discouraging attainments: for Thou takest pleasure in them that fear Thee; in them that hope in thy mercy. May these dispositions be found in each of us. May we dread thine anger, revere thy perfections, stand in awe of thy majesty, and trem ble at thy word. And hide not thy mercy from us: enable us to trust in it, and to plead it; and, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, may we earnestly cry, God be merciful to me a sinner. In how many ways do we need the exercise of it; but Thou art rich in mercy; and abundant in mercy; and delightest in mercy.

:

We are all so many proofs of it because thy compassions fail not-we are not consumed. Our forfeited lives have not only been continued, but crowned with thy goodness. Thou hast provided for our souls as well as for our bodies; and we hear a thousand voices inviting us to the feast, and saying, Come, for all things are now ready. Thanks be unto God, for his unspeakable gift: we bless Thee for a Saviour, who died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, and is now ascended far above all heavens that He might fill all things.

May we be made the partakers of Christ, and not only of his righteousness-but of his spirit: that we may be-not only pardoned but renewed; and not only have a title to heaven, but a meetness for it. No longer alienated from the life of God, may our meditations of Thee be sweet, and may we draw near to Thee as to our exceeding joy. May we confide in thy promises, and rely on thy constant protection and care. May we be devoted to thy service, and find it perfect freedom. May we love obedience; may thy law be within our heart. May thy cause be dear to our souls. We pray that thy word may have free course and be glori fied. Let thy church not only be multiplied in number, but increased in knowledge, and sanctity, and peace, and concord, and joy; so that it may be a praise in the whole earth. Let the light of the moon be as the light of the sun, and the light

of the sun be seven-fold, as the light of seven days. For brass, bring gold; and for iron, silver; and wood, brass; and for stones, iron.

Thou dost not stand in need of us but in thy condescension and wisdom, Thou art pleased to make use of means; and we desire the honour and happiness of being instruments in thy hand. Lord, what wilt Thou have us to do? We would value every day afforded us, as a new period of usefulness. May we be anxious to accomplish all we can, to alleviate human wo, and to advance the temporal and spiritual welfare of all around us.

And may we be not only zealous, but persevering. May we never be discouraged. May we never grow weary in well-doing.

While many go back after following the Saviour, may we cleave to Him with purpose of heart; and at last, hear Him say, Ye are they who have continued with me in my temptation, and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father also hath appointed unto me.

We would not forget the afflicted. Hear the sighing of the needy; cause the widow's heart to sing for joy; and in Thee may the fatherless find mercy. Remove indisposition and disease from those who are exercised thereby; or assure them of that world where the inhabitant no more says, I am sick.

Be with us all through the changing scenes of life, and at the hour of dissolution; when heart and flesh fail-and fail they soon will-be Thou the strength of our heart, and our portion for ever. If death should be sudden, let it not find us unprepared; if it should be awful in the apprehension, let it be safe in the result; and if we cannot de part in triumph, may we expire in humble hope saying with numbers before us,

A guilty weak and helpless worm,
On thy kind arm I fall;

Be thou my strength and righteousness,
My Jesus and my all.

And through eternal ages, may it be our privi lege to unite with those, who are singing, Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, and to his Father, be glory and dominion, for ever and ever. Amen.

SATURDAY EVENING.

O LORD God of Hosts; Thou hast established thy throne in the heavens, and thy kingdom ruleth over all. It is a source of joy to our minds, and of encouragement to our hopes, that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. In thy greatness, we see thy all-sufficiency to accomplish all that Thou hast promised; to confer upon us all we need; and to do for us exceeding abundantly, above all we can ask or think.

It is, therefore, good for us to draw near to Thee; and it is our mercy to know, that we can approach Thee with confidence of acceptance and success, founded not on any worthiness or works of our own, but on thy own grace, in the appointment of a Mediator, who has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and opened a new and living way, into the holiest of all, by his own blood.

We have no other name to plead; and we need no other. Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of thine Anointed and for his sake who groaned in the garden and died upon the cross and now appears in thy presence for us, pardon our iniquity for it is great; cleanse us from all unrighteousness; deliver us from the power of darkness; and translate us into the kingdom of thy dear Son.

May we no longer be strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and because we are sons, send

forth the spirit of thy Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father. May our intercourse with Thee, be free and delightful, and constant; and not on peculiar occasions only, but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, may we make known our requests unto Thee. May we live in thy presence.

May we walk with God-and walk humbly with God; sensible of our deficiencies and desert; admiring thy condescension and patience; and bowing to all thy dispensations, without murmuring or repining.

May we walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time. May we be zealous in the discharge of all those duties, the performance of which, depends on a season so fleeting and precarious. May we consider one another, and provoke one another to love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another, and so much the more-as we see the day approaching.

Enable us to realize the universality and perfection of thy agency, in all our affairs; and since all thy ways are mercy and truth, may we learn in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content; yea in every thing may we give thanks.

May we not only submit to our trials, but be grateful for them. They are designed for our profit, that we may be partakers of thy holiness. They evince a care of which we are unworthy, and which we have never properly repaid. Lord, what is man, that Thou shouldst magnify him? that Thou shouldst set thy heart upon him? that Thou shouldst visit him every morning, and chaster him every moment? So impatient, and wayward, and foolish, have we been under thy hand, that we have forfeited all claim to the rod, and deserve to be stricken no more. It would be just in Thee to say, They are joined to idols, let them alone. But

O Lord, abandon us not to ourselves; treat us not with neglect. Employ whatever means are necessary to save and sanctify our souls. Try us as Thou pleasest; only, while we are chastened of the Lord, let us not be condemned with the wicked.

Humble us under a review of our depravity, through another day, and another week, which is now hastening to join the days and weeks before the flood. Who can understand his errors? In many things we all offend. Hide thy face from our sins. Heal our backslidings, and receive us graciously.

On the coming day, let thy good Spirit lead us to thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacle. May we go unto the altar of God as to our exceeding joy, and taste the blessedness of those that dwell in thy house, and are still praising Thee. Teach us to value properly, the means of grace, and be concemed to derive from them, the benefit they are designed to afford. May we remember our accountableness for them. May we remember, that they never leave us as they find us; but always prove the savour of life unto life, or of death unto death.

Let not our attendance add to our sin and condemnation. Let us not sing without devotion, pray without desire, and hear in vain; but be found in the number of those, who know the joyful sound, and walk in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost.

And may those who will not be able to hear the word, hear the rod, and hear it saying, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Let meditation, and reading, and pious conversation, and above all, thy special presence, be substitutes for public ordinances. Thus send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, and let them that tarry at home, divide the spoil. And have mercy upon all men, as we implore it through the mediation