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and to render it is the noblest exercise of which our nature is capable. And it is infinitely thy due from all thy creatures; and all thy works display thy attributes and fulfil thy designs. The sea and the dry land; the winter's cold and the summer's heat; the morning light and the evening shade, all are full of Thee. Thy paths drop down fatness. Thou givest us richly all things to enjoy. Thou art the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. Empires rise and fall, and fade and flourish at thy pleasure. But while all thy works praise thee, O Lord, thy saints bless Thee. And how many of these are there in thy house above. And how many are there even in this world which lieth in wickedness; and how does it delight us to think that their multitude is so greatly increasing. The Lord add to his people how many soever they be, a hundred fold!

But O number us with thy saints in glory everlasting. We turn from men of the world who have their portion in this life, the grovellers of mortality, and long to be remembered with the favour Thou bearest unto thy people. If we know our own hearts, we would choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; and esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! May we die the death of the righteous, and may our last end be like theirs. And, O Lord, we pray to resemble them, not only in their future allotment, but | in their present condition and character. With them we would sit at the great Teacher's feet and receive of his words. With them we would run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. With them we would fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life.

May our religion never be an undecided thing in our own minds: may we know that the root of the matter is found in us; and may others know it too. May our principles be evinced in their operation and effects. May we not only believe with the heart, but confess with the tongue, and hold forth the word of life by our lives as well as by our lips. May our understandings be more informed in divine things: our affections more holy and heavenly; our principles more confirmed; our motives more simple and pure; our hearts more right with God. Till the day dawn, and the shadows flee away, may there be an open and unrestrained intercourse between Thee and our souls. Till the full fruition comes, may we enjoy the earnests of our inheritance, and the first-fruits of the Spirit. Till we walk by sight, may we walk by faith. Till we finish our course with joy, may we pursue it with diligence, and in every intermediate part display the resources of the Christian, and adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

Not only by the word but by the rod, teach us to profit. May we learn obedience by the the things we suffer: and however grievous any dispensation may be to flesh and blood, may we be able to say with a sufferer of old, I know that this shall turn to my salvation. We forget not the sons and daughters of affliction: O do Thou remember them in the displays of thy power, and the tenderness of thy pity.

Our goodness extendeth not to Thee, but may the poor and the needy, and the ignorant and the vicious find that it ever extends to them: and that Thou art pleased to make us not only the subjects of thy goodness, but the instruments of thy mercy. Bless the throne, the government, and the country. May the British empire be under thine eye continually, and ever prove the seat of knowledge and freedom, of social order and happiness, of gospel privileges and genuine godliness, of benevolence and usefulness.

Let better days arrive than the world has ever yet witnessed. Let the gospel break in upon those who are lying in the shade of death and hell: and where the illumination has begun, may the light of the moon be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun be sevenfold as the light of seven days. Bind up all the breaches of thy people, and heal the stroke of their wounds. Bless thy church universally and revive and enlarge the portion of it with which we are connected, and have been again engaged in the exercises of devotion. Behold us as a family; and may the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush, ever reside in this house to secure and to bless.

Regard us as individuals, at the close of another Sabbath. How many have this day been awakened to the resolution, I will arise and go unto my Father. How many have had their faith and hope in God established. How many have obtained supplies to prepare them for their re-entrance into the duties and trials of life. But we fear it is not so with us. We mourn over our unprofitableness, and tremble at our condition. We have again met together, if not for the better for the worse. O let us not provoke Thee to withdraw the means of grace from us, or to withhold the influence which can alone render them effectual. We know the Word we hear will judge us in the last day; may we judge ourselves by it now, that we may not be condemned with the wicked. Enter not into judgment with thy servants, for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified. Our Father, &c.

MONDAY MORNING.

O LORD, Open Thou our mouth, and our lips shall show forth thy praise. We adore and bless Thee, not only as our Creator, and

Preserver, and Benefactor, but also as our | again: and love to all our fellow-creatures,

condescending Teacher. None teaches like Thee. Thou hast opened before us the volume of Nature, and there we can read and consider the works of the Lord which are great and useful, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein: but we have also spread before us the fuller and clearer pages of revelation. In these we see what Thou wilt have us to do; and it is inscribed with such plainness that he may run that readeth. And here we learn not only what Thou requirest of us, but what Thou hast done for us and promised to us. Here we commune with Thee as the God of all grace, and the Father of mercies; the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the fulness of time Thou wast pleased to send forth thy Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law; and he bore our sins in his own body on the tree; and having made peace by the blood of his cross, he was exalted at thy own right hand to be a prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of sins.

O Lord, we would cheerfully and thankfully avail ourselves of the provisions of thy love; and while others go about to establish their own righteousness, we would submit ourselves to the righteousness which is of God. May we renounce every other refuge for our souls, every other foundation for our hope; and rejoice in Christ Jesus; and have no confidence in the flesh.

It delights us to think how many are already made the partakers of this life-giving Saviour; but we pray for a participation of him ourselves. O bless us with a present experience of his salvation, in our deliverance from sin, in our bearing the image of the heavenly, in our enjoying his presence, and in our being upheld by his free Spirit. And O bless us with a conscious experience of his salvation. Let us not live from day to day, uncertain what we are and whither we are going; but bear witness with our spirits that we are thy children, and enable us to say, I know that my Redeemer liveth. And bless us with a growing experience of this salvation: if already enlightened, may we see greater things than these; if already quickened together with Christ, may we have life more abundantly renew us day by day in our inward man; and lead us on from strength to strength in the way everlasting, till we shall appear perfect before Thee in Zion.

O for more of that abiding in Jesus without which we cannot bring forth fruit! O for a deeper sense of our obligations to him, that we may surrender ourselves to his will, and feel it the joy of our hearts to serve him! While faith justifies our souls, may obedience justify our faith, and prove it to be of the operation of the Spirit. May our faith work by love, love to Him that died for us and rose

but especially to them that are of the household of faith. May we love them notwithstanding differences of opinion and imperfections of character; and love them out of a pure heart fervently.

Be the friend of our friends; the father of our children; the master of our servants. Bless this family. May thine eye and thy heart be here continually. May all the members of the household make thy word the rule of their conduct, submitting themselves one to another in the fear of God, and by love serving one another. Some of our connexions are far off from us; but we rejoice to think that they are near Thee, and that thou art a very present help in trouble. Keep them as the apple of the eye; hide them under the shadow of thy wing; and may all grace abound towards them. Let the young be soberminded, and flee youthful lusts. Let the hoary head be a crown of glory, being found in the way of righteousness. We pray for the afflicted; and we pray still more for the prosperous and indulged.

Bless the services of the past Sabbath. Let us not lay aside our religious concern with the day appointed to excite and increase it: may we retain a savour of the things of God through all the unhallowing avocations of the week. We often hear thy word: let us not resemble a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But may we look into the perfect law of liberty and continue therein, that being not forgetful hearers, but doers of the word, we may be blessed in our deed. And to God only wise, be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

MONDAY EVENING.

O God, Thou dost according to thine own will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: none can stay thy hand, or say unto Thee, What doest Thou? We are the creatures of thy power; Thou art the Father of our spirits; and it is thy inspiration that giveth them understanding. We are entirely the care of thy providence; Thou hast holden our souls in life, and not suffered our feet to be removed: and having obtained help of Thee we continue to this day.

But, O God, we are sinners in thy sight; and if we say we have not sinned, we make thee a liar, and thy word is not in us. Far from wishing to deny or excuse our offences, we throw ourselves at thy footstool, confessing that our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is gone up into the very heavens. We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of

our own hearts. We have offended against | thy holy laws. We have left undone the things we ought to have done; and we have done the things we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us.

For these things we mourn; we abhor and condemn ourselves, and acknowledge that Thou art justified when Thou speakest, and clear when thou judgest. Nothing can rescue our guilty minds from the horrors of despair, but an assurance from thyself, that Thou are not only good, but ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee. And blessed be thy Name, Thou hast given us a full revelation of thy reconcileableness to thy revolted subjects: and we know that Thou hast sent thy only begotten Son to be the propitiation for sin; and we see opened before us through Him, a wide and a welcome way to thyself.

And thou hast assured us that there is salvation in no other: and that no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. O help us to hear the voice that proclaims, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world: give us the eye of faith to see him; and the hand of faith to receive him; and the appetite of faith, the hungering and thirsting of faith that we may feed upon him, and know from our own experience as well as the testimony of thy word, that his flesh is meat indeed and his blood drink indeed. He is the hope of Israel, the consolation of Israel: may we repair to him, as the deliverer from the fall, and find in him the light, the life, the riches, the honours of eternity; and rejoice in him with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Too long have we joined in the cry of folly, Who will show us any good? Too long have we observed lying vanities and have forsaken our own mercies. But convinced of our madness, no longer would we spend our money for that which is not bread, and our labour for that which satisfieth not. May we hearken diligently unto Thee our heavenly Inviter, and eat that which is good, and let our soul delight itself in fatness. And so much the more as our time advances, and every moment we seize for reflection tells us that more of our opportunities are fled for ever. For Thou hast made our days as a hand's-breadth, and our age is as nothing before Thee, and verily every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. O that we were wise, that we understood this, that we considered our latter end! O teach us, thou Almighty Instructer, teach us to live as dying creatures; to live with our conversation in heaven; to live looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. May we not only believe that there is a better country, even a heavenly; but may we seek after it, and seek after it in the all-sufficiency of thy grace; and never be K

satisfied till we know that we have an inheritance among all them that are sanctified, and feel in ourselves those principles and dispositions which evince, not only that the blessedness is promised to us, but begun in us. May thy Spirit help our infirmities, and prepare us for every part of our passage homeward: for the successes and comforts with which we may be indulged; for the disappointments and troubles with which we may be tried; for the various duties we have to discharge; and for all the opportunities of usefulness our stations in life may furnish. Help Thou our unbelief-The hinderance of all our religious excellence and proficiency: increase our faith; and fill us with all joy and peace in believing.

Forgive the sins of another day. And may we now lay us down in peace and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest us dwell in safety: and with the returning day, continue thy care over us, and enable us to renew our dedication of ourselves to Thee.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen.

TUESDAY MORNING.

O THOU Creator and Preserver of all mankind, again we come before Thee in the multitude of thy mercies, and would call on our souls and each other to bless and praise thy holy name.

Preserve us, in this exercise of devotion, not only from hypocrisy but formality. Enable us to remember what Thou art, into whose presence we have entered, and what we are who have taken upon us to speak unto the living God. How wise, how great, how holy art Thou! But we are dust and ashes; unworthiness and vileness.

In what more becoming attire can we approach Thee than clothed with humility? In how many things have we offended; in all we have come short of thy glory. When we compare ourselves with thy law, we see that we are carnal, sold under sin; and that in us dwelleth no good thing. When we examine our hearts we find there an aggregate of vanity, frowardness, insensibility, disorderly affections, backwardness to duty, proneness to evil that causes us to loathe ourselves, and exclaim, Behold I am vile. When we look well into our lives; when we survey our relations and offices; our trials and our mercies; our opportunities and our means: and when we consider how often Thou hast called, and we have refused; how much Thou hast excited us, and how we have rebelled and vexed thy Holy Spirit; we cannot but fall upon our knees and cry, Enter not into judgment with us-God be merciful to us sinners-Save, Lord, or we perish.

O lead us to the cross, and enable us to pray believing in the name of thy dear Son.

All hope in, all help from ourselves we reject for ever. What things have been gain to us, these we count but loss for Christ: yea doubtless and we count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. Behold us in Him. Accept of his ransom as our discharge. Let his sufferings be the chastisement of our peace; and by his stripes may we be healed.

We know there is salvation in none other: but Him Thou hast sealed, Him Thou hast anointed; He is mighty to save; able to save to the uttermost them that come unto Thee by Him. May we therefore rejoice in hope; and have faith in those promises and invitations which he has given us in the gospel, and which must include ourselves, because they are addressed to all the ends of the earth and cry, Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. O let these assurances enter our consciences, and live and operate there, till for them the wilderness and the solitary place shall be made glad, and the desert rejoice and blossom as the

rose.

The world passeth away and the lusts thereof; every thing earthly in which we can trust is found to be vanity and vexation of spirit. How often has our heart bled, and our very life been smitten down to the ground. So much the more we desire in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Thy love in Christ Jesus our Lord is firm and changeless: nothing can separate us from it; nothing can make us miserable in the enjoyment of it. Say unto our soul, I am thy salvation, that we may have the satisfying persuasion that whatever may befall us, or however we may be tried here, in a little time the days of our mourning shall be ended, and we shall enter the rest that remains for the people of God.

And while the period of our pilgrimage is lengthened out, leave us not nor forsake us, O God of our salvation; but afford us those supplies and influences of thy Holy Spirit, which shall keep us from evil, and enable us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, and prove a blessing to all around us.

Make us grateful for the continuance of thy care and kindness; for the security and repose of the past night; and for all the advantages and comforts that meet us at our entering on another day. Be with us in all the duties and occurrences of a new and unknown portion of our time. Include in thy regards, as the God of providence and of grace, all our relations and friends, and for us and for them do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think: and to Thee be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end.

Amen.

TUESDAY EVENING.

O God, Thou inhabitest the praises of Israel. The spirits of just men made perfect, and the innumerable company of angels are perpetually serving Thee in thy house above. We desire to join in their adorations, and rejoice to think that the sacrifices of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, O God, Thou wilt not despise. Thou art a God that hidest thyself, and by no searching can we find Thee out unto perfection; but we know that Thou art Almighty; that Thou art about our path and our lying down, and acquainted with all our ways. We know that Thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and therefore we could not stand before Thee; but we also know, for Thou hast proclaimed thy name, that Thou art merciful and gracious. We know that it is possible for Thee to save the very chief of sinners, in harmony with every attribute of thy nature. We know that Thou hast not spared thine own Son, but delivered him up for us all; and wilt Thou not with him also freely give us all things? Yea, Thou hast given us all things freely with Him. What can we need as perishing sinners that is not to be found in Him?

May we never be so ignorant of the worthiness of his character and the worthlessness of our own, as to think of appearing before Thee in our own claims, but may we win Christ, and be found in Him, not having our own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is of God by faith. May we know Him, and the power of his resurrection; and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death.

And, O Lord, teach us often to consider what fallen and miserable creatures we were in ourselves; and in what a fearful condition we should have been found for ever, had we been left to ourselves; that the view of thine undeserved goodness, and a sense of the unspeakable benefits we have received from Thee, may so fill our minds and hearts that we may henceforth resolve to yield ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness unto God. And while others lie down and rise up, go out and come in, and God is not in all their thoughts, may we never live a day, or an hour, or a moment without Thee. May we realize thy presence, thy perfections, thy providence. May we walk with God, and may we be workers together with God. May we keep the same end in view with himself. May we study and labour to promote it by all the opportunities and means placed within our reach; and whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, may we do all to the glory of God.

And in all this do Thou enable us, for we

are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; and to every good work we are naturally disinclined. Open therefore the eyes of our understanding, and show us not only the truth, but the beauty and glory of divine things. Take from us the heart of stone; put thy Spirit within us; and cause us to walk in thy statutes, and delight in thy law which we have loved. And when Thou hast brought us into the way of holiness and peace, uphold us by thy grace, and establish, strengthen, settle us. Let us 1 not be slothful or barren in our Christian profession; but filled with all the fruits of righteousness, that we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, and by our good works which they behold, constrain them to glorify our heavenly Father. Draw out of our hearts the love of the present evil world, and set our affection on things that are above; things which will at once fill, and purify, and ennoble the mind. May we faint not at our tribulations, remembering that they are for our profit and glory, and that he who sends them has promised to be with us in trouble. When burdened, may we cast our burden upon the Lord: and when careful, cast all our care upon him who careth for us.

May we be diligent and faithful in our several callings; and by no injustice or wicked policy may we provoke Him whose blessing alone maketh rich and addeth no sorrow. May we never feast ourselves without fear, nor refuse in the midst of abundance, to stretch forth our hands to the sons and daughters of want. And as the elect of God, holy and beloved, may we put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another: and above all these things, may we put on charity which is the bond of perfectness.

Now unto Him that is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, for ever and ever. Amen.

WEDNESDAY MORNING.

WE bow our knee before the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Our exigencies are great, but Thou art able to supply them all from thy riches in glory. Our sins are more in number than the hairs of our head, but Thou art merciful and gracious. None however unworthy and guilty, ever sought Thee in vain; and from the experience of a multitude which no man can number, Thou hast obtained the character of a God hearing prayer; and unto Thee shall all flesh come.

Behold, O God, a company of suppliants at thy footstool, hopeless in ourselves but encouraged by thy promises, and taking hold of thy strength that we may make peace with Thee. Look upon the face of thine Anointed. Behold his obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. Hear the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. By his poverty may we be made rich; and by his stripes may we be healed. And may we thereby be healed, not only as to the wounds of a bleeding conscience, but as to the moral maladies of our nature, and be saved not only by a deliverance from the wrath to come, but by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. May the darkness of death give place to the light of life in our understandings. May the rebelliousness of our wills be exchanged for submission to thy commands and acquiescence in thy dispensations, without murmurings or disputings. Thou hast claims to us, arising not only from creation but redemption: may we glorify Thee in our bodies and in our spirits which are doubly thine. Let our Father, who seeth in secret, meet us in the closet as well as in the temple; and find us often examining our principles and our motives as well as our actions. Let us not confine our devoutness to the morning and evening hour of prayer; but be in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

Though our religion is at present very imperfect, may it show itself to be vital by its activities and its tendencies. Let the weak say, I am strong, strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; strong for our way, for our work and for our warfare.

May we never forget the experience we have had of our innate and remaining depravity in the various passages of our life and our religion, that we may be kept humble, and vigilant, and prayerful; that we may never trust in our own hearts, and never lean to our own understandings. And may we never forget the experience we have had of thy patience, and wisdom and power, and faithfulness, and care, that we may be grateful, and encourage ourselves in the Lord our God. We have never served Thee for nought; we have never sought Thee in vain; we have never confided in Thee and been confounded. Thou hast often made us ashamed of our fears; Thou hast often surpassed our hopes. At many an evening-tide it has been light; and many a shadow of death Thou hast turned into the morning. Thou hast already enabled us to see how our welfare has resulted from events which once discouraged us: and where darkness yet hangs on any of thy dispensations, we hear Thee saying, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. O for faith to believe; and patience to suffer, to wait, and to submit! We pray not that

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