rich abound in good works, and all be united together in pure and holy love.

Bless us more than ever thou hast yet done, according to the fulness of thy love in the approaching year. Assist us in duty, preserve us from temptation, guard us from danger. May we walk in the fear of the Lord, and yet more may the love of the Lord constrain us, that we may render a delightful service to thee, and find it perfect freedom. Honour us with large usefulness here, preservation in the hour of temptation, and full joy in the day of Christ. All these great things we ask of thee, for the worthiness of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour,

CXXIX.

LAST DAY OF THE YEAR.

MORNING PRAYER.

O ever-living God, the eternal and unchangeable Jehovah, the great I AM, which is, and was, and is to come, whose years fail not, we the children of a day, formed of the dust, whose flesh is as grass, and all our goodliness as the flower of the field, soon fading and passing away, come unto thee, whose mercy is from everlasting to everlasting on them that fear thee. We come in the name of one who bears our form and is partaker of our nature, while he is also one with thee, equal with God, even Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.

O Lord, when we look back on the year now

closing, how great has been thy goodness to us, how patient thy forbearance with us, how wonderful thy grace toward us. Mercies have surrounded us from day to day, from week to week, from month to month, from the beginning to the end. Mercies at home and mercies abroad, mercies in journeying and mercies in resting, mercies in our own family and with relatives and friends. We have been preserved amidst dangers, we have been kept from evils which we merited, and even in our deepest trials we have experienced the most abounding goodness and love. We are still encompassed with blessings, the living, the living to praise thee as we do this day. We together unite in making a fresh memorial, in this our family worship, of thy loving-kindness, and say from the heart, Hitherto the Lord has helped us.

May so much goodness lead us to repentance. Most unworthy have been our returns, innumerable have been our short-comings: our resolutions have been broken, our vows unperformed, and every thing we have done has been short of thy pure and perfect law, and mingled with multiplied imperfections and defects. We have not lived as a holy priesthood, dedicated to thee and continually offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to thee by Jesus Christ, but we have lived to ourselves, and cannot come unto thee or stand before thee but as we have access by Jesus our Mediator.

O teach us the great lessons which thy goodness

and our sinfulness should at this season especially impress on our minds. May all the way we have been led humble us, and may it show us to ourselves. May it teach us what evil there is in us, and may we discern how sinful and vile we are in ourselves, and how abominable we truly are, through our sin in thy sight, so that we may loathe and abhor ourselves. O give us that humble and contrite spirit with which the High and Holy One that inhabits. eternity will dwell, and in which he delights. Teach us all the emptiness of this vain world, and the folly of seeking our rest in that which is so polluted, and may we arise and depart from all its lusts and sins, and seek our rest only in the Lord, and patiently wait for him. Be thou our shield and our exceeding great reward now and evermore. Be thou our joy and strength, the portion of our inheritance and of our cup, and do thou maintain our lot.

Grant the same blessings to all the dear circle of relatives, and friends, and neighbours whom we would especially at this season remember. O let not these more lengthened and marked periods of time and providence pass away, without more earnest prayer, more determined purposes of living to thee, a more plentiful effusion of thy Holy Spirit, and an enlarged and full revival of thy work of grace in all our hearts.

And as our salvation is continually nearer and nearer, and we see the day of the Lord approaches,

may thy church every where make ready for his coming; may thy people be like the wise virgins, and have oil in in their vessels and be watchful. 0 may we have our loins girt and our lights burning, so as to be all ready to welcome our returning Lord and Saviour. Hear us for his name's sake.

CXXX.

EVENING PRAYER.

O our God, thy years are throughout all generations. Of old thou hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee. May we be numbered with them, and partakers of the favour thou showest to them.

Amidst all the changing scenes and passing seasons of this transient world, may our hearts be fixed on things heavenly and eternal, and may we seek first the kingdom of God and thy righteousness.

In coming before thee at the close of this year, we desire gratefully to acknowledge thy lovingkindness to us in all that is past, and to mourn before thee our many and grievous sins. O Lord, if we can see so much evil in our ways, who can but little discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin; what

must our iniquities be when set before thee, and when our secret sins are set in the light of thy countenance? Our mouths must be for ever stopped; we confess that we are all guilty before thee, and justly condemned by thy holy law.

We come then now in this solemn season, weary and burdened with sin, to Jesus, that Lamb of God which thou hast appointed to take away the sin of the world. We cast our burden now upon thee, O Lord; do thou sustain us. Yea, do thou cast all our sins behind thy back, that they may be remembered no more against us.

O Lord, we do thank thee from the heart for the rich, full, and free grace of the gospel of our Lord Jesus; so suited to all our wants as needy, sinful, and perishing creatures, What a Saviour we have, whose blood cleanses from all sin, in whom we have righteousness and eternal life, whose Spirit aids us and strengthens us in all our weakness; who is gracious and full of compassion, touched with a feeling of our infirmities, tender and forbearing! O what a Father is our God, who pities us as his own children, and whose goodness leads us to repentance! Though we cannot glory in ourselves, we would glory always in the Lord; though we must be humbled in the true view of ourselves, we do exult in him and magnify his name for all things; for all the mercies, yes, and for all the trials, of the year now closing.

O Lord, teach us now so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Satisfy