Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

therefore, to thy guidance, fearful of taking one step, but as thou leadest us.

Conducted by Thee, we shall go through the day safely, if not pleasantly. We may suffer, but if we be kept from sin, it will be a blessed day. We may not be exempted from trial, but if thou sanctify the trial, all will be well. And in the evening, should we have to look back on a day of tempest, we shall have cause to be thankful, that He was with us, whom the winds and the sea obey; and through whose help, the deep did not swallow us up.

Pity those, who are still as sheep going astray: Heavenly Shepherd, bring them home to thy fold; for there only we find pasture there only we are safe.

Let no one hear thy voice in vain. May our dear relations, our friends, and our enemies (if we have any) hear it, and obey it. May that Saviour, who was lifted up from the earth, draw all men unto him. To him may the Gentiles seek, and find his rest glo

rious. Yea, let him be the hope and confidence of all the ends of the earth.

Let heaven and earth praise our God for his many mercies: but "especially for his " inestimable love in the redemption of the "world, by our Lord Jesus Christ; for "the means of grace, and for the hope of glory."

[ocr errors]

O" give us that due sense of all thy mer"cies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we may shew forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our "lives; by giving up ourselves to thy ser

66

66

vice, and by walking before thee in ho"liness and righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord," who taught us thus to pray,

[ocr errors]

Our Father, &c.

WEDNESDAY EVENING.

For Humility.

GREAT and holy God, how shall we who are but sinful dust and ashes come before thee! Thou art the Lord God Omnipotent; we are crushed before the moth. Thou art from everlasting to everlasting; we are of yesterday, and know nothing. Our meanness alone ought to fill us with humility in thy presence. But, O gracious God, there is a still more affecting reason for our thus approaching thee: Thou hast nourished and brought us up as children, and we have rebelled against thee. "We have erred and "strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, and "there is no health in us." Lord, thou knowest our foolishness, and our sins are not hidden from thee.

O thou holy and heart-searching God, grant that every one of us may know himself; and not only see himself to be a sinner, but

D

feel that grief and shame, which the remem brance of his sin ought always, to excite.

Suffer us not to listen to any of those selfdeceiving' reasonings, by which men cover their sins. What plea can we offer for pride, for impurity, or for anger? What shall we in excuse for having loved this vain world so much, and Thee so little? We cannot deny that our transgressions are many; and, O God, preserve us from attempting to extenuate the evil of them.

say

Let us fall into thy gracious hands, acknowledging our sins with true contrition of heart, and beseeching thee to show mercy to us on thine own terms. Instead of cavilling at the way in which it pleaseth thee to pardon the guilty, let ús most gladly, and most thankfully, seek to thee for that forgiveness, which thou holdest out to us, through the mediation and sufferings of thy dear Son Jesus Christ.

We bless thee, O God of infinite compassion, for having opened that fountain for sin and uncleanness. We would apply to it ere

we retire to rest. We know that our lives are defiled by sin; but O who can understand all his errors? Conscious of many transgressions, and fearful that unobserved offences may have been committed, we flee to the cross of Jesus, and there, with an eye directed to him who bore our sins, would we finish this day.

And we pray, O Lord, that, not only when we are kneeling before thee, but at all times, we may be preserved from thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. May a just view of ourselves be continually present to our minds; that in all our conduct towards thee, O God, we may act like penitent sinners; and that in all our transactions with men, we may behave with lowliness and meekness; as becometh those who stand in continual need of forgiveness.

And let no gifts, or talents, which thou mayest have bestowed on us, make us for-get what we are in thy sight. Lord, when we recollect the use we have made of them, we have reason to be filled with shame, instead of being proud on the account of them:

« EdellinenJatka »