he prays,

2. And visit me. This implies that where God'graciously remembers any one, he will also visit them. Our visits to him are necessary, and cannot be too frequent; but without his visits to us they will be both unprofitable, and unacceptable. We must hear from him, before he can hear from us; and be must draw us, before we can run after him. God

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sometimes visits in a way of wrath; and if we persevere in an evil course, such visits may be expected. If we do not seek his mercy, we shall be made to feel his displeasure. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? But it is a gracious visit that the prophet seeks, which implies both manifestation and communion. Thus the Lord visited Israel in Egypt, and in Babylon. After seventy years be accomplished, I will visit you, and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to this place. Exod. iii. 16. Jer. xxix. 10.——Of the Lord's visits to his people, it may be observed,

(1.) They are promised, and he will fulfil his word. Thus it was with respect to that long-expected and much desired one, at the incarnation of Christ; whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace. It was in remembrance of his mercy, as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. (Luke i. 54, 55, 78, 79.) The same may be said of all his visits to his people: they are not casual, but determined. And as they are at a fixed time on God's part, so they are most seasonable on ours: they are made when we most need them, and when he shall be most glorified by them. There is a set time to favour Zion, and a set time to favour us. There is a time when God visits his people, and when he refrains from visiting; and these times are in his own power. His love first exists in purpose: it is then manifested in promises, and last of all in performance.

(2.) They are free and voluntary, and on our part wholly undeserved: they are what we seek, but cânnot claim. If the Lord visits us in answer to prayer, it is not of debt, but of grace. His love does not find us lovely, but makes us so; and our fitness to receive his mercy is owing to our having obtained it. Our state as sinners is compared to that of a poor un

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