HOSANNA! MARK xi. 9; Ps. cxviii. 25—29.

NEW scene of time now begins: put up thy Hosanna, O my soul, that the LORD may save, bless, and prosper thee: may he grant thee a happy new year indeed! For this purpose begin it with a dedication of thyself to GOD; thy time, circumstances and life, are in his hand; with faith and love implore his blessing and protection over thee this ensuing year. Begin this and every following day with prayer; let GOD have thy first thoughts in the morning, the impression they make will not be easily erased by worldly matters. Grace is promised in the use of means; be thou diligent, then, and punctual in the performance of them; let thy daily request be for an increasing knowledge of thyself, and of JESUS CHRIST in his offices; for a sense of pardoning mercy; for a lively, vigorous faith; for communion with the Father and the Son through the Spirit; for true holiness in heart and life; for strength and protection against thy spiritual foes, and for persevering grace to hold out to the end. Pray for the prosperity of Zion; they prosper that love her. O pray for thy friends and relations, begging the Almighty to take them into covenant relation to himself; for a blessing on thy worldly affairs; for a sanctified use of health or sickness, prosperity or adversity, as GoD shall please to send. Perhaps, O my soul, this may be the last year of the LORD's patience and thy pilgrimage. Is thy state safe? Art thou a real believer in Jesus? Is the oil of grace in thy vessel ? If so, thou art prepared for every emergency.

And now, O soul, another year
Of this world's life is past;
I cannot long continue here,
And this may be the last.

Now a new scene of time begins,

Set out afresh for heaven;
Seek pardon for thy daily sins
In CHRIST SO freely given.

B

I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death; O Death, I will be thy plague! O grave, I will be thy destruction! Hos. xiii. 14. Christ having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (his cross). COL. ii. 15. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 COR. xv. 56, 57.

THE

HE world is afraid of a hidden poison where there is none. The real hidden poison is sin, which the LORD grant me to fear, is every where; for it has infected all things and all places. But, O my dear Saviour, thou being my all-sufficient Preservative and Antidote in all places, O dwell in me continually, and O increase my faith, that I may know thee and enjoy thee more and more! Take away all slavish fears of death and hell from my soul, for thou hast conquered both for me. And O give me the heart that can live on thee by faith every moment, and that can trust thy grace for every blessing. O give me the heart that burns with love to thee, and that can raise its Hosanna in full assurance of the blessed inheritance beyond the grave.

Hosanna to the Prince of Light,

That clothed himself in clay;
Enter'd the iron gates of death,
And tore the bars away.

Death is no more the King of Dread,
Since our Immanuel rose ;

He took the tyrant's sting away,
And spoil'd our hellish foes.
Now holy triumphs of the soul
Shall death itself outbrave,
Leave dull mortality behind,

And fly beyond the grave.