and bitter the necessities which our neighbours Thy word, O Lord, is a light unto our feet. We thank Thee for it. it, and rejoice in it. In all things may we consult it. When troubled, may we seek its consolations. When tempted, by the words of Thy lips may we keep us from the paths of the destroyer. When perplexed, may it be the chart of our journey. And thinking upon celestials who keep the sayings of this book, may we be stimulated by a devout ambition to yield all deference to its authority, all awe to its majesty, all thankfulness to its grace! While we would tenderly and gratefully bless Thee for the connections of affinity and blood which leave us not alone in walking through this great wilderness, we pray to remember that the place which now knoweth us shall soon know us no more. The grave shall quickly be our house and we must make our bed in darkness. Let us think amidst every soft and gentle emotion, that in a little while we shall say to Corruption, Thou art my father: to the Worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. Our rest together shall be in the dust. May we covet a more enduring substance than we here possess: and seek a more abiding city. May we but die from each other to meet again, and sleep in the earth to awake together. Remember the word unto Thy servants on which Thou hast caused them to hope. Glorious things hast Thou spoken of Thy Church in the the latter days,-how wide her extent and great her excellency, how numerous her converts and rapid her triumphs, how the sons of them that afflicted her shall come bending to her, and how all they that despised her shall bow themselves down at the soles of her feet! Hasten it, O Lord, in Thy time! make on the earth! A short work do Thou We We commit ourselves anew to Thee! The night is gathering around us, but the darkness and the light are both alike unto Thee. ask of Thee repose and safety. Let the earliest recovered faculties of our mind raise their incense and song to Thee with the morning light! Day by day we magnify Thee, and we worship Thy name ever, world without end. While we pray always in the Name of Jesus, we would be emptied of all conceit of our own goodness, every dream of our own merit,-trust ing, relying, on Him alone. how could we presume? can we doubt ? Looking to ourselves, Looking to Him, how To Jehovah, our God in the heavens,-Father, Son, and Spirit, be the honour that appertaineth to Him! Be the glory due unto His Name! Amen. "The grace of our Lord," &c. TUESDAY MORNING. HEAR us when we call, O God of our righteousness have mercy upon us, and hear our prayer. For Thou dost hear sinners! And their welcome with Thee is measured by their self-renouncement! Their vileness is abhorrent to Thee, but not their sense of it! It is their guilt that they are so necessitous, but not that they feel it! This is agreeable to truth,-is pleasing in Thy sight; it is the sorrow which Thy Spirit moves, it is His intercession within us, the unutterable groan of shame and hope and love! And so would we come before Thee, Thou God of grace! Receive us graciously and love us freely. For when Thou sayest, By grace are ye saved, gladly would we accord to it as a truth, cordially rejoice in it as a discovery. We adore Thee for such a dispensation of Thy purpose towards us, and shudder at the thought of its denial and rejection because it rebukes our arrogance and mortifies our pride. O for meekness suitable to its authority, for humility correspondent to its greatness, for gratitude equal to its mercy! We desire to rest upon the oblation of the Cross that sacrifice in virtue of which Christ is Priest for ever! that ransom which has elevated Him to the suretyship of the everlasting Covenant! Now we learn what Thy mercy and how it can operate. Once, while we spake of it, it was a vague thing to our minds, and we understood it not. So far as we can recall our notions, how narrow were they, and most unworthy. How dost Thou, in this way, glorify Thyself, and teach us in loving Thy salvation, to say continually, The Lord be magnified! Impress us, notwithstanding that one event appears to happen to all, with the Providence which Thou dost exercise over Thy children. Whatever Its mystery, may we confide in its righteousness. Though clouds and darkness be round about it, may we unquestioningly leave Thee to do what seemeth Thee good. Be the wheel within the wheel, let us remember that every revolution is impelled by Thy Spirit; and that when they are lifted up, amidst Thy glory may be perceived the likeness of the Son of Man. Grant that we review Thy procedure in respect of us with thankfulness, and trust in the Lord for ever! We bless Thee for the mercies of the night. We might have risen in pain, under bereavement, amidst destitution, while the unrested heart still meditated terror or refused comfort. We thank Thee for other circumstances and feelings for domestic happiness, for general health, for Christian peace. The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us. And now that we are about to commence the business of this day, our cry shall be to Thee, Lord what wilt Thou have us to do? Say to each, Go work to-day in my vineyard. Assign our sphere and cheer our labour. Looking on all the works that our hands have wrought, forbid that it should be vanity and vexation of spirit, or that we should feel that there is no profit under the sun. To spend and to be spent in Thy service should be our reason of living and the delight of our life. Raise our minds to this standard, embue them with this desire. May we live unto the Lord. Cause us to remember that we are bought with a price, -not by corruptible things as silver and gold, but the precious blood of Christ. Cause us to regard ourselves as the temples of the Holy |