and brought with it many important duties, accompanied with the promise of many great and precious blessings. Enable us to prepare our minds for the faithful performance of the one, and for the devout reception of the other. O give us to perceive Thee, merciful Father, in every duty in which we engage this day; and in all our duties may we glorify Thy high and holy name.
"Thy voice, O Lord, is upon the waters;" and Thy Word is a fountain of living waters. Open Thou our eyes, that we may behold a few of the wondrous things contained within Thy Word. Thy Word, O Lord, is full of majesty, full of the majesty of truth; it sendeth forth light for the illumination of all orders of Thy intelligent creatures; it adapteth itself to all capacities, making wise the simple, and still more wise those who have been instructed in its hidden wonders. Thy voice of truth awakeneth us in our states of desolation, and urgeth us to go forward; and Thy truth is the cruse of water to refresh us as we pass through the wilderness of this world of trial. Thy Word it is that imparts to our inward souls our portion of the bread of life, and through it have we constant access unto Thee, as the hearer and answerer of prayer. O guard us against profaning any of its hallowed truths. With devout thankfulness, we acknowledge the gift of the divine Word, as the greatest of all Thy blessings. Amen.
Our Father, etc.
SABBATH EVENING.
Most blessed and glorious Lord God our Saviour, we humbly approach Thy mercy-seat, at the close of another Sabbath; and in approaching Thee, we would desire that fervent spirit which may show that we delight in Thy service. How many and how precious are the benefits we have this day enjoyed! We have been made to lie down in green pastures, we have been led beside the still waters. We have been fed with the finest of the wheat; our souls have been filled with the fatness of Thy house. Thy servant, our pastor, has laboured to make us acquainted with the things which pertain to our peace. O that the benefits we have derived may be equal to the means of culture employed! Where we have been reproved this day by the searching power of Thy truth, O teach us submissively, and with humble and penitent hearts, to bow to it; and let the righteous dispensations of Thy providence be so exercised toward us that we may not again relapse into our evils. As the tide of instruction has flowed forth into our minds, O may that water lave a fruitful ground, and in due time bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred fold. As our weary souls have been comforted and refreshed,—as we have been raised from depression of spirit and heaviness of heart,—so may we learn never to lose sight of Thee as the Rock of our salvation, our God in whom we may trust, our buckler, and the horn of our salvation. Into Thy hands, O Lord, we desire to resign our spirits. In Thy hands alone shall we be safe. Amen.
Our Father, etc.
