unite with them, saying, Thou art worthy to receive all blessing and honour and glory, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation: all glory be to thee.

O Lord, we thank thee that thou hast not this day dealt with us as we deserved, and that thou hast passed over, through our great High Priest, the iniquity of our holy things. We praise thee for the good hope in Jesus, that our services, imperfect as they are, are accepted of thee, and that the prayers which we have offered up shall be answered.

O give unto us all the good things which we have been this day asking of thee, accept the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving which has been offered in thy house and at thy table, and write upon our hearts the truths of thy holy word which we have this day heard.

Give especially the full blessing of thy holy communion to those of us who have been to the holy table of the Lord. May we abide in Christ more entirely, and may he dwell in our hearts by faith, and may we be rooted and grounded in love. May the spirit of this holy communion remain with us. May our repentance be made more deep and intense; may the dying love of Christ be brought out before us in more vivid and impressive colours; may we feel that our weary and heavy-laden souls, approaching to him, shall find true rest, and that he is the sure

and full propitiation for all our sins. Give us more of his Spirit, of ardent, forbearing, self-sacrificing, costly, laborious, humble and persevering love,-a love not of words only, but of deeds; a love ready for toil and pain and suffering, and yet free and cheerful, even to the unworthy and ungrateful. Feeling this love of Jesus to us, may we join in spirit the angelic song, and sing, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men.

O Lord, seeing thou art our God by covenant engagements and immutable promises, and thou art ever near to us and present with us, grant us grace ever to seek thy face, and to walk with thee, to live as in thy sight, and to do thy will.

And as solemn communion-vows now rest upon such of us as have been to thy table, may we remember that it would have been better not to have vowed, than, having vowed, not to perform. May we neither repent of the vows nor be slack in the performance of them. Assist us hereafter to go through all our daily duties under the constraining influence of thy love.

And bless all our fellow-communicants at thy table and our fellow-worshippers in thy house, and prosper thy word wherever it has this day been preached, to the conversion, healing, sanctifying and strengthening of multitudes of precious souls, and to the glory of thy great name.

O when shall the day arrive when all the ends

of the world shall remember the Saviour's sufferings and turn to thee, and all the kindreds of the nations worship before thee, and know that the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations. Hasten the happy time, for our Redeemer's sake.

CXXXIX.

BEFORE COMMUNION ON THE LORD'S DAY.

(To be added to the usual Family Prayer.)

LORD'S DAY MORNING.

O Lord our God, who hast told us that the cup of blessing which we bless is the communion of the blood of Christ, and that the bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ, and who hast called us by a solemn command to do this in remembrance of thee, we beseech thee to give a special blessing to those members of our family who hope this day to partake of the Lord's supper. 0 may Christ manifest himself to us there, as he does not to the world. May we find of a truth that he receiveth sinners and eateth with them. May we have joy and peace in him, which the world can neither give nor take away, and may this joy be our strength. We entreat thee to grant that this thine ordinance this day may be very quickening and reviving to our souls; may our corruptions be mortified by the death of Christ, and may all Christian

graces be imparted and increased, while remembering his dying love at his table. O hear us, for his name's sake.

CXL.

MARRIAGE IN A FAMILY.

O thou blessed Saviour, who didst work thy first miracle at a marriage, and hast declared in thy word, that marriage is honourable in all, and hast set it before us as signifying the great mystery of the union between thee and thy church, we earnestly unite in prayer together for a blessing,-that full blessing from the Lord, which maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it,-on this marriage in our family. God Almighty grant to both thy servants all temporal and spiritual good, and let this be a union full of spiritual advantage and mutual comfort and edification. May the husband love his wife, as Christ loved the church; may the wife submit to the husband as unto the Lord, and may fresh and full views of all the oneness, grace and loving-kindness there is betwixt Christ and his people, be continually thus opened to them, and daily may they become more and more like him. O hear us, for our Redeemer's sake.

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THANKSGIVING AFTER CHILD-BIRTH,

CXLI.

THANKSGIVING AFTER CHILD-BIRTH.

Blessed be the Lord, who has inclined his ear to us and heard the voice of our prayer. Gracious is the Lord and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. As a family, we render unfeigned thanksgiving unto thee for thy tender mercy in carrying her, at the head of this family, safely through the trying hour of child-birth, and for sparing and preserving both mother and infant. O how great is thy goodness; how multiplied are thy mercies day by day. We would, in the sorrows of bringing forth children, learn our fallen state and the evil of sin, and in deliverance from those sorrows and the joy of a living child born into the world, we would see thy goodness. We desire also to be led by this birth to remember that Child who is born and that Son who is given, through whom cometh salvation, not only from temporal danger but from eternal ruin, if we continue in faith, and charity, and holiness, with sobriety. O Lord, may we pay our vows unto thee in the presence of all thy people, and may thy mercies constrain us to present ourselves a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto thee, which is our reasonable service, through Jesus our Redeemer.