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Christ, parting with and losing our poverty in his wealth, our sin in his righteousness, our ignorance in his knowledge, our folly in his wisdom, and our weakness in his strength. O may there be a blessed interchange between Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, and our needy and sinful souls; that as he was made sin for us, so we may be made the righteousness of God in him; as he was a man of sorrows for us, we may be filled with joy and peace in believing through him. O our God, continually thus supply all our wants out of his fulness; and enable us to receive grace from Jesus to purify our souls, and make us his peculiar people, filled with ardent and intense love to our Saviour, and zealous of good works.

O Lord, we are most sinful and most weak in ourselves! What is our life, when we look at our own doings, but one accumulation of broken resolutions and unfulfilled purposes of serving thee; one wreck of unaccomplished aims and desires to do thy will. In every thing we have come short of thy glory; every thing we say and do, seen in the light of the Sun of Righteousness, and compared with thy holy and perfect and good law, and thy spotless purity, is full of defect and sin. Yet open our eyes to see, and give us to know and believe, and be assured that there is in Christ free pardon of all our offences, and perfect righteousness for our justification. While we acknowledge the evil of our own thoughts-for

thou, God, weighest the spirits-0 lead us in thy good ways, and teach us to rejoice in thee, making us wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil, and full of labours of love for the good of others.

Lift up, then, thy countenance, and shine upon us, and grant that we may live in the light of thy love. Let us not be deceived by the gaudy show of this vain world, and seek rest in its empty appearance of good; but may we have real good in choosing that which pleases thee. May Christ be formed in us the hope of glory. May we be looking for him. who will appear the second time without sin unto salvation. May we dwell in him and he in us, and may we seek to diffuse continually the knowledge of his grace to others.

Unto Thee who hast loved us, and washed us from our sins in thine own blood, and hast made us to be kings and priests unto God even the Father, be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

LXXVIII.

WEDNESDAY EVENING.

TO KNOW GOD, AND BE DELIVERED FROM SIN.

O gracious Lord, who hast promised to be the God of all the families of Israel, and that they shall be thy people, and all whose promises are sure to us in Christ Jesus, give us to know at this time the real

privilege of having thee for the God of our family, and the unspeakable benefits of uniting in prayer at thy mercy-seat. O teach us to cast all our care on thee, in the assurance that thou carest for us. Teach us to be careful for nothing, but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to let our requests be made known unto thee.

O Lord, reveal thyself unto us more and more in the face of Jesus Christ. May we see and know thy beauty and thy glory; how infinitely full thou art of wisdom and power, riches and goodness, love and compassion, righteousness and forgiveness. Give us to discern with what assurance poor sinful creatures, who are lost and undone in themselves, may yet return unto thee, the most Holy One, as to a tender and merciful Father, who dost invite us, so far alienated from thee by our sins, to be reconciled unto thee by Jesus Christ.

Behold, O Lord, we come unto thee; thou hast made us, thou hast redeemed us; we believe thy love, and we know that thou wilt receive us, and bless us when we return to thee.

And, O Lord, deliver us from the power, bondage and pollution, as well as from the guilt of sin. Thou hast not spared thine own Son, his blood was shed for us; thou hast sent us thy glorious gospel, thou hast spared and blessed us all our life long to this day, wilt thou not then do for us yet more, what we so infinitely need, when we ask it in the name of

thy dear Son. O Lord, take away our evil heart of unbelief, give us victory over temptation, rescue us from the bondage of our iniquities, break the chains of our habitual sins, and give unto us the holy, happy and joyful liberty of those whom the Son makes free. Give us grace for that, from which our corruption especially shrinks, the patient, silent, laborious, unwearied fulfilling, daily, of self-denying duties, living soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, in full hope of the salvation ready to be revealed in these last times.

We pray for our church and all its ministers, especially our own. We pray for all the churches of Christ, and that the receiving of thy people Israel may speedily be as life from the dead to the world. We pray for the prosperity of our country. God be merciful to us and bless us, and at length give us grace to use our riches and commerce for thy glory, and the diffusion of that truth with which we have so long been intrusted and blessed. Hear us, for Christ's sake.

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FOR SELF-DEDICATION AND THE SPIRIT OF LOVE.

O Lord our God, who hast set apart thy people for thyself, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable unto thee, by Christ Jesus,

enable us now to fulfil that high office and privilege to which thou hast called us, and to present our bodies a living sacrifice unto thee. O what cause hast thou given us ever to show forth thy praises, in having called us out of darkness into thy marvellous light. Thy mercies also are new every morning; notwithstanding all our great sinfulness, we are still spared and preserved together as a family, and blessed with great and innumerable blessings: from thee comes all the enjoyment of present good, from thee the enlivening prospect of better things to come; all we have, all we hope for is from thee. Yea, Lord, our very necessities show the fulness of thy mercy; our weariness gives us the sweetness of rest; our hunger the refreshment of food, our cold the comfort of warmth, and our very sinfulness shows the riches of thy redeeming grace in Christ Jesus; we will praise thee so long as we have our being, even through the countless ages of eternity.

O Lord, all whose ways are wise and good, and who never hast failed those who seek thee, enable us to endure temptation, that when we are tried we may receive the crown of life. Give us to live always to thy glory, to bear much fruit, to spend each hour of this day not to ourselves, but unto thee. Especially assist us ever to look to Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, our guide, strength, and pattern. May we live with him, to him, and by him, and may his lovely and glorious character be more and more

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