For lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go astray from thee.

But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare thy works.

O LORD GOD, Father of all Mercies, we desire to offer up to thee, before we seek repose, our evening sacrifice of prayer and praise. We bless thee for thy goodness to us during the past day, and we beseech thee to continue to us thy gracious protection during this night. Thou sustainest us, though we see thee not. Whom have we in heaven but thee? Whom on earth shall we desire beside thee? Thou art our support in trouble; our guide in difficulty; our best consolation in time of sickness; our only refuge in the hour of death.

Thou knowest our ways and our hearts. Pardon, we beseech thee, whatever evil we have said, or thought, or done, this day. Teach us continually to examine our hearts by the light of thy holy word; and grant unto us true repentance and faith in our Lord and Saviour. May we manifest those tempers, and abound in those works, which his Gospel requires. May we be full of meekness and patience, of kindness and forbearance, of benevolence and charity; and, being established in the love of God, may we also love our neighbors with a pure heart fervently.

We beseech thee to bless unto us the events of thy providence; and so to order all things, during the

remainder of our lives, that they may issue in our eternal good. We know not what a day may bring forth; but thou knowest all things, the strength of our hearts, and our portion forever from the beginning to the end. O, sanctify unto us our prosperity and our adversity, our sickness and our health, and in all conditions grant unto us grateful and contented minds. While we live on the earth guide us by thy counsel, and afterward receive us to thy glory.

We commend to thee the young and the old, the strong and the feeble, the happy and the afflicted. Grant unto all the needful spirit of thy grace, the remission of sins, and life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

IV.

Seeking a Clean Heart.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted to thee.

O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

For thou desirest not sacrifice: else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt-offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

O LORD, our Heavenly Father, the day is thine, and the night also thine. The light and the darkness, thou hast created them. They are both alike unto thee, who seest through the thickest shades, and whose care never slumbers nor sleeps; and they both alike unto us reveal thy gracious providence. We would show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.

We thank thee for thy goodness to us during the day that is now past. We thank thee that we have been preserved from its various perils, seen and unseen, and kept in our going out and our coming in; that no calamity has befallen our condition, and no burthen more than we could bear been laid upon our strength. We thank thee for all the instruction we have received, whether through our outward experience or thy good Spirit; for all that we have tasted of thy bounty, and seen of thy truth. We thank thee for every social and domestic comfort that we have enjoyed; for every faithful exercise in which we have been allowed to partake; for every good purpose that tnou hast strengthened us to fulfil; for whatever blessing has flowed through the senses, or been imparted to the soul. We owe all to thee, on whom we absolutely depend, and in whom alone we truly live.

O Lord, who searchest the hearts of the children of men, with the acknowledgment of thy constant favors it becomes us to mingle the feeling of our sinfulness and ill-desert. We are not worthy of the least of thy mercies, though thou passest before us in innumerable benefits, and carest for us with all this care. May thy goodness lead us to repentance, that we may be ashamed of our unthankfulness, and turn from every thought of disobedience unto thee. Forgive us, we beseech thee, whatever we have done amiss this day, and whatever we have failed to do which thy law within us enjoined.

And now, Searcher of hearts, we would enter into a solemn self-examination. If we have indulged any evil habit or passion, if we have dealt unreasonably with our brother, or lost the control of ourselves, if we have allowed the hours of this opportunity and probation to run to waste, or if we have abused them to any corrupt affection or evil design, we entreat of thee, O Father, the pardon of these sins. Create within us clean hearts, and renew a right spirit within us; and let this entreaty fill us with earnest resolutions for the time to come, if we are permitted to see it, that it shall find us more truly inclined to thy will, and walking in thy way.

And now, Lord, we commit ourselves to thee this night. Draw around us with its shadows the peace of thy Spirit, and the strength of thy defence. When we can do nothing for ourselves, do all for us. Before

we lose all will of our own in dreams and unconsciousness, we would solemnly renounce every intention of wrong; we would cast out from our hearts every disposition of enmity; we would be of a forgiving spirit; we would have no variance with the world that is soon to become to us for a season as if it were not; we would repose ourselves upon thy sovereign will, even thine only. And when we come to lie down in the last sleep, may thy mercies surround us with their security, and enfold us in their peace, and crown us with the redemption that has been revealed to us by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

V.

Encouragements to Pray.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you :

For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, the door shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask bread, will give him a stone?

Or if he shall ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Therefore all things whatever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.