IK HOME WORSHIP A SERIES OF TOPICAL PRAYERS THE FAMILY CIRCLE BY THE LATE JAMES W. WEIR, PHILADELPHIA : PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH SCHOOL WORK, No. 133* CHESTNUT STREET. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by THE TRUSTEES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. WESTCOTT & THOMSON, Stereotypers and Electrotypers, Philada. CONTENTS. PAGB THE LORD'S PRAYER 15 ATTRIBUTES OF GOD 18 CHRISTIAN GRACES 21 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 24 OFFICES OF CHRIST 28 PRAYER 32 CREATION, PROVIDENCE AND REDEMPTION 35 JUSTIFICATION, ADOPTION AND SANCTIFICATION 39 GOSPEL BLESSINGS 43 THE BEATITUDES 46 MEANS OF GRACE 50 LIFE, DEATH AND ETERNITY 54 PRAYER 57 LORD'S SUITER 62, 66 MONTHLY CONCERT 69, 73, 76, 79, 83 KEEPING THE HEART 86 WORD OF GOD 90 FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY 94 THANKSGIVINGS 97 2021416 4 CONTENTS. PAGB TALENTS 101 THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL 104 GOD 108 KNOWLEDGE, HOLINESS AND ZEAL in TRINITY "5 NATURE, GRACE AND GLORY 118 GOSPEL ARMOR 122 FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT 125 GOSPEL BLESSINGS 129 DUTIES TO GOD 132 DUTIES TO MAN 136 DUTIES TO OURSELVES 139 PASTOR, ELDERS, CHURCH AND CONGREGATION 143 PLEASING GOD 147 MORNING 150, 153 NIGHT 157 THOUGHTS, WORDS AND ACTIONS 160 REVIVAL 164, 167, 171, 174, 178, 181, 185, 188, 192, 195 DEPRECATIONS 199, 202, 206, 209, 213 SABBATH MORNING 216, 220, 223 SABBATH EVENING 227, 230 WORD OF GOD 233 LORD'S PRAYER 237 ATTRIBUTES OF GOD 242 FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY 246 CONFESSIONS 249 REDEMPTION 253 CONTENTS. 5 PAGB Nnw YEAR 256, 260 HEAVEN AND HELL 263 GRATITUDE, REPENTANCE AND FAITH 267 GOD'S MERCIES 270 NIGHT 274 FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY 278 GOD 281 FAITH, KNOWLEDGE, HOPE, LOVE, ZEAL 285 THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL 288 PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY 292 LOVE 295 THE AFFLICTED 299 EXAMPLE OF CHRIST 302 COUNSEL, PROTECTION, BOUNTY AND GRACE 305 DUTY 308 THE SOUL 312 REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION 316 INTRODUCTION. HAD the writer of the following work lived to publish it himself, it is probable that, like a for- mer volume of similar character, it would have been issued anonymously. The partiality of friends and the great worth of the volume join in furnishing a reason for no longer concealing the authorship. Forty years ago, when a young man, and but a few years after his remarkable conversion to God, he wrote and published anon- ymously A Manual of Prayer: designed to assist Christians in learning tJie Subjects and Modes of Devotion, which is now published by the Pres- byterian Board of Publication as The Closet Companion. The Rev. Albert Barnes intro- duced it to the public, characterizing it in terms of high commendation. The writer, James W. Weir, was then, and until his death, in 1878, 8 INTRODUCTION, continued to be, an officer in the Harrisburg (Pa.) National Bank, a ruling elder in the Mar- ket Square Presbyterian church, and the super- intendent of its Sunday-school. All these posi- tions he filled with marked ability and rare faith- fulness. As a Sunday-school worker, especially, he was widely known and greatly esteemed. A life like his cannot be written. Its incidents of parentage, birth, education, conversion, labors, ill- ness and death may be easily told, but these are not the life itself. That, though not without its honors, had in it few striking and startling events. It moved on quietly in the ordinary channels of home and church and business life, bringing re- freshment everywhere, strengthening goodness, reproving evil, moulding hundreds of other lives and exalting religion in the eyes of all men. Mr. Weir was eminently a man of prayer a man remarkably gifted in this respect. From the earliest period of his Christian life he not only cultivated the spirit of prayer, spending much time in prayer, but studied the subjects of prayer, the wants of the soul and of the world, and especially made himself familiar with the " words which the Holy Ghost teacheth," that he might present the whole compass of human wants at INTRODUCTION. 9 the throne of grace in forms of divine speech. His prayers were always models of rich quota- tion of Scripture language. For many years it was a habit with him, in the intervals of press- ing public business and after the wearying cares of the day were over, to refresh his own soul and to cultivate the power of expression in prayer by committing his prayers to writing. Prayer was a study to him. He was a large believer in the sublime, solemn, magnificent doctrines of the Christian faith. He lived in the sense of God. He "endured as seeing Him who is invisible." The awe and sacredness of spiritual things rested upon his soul, and he drew near to God in chosen words, enriching himself out of the sacred writings. These prayers differ from most productions of this class. They are not " forms of prayer " for use in public or in private. They are not designed for the social meeting or family circle, but are rather, what their author was accustomed to call them, " studies in prayer." They are in- tended to guide and help the reader by suggest- ing trains of thought and forms of expression in prayer. They enlarge the boundaries of prayer. They give subjects of prayer, and then supply fit- IO INTRODUCTION, ting thoughts and make admirable adaptations of Scripture to them. In simple, chaste and beau- tiful language they suggest and express the de- sires of thousands on a great variety of topics desires that but few know how to embody in words. Let any believer read and study this little book, fill his heart with its spirit, become familiar with its topics of thought and modes of expression, and his own prayers will largely gain in comprehensiveness and power. T. H. ROBINSON. HARRISBURG, July 20, 1878. PREFACE. THE following volume was written for occasion- al use by the author in family worship, though more for his own narrower domestic circle of husband and wife ; and further, also, for studies and helps in social prayer. In regard to forms for family worship, it may in frankness be said that perhaps the majority of heads of families need something of that kind, and there would be, in a multitude of cases, a better devotional habit and spirit of prayer by such persons casting their minds, at least oc- casionally, into the moulds of well-constructed prayers. Besides the large circle of those who really need such help and who may be profited thereby, there are many of our best and most intelligent Christians who are apt to run into stereotyped phrases, and to use a very limited range of topics 12 PREFACE. in family worship, so that the tendency in many instances is rather to impoverishment than en- richment in the felicity of expression and range of subjects in the matter of domestic worship. It would seem, therefore, to the writer that some- thing like the following book might be useful ; not, perhaps, for constant or even very frequent use, but as affording a study at least of subjects and modes of prayer. In regard to the more restricted household circle referred to above, it would probably be valuable as an inner fountain-head of domestic piety if Christian husbands and wives had their own special closet wherein together to refresh themselves daily, apart from all others, by .con- ference, reading and prayer. Out of this would flow gracious influences on the family, the Church and the world beyond estimate. The writer would fain hope that this volume will be a helper in such an oratory. On the subject of social prayer it may be said that it claims much more attention than the Church now gives it. Compliance of her mem- bership with this duty would make Christians more distinctively religious, protect them from many temptations in the world, identify them more PREFACE. 13 closely and usefully with the movements of the Church, stimulate them to a higher standard of Christian life, increase their religious knowledge and greatly advance their happiness. To ac- quire more facility in this duty there is needed more prayer in the closet, more cordiality in meeting the requirements of the Church in this matter, more heartiness in religion itself, more religious reading, and, withal, the furnishing of the mind with the topics of prayer, of the number and variety of which most Christians are perhaps not aware. It is hoped that this volume will supply helps to this duty of social prayer, and, without in- ducing any slavish imitation in language of these prayers, yet furnish such examples and studies of topics having a relative fitness to each other when combined as will tend to enlarge the area of social prayer, discipline and store the mind with useful material, and, rightly used, deepen the tone of personal piety and exercise a wholesome influence on Christians in the aggressive move- ments in the Church militant. Possibly it may be objected that the study of prayer might lead to formality. But experience in all educationary processes, manual and mental, 14 PREFACE. proves the contrary. The more the attention and practice that are given to handicraft, to speaking, writing and study, the more ease and proficiency we gain, until that which at first was awkward and toilsome becomes graceful and easy. And why should not freedom and proficiency in prayer follow the same law of wise and diligent prac- tice ? HOME WORSHIP. THE LORD'S PR A YER. OUR Father in heaven, grant us the spirit of adoption, by which we may cry, Abba, Father! Enable us to look up unto thee, as infinitely able to bless us with thy paternal gifts ; for if earthly parents know how to give good gifts to their chil- dren, much more wilt thou give thy Spirit to them that ask thee. Lord, assist us to honor thy name. Thou art everlasting in being ; almighty in power ; infinite in wisdom ; inflexible in justice ; eternal in truth ; spotless in holiness ; and boundless in mercy. Oh, dispose us to praise thee in our thoughts and with our lips and by our lives ; and grant that, whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we may do all things to thy glory. We bless thee that thou didst not leave our race to perish in the estate of sin and misery into which it had fallen, but that thou didst send thy Son to establish in this apostate world a kingdom of grace and salvation. Lord, set it up in our hearts, and make us the willing subjects of thy 15 1 6 HOME WORSHIP. power. Oh, let thy will be done everywhere on earth as it is done in heaven, that at the name of Jesus every knee may bow and every tongue confess. Gracious God, teach us the duty of desiring and seeking our daily bread and all our temporal comforts as the gifts of thy hands. In receiving them may we acknowledge thy providing and nourishing goodness. Suffer us not to be anxious what we shall eat and drink and wherewithal we shall be clothed ; but may we seek first thy king- dom and righteousness, and all these things, ac- cording to thy promise, shall be added unto us. Lord, pardon our transgressions, so numerous and so aggravated. Justify us freely by thy grace through the redemption that is in Jesus. Give us the blessedness of them to whom thou imputest not iniquity ; whose sins, though they be as scarlet shall be white as snow, and though they be red like crimson shall be as wool. En- able us to say, " Though thou wast angry with us, thine anger is turned away and thou comfortes us." And let thy Spirit bear witness with ours that we are thy children redeemed from the- pen- alty of sin by the death of Christ, and accepted as righteous in thy sight because of his right- eousness imputed to us and received by faith alone. Make us to realize the condition of the prayer. " Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors ;" THE LORD'S PRAYER. \7 and let us not by a vindictive spirit seal up the fountains of thy pardoning mercy, for thou hast told us that if we forgive not men their tres- passes, neither wilt thou forgive us our trespasses. Lead us not into temptation. Secure us from the countless wiles of the adversary of our souls ; shelter us from the seducing influences of a world lying in wickedness, and preserve us from the tendency to corruption in our own hearts. Give us wisdom to discern and strength to resist every approach of temptation. Be thou a present help in every hour of need. Keep us, O Father, from accident, sickness and death. Preserve us from backsliding from the ways of grace ; for if any man draw back, thou hast no pleasure in him. If our feet fall into snares and slide in the paths of evil, bring us back from our wanderings, restore us to thy favor, set our feet upon the Rock, establish our goings in thy strength, and enable us to press toward the mark for the prize of our high calling. Lord, pity the ungodly. Restore every prodi- gal in sin to his Father's house. Let them that dishonor thy name glorify it. Bring many rebels to submit to thy dominion. Supply the wants of all thy creatures. Induce multitudes to accept thy forgiving mercy in Jesus Christ. Cause for- bearing love to supplant revengeful passion. Re- move the temptations and lessen the evils that beset and afflict mankind. And let the blessings, 1 8 HOME WORSHIP. temporal and spiritual, of the gospel fill the earth. And now, Lord, we ask thee to reign over us and to rule in us. Break our stony hearts, bend our stubborn wills and quicken us into newness of life. Help us to glorify thee in Jesus Christ as over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. O THOU MOST HIGH, we would praise and serve thee for thine excellent greatness. Thou art eternal in thy being. From everlast- ing to everlasting thou art God. Thou hast no beginning of days nor end of years. Teach us that thou hast made us in the image of thine own eternity, and that thou hast undying power to make us happy or wretched for ever, and that thy hand will be on us, for weal or woe, con- tinually. Enable us and others to flee from the wrath to come and to lay hold on eternal life. Make with us, O God, thine everlasting covenant, and be the strength of our hearts and our portion for ever. Thou, O Lord, art almighty in thy power. Thou hast made and controlled and sustained the mighty fabric of Nature by the strength of thy word. Oh, incline us to fear thee, who art able to destroy both body and soul in hell for ever. ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 19 Dispose us to put our trust in thee ; for if thoti art for us, who can be against us ? Do thou subdue us to thyself, and keep us by thy power through faith unto salvation. Thou art glorious in wisdom. Thine under- standing is infinite. There is no creature that is not manifest in thy sight, and thou knowest all things, even the end from the beginning. Lord, do thou make us feel the truth that thou hast searched and known us. May it restrain us from sin ; because there is no darkness where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. May it lead us to worship thee in spirit and in truth ; for thou art not deceived and thou canst not be mocked. And oh, may it be a source of comfort and bless- ing to us ; for thou knowest all our wants, and canst supply them out of thy fullness. Gracious God, guide us by thy counsel and make us wise unto salvation. Lord, thou art spotless in holiness. Thou canst not look on sin but with abhorrence. Even the heavens are not clean in thy sight, and thou chargest thine angels with folly. Oh, may this solemn truth make us humble in thy sight and dispose us to cry, " Guilty, unclean ! God, be mer- ciful to us sinners." Grant us such contempla- tions of thy holiness as shall cause us to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness. And may we, beholding as in a glass its glory, be changed into the same image, from glory to glory. -20 HOME WORSHIP. Thou, O God, art inflexible in thy justice. A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Yet we adore thee that thou canst be just and still be the justifier of the ungodly who believe in Jesus. We pray thee to impute unto us his perfect righteousness, that we may stand before thee accepted in the Beloved. And, O God, do thou redeem many from the curse of the law who are now vexing thy justice by their transgressions, and give them the adoption of sons through the righteousness of Christ. Thou art boundless in goodness. Every good and perfect gift cometh from thee. Our lives have been a record of thy mercy. We have lived every moment at the expense of thy good- ness. Lord, let our thankfulness bear some proportion to thy loving-kindness. Make us grateful to thee for thy providing and sparing mercies, but, above all, for thy forgiving and sav- ing love. And let all thy creatures share abun- dantly in these blessings. May we be drawn to thee by them with a stronger love, and be led to consecrate ourselves and all thy gifts to thy service. Thou, Lord, art eternal and unchangeable in truth. Just and true are all thy ways, thou King of saints. With thee there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Oh, do thou assist us to love the truth, and to seek its promotion even at our own expense. Teach us to abhor deceit CHRISTIAN GRACES. 21 in every possible form. May we remember that nothing can enter the holy city that maketh or loveth a lie, and that the lip of truth shall be established for ever. Adorable Jehovah, let all our contemplations of thy character be such as shall exalt thy name and conform us more and more to thy blessed image. And the praise shall be ascribed to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for ever. Amen. CHRISTIAN GRACES. FAITH, VIRTUE, KNOWLEDGE, TEMPERANCE, PATIENCE, GODLINESS, BROTHERLY KINDNESS. GREAT GOD, we come before thee with a deep sense of our unworthiness. Yet we thank thee that, unworthy as we are, we still are permitted to plead with the hope of success for those graces of the Christian character which will raise us from our low estate and make us meet for thy favor. Grant us, therefore, a living faith. Help us to regard thee as infinite in all thine attributes. Make thy word the man of our counsel. Dis- pose us to trust thee in all the ways of thy providence. Teach us to look continually to Jesus as the Author and Finisher of faith. Make us followers of them who by faith wrought right- eousness and obtained promises. Give us an 22 HOME WORSHIP. abiding conviction that thou art the rewardei of them that diligently seek thee. Grant us grace to show forth our faith by our works. Make us to walk by faith, and not by sight, look- ing not at things which are seen and temporal, but at those which are not seen and are eternal. Enable us, O God, to add to faith that virtuous energy which will make us zealous of good works. Lead us to inquire diligently what thou wilt have us to do ; for we must glorify thee in our bodies and spirits, which are thine. May we hear thy word and thy providence calling us to gird up our loins in thy service. Open unto us every pathway of duty ; and whatsoever our hands find to do, oh help us to do it with our might. Lord, let not our zeal be without knowledge. Do thou strengthen our memories and enlighten our understandings in the truths of the gospel. Preserve us from error. Give us that wisdom from above which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hy- pocrisy. Yet do thou never suffer us to lean upon our own understanding, but ever dispose us to trust in thee, the living God. Bestow on us, we beseech thee, the virtue of temperance. May we remember that every one that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Make us willing to give up every ii- CHRISTIAN GRACES. 23 dulgence that will come in competition with the interests of our souls and the welfare of thy kingdom. May we use the lawful things of this life as not abusing them, and strive to pass through things that are temporal, so as not to forget nor forfeit those that are eternal. Imbue us. O Lord, with the grace of patience. May we endure as seeing Him that is invisible. May we remember Him who endured the con- tradiction of sinners, lest we be wearied and faint in our minds. Make us submissive in the trials of life, and let patience have in us its perfect work. Vouchsafe unto us that spirit of godliness which is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. Teach us that not every one that saith " Lord, Lord !" shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he only that doth the will of our Father in heaven. Oh, may our lives be hid with Christ in God, so that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with him in glory. Fill us with brotherly kindness. Make good- will to all men the ruling principle of our hearts. Dispose us to be merciful, even as thou, Father, art merciful. Make us as sight to the blind, as feet to the lame, as health to the sick, as plenty to the needy, as strength to the feeble, and as comfort to the mourner. Gracious God, vouchsafe that all who call upon 24 HOME WORSHIP. thy name, and that multitudes who now care for none of these things may have grace given to them to add to faith virtue, knowledge, temper- ance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. And may these be in them and abound in them, that they shall not be barren nor un- fruitful in the Lord. Hear these our unworthy prayers for the sake of Jesus, to whom, with thee and the blessed Spirit, be present and endless praise. Amen. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. GRACIOUS GOD, we would thank thee that thou hast not left us to the light of Nature in learning thy holy will, but hast given us thy precious law to warn and restrain us from sin, and to lead us in the paths of righteousness and peace. Thou art entitled, as our Creator, Preserver, Benefactor and Redeemer, to our unreserved obedience. Yet such is our blindness of mind and hardness of heart that, unless thou draw us by thy Spirit to walk in the ways of thy com- mandments, we shall offend continually against thy will. Oh, do thou grant us grace, for Christ's sake, to keep thy statutes and to rejoice in the way of thy commandments. Jehovah, thou art the only living and true THE TEN COMMA&DMEXTS 25 God. Oh, let not the truth that thou art over all, God blessed for ever, rest only in our reason, but may it possess our souls and lead us to worship thee continually in spirit and in truth. Lord, pity the fool who has said in his heart, "There is no God," and teach him that thy kingdom ruleth over alL In thy mercy bid the heathen know and acknowledge thee as the true God and their God, and worship and glorify thee accordingly. Lord, enable us to receive and observe and keep pure and entire all such religious worship and ordinances as thou hast appointed in thy word. May we remember thy sovereignty over us, thy property in us, and the zeal thou hast for thine own worship. And oh, do thou rebuke those that would worship thee by images or in any way not appointed in thy word. Turn them from the error of their ways to the wisdom of the just, that they may look to thee only as the object of adoring homage. Make us ever mindful that thou hast forbidden us to take thy name in vain, and that thou wilt not hold him guiltless that taketh thy name in vain. Do thou enable us to make a holy and reverend use of all thy names, titles, attributes, ordinances, words and works, and prevent us from profan- ing or abusing anything whereby thou makest thyself known. Oh, may the breakers of this commandment know that, though they may es- 26 HOME WORSHIP. cape punishment from men, yet thou wilt not suffer them to escape thy righteous judgment. Cause them to repent of their sin, and grant that every tongue that has abused thy majesty may become a voice of thanksgiving and prayer. Help us, O God, to remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. May we sanctify it by a holy resting all that day from such worldly empoly- ments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spend the whole time in the public and private exercises of thy worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. Suffer us not to omit or perform carelessly the duties required, or profane the day by idleness, or do that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words or works about our worldly employments or recreations. And, O Lord, redeem the Sabbath from the profanation which so many bring upon it. Cause all who break it for convenience, pleasure or profit to repent of their transgression, and to use it as the Sabbath of the Lord. Lord, enable us to preserve the honor and perform the duties that belong to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors and equals. Especially we pray that all sons and daughters may honor their father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. Make every child to feel its obligation to keep its father's commandment and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. TJ to forsake not the law of its mother, but to obey them in reverence and love. Keep us, we pray thee, from anger, which is heart-murder, and from strife with our fellow- creatures. Teach us the duty of making every lawful endeavor to preserve our own life and the life of others, and save us from the guilt of taking away our own lives or the lives of others unlawfully, or whatsoever tendeth there- unto. Lord, give us grace to preserve our own and our neighbor's chastity in heart, speech and be- havior. And do thou keep us from all unchaste thoughts, words and actions. Dispose us to procure and further lawfully the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others. Incline us to render to all their just dues. May we remember the woe of him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong, and the reward of him that walketh uprightly and despiseth the gains of oppression and shaketh his hand from holding bribes. Keep us from everything that is prejudicial to truth or injurious to our own or our neighbors' good name. Suffer us not to think or act or speak deceitfully in anything. Teach us that none who make or love a lie can enter the holy city, and that the lip of truth shall be established for ever. Preserve us from covetousness, which is idol- 28 HOME WORSHIP. atry. Grant us full contentment with our own con- dition, and a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor and all that is his. Suffer us not to envy or grieve at the good of our neighbor, nor to cherish any inordinate motions or affections toward anything that is his. Heavenly Father, let the law of thy mouth be better unto us than thousands of gold and silver. Order our steps in thy word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over us. Yet do thou teach us that by the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified. Make it a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, in whom may we find peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase in grace, and perseverance therein to the end ! Amen. OFFICES OF CHRIST. GREAT GOD, thou art not worshiped as though thou needest anything, for thou givest unto all life and breath and all things. Yet thou answerest the cry of the young ravens, and a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without thy notice. Wilt thou not, then, hear us and be our Surety when we come to thee in thine appointed way ? Lord, the burden of our souls before thee now is Jesus the Prince and the Saviour, whom OFFICES OF CHRIST. 2$ thou hast exalted to give repentance and re- mission of sins. Almighty God, thou didst create man after thine own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness. But, alas ! our first parents, having been left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created by sinning against thee. And all mankind, descend- ing from them by ordinary generation, sinned in them and fell with them in their first trans- gression. Lord, we acknowledge and mourn over the sinfulness and misery of that estate into which we, in common with all men, have been brought by the fall. All flesh has corrupted its way upon the earth, all have lost communion with thee, all have been brought under thy wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever. Yet, O Lord, we praise and adore thee that thou didst not leave us to perish in this condition of sin and misery, but hast entered into a cove- nant of grace to deliver out of it thy chosen people, and to bring them into an estate of sal- vation by a Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, both God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, for ever. Gracious God, give us, we pray thee, in- telligent and heartfelt views of the offices which 30 HOME WORSHIP. Christ executes as our Redeemer, so that we may be persuaded and enabled to embrace him as he is offered to us in the gospel. We would receive Jesus Christ as our Prophet, to reveal to us by his word and Spirit the will of God for our salvation. May his statutes give light and love, zeal and purity, to our souls. Let them not be a savor of death unto death, but a savor of life unto life, to us. May his blessed Spirit lead us into the knowledge of truth ; renew and sanctify our wills ; make intercession within us in prayer ; bear witness with our spirits that we are thy children ; and seal us with that prom- ise which is an earnest till the redemption of the purchased possession. We would receive Jesus Christ as the great High Priest who has once offered up himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God, and who makes continual interces- sion for his saints. Oh, help thou us to look on him as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world ; who put away sin by the sac- rifice of himself, in his own body, on the tree ; who knew no sin, but was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him ; and who died, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to thee. Oh, may our faith follow him into thy presence, where he ever liveth to make intercession, and rely with a con- fiding hope that he is still and ever will be able OFFICES OF CHRIST. 31 to save unto the uttermost all who come unto thee by him. We would also acknowledge Jesus as our King, to subdue us to himself, to rule and defend us, and to restrain and conquer all his and our enemies. Oh, do thou assist us to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Make us willing in the day of his power. Let us not be the slaves of sin, but the servants of Jesus, for his burden is light and his yoke is easy to all who put their trust in him. May he protect us from the allurements of the world, the seductions of the flesh and assaults of the devil. And, Lord, grant that his wisdom and power may arrest and overturn* everything that exalteth it- self against the truth as it is in Jesus. Gracious God, recover from the desolations of the fall this world that lieth in wickedness. May the ungodly, to whom the instructions of thy word and the ministrations of thy Spirit are now sent, be made wise unto salvation. May those who now rejoice in iniquity be persuaded and enabled to glory in nothing save in the cross of Christ And, Lord, vouchsafe that those who now will not have Jesus to reign over them may be brought to desire that thy kingdom may come and thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Lord, give these petitions gracious audience through Him whom we would take as our Proph- 32 HOME WORSHIP. et, Priest and King. To whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, shall be the praise of every blessing for ever. Amen. PR A YER. LORD, teach us to pray and quicken us by thy Spirit that we may worship thee in spirit and in truth. Oh, let this service be the offering up of our desires unto thee for things agreeable to thy will, in the name of Christ, with confession of sin and thankful acknowledgment of mercies. Oh, grant unto us a conviction of thy fullness and willingness to bless ; for giving doth not im- poverish thee and withholding doth not make thee rich, and thou hast graciously taught us that him that cometh unto thee thou wilt in no- wise cast out. Do thou show us that we are full of wants without any ability to supply them, and that we live continually at the expense of thy goodness. Teach us, we pray thee, the various and numerous wants of our dependent nature, and give us such a craving sense of our need, such a conviction that thou art the only Source of relief, and such confidence in thy promises, that prayer shall become the burden of our thoughts and the food of our souls. Merciful Father, assist us to bring all our de- sires into conformity with thy will. Suffer us not PR A YER. 33 to seek anything inconsistent with thy holy pleasure. Govern us in relation to the things we pray for by the precepts of thy word, by the teachings of thy Spirit, and by the leadings of thy providence. Oh, dispose us to submit every object of hope and every pursuit of desire to thy control, and turn us away from beginning or continuing or completing anything on which we cannot invoke thy blessing. We would present unto thee all our petitions relying on the merits and seeking the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. We feel that to plead our own worth would be to come in filthy rags instead of a robe of righteousness, and that to trust to our own intercession would be to rely on sound- ing brass and tinkling cymbals. Oh, it is in Christ only we desire to be found ; not having our own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe. It is in his advocacy we seek to stand, for him thou always hearest, because in him thou art ever well pleased, and he ever liveth to make inter- cession for those that come unto thee by him. Lord, what indeed is man that thou art mind- ful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? We are not worthy to come into thy presence or to lift up our eyes to the place where thine honor dwelleth. If thou hadst dealt with us according to our deserts, we would now, instead 34 HOME WORSHIP. of pleading before thee with the hope of mercy, be lifting up our voices where there is no answer of peace to the cry of despairing want. Lord, we confess we have done what thou hast forbid- den and left undone what thou hast commanded. We have sinned in thought, word and deed, We have transgressed against the teachings of thy word, against the testimony of our con- sciences, against the drawings of thy love, and against the strivings of the Spirit. Our iniquities are more in number than the hairs of our heads. Yet, thanks be unto thy name ! thou hast told us that if we confess our sins thou art faithful and just to forgive them and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We would lay our hands on our mouths and put our mouths in the dust and cry, " God, be merciful to us sinners !" Gracious God, we adore thee that in the midst of deserved wrath thou hast remembered unde- served mercy. Though our life, temporal and eternal, has been forfeited by our sins, thou hast spared us and lengthened out our season of trial, and thou hast provided for our continual wants. Thou hast preserved us in health, or healed us in sickness and sheltered us in danger. Thou hast offered to us the forgiveness of sins, the adoption of children and joint-heirship with Christ in the blessed inheritance of eternity. Oh, teach us more and more the value of thy goodness. Fill our hearts with gratitude and love to thee for CREATION, PROVIDENCE, ETC. 35 thine unnumbered, unmerited blessings. May they lead us to repentance, humility and faith, and to consecrate them and ourselves to thy service and glory. Imbue all thy followers, O Lord, with the spirit of prayer. May they seek thee as a present help in every hour of need, and wrestle as did thy ser- vant of old, who had power with thee and pre- vailed. And oh, do thou vouchsafe that many who now refuse to acknowledge and worship thee may learn the sweet delight of prayer and come to thee receiving the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls. Our Father, again we ask thee to teach us to pray, and do thou assure us that, if earthly parents know how to give good gifts to their children, much more will our heavenly Father give his Spirit to them that ask him. Hear these our petitions, and accept our praise, for the Re- deemer's sake. Amen. CREATION, PROVIDENCE AND REDEMPTION. LORD, thou hast said that if any man lack wis- dom let him ask of thee, and it shall be given him. We come before thee now to ask thee to help us to understand the wonders of thy works, the wisdom of thy ways and the mercy of thy grace. Vouchsafe unto us the teachings of thy 36 HOME WORSHIP, Spirit, that we may learn and love and obey the truth. Great Builder of the universe, in the begin- ning thou didst create the heavens and the earth, making all things out of nothing by the word of thy power in the space of six days, and all very good. Do thou assist us to acknowledge thy power and wisdom and goodness as they are shown in the works of thy hands. Lo ! the heavens declare thy glory, and the firmament showeth thy handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. All thy works praise thee. Lord, thou didst make man in thine own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness. But he fell from that holy and happy estate by sinning against thee, and now all that dwell upon the face of the earth are by nature the children of wrath ; yea, the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain because of transgression. O God, redeem the works of thy power from their degeneracy. May this earth be renewed with the beauty of Eden. Breathe into man the breath of life, and make him a new creature in Christ Jesus. And, great God, make us thoughtful of the truth that the heavens and the earth, which are CREATION, PROVIDENCE, ETC. 37 now, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Nevertheless, may we, according to thy promise, look for a new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Great God, we would acknowledge thy most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all things. Thou hast prepared thy throne in the heavens, and thy kingdom ruleth over all. Thou doest thy will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth. Thou callest the stars by name and numberest the hairs of our heads ; thou upholdest the sparrow and givest strength to the seraph, and in thee all things live and move and have their being. Oh, do thou enable us to acknowledge thy hand in all the movements of providence. Make us feel our continual dependence on thee and our obligations to thy preserving and governing wisdom. Suffer us not to impeach thy goodness or power or wis- dom in any of thy ways. Make us submissive to every token of thy will. Enable us to praise thee in joy and in grief, for it is the Lord that giveth and the Lord that taketh away. Let it be our consolation and rejoicing that thou makest all things work together for good to them that love thee. Blessed be thy name, thy dominion is an everlasting dominion, and thy kingdom is from generation to generation. Gracious God, though thou hast magnified 38 HOME WORSHIP. every attribute of thy character in the works of creation and in the ways of providence, yet thou hast infinitely transcended all these in the plan of redemption. For in this thou hast gathered, as into a bright and burning centre, the excellency of thy power, wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. Oh, do thou give us enlarged and soul-moving views of all that relates to the glorious plan of salvation through a Redeemer. Make us realize the depravity into which our race had fallen, and that if thou hadst not laid help upon One mighty to save, all men would have had their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Make us understand something of that love whereby thou didst give thine only begotten Son that who- soever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life, and which thou hast com- mended to us in that, while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Show us our sins in the light of the cross, and make us exceedingly humble and penitent that our transgressions re- quired such an amazing sacrifice to save us from the penalty of our iniquity. Teach us our duty in view of a bleeding Saviour ; for if Christ has died for us, we should not live for ourselves, but consecrate all we have and all we are to his glory. O Lord, if there be any who deny thy being, recover them from their impiety and lead them JUSTIFICATION, ADOPTION, ETC. 39 to adore and trust dice as the living God ; and subvert the dominion of practical atheism in the hearts of all men. Have mercy on those who forget thy providence jn the ways of life, and make them the willing subjects of thy power. And do thou show the strength and excellency of redeeming love in adding multitudes to thy peculiar people, who will serve thee here in newness of life and enjoy in thee hereafter the blessings of an everlasting salvation. In the name of Jesus, amen. JUSTIFICATION, ADOPTION AX^D SAXCTIFI- CATIOOf. OCR Father in heaven, we thank thee for the watchful care which protects us and for the abundant bounty which provides for us. But we would feel that we owe thee an unspeakably greater thanksgiving for the blessings of salvation. Yet if we neglect or refuse these mercies of thy grace, how great will be our condemnation ! Lord, we have come, therefore, to thee to suppli- cate thee to make us partakers of the redemp- tion purchased by Christ Oh, let thy Spirit convince us of our sin and misery, enlighten our minds in the knowledge of Christ and renew our wills, and thus persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel. 40 HOME WORSHIP, And do thou bestow on us the benefits which those partake of in this life who are effectually called by the work of thy Holy Spirit. Grant us clear and scriptural and saving views of the great and cardinal doctrine of justifica- tion. Show us that it is an act of thy free grace, wherein thou pardonest all our sins and accept us as righteous in thy sight only for the right- eousness of Christ imputed to us and receiv- ed by faith alone. Make us feel that we have not merited, and never could merit, this exercise of thy goodness, for even the sins of our best services are more than enough to condemn us. Lay not righteousness to the line nor judgment to the plummet, but grant us redemption through the blood of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of thy grace. As thou hast made Christ the end of the law to every one that be- lieveth, grant us that faith in him by which we shall be invested with his righteousness and stand before thee accepted in the Beloved. Oh, give us confidence in him as a living Saviour who has risen again for our justification. And grant that our trust in him may be such as shall result in that open acknowledgment and acquittal in the day of judgment which will be followed by the full enjoyment of God to all eternity. Gracious Lord, teach us the nature and blessed-- ness of that adoption, which is also an act of thy free grace, by which those whom thou hast justi- JUSTIFICATION, ADOPTION, ETC. 4! fied are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God. Oh, give us the spirit of adoption, by which we may cry, Abba, Father ! We are indeed thy children by creation, but we would seek a better and nobler filial relation, even that by which thou wouldst be to us a reconciled God and Father in the Lord Jesus Christ. Make it a spirit of ten- derness and reverence, of gratitude and love, of obedience and zeal. May it give us access to thy throne with a humble, child-like confidence, and enable us in every vicissitude to look up to thee as infinitely able and willing to bless us with thy paternal gifts. And grant, we pray thee, that thy Spirit may bear witness with our spirits that we are thy children ; and if children, then heirs and joint-heirs with Christ in that inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away. Lord, consummate in us the present benefit? of salvation by performing in us that work of thy free grace whereby those whom thou hast justi- fied and adopted are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. Show us the prevailing impurity of our hearts and our continual need of the influence of thy Spirit to cleanse us from our wickedness. Give us deep repentance over the remembrance of past sinfulness and strong abhorrence for every temp- 42 HOME WORSHIP. tation of present iniquity. Make us feel all the motives drawn from heaven, earth and hell that should deter us from transgression. Oh, give us the spirit of holiness. Transform us, we pray thee, by the renewing of our minds, and enable us to go from strength to strength, that our path may be as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. O Lord, let the inquiry, " How shall man be just with God ?" agitate the consciences of many who have not made their peace with thee. And may the Spirit answer it, saying, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Bring back, we beseech thee, many who are now wandering as prodigals from thee, confessing that they have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and are not worthy to be called thy children. And, Lord, do thou sanctify many hearts that are now the shrines of Satan's service, and make them temples of the living God. Great God, we would ascribe the kingdom, power and glory to thee in all things. We would take our encouragement in prayer from thee only, asking all in the name of Christ. And now, in humble token of our desire and assurance of being heard, we say, Amen. GOSPEL BLESSINGS. 43 GOSPEL BLESSINGS. ASSC*AXCZ or GOD'S LOVE, PEACE OF COXSOESCE, ETC. OUR Father in heaven, the eyes of all are unto thee. and thou givest them their meat in due season. But for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness thou hast richer gifts of mercy than food or raiment, or anything that can gratify the outward senses of thy creatures. Lord, we would come to thee with a sincere and humble confidence to seek in the name of Jesus that assurance of thy love, that peace of con- science, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace and perseverance therein to the end, which in this life do accompany or flow from thy justify- ing, adopting and sanctifying grace. Thou art a God of love. We have indeed shared abundantly in thy tender mercies, which are over all thy works, but we would seek a per- sonal and saving interest in that great act of thy love which thou hast commended to us in that, while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Grant us through his merits a well-grounded as- surance of thy favor. Enable us to say, " Though thou wast angry with us, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest us." May we regard thee as a present help in every hour of need, and be persuaded that thou art able to keep that which we commit to thee until these foretastes of thy love shall be exchanged for thine open 44 HOME WORSHIP. presence, where there is fullness of joy and pleas- ures for ever. Lord, vouchsafe unto us a conscience void of offence toward God and man. We thank thee that thou hast implanted in us that monitor to warn us against sin and to reprove us for trans- gression. Oh, do thou give it activity, strength and purity. Let thy will, as exhibited in thy word, be the rule of its actions. May thy Spirit cleanse it from error and sin and animate it with right knowledge and holy power. Grant our con- sciences peace toward thee through the aton- ing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And give us the blessedness of them to whom thou im- putest no iniquity, whose sins, though they be as scarlet, shall be white as snow, and though they be red like crimson shall be as wool. Grant us that joy which is the fruit of the bless- ed Spirit. Reveal thyself unto us as thou dost not unto the world. Enable us to rejoice m Christ as our Saviour. Give us the glad spirit of adoption, by which we may cry, " Abba, Father !" May we delight in thy word as one that findeth great spoil. Cause us to love the habitation of thy house, and let all the means of grace be to our souls as rain upon the new-mown grass and as showers that water the earth. Make it our privilege to verify thy word that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Comfort and prosper our souls by the communion of saints. GOSPEL BLESSINGS. 45 Gladden our hearts by the frequent and extensive triumphs of the gospel. And oh, do thou quick- en and rejoice us by clear and refreshing contem- plations of the eternal weight of glory. Lord, assist us to grow in grace. May we hunger and thirst after righteousness, and desire the sincere milk of thy word that we may grow thereby. Give us an increasing purity of motive, strength of principle, abasement of self and loathing of sin. May we seek to give strength to every godly principle within us by habitual industry in thy service, by exercising ourselves unto godliness and always abounding in the work of the Lord. Be graciously pleased to order thy dispensations, whether of prosperity or of ad- versity, so that they shall promote our spiritual good. Oh, do thou enable us to go from strength to strength" and change us from glory to glory. Gracious God, let us not be of those that draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe unto the saving of the soul. Enable us to con- tinue in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. Help us to cast aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and to run our race with patience, looking unto Jesus as the Author and Finisher of faith. Im- bue us with courage and strength to overcome all the hindrances which Satan or the world or our own hearts may cast in our way. Teach us that they only who endure unto the end shall be 46 HOME WORSHIP. saved. Oh, help us to press on toward the mark for the prize of our high calling in Jesus Christ. And then, in that inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, we will praise thee for the power of thy grace, by which we shall have been kept through faith unto sal- vation. Have mercy on those who know nothing of thy precious saving love ; whose consciences testify that they are still in the bonds of iniq- uity ; who grieve the Holy Ghost ; who increase in transgression ; and who are urging their way through light and love down to destruction. Oh, turn them from the error of their ways and lead them in the paths of righteousness, for thy name's sake, amen. THE BEATITUDES. GREAT GOD, to whom shall we go but unto thee? Thou only hast the words of eternal life. Thou art the source of every favor. Thy bless- ing maketh rich, and bringeth no sorrow with it. Lord, grant us the blessedness of the poor in spirit, who shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Oh, it becomes us to . humble ourselves before thee and confess our unworthiness and ill-desert. We are ignorant, not knowing what a day may THE BEATITUDES. 47 bring forth. We are helpless, not being able to make one hair of our head either white or Mack. We are by nature the children of wrath, and even in our best estate, when thy Spirit has wrought upon our hearts, it becomes us to say, *' God. be merciful to us sinners." Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him ? and what is the son of man, that thou shouldst visit him ? Lord, give us the blessedness of those that mourn, who shall be comforted. Give us that contrite heart which in thy sight is of great price. Speak to each of us those precious words, " Be of good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee." Oh, lead us to thee in every pain that distresses the body or vexes the spirit. Soothe our sorrows and sanctify them unto us. Recompense us in all of them by the light of thy countenance. Suffer us not to faint when we are rebuked of thee, but give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Lord, vouchsafe unto us the blessedness of the meek, who shall inherit the earth. Restrain us, we pray thee, from the exercise of a violent and overbearing temper. Break down the native stubbornness and resentment of our hearts, and give us that childlike spirit which knows no will but that of its heavenly. Father. Teach us that he who ruleth his own spirit is greater than he that taketh a city. Give us the blessings of 48 HOME WORSHIP. those whom thou guidest in judgment, and beauti- fiest with salvation, and makest the dwelling-place of thy power and mercy. Bestow on us the blessedness of those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, who shall be filled. We would remember that man liv- eth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Let us not be anxious what we shall eat and drink and wherewithal we shall be clothed, but incline us to seek first thy kingdom, and all these things shall be added to us. Lord, feed us with heav- enly manna. Give us the bread of life, that we may eat and live for ever. Give us the blessedness of the merciful, who shall receive mercy. Oh, let the same heart of compassion that was in Christ- Jesus be also in us, for he came to this world of woe to save those that were ready to perish. Let us never fail to pity the wants and woes of our fellow-creatures. Suf- fer us not to stop our ears to the cry of the needy nor to turn away our eyes from them that are stricken with misery, and let us not pity only in words, but in deed and in truth ; for so shall we know that we are of the truth and assure our hearts before thee, whose compassions fail not, else we should be consumed in thy presence. Grant us the blessedness of the pure in heart, who shall see God. Lo, this is thy will, even our sanctification. Oh, preserve us from THE BEATITUDES, 49 sinful thoughts, words and actions. Sanctify us by a hope that purifieth, even as Christ is pure, by a love that seeks conformity with thine image, and by a faith that looks not at things which are seen and temporal, but at those that are not seen and are eternal. Cause us to abound in the fruits of holiness, without which no man can see the Lord. Bestow on us the blessedness of the peace- makers, who shall be called the children of God. Give us that holy love which worketh no ill to a neighbor, and which will incline us to regard every human being as a neighbor and a brother. Dispose and enable us to allay and remove the feelings of anger and actions of strife among our fellows, and give us opportunity and disposition to promote peace between man and man. And do thou extend the kingdom of Jesus, the Prince of peace, until there shall be none to hurt or destroy in all the earth. Lord, give us the blessedness of those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. May we remember that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. Let us not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. In all such trials enable us to commit the keeping of our souls to thee in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. Let us not wonder nor complain, as though some strange thing had happened unto us, but rejoice 50 HOME WORSHIP. inasmuch as we are partakers of Christ's suffer- ings, that when his glory shall be revealed we may be made glad also with exceeding joy. Our Father in heaven, give us in all things thy favor, which is life, and thy loving-kindness, which is better than life, in the name of Jesus. Amen. MEANS OF GRACE. OUR Father in heaven, we acknowledge thy goodness in all thy ways. We thank thee for our food, our raiment, our home, our friends, and for all those comforts which make life pleasant. But we would thank thee more for those means of grace which thou art employing in the convic- tion, conversion and sanctification of mankind. Oh, do thou grant us, for Christ's sake, a full enjoyment and profitable use of them. We bless thee for the gift of thy word, which is able to redeem us from the ignorance of nature and make us wise unto salvation. Lead us to understand and love and obey the truth. Let the entrance of thy word give us light, and do thou make it a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Let thy testimonies be our delight, and be esteemed by us more than our necessary food. When our souls cleave to the dust, quicken thou us according to thy word, and enlarge our hearts MEAA-S Of GRACE. 51 that we may nm in the way of thy command- ments. When our souls melt for heaviness, strengthen thou us according to thy word, and may we find that it was good for us to be afflicted, that we might learn thy statutes. Make us not only hearers and readers of thy word, but doers of it also, receiving the blessing of the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Suffer us not to incur the curse of him who con- tinueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. Make us compan- ions of all that fear thee and walk in thy precepts. O Lord, hide thy word in our hearts, that we may not sin against thee, and sanctify us by thy truth : thy word is truth. We thank thee, O Lord, for a preached gospeL Thou hast given us this treasure in earthen ves- sels, that the excellency of the power might be of God ; and it has pleased thee, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe. Oh, help us to discharge our duties in relation to the ministry of reconciliation. May we listen to this dispensation of thy word with the culture of prayer, the preparation of heart, the hearing of faith and the purpose of obedience, receiving with meekness the engrafted word as that which ministers grace to its hearers. Incline us to pray for thy servants that they may have a divine unction, and that their work may be in demon- stration of. the Spirit and of power. 52 HOME WORSHIP. We bless thee, O Lord, for the Sabbath, which thou hast made for man, with all its privileges of praise and prayer and instruction, by which thy saints are built up in faith and sinners are brought from darkness into light. May we ever remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Grant that we may be in the Spirit on the Lord's day, worshiping thee in all its exercises in spirit and in truth. Oh, let it always be a precious season, wherein thy love shall be richly manifested to us and our affections hold free and holy and rejoicing communion with thy Spirit. May we be prepared by its sanctifying duties and reviving pleasures for serving thee and mankind better in all the relations of life. Oh, make it a blessed type of that eternal Sabbath which is reserved for the pure in heart in regions of un- mingled bliss. Lord, we thank thee for the sacraments of the gospel, by which thou hast given us visible and sensible tokens of thy covenant of mercy. Give us grace ever to look through the sign to the thing signified, and to use it as a pledge of the love and faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God. Giant us repentance, love and new obedience, lest in taking afresh on us the vows of thy house we may bring judgment on our souls. We bless thee for the institution of prayer. Oh, let it ever be regarded by us as an incum- bent duty and an invaluable privilege. May we MEANS OF GRACE. 53 love the public and social supplications of thy saints. Let us not withhold incense from the family altar. May we delight to hold converse with thee where there is no other eye to watch and no other ear to hear, and where we shall feel that we are alone with God. And give us, gracious Father, that spirit of ejaculatory prayer which will purify every current of our thoughts and sanctify every business of our lives. Oh, may we wrestle with thee as did thy servant of old who had power with God and prevailed. Give us grace to keep seasons of feasting and of thanksgiving, so that they may be times of refreshing from thy presence. Give us a sanc- tified use of meditation and self-examination, and lead us to such fellowship with thy people as will strengthen our hearts and encourage our zeal in the Christian race. And, O Lord, we pray that these means of grace may be enjoyed by others in their fullest extent and efficacy. Let thy word have free course and be glorified. Send the message of the gospel to every destitute community. Make the Sabbath a day of holiness everywhere. Let every admin- istration of thine ordinances win souls to Jesus. Multiply greatly the number of those that call upon thy name. Make every tongue vocal with thy praise. And let thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven, for Jesus' sake. Amen. 54 HOME WORSHIP. LIFE, DEA TH AND ETERNITY. O THOU who hast revealed thyself as ever ready to draw nigh to all who would draw nigh unto thee, help us to approach thee at this time, and manifest thyself unto us as thou dost not unto the world. Sprinkle on the altar where we meet thee the reconciling blood of our bless- ed Saviour, and give us through him that grace which will comfort us in life, support us in death and be our rejoicing through eternity. We would come to thee as the Author and Owner of our being. We supplicate thee to teach us the shortness and uncertainty of human life. We are but of yesterday ; our breath is in our nostrils, and our days on earth are a shadow. Yet we would remember that our life, though it be but a span, is given us as a probation for eternity. Oh, give us grace to fulfill all the duties for the discharge of which thou hast given us existence. Grant that we may walk circum- spectly, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. While we grow in age enable us to grow in grace. While we travel through this wilder- ness guide us by the fiery, cloudy pillar, feed our hunger with manna from heaven, and quench our thirst with water from the smitten rock. Let us not be anxious for length of days nor grow weary of our season of trial. Make us con tented that all our times are in thy hands, and LIFE, DEATH AND ETERNITY. 55 willing to wait all the days of our appointed time till our change comes. Heavenly Father, give us, in all the vicissitudes of life, such preparation of heart that whether we five we may live unto the Lord, or whether we die we may die unto the Lord, so that whether living or dying we may be the Lord's. Make us ever mindful of the solemn truth that it is ap- pointed unto all men once to die. May we ac- custom ourselves to look upon death as the great crisis of our being which will determine our des- tinies for ever. He whom it finds unjust and filthy shall be unjust and filthy still, and he whom it finds righteous and holy shall be righteous and holy still. Whatsoever, therefore, our hands now find to do, may we do with our might, since there is no work nor device nor wisdom in the grave, whither we go. Oh, do thou train us to such habits of obedience to thy will, and trust in thy dealings and faith in thy promises, that, while we look upon the earthly house of this tabernacle as one that must be dissolved, we may rejoice in the hope that we shall have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. When we are called to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, be thou our rod and staff, to comfort us ; and when our heart and flesh fail, be thou the strength of our heart and our por- tion for ever. Oh, let us die the death of the righteous, and let our last end be like his. $6 HOME WORSHIP. Gracious God, make us feel the powers of the world to come. Oh, may we realize that after death cometh the judgment, when our condition will be fixed in either heaven or hell ; enjoying the light of thy countenance or cast out from thy presence for ever ; rejoicing in the company of the good or enduring the fellowship of the wicked ; bathing in the fountain of eternal bliss or plunging in the burning lake of undying woe. We thank thee that thou hast revealed eternal things to us and shown us how we may escape everlasting death and obtain eternal life. Do thou give us an increasing. impression of the worth of the soul, which indeed thou hast made in the image of thine own eternity, with powers that are capable of eternal progress in holiness, know- ledge and happiness, or in sin, error and woe. Oh, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? Lord, suffer none of us to learn the worth of the soul by its everlasting loss, but by its eternal gain. Con- vince us now of a judgment to come. Justify, adopt and sanctify us through the infinite merits of Jesus Christ. And oh, do thou seal us now by the Spirit until the day of redemption, and then let an entrance be ministered unto us abun- dantly into thy kingdom, where our tongues shall utter a ceaseless anthem of praise, our under- standings enjoy an unclouded knowledge of truth, and our souls delight in a perpetual feast of love. PRAYER. 57 Heavenly Father, excite those who are living thoughtless of the true value of life so to number their days that they may apply their hearts unto wisdom, even that wisdom which will lead them to live to thy glory. Make the impenitent anx- ious about their latter end, inquiring, " How shall our hearts endure and our hands be strong in the day when thou wilt deal with us ?" And oh, persuade them to make their peace with thee now, that in that trying hour their fainting hearts may be cheered with the hope of glory. Oh, grant that eternity, with its fullness of joy and its depth of woe, may persuade and admonish guilty souls to seek thy favor ere the gates of eternal bliss be shut upon them and their redemption cease for even Lord, grant us such a use of life, such a meet- ing with death, and such a lot in eternity, as will redound to thy glory, in the name of Jesus. Amen. PRAYER. INVOCATION, ADORATION, CONFESSION, PETITION, PLEADING, THANKSGIVING AND BLESSING. O THOU that hearest and answerest prayer, give us a gracious audience at thy mercy-seat in the name of our blessed Saviour. We would realize that there is an infinite dis- $8 HOME WORSHIP. tance and an infinite difference between thee and us, for thou inhabitest eternity, while we dwell on thy footstool, and thou art glorious in holi- ness, fearful in praises, doing wonders, while we are sinful, ignoble and helpless. But we bless thee that thou art thus exalted above principalities and powers, that at thy name every knee should bow, and we would adore thee that, whilst thou art thus holy and praiseworthy and mighty, thou art ever ready to purify and honor and strengthen all who come to thee by faith. So that, instead of being driven away from thy presence by the contemplation of thy dignity and perfection, we would rejoice that thou art so infinitely worthy of our adoration and love, confidence and obedi- ence. But, O Most High and Glorious, it becomes us to humble ourselves before thee in heartfelt con- fession of unworthiness and ill-desert. We have sinned against thee in ways and times without number, in thought, in word and in deed, in childhood, in youth and in riper age. We have done what thou hast forbidden, and have left undone what thou hast commanded. We have sinned against our own conscience, against the admonitions of our fellow-creatures, against the drawings of thy mercies, against the warnings of our afflictions, against the testimonies of thy word, and against the strivings of thy Holy Spirit. O Lord, our transgressions are more in PRAYER. 59 number than the hairs of our head; and if thou wert strict to mark one in a thousand of them, we could not stand before thee. But, thanks be to thy name ! thou hast told us that if we confess our sins thou art faithful and just to forgive them. Oh, we would lay our hands on our mouths and put our mouths in the dust, confessing that we are guilty and unclean, and imploring thee to be merciful to us sinners. O Lord, we would come to thee in the shelter of the atonement, that thy wrath may not scourge us away from thy presence; and while we lie before thee we would offer every petition in the strength of die advocacy of Him who maketh intercession for all that come unto thee by him. Do thou increase our sense of want and helpless- ness, for we are indeed full of craving necessi- ties without any ability to supply them. Let all our desires be in accordance with thy will, and be animated by that faith in thy character and prom- ises which thou wilt own and bless. Gracious Lord, supply all the wants of our bodies, minds and souls. Bestow on us neither poverty nor riches, but give us our daily bread, supply us with raiment, give us a peaceful home, grant us the comforts of social life, keep us from debasing ignorance and perplexing error, and give us sound and useful knowledge. Yet, Lord, do thou show ns that these mercies, however needful and useful, are not thy choicest blessings, for die things 60 HOME WORSHIP. which belong to righteousness are more in num- ber and greater in value than all these. Make us know and feel the wants of our souls, and do thou supply them from thy fullness. Our heavenly Father, teach us what we should believe concerning thee and the duties thou requirest of us. We would remember that thou art the one only, the living and true God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the Maker, Preserver and Governor of all things. Oh that we could always remember that we are strictly responsible to thee in all things, and that instead of obeying thee we have sinned against thee, so that we have lost communion with thee, have been brought under thy wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever. But we bless thee that thou hast not left us to perish thus, but hast sent, to bring us into an estate of salvation, a Redeem- er to be our Prophet, Priest and King. O Lord, make us partakers of that salvation by thy Spirit. Give us grace to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel. Justify, adopt and sanctify us. Give us an assurance of thy love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. And help us to love thee with all our heart and soul and strength and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. But in all we seek to do we would feel that we are not able PRAYER. 6 1 perfectly to keep thy commandments, but that we do daily break them in thought, word and deed, and that the sins of our best services are more than enough to condemn us. Teach us that each of our sins deserves thy wrath and curse, both in this life and in that which is to come, and that our only way of escape is to exercise faith in Jesus Christ, with repentance unto life, and to make a diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemp- tion. Oh that we may so believe and repent and obey as to enjoy the light of thy reconciled and forgiving love in this world, and the joy of a perfect salvation in the world to come. O gracious God, we would order our cause before thee and would fill our mouths with argu- ments. We would plead with thee, for the honor of thy name, that thou wouldst glorify thyself in our welfare. We would urge before thee thy wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth, all of which thou canst so richly display in blessing us. We would mention before thee thy mercies in days that are past, when our fathers cried unto thee and were delivered, and when we called and thou didst answer and strengthen us. We would plead thy covenant of grace and thy promises of mercy. We would urge before thee the number and greatness of our wants. And we would especially plead before thee the merits and mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose 62 HOME WORSHIP. righteousness alone we would stand, and in whose intercession only we can hope to be blessed. Gracious God, we would acknowledge with thankful hearts thy sparing mercy and thy pro- viding goodness thy mercy which preserves us from temporal and spiritual woes, and thy good- ness which provides for the wants of our perish- ing bodies and immortal spirits. Suffer us not to forget thy dispensing hand in all our benefits. And grant that every fresh token of thy loving- kindness may bind us to thee in an everlasting covenant. Merciful Father, remember in mercy those who despise thy perfections, who cover their sins, who call not on thy name, and who are thankless for all thy mercies. May their tongues be made altars of thy praise, and their hearts temples of thy worship. Great God, all thy works praise thee and thy saints bless thee. Make our hearts devoutly sin- cere, while we ascribe to thee, through Jesus Christ, the power, wisdom and glory, henceforth and for ever. Amen. THE LORD'S SUPPER. GRACIOUS GOD, we render thee unfeigned thanks that we have been brought by thy distinguishing THE LOJfD'S SUPPER. 63 mercy near to another season of communion with thee and thy people in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. And we have now come before thee to ask thee, in the worthy name of Jesus, to prepare us for a profitable observance of that solemn rite. We desire to feel that no outward form or ceremony of religion has any sanctifying or saving power, but that, whilst thou hast or- dained such things as instrumental helps to our feeble senses, thy Spirit only can give life and efficacy to the use of them. Make our meeting at the table of the Re- deemer a season of deep and earnest thanks- giving to thee for thy sparing, providing and sanctifying mercies. Since we last met together there, many, very many, have been called from time to eternity, while we have been spared in our probation and still enjoy the offers of sal- vation. Whilst multitudes have suffered from privation, our wants have all been supplied and we have been invested with comforts. Whilst the great mass of our fellow-creatures have been living without God and without hope in the world, thou hast taught us by thy word and Spirit what is the will of God for our salvation. Oh, what shall we render thee for all thy benefits toward us? We will offer thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the name of the Lord. Help us to approach that table as our spirit- 64 HOME WORSHIP. ual passover, in which we behold the pledge of a covenant of mercy in the blood of Christ, in which thou givest thy people visible tokens that the condemnation which abides on the un- godly shall not rest on those upon whom thou hast cast the blood of sprinkling, and in which thou teachest them that this remembrance of deliverance from past sin is a wayfaring symbol of the abundant and joyous feasts of thine upper sanctuary. Help us, O Lord, to make that ordinance the sacrament of our allegiance to thee. We owe thee our service because thou hast made us, and for thy pleasure we were created. We owe thee our allegiance because we are dependent on thy bounty. But above all we owe thee our service by the purchase of atoning blood. Grant that we may thus judge that if Christ has died for us we should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Him who has died for us and risen again. Oh, may we consecrate ourselves to thee with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience. Make us servants unto thee, that our fruit may be holiness and the end everlast- ing life. Bring us into thy banqueting-house and let thy banner over us be love. Give us the blessing of those that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Feed us with heavenly manna. Quench our thirst with living water. Make us THE LORD'S SUPPER. 65 partakers of the body and blood of Christ, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith to our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. May he come in unto us and sup with us and we with him, and may he be made known to us in the breaking of bread. Gracious God, give us a precious season of communion with thee. Lift up the light of thy countenance upon us. Manifest thyself unto us as thou dost not unto the world. Be more pre- cious to us than music to the ear, or light to the eye, or fragrance to the smell, or food to the taste, or friendship to the heart. Fill our souls with thy rich and satisfying and everlasting love. And may our spirits seek thee as the hart pants after the water-brook, and our full souls be made to sing, " Whom have we in heaven but thee ? and there is none on earth that we desire beside thee." Heavenly Father, grant us in our meeting the fellowship of saints. May we love each other out of pure hearts fervently. Make us all feel that we are children of one parent, brethren of one family, subjects of the same discipline of trials and duties, and heirs of the same inheritance beyond the grave. And let our bond of union have the strength and beauty of that which binds the happy throng above in their perpetual fellow- ship of bliss. Make this ordinance one of rich and endur- 5 66 HOME WORSHIP. ing profit to us. And whilst the blessing of it shall be ours, the praise shall be thine for ever. Amen. THE LORD'S SUPPER. GREAT GOD, we confess before thee the de- pravity of our nature and the guilt of our cha- racter, and that if thou hadst not sent thy Son into the world that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life, we had all been condemned without hope and been made to suffer the penalty of our sin. But, thanks be to thy name ! thou didst lay help in our extremity upon One that is able to save unto the uttermost ; One who has died, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God ; and One who, on the night in which he was betrayed to a cruel and ignominious death, instituted an ordi- nance in which we might commemorate that in- finite sacrifice by which his people are made partakers of a redemption from eternal death and of an inheritance of everlasting life. Vouchsafe unto us, O Lord, at this time those gracious frames of spirit which become us in approaching the table of the Lord. May we in faithfulness examine ourselves, and so let us eat of that bread and drink of that cup. May we inquire diligently whether we have a right to the THE LORD'S SUPPER. 67 livery of Christ and to sit with his household whether we have made a covenant with him by sacrifice, been born into his kingdom and have been made new creatures in him. Heavenly Father, give us knowledge to discern the Lord's body. Grant us grace to look through those appointed emblems to that body which was broken and that blood which was shed for the remission of sins ; and let our hearts be full of adoring gratitude that in the counsels of eternity thou didst devise a plan by which rebellious, guilty and hell-deserving man might receive for- giveness, be reconciled to thee and enjoy thy fa- vor, and that in the fullness of time thou didst perfect thy decree of mercy by sending thy Son, that through him we might receive the atone- ment. Give us faith to feed upon Christ in that ordi- nance. May we receive of his fullness, and grace for grace. While we eat and drink of the memo- rials of his love, may we hunger and thirst after righteousness, remembering that man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that pro- ceedeth out of the mouth of God. Oh, give us that bread which came down from heaven, for he that eateth of it shall live for ever. May we ac- cept Jesus as our Prophet, follow him as our Ex- ample, receive him as our Priest, and obey him as our King. Give us, O Lord, in view of that solemn transac- 68 HOME WORSHIP. tion, feelings of deep repentance. May we realize that our sins brought the Redeemer from the courts of heaven, that our iniquities led him through a life of toil and privation and reproach, and that our transgressions nailed him to the ac- cursed tree. While we look upon Him whom we have pierced, may we mourn with bitterness over our sins and turn from them, desiring that the plague of our hearts may be healed, and that we may hear thy voice saying, " Son, daughter, be of good cheer : thy sins be forgiven thee." Give us the grace of love as we handle and taste those emblems of a dying Saviour's love. May we love Jesus for his example, for his in- structions and for his promises, but above all for his death ; because scarcely for a righteous man will one die, peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die ; but thou hast com- mended thy love to us, in that while we were sinners Christ died for us. Oh, be thou our Alpha and Omega, the portion of our heart and the fullness of our joy. Lord, grant us, in that season of communion with thee, a spirit of new obedience. Let us thenceforth no longer live to ourselves, but to Him who has died for us. Prepare us to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. Give us patient continuance in well-doing. Make us servants unto thee, that our fruit may be holi- ness and the end everlasting life. MONTHLY CONCERT. 69 And now, O Lord, we implore thee that we may not come to thy table unworthily, lest we eat and drink judgment to ourselves, but do thou grant us such preparation of heart that we may be made partakers of Christ's body and blood, with all his benefits, to our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. Visit the hearts of those who are merely spec- tators of that solemn rite. May they hear thy Spirit in his still, small voice speaking to them, " What doest thou here, apart from my people, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise ?" Oh, may many such be led by grace to seek the com- munion of saints, and ere long to sit down with us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, to whom, with the Father and Spirit, be praise for ever. Amen. MONTHLY CONCERT. O LORD, our hearts' desire and prayer before thee this night is that thy kingdom may come and thy will be done on earth as it is done in hea- ven. We know that this world lies in wicked- ness, and that if special influences are not exerted to recover and sanctify its guilty inhabitants, they will go down, generation after generation, to a per- dition which will know no abatement and no ter- 7O HOME WORSHIP. initiation. Oh, may our supplications, therefore, be earnest and importunate that thou wouldst turn men from their captivity to sin and from their course of destruction, and make them free- men of God, that their fruit may be holiness and their end everlasting life. Remember and bless Zion. Put thy Church in her millennial attitude. Give her peace and purity and wisdom, that her righteousness may go forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burneth, that thus she may do her office in the conversion of the world. Visit, O Lord, with thy mercy those who have long listened to the instructions of thy word, but whose hearts have never yielded to the love of Jesus. Convince them of sin, of righteous- ness and of a judgment to come. Let them not continue to neglect the offer of salvation, lest they sin away the day of their merciful visitation, and then a great ransom will not deliver them. Lead them to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, and may they look in penitence and faith to him and be saved. Bring under the saving influence of the gos- pel those who reject and despise the message of salvation. Let them not continue to treasure up wrath against the day of wrath. Glorify thy- self, gracious God, in bringing the openly profli- gate and the scoffing infidel into the paths of holiness and faith. MONTHLY CONCERT. Jl Destroy the dominion of the man of sin. Open the eyes of men to the civil and religious encroachments of the papacy, and let not the liberty of the free be destroyed, nor the conver- sion of the world be postponed by its prevalence. Oh, grant that it may acquire no fresh footholds among the nations of the earth, and that where it has gone the truth may pursue and vanquish it, and that its strongholds, which have grown gray with age and sin, may be overthrown, until even its citadel of power shall be cast down, so that not one stone shall be left upon another. Visit by thy reclaiming mercy the followers of the false prophet, who have established their dominion on the birthplace of our religion and over the graves of the prophets and apostles and the Son of God. Cleanse the hearts of that people whose faith has been diffused and main- tained by the shedding of blood. Unscale their eyes, that have so long been blinded by delusion, and let their cry no longer be " Allah and the Prophet!" but "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!" O Lord, remember with compassion the heathen. Oh, how long shall the creatures of thy power and the recipients of thy mercy bow down to gods which their own hands have made or wor- ship things which thou hast created, and which are dependent on thee for their being? Give prosperity to every effort that is made in obedi- 72 HOME WORSHIP. ence to thy word and in reliance on thy help to spread the light of the gospel among the dark places of the earth. Make the wilderness and solitary place glad, and the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose. Bring many from the east and from the west who shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Say to the north, " Give up," and to the south, " Hold not back." Bring thy sons from afar and thy daughters from the ends of the earth, and fulfill thy promise that thy Son shall have the heathen for his inheritance. Seek and save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Oh, if the falling of them was the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness ! Assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Hasten that time when through the mercy bestowed on us they shall obtain mercy, and when with the fullness of the Gentiles all Israel shall be saved. O Lord, remember each of us in mercy. While we desire and seek the salvation of the world, en- able us to give all diligence to make our own call- ing and election sure and to work out our own sal- vation, knowing that it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure. Oh, may thy kingdom come in our hearts, and thy will be done throughout the earth as it is MONTHLY CONCERT. 73 done in heaven. And the blessing shall be as- cribed to the triune God. Amen. MONTHLY CONCERT. O LORD, we thank thee that the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and that we have a goodly heritage. We bless thee that we have not been left, like the great majority of our fellow- creatures, in ignorance of thy character and re- quirements. For to us, who are no better by nature than others, thou hast revealed what we are to believe concerning thee and the duties which thou requirest of us. We acknowledge, O God, that we deserve to be beaten with many stripes ; for while we have known our Master's will, we have not done it We pray that this retribution may not come upon us, and that we may so use our privileges in the light of ac- countability that we may be not only monuments of distinguishing grace, but also of thy justifying, adopting and sanctifying mercy. Grant us such an appreciation of the bless- ings of the gospel as shall excite in us adoring gratitude toward thee, and such as shall stim- ulate us to an earnest zeal to send them to the destitute nations of the earth. Oh, rebuke our lukewarmness and indolence and covetousness, 74 HOME WORSHIP. and make our hearts to beat with the strong and abiding and life-giving impulses of benevo- lence toward those that are perishing for lack of knowledge. O Lord, we mourn that thy people slumbered for ages over the cause of missions that cause for which thy Son assumed humanity and suffered crucifixion, and for which apostles toiled and suf- fered and died. But we rejoice that their long, deep sleep has been broken, that their heavy eye- lids have been opened, that their sluggish limbs have been moved, and that now we can indulge the joyful hope that the dayspring of latter-day glory has visited us. Increase and spread through all thy Church the spirit of missions. May thy people regard it as the cause of God and man, which will render glory to thee in the highest and bring peace on earth and good-will to man. Make them feel that it is the highest and noblest object for which to pray fervently, to give liber- ally and to labor diligently. Oh, may the spirit of prayer on behalf of this cause animate the hearts of all that call on thy name. May they realize the solemn truths that the teeming millions of earth lie in iniquity, that where there is no vision the people perish, that a Saviour has been given for the redemption of the world, and that thy promise has gone forth that he shall have the heathen for his inheritance MONTHLY CONCERT. 75 and the uttermost parts of the earth for a posses- sion. But thou hast also told us that for these things thou wilt be inquired of by the house of Israel. Oh that earnest and importunate and believing supplication might go up from every regenerate heart to thy mercy-seat, and be answered by an outpouring of salvation upon all the nations of earth. Lord, make this cause dearer to them than all the treasures of earth. May they remember that all the silver and gold are thine. Oh. let not avarice or covetousness blight their Christian sympathies. Teach them that there is that which withholdeth more than is meet, but tendeth to poverty, and that there is that which scattereth, yet increaseth. Show them that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and that thou hast made them the stewards of manifold mercies that they should not forget to do good and to communi- cate, for with such sacrifices thou art well pleased, Oh, bring into the Lord's treasury the abundant gifts of willing hearts, until, as in thy tabernacle of old, the leaders of Israel shall retain their abundance. Lord, consecrate to this work not only the prayers and gifts of thy Church, but the choicest of her sons and daughters. May many who are at ease in Zion hear the cry of Macedon, " Come over and help us," and devoting themselves in the spirit and strength of their Master go forth with ? HOME WORSHIP. glad tidings to the heathen. And grant that those who have given themselves personally to this work may have the consolation of seeing it prospering in their hands, that under their cul- ture (and the nurture of thy Spirit as showers that water the earth) the wilderness may bud and blossom as the rose, and the habitations of cruelty become the peaceful abodes of righteousness. God of missions, fulfill speedily thy promise that thy Son shall have the heathen for his inher- itance and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. We humbly ask it, that through the glory bestowed on him in the conversion of the world thy great name may be honored on earth, and magnified in heaven for ever. Amen. MONTHLY CONCERT. GREAT GOD, to whom shall we go but unto thee ? Thou art the Source of every blessing. Giving doth not impoverish thee, and withholding doth not make thee rich. Thou art mighty to save unto the uttermost all that come unto thee by Christ, in whose name only we present our- selves. And, Lord, thy willingness to bless is equal to thy fullness and power, for thou art wait- ing to be gracious. Heavenly Father, we come to thee to seek the MOJfffTHLY CONCERT. 77 blessing of thy Spirit, and not in selfishness, but with desires as large as the length and breadth of the earth, and that take in the whole family of man. Oh, do thou direct especially our compassions toward the heathen. We would feel that the vast majority of mankind lie in the fetters of a cruel superstition and are shrouded in the darkness of a spiritual night. May we remember that there are hundreds of millions of human beings, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, and as good by nature as we are, and who share with us an immortality of life, that now worship gods that have eyes without sight and ears without hearing and arms without strength, who have changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man and to birds and to four-footed beasts and to creeping things. Lord, teach us that these millions are not merely deluded by superstition, but that they are being corrupted in iniquity of every name, until from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot there is nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores until tribe after tribe and nation after nation lie under the face of heaven like great masses of moral putrefaction. And, Lord, make us feel that over these communities of supersti- tion and guilt hangs the condemnation of thy wrath, which, if it be not chased away by the brightness of the rising of the Sun of righteous- ness, will waste their souls with everlasting death. 7 8 HOME WORSHIP. Teach us, O Lord, that the only remedy for this degrading and corrupting and destroying evil is to be found in the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We bless thee that it has been sent to the earth with its fullness of grace and truth, life and immortality, and that experience has proved that it is adequate to all the wants and woes of our ruined nature, and that it can break the chains of superstition and wash away the stains of guilt and blot out the condemnation of thy wrath, so that rebels reclaimed to thy service can worship in spirit and in truth, in the beauty of holiness and in that spirit of adoption by which, being reconciled to thee through Jesus Christ, they may cry, "Abba, Father!" Teach us impressively that thou hast made us the stewards of that precious remedy. Oh, give us an adequate sense of our responsibility in relation to it, in common with thy Church; for if we withhold it the people will perish for lack of knowledge, and if we send it the nations of the earth will be saved. Oh, let not covetous- ness stifle our benevolence, nor apathy check our prayers, nor indolence withhold our personal labors. May our property, our supplications and our efforts be consecrated to it. And may we regard the missionary enterprise as the glory of the age, and its objects as the sum and substance and end of this world's probation. Give it favor in the eyes of thy people until every one MONTHLY CONCERT. 79 that is named after Christ shall give and labor and pray for its success with the whole heart. Let thy Spirit descend in copious effusions on its behalf until its messages of peace on earth and good- will to man will reach the ear of every human being, and the earth be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea, God of the promises, speedily give the heathen to thy Son for an inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. And while the blessing shall be upon the children of man, the praise shall be ascribed to the Father, Son and Spirit, one God. Amen. MONTHLY CONCERT. LORD, thou hast said that where two or three are gathered in thy name thou art in the midst of them. If, therefore, thy blessing is promised to the few, may we not expect its increased fulfillment when thousands on every continent and in the isles of the sea at this season appointed by thy people call on thee for the spread of thy kingdom ? Lord, our hearts' desire and prayer unto thee is that thy kingdom may come and thy will be done on earth as in heaven. Remember and bless thy Church, which thou 80 HOME WORSHIP. hast redeemed by thine own blood. Heal all her divisions and pour the oil of peace on all her bleeding wounds. Cleanse her garments from every corruption and give her the beauty of holiness. Be a wall of fire round about her and a glory in the midst of her. Make her a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Remember and bless cur country. We thank thee that thou hast made it a land of Bibles, of Sabbaths and of sanctuaries, that thou hast planted broad and deep in its social frame- work the institutions of the gospel, and that from it the streams that make glad the city of our God are sending forth the water of salvation to other lands. Yet we mourn that our good must be evil spoken of, and that it is a land of broken Sabbaths, of profanity, of oppression and of intemperance. Oh, bring us up as a nation to the standard of our privileges. Loose all our bands of wickedness, and then shall our light break forth as the morning and our health spring forth speedily ; our righteousness shall go before us, and the glory of the Lord shall be our reward. Remember and bless the nations of our south- ern continent, who have so long been tossed on the billows of political commotion, and who have been so long entangled in the meshes of a religious superstition. Oh, give them rest from their strifes and escape from their toils. Bestow MO NTH L Y CONGER T. 8 1 on them the blessings of a rational, permanent liberty and of a pure and life-giving piety. Remember and bless the lands of Europe where thy Church has been reformed from the cor- ruptions of the papacy, where her cords have been lengthened and her stakes strengthened, and out of which have gone forth influences on behalf of thy kingdom as leaves from the tree of life for the healing of the nations. Oh, give thy peo- ple there a large increase of thy spirit. Redeem its territories from the dominion of the man of sin. Bring back from its degeneracy the land of the Reformation, and let that continent every- where be consecrated to the true service of the living God. O Lord, remember and bless the nations of Asia, the cradle of our race and the birthplace of religion, where Jesus lived and taught and died ; where thy Church was once glorious within and beautiful without, but now a whited sepulchre full of dead men's bones and all manner of unclean- ness ; and where nation after nation has been given up to false prophets and to false gods Oh, send to every tribe of that vast continent the precious message of the gospel. May the Mo- hammedan everywhere forsake his false prophet and follow Jesus as his Saviour. May every heathen cast his idols to the moles and to the bats and worship thee only as the living and true God. 82 HOME WORSHIP. Remember and bless Africa, the mother of science, where also thy Church was nurtured in her infancy, and where she first planted the schools of the prophets. O God, grant that that continent, which has so long been bitterly scourged by the rapacity of Christian lands, may receive compensation for her torture by the gift of the gospel, and that through its peaceful influences her dark and benighted tribes may sit under their vine and under their fig tree and none shall make them afraid. Remember and bless the isles of the sea. Lo ! they even now wait for thy law. We thank thee that some of them have received it, and that it has been made in an unwonted degree the power of God to them, so that nations have been born to thee in a day. Oh, let that good work go from isle to isle until the abundance of the sea shall be converted to thee. Gracious God, we leave the moral interests of - the world at thy throne. Grant us an answer to our petitions infinitely greater than we are worthy to receive, and the praise of every blessing (all of which we ask in the name of Jesus) shall be ascribed to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for ever. Amen. MONTHLY CONCERT. 83 MONTHLY CONCERT. O THOU God of the whole earth, while we would come before thee in the name of Jesus in thankfulness for personal blessings and with earn- est desires for renewed and increasing personal mercies, we would present ourselves with grati- tude for the noble instrumentalities of good which thou hast vouchsafed to our fellow-creatures, and with supplications that their efficacy may be increased and their prevalence diffused until all the children of men shall enjoy them in their fullness and power. We thank thee for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and we pray that this nation may do nothing to forfeit them, but that they may be continued to us till the latest generation. Oh, do thou prepare all the nations of the earth for rational freedom. Give every people the knowledge, morality and righteousness which will fit them for self-government. Let every form of oppression cease from the face of the earth, and do thou so order every administration of power that it shall promote public welfare and advance thy kingdom and glory among men. \Ve thank thee, O Lord, for the blessings of edu- cation. Oh, scatter the mists of ignorance that hang over the great mass of mankind ; and as thou hast made them so far above the brutes that 84 HOME WORSHIP. perish, let not their rational and immortal faculties lie in dormant stupidity or be exercised in mis- chievous error, but do thou increase and diffuse everywhere the useful discoveries and efforts that have been made and are now making for the spread of knowledge, until every human mind will know its powers and exercise them in such spheres as will make them a blessing to itself, to its country and to the world. We thank thee, O Lord, that our minds and hearts have been brought under the influence of temperance. Oh, increase and spread its power over the face of the earth. Reclaim those who are now wandering in the paths of drunkenness. Recover those whose feet are running in the way of temptation, and throw thy merciful restraint and protection over those who are yet untainted by the vice of intemperance. Enlist the feelings and efforts of all classes of people against this destroying evil, until there shall be none to make or buy or sell or use as a beverage the hurtful poison. We thank thee for the moral and spiritual blessings which have accrued to thy people and to the world by the use of religious tracts. Oh, increase their circulation and usefulness in our own and in other lands. We desire that thy people may realize the power of the press to furnish these leaves for the healing of the nations. We thank thee for the influence which has been MONTHLY CONCERT. 85 given to them in heathen lands, and we pray that they may be sent to all the dark places of the earth as winged messengers proclaiming the everlasting gospel. Oh, follow them, wherever they are sent, by the enlightening, convincing and converting power of the Holy Ghost. We thank thee for the institution of Sun- day-schools. Give them, we pray thee, an in- creasing power over the moral and religious wel- fare of the community. Bestow a double meas- ure of wisdom, holiness and zeal on those who teach. May those who are taught receive in- struction with the hearing ear, the understanding heart and the applying conscience. Oh, do thou establish a Sunday-school wherever there is a population to sustain one, and make this instru- mentality an important means of spreading divine knowledge, enlarging missionary effort, sanctify- ing thy Church, promoting revivals of religion and regenerating the world. We thank thee that the compassions of thy Church have been directed to the waste places of our land, and that home missions have been organized to supply perishing communities with the bread of life. Increase, we pray thee, our interest and that of all thy people in this form of benevolence. Oh, send the heralds of the cross to all the destitute places of our land to gather and feed those who are scattered as sheep without a shepherd. Let the Bible, the Sunday-school, 86 HOME WORSHIP. the sanctuary and the Sabbath bless every neigh- borhood, and the voice of instruction, praise and prayer be heard in every village and hamlet and household in our wide and flourishing country. Lord, we thank thee that thou hast put it into the hearts of thy people to fulfill the command of the departing Saviour to preach the gospel to every creature. Do thou deepen and enlarge and strengthen the interest of thy Church in this noble cause. Let not sacrifice of property, feel- ing or effort be thought too great in its behalf. Give such an increase to the requisite means of this work at home and abroad as shall be ade- quate to the wants of the heathen world. Grant success to all who have devoted their" lives to this cause. We thank thee for what thou hast already done by them. Give stability to their success, and may a diffusive light go abroad from these places now redeemed from the power of darkness that, mingling with the light of other lands, shall speedily fill the whole earth with the glory of God. Amen. KEEPING THE HEART. GREAT GOD, we would come before thee in the merits of Jesus, realizing that it is in thee our weakness is made strength and the iniquities of our hearts removed. KEEPING THE HEART. 87 Oh, do thou enable us to keep our hearts with all diligence, for out of them are the issues of life. May we remember that they are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and that none but God can bring a clean thing out of this unclean. Give us deep humility for the prevailing evils of our hearts. We are prone to evil as the sparks to fly upward. Thou hast nourished and brought us up as children, but we have rebelled against thee. Thou hast given us a law that is holy, just and good, but we have broken it. Thou hast sent thy Son into the world to save us from our sin, yet we have often treated the blood of the covenant as an unholy thing. Thou hast given thy Spirit to cleanse us from our corrup- tions, yet we have grieved the Sanctifier by con- tinued and presumptuous unrighteousness. Thou hast revealed to us the smoke of the torment rising up from the perdition of the ungodly for ever, yet we have often acted as if we were fear- less of thy wrath. And thou hast told us of the blessedness of the pure in heart, who only shall see God, and still we have sought our portion in sense and sin. Oh, it becomes us to confess, " Guilty, unclean ! God, be merciful to us sin- ners." O Lord, make us watchful over the condition of our hearts. Give us wisdom and faithfulness to prove ourselves and see whether we are in the 88 HOME WORSHIP. faith, whether we have indeed been born again, whether we are new creatures in Christ Jesus. Let not pride nor self-love hinder us from an impartial knowledge of ourselves. Preserve us from a false estimate of our character, and dispose us to bring into frequent and close scrutiny our motives and principles. If we have backslidden from thy ways, bring us back from our wandering, restore us to thy favor, set our feet upon the Rock, establish our goings in thy strength, and enable us to press toward the mark for the prize of our high calling. Lord, we would give our hearts to thee in an everlasting covenant, and we would feel that it is the crowning act of thy mercy that thou art willing to accept them. Oh, bind us to thee in the adoption of children, wherein thou makest them accepted in the Beloved. May the cords of thy love restrain us from our backslidings. Oh, dispose us to take thy law as our rule, thy service as our meat and drink, and thyself as our portion, that we may live and move and have our being in a covenant of full-hearted and never- failing devotion to thee and the interests of thy kingdom. Give us the spirit of earnest supplication that the prevailing and deep-rooted evils of our hearts may be taken away. Oh, search us and try us, and remove the fountains of corruption from us. Cleanse us from secret faults and keep us KEEPING THE HEART. 89 back from presumptuous sins. Create within us clean hearts, renew right spirits within us. Help us to keep the avenues of the heart our eyes that they may not lust after evil, our ears that they may not listen to sin, and our thoughts that they may not cherish vanity and unholiness. May our lives be hid with Christ in God. Grant us the spirit of holiness. Give us a hope that purifieth even as Christ is pure, that, the body of sin being destroyed, henceforth we may not serve sin, but be the servants of righteousness. Grant, O Lord, that a sense of thy presence may rest continually upon us. Thou knowest our downsittings and our uprisings, thou art acquainted with all our ways, and thou under- standest our thoughts afar off. Oh, let our thoughts be so impressed with a conviction of the scrutiny of thine eye that the first motions of sin in our hearts may be restrained, and that we may walk before thee in that fear which is a fountain of life, that is clean, enduring for ever. We again supplicate thee to help us to keep our hearts with diligence. While the duty is ours, the power is from thee. Without thee we can do nothing. We bless thee that thou hast assured us that thy grace is sufficient for all things. Oh, display its fullness and effi- cacy in making our hearts the altars of an un- failing sacrifice and our souls the living temples of the Holy Ghost. 9O HOME WORSHIP. Giaciously accept our thanksgiving and sup- plications in the name of our Redeemer, to whom, with the Father and the Spirit, be end- less praise. Amen. WORD OF GOD. PRECEPTS, EXAMPLES, WARNINGS AND PROMISES. GRACIOUS GOD, thou art the Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift. We bless thee that in the -multitude of thy mercies thou hast given us thy word as a light shining in a dark place. We are no better by nature than the multitudes whom thou hast left without a written revelation of thy will, and who, following the corruptions of their own hearts, are the victims of delusive and cruel superstitions, and who are living without God and hope in the world. Yet to us who did not deserve thy mercy, and whose frequent neglect and aggravated abuse of it deserve its withdrawal, thou hast given thy commandment, which is pure, enlightening the eyes ; thy statutes, which are right, rejoicing the heart ; thy testimony, which is sure, making wise the simple ; and thy law, which is perfect, convert- ing the soul. O Lord, help us to meditate on the blessings of thy word, and may our hearts burn within us in grateful appreciation of its excellence and value. WORD OF GOD. gi We thank thee, O Lord, for the precepts of thy word. Thou hast indeed given us the law of Nature impressed on our consciences, by which we are left without excuse in the transgression of thy will, yet without thy revealed law man every- where becomes vain in his imaginations and his foolish heart is darkened, so that the world by wisdom knows not God. Assist us to re- gard thy word as the index of every duty, for thy commandment is exceeding broad, and has relation not only to the outward actions of life, but is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. May we ever go to it with the pray- erful inquiry, " Lord, what wilt thou have us to do ?" determined that its requirements shall be the law of our life, that what it commands we will obey, that what it forbids we will forsake. Help us to discover there and to discharge con- tinually all our duties to thee, to ourselves and to our fellow-creatures. Oh, let thy precepts teach us how to love thee with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, how to work out our sal- vation with fear and trembling, and how we should act as superiors, inferiors and equals in all the relations of life. Lord, we thank thee for the examples in thy word. We bless thee for the light thou hast thrown on the requirements of thy will by the holy lives of thy saints of ancient time. May we love to dwell upon their history in our hearts and 92 HOME WORSHIP. to make them the models of our lives. Make us followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Especially may we make the example of Jesus Christ our pattern in all the duties of life. May the same mind that was in him be also in us. Lead us to walk even as he walked, for he that followeth not after him is not worthy of him. May we look to him as our model of patience and humility, of prayer and faith, of long-suffering and benevolence. May we strive to purify ourselves even as Christ is pure, and beholding in thy word, as in a glass, his glory, be changed into the same image from glory to glory. Lord, we thank thee for the warnings of thy word, by which thou hast taught us in the tem- poral and eternal retributions of thy wrath that thou art a consuming fire to the workers of in- iquity. Oh, verify not upon any of us the threatened penalties of transgression. Impress these warnings upon our memories, so that in every emergency to which they relate they may restrain us from iniquity. When we are tempted to sin, may we remember that thou hast told us that " the way of the transgressor is hard." When we backslide from thy paths, let thy word say unto us, "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." When we would ne- glect duty, speak unto us, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written WORD OF COD. 93 in the book of the law to do them." If we suffer for our wrong-doing, say unto us, " Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you." Let us everywhere and continually remember that the wages of sin is death. Oh, help us to flee from the wrath to come and to lay hold of the hope of the gospeL We thank thee for the promises of thy word. Whilst thou hast made the obligation of duty the paramount motive to obedience, thou hast been graciously pleased to increase and strength- en the inducement to conform to thy will by these pledges of thy blessing. We thank thee that they are so plain that he who runs may read, and that they are suited to every variety of Christian experience, and that they are as nu- merous as all our wants and trials. Oh that they might be embalmed in oflr memories and be cherished in our confidence and be more precious to us than all the wealth of earth. And may we regard thy promises as yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Lord, teach the unrighteous the counsels of thy word. Lead them to copy its godly ex- amples. Warn them by its menaces of danger, and win them to thee by its assurances of comfort in this life and bliss in that which is to come. In the name of Jesus, amen. 94 HOME WORSHIP. FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY. O LORD, we would humbly seek acceptance before thy mercy-seat in the merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Gracious God, we come to seek that faith with- out which it is impossible to please thee, for thou wilt be honored in what thou art and in what thou speakest and in what thou doest. Oh that we could understand and appreciate thy character as infinite, eternal and unchangeable in all thine attributes, as over all, God blessed for ever. Oh that we could rely with affectionate and obedient hearts on thy testimonies, which are sure, making wise the simple ; on thy statutes, which are right, rejoicing the heart ; on thy commandment, which is pure, enlightening the eyes ; on thy law, which is perfect, converting the soul. Oh that we could acknowledge thy hand and rejoice in thy will in all thy holy, wise and powerful govern- ment and preservation of all thy creatures, so that even when clouds and darkness are round about thy pathways we may be persuaded that justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. Lord, assist us to believe that thou art the rewarder of them that diligently seek thee, so that in every feeling of want we may go to thee as a fountain of overflowing supply, and that in every expression of desire this may be our confidence in thee that if we ask anything FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY. 95 according to thy will thou hearest us, and that if we know thou hearest us we know also that we have the petitions we desire of thee. Oh, do thou shine into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ, in whom, though now we see him not, yet, believing, may we rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls. And, O Lord, give us a faith that works by love, that purifies the heart, that overcomes the world, and that is the evidence of things not seen and the substance of things hoped for. Lord, grant us the hope of the gospel. We acknowledge that we are by nature the children of wrath, and that we have incurred by our con- tinual transgressions the extreme penalties of thy wrath. But we thank thee that the offer of salva- tion has been made to us unworthy and ill-deserv- ing creatures in the gift of thy Son, on w T hom thou hast laid our iniquities that we by his stripes might be healed. Oh, do thou enable us so to re- ceive and rest upon Christ as he is offered to us in the gospel that we may enjoy an assurance of an interest in his purchased redemption. Let not our expectation of salvation be built in any wise on our own merits or works, but may we receive him as the only name given under heaven where- by sinners can be saved. Let the conviction ever be present with us that it is not by works of 96 HOME WORSHIP. righteousness that we have done, but by th)r mercy in him, thou wilt save us, that, being justi- fied by his grace, we should be made heirs accord- ing to the hope of eternal life. May it be a hope that purifies even as Christ is pure, that maketh not ashamed, a helmet of salvation, an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, which enters within the veil and rejoices in the expectation of the glory of God. Lord, help us to love thee with all our heart. May thy mercies to us in the works of thy hands and in the dispensations of thy providence and in the measures of thy grace bind our hearts to thee in cords of love which shall never be broken. And may the attributes of thy character attract our constant and satisfying admiration, so that in the fullness of our hearts we can say, " There is none on earth we desire beside thee." But let us never imagine that any strength of attachment on our part can merit thy love to us ; for oh, thine acceptance of our hearts is one of the crowning gifts of undeserved mercy. And, O gracious God, we pray that we may love our neighbor as ourselves. Let us not live in selfish unconcern respecting his joys and griefs. May we rejoice in his welfare and sym- pathize in his adversity. Let us not cherish jeal- ousy or envy or anger or malice toward any of our fellow-creatures, but regard every man as a brother. Let our strongest and most THANKSGIVINGS. 97 abiding compassions be for the souls of men. May we be kindly affectioned in brotherly love to them that are of the household of faith, mourn- ing in Zion's sorrows, delighting in her joys, and ever praying that her righteousness may go forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. And, Lord, give us hearts of pity for those who live as if there were no hell to shun, no heaven to gain, no God to serve. Dispose us to be earnest in prayer and persevering in effort, that many such may be brought under the sweet and controlling influences of the gospel, and be redeemed with an everlasting salvation. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, but the greatest of these is charity. We would humbly render thee, O God, the praise of all, in Jesus Christ. Amen. THANKSGIVINGS. WE come to thee, O God, in the name of Jesus, with the voice of thanksgiving. We would praise thee not only for what thou art in thyself, but for what thou hast done for us, for thy loving-kind- ness and tender mercies to us, who are unworthy of the least token of thy goodness. We thank thee for the gift of speech ; for the light of the eye ; for the hearing of the ear ; for the pleasures of motion, of touch, of taste, of 98 HOME WORSHIP. fragrance ; for memory, reason and affection. We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made. Oh, do thou preserve all the powers of our bodies and faculties of our minds from disorder and distrac- tion. We pray that we may never pervert them to unrighteousness, but may we ever strive to keep them innocent of transgression and ser- vants to thy will. We thank thee for our daily bread, and we pray thee that we may ever seek it uprightly in dependence on thee, and receive it with grati- tude to thee as its donor. May every nourish- ment bestowed on these bodies remind us to hunger and thirst after righteousness, that the wants of our souls may be supplied and we be made to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We thank thee for convenient raiment. Let not our apparel be an object of undue solici- tude, nor be made an instrument of pride or vanity. May we remember that there is an in- ward adorning of the mind and heart which is worth infinitely more than the outward adorning of the body. Oh that we might seek the gar- ments of salvation and be clothed with the Re- deemer's robe of righteousness, that we might stand before thee in the beauty of holiness. We thank thee for the blessing of health. Thou hast healed us in our seasons of sickness, and made them few in number and short in dura- THANKSGIVINGS. 99 tion compared with those of our exemption from illness. Lord, continue that blessing to us. Let us not jeopard it by imprudence or sin, but may we diligently seek its preservation as one of thy most precious temporal gifts. And, gracious God, be thou the Physician of our souls. Heal the wounds that sin has made in them, take away their diseases and bring over them the regenerat- ing joys of spiritual health. We thank thee, O Lord, for a protecting home. While others dwell in the tent or hovel, or are tossed at the mercy of the waves or wander be- neath inclement skies, we dwell in ceiled houses and rejoice in protection from the rude elements. Yet we pray that amid these comforts our hearts may not be wedded to them, and that we may re- member that here we have no abiding-place, and be led to seek a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We thank thee for the blessings of friend- ship. Oh how dreary would life be with all its external comforts if we had none to mourn with us in our griefs and be glad with us in our joys ! We bless thee for the tender and kind sympathies which bind mankind together in the family and social relations of life, and we pray that the spirit of fraternity may be diffused every- where until it shall heal with its sweet influences all the enmities of men and bind them in a broth- erhood of love. And, Lord, grant that while we IOO HOME WORSHIP. enjoy the pleasures of personal friendship, we may remember that there is One that sticketh closer than a brother. May we seek communion with him, and love to chasten and sanctify every affection of earth. We thank thee, gracious God, for civil and religious liberty. We bless thee that we dwell under the protection of just and equal laws, and that we can worship thee according to the dictates of our own consciences. The lines have indeed fallen to us in pleasant places, and we have a goodly heritage. We enjoy privileges far above other nations of the earth. Lord, continue them unto us. Let us not abuse them by forgetting or forsaking thee. May this people remember that thou art the Governor among the nations, and that thy will is the supreme law of earth. Oh, be thou our God, and we will be thy people. We bless thee, Lord, for the means of grace. We thank thee for thy written law. Oh, make it profitable to us for doctrine, for reproof, for cor- rection and for instruction in righteousness. We thank thee for a preached gospel. Let it not be to us a savor of death unto death, but a savor of life unto life. We thank thee for prayer. Help us to regard thee as the Rewarder of all that diligently seek thee, and to worship thee in spirit and in truth. We thank thee for the Sabbath. May we ever remember to keep it holy, and do thou make it a type of that rest that remaineth TALENTS. IOI for the people of God. We thank thee for all the institutions of the gospel. Do thou meet with us in the mount of ordinances, and may we sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Lord, let us not seek to enjoy in selfishness all these precious privileges. May we desire and labor that all our fellow- creatures may share our blessings, temporal and spiritual. Oh, restore earth and its inhabitants to the beauty and hap- piness of Eden. Lord, we would call upon our souls and all that is within us to praise and magnify thee for thy goodness. May it lead us to repentance and to a consecration of all we are and all \ve have unto thee, in Jesus Christ. Amen. TALENTS. GRACIOUS GOD, we thank thee that thou hast not made us as the brutes that perish, but hast given us active powers and rational faculties and precious privileges. Yet we would remember that our responsibilities are greatly and fearfully increased by these things. Even the earth, that bringeth forth fruit that is meet for him by whom it is dressed, receives the blessing of God, but that which beareth thorns and briers is cursed. How infinitely accountable is man, on whom thou hast bestowed so many and such valuable talents ! IO2 HOME WORSHIP. O Lord, suffer us not, through mistake or indo- lence or selfishness, to hide them as in a napkin, but may we have an ever-present conviction that these things are only gifts in trust, which thou wilt require from us again with usury. Help us to redeem the time because the days are evil. Teach us that life is short and uncertain, and that the hours we are so prone to waste with lavish profusion are all needed ur- gently needed for the crowding duties of life. Make us careful of the days and hours and min- utes thou art bestowing upon us. Give us wis- dom to go from day to day with settled plans of action, so that every season shall have its proper duty, and every duty its proper season. Give us the spirit of diligence in all our duties. We thank thee for that law of our nature by which thou hast connected our hap- piness and usefulness with the employment of our bodies and minds in the vocations of life. Let all our employments be lawful in thy sight. Make them pleasant and useful to ourselves, and pleasant and profitable to others, consistently with uprightness. Oh, let not the active powers thou hast given us be corroded or weakened by indo- lence, but be refreshed and invigorated by whole- some industry. Let us not be slothful in busi- ness, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Gracious God, enable us to cultivate on our own behalf and for the benefit of others the gift TALENTS. IO3 of knowledge. M ike us understand and practice all the duties which belong to the possession of this talent. Do thou enlighten our judgments and strengthen our memories and teach our understandings. Keep us from error and guide us into truth. Especially do thou show us, O Lord, the path of life and make us wise unto salvation. Help us to consecrate our property to thee, using it in relation to thee and to ourselves and to our fellow-creatures according to the requirements of thy will. All we have comes from thee and belongs to thee, for thou art the Giver of every good and perfect gift, and we are only the*stewards of thy bounty. Let us not seek to make our possessions, whether great or small, the instruments of a selfish gratification which cloys upon the senses and depraves the heart. Let us not seek to lay up treasures on earth, where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break through and steal, but may we be per- suaded that there are better and nobler uses for thy gifts; that the self-denying or moderate en- joyment of our property is better for the body and safer for the soul; that there is that which scattereth and yet increaseth ; and that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Oh, do thou take away from our souls all their tendencies to selfish gratification, and implant there a vigorous, gener- ous spirit of charity that will take more pleasure 104 HOME WORSHIP. in supplying the temporal and spiritual wants of mankind than in seeking to live in pleasure on the earth and nourishing our hearts as in a day of slaughter. Lord, thou hast given to each of us a measure of personal influence which may be an instrument of good or evil. Oh, grant that we may feel our accountability for it and use it for thy service. Vouchsafe that our characters and opinions may be so formed, and our personal intercourse with mankind so directed, as to promote the great interests of humanity that we may not live nor die under the dishonor that we have been dead branches, but living members, of the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of th nations. Great God, we implore thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, that we may so understand and employ all the talents thou hast bestowed on us that in the great day of reckoning we may receive the plaudit, " Well done, good and faithful servant ! Enter ye into the joy of your Lord." Amen. THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL. LORD, bestow on us at this time, in the name of Jesus, that grace which will enable us to worship thee in spirit and in truth. Make us feel our need of thy help and thy willingness to WORLD, FLESH AND DEVIL. IO5 bless us. And may we have blessed experience that thou art the Rewarder of all that diligently seek thee. Heavenly Father, we would come to thee with a humble supplication that thou wouldst keep us from the evil that is in the world. Divest it of the charms which cloy the appetite and cor- rupt the heart while we use them, and which indeed perish while we enjoy them. Let not the world deceive us with its honors, for they are but the empty promise of the bubble, which glit- ters in the sunbeam, but breaks when we touch it. Let not the world delude us with its riches, for these are treasures which moth and rust cor- rupt and into which thieves break through and steal, or which, if we are permitted to enjoy them, lead the soul away in forgetfulness and ingratitude from God, bind the heart in the chains of worldly conformity and self-indulgence, nourish pride, in- dolence and unfeelingness, and palsy faith, zeal and prayer. O Lord, raise us above the lines which the wicked may throw out, directly or indirectly, to draw us from the path of duty and lead us in the way of sin. Protect us from injury in our persons, property or reputation by those who love evil-doing. And oh, let us not be in anything conformed to this world that lieth in wickedness. Our Father in heaven, be graciously pleased to keep us from the evil that is in our own hearts. 106 HOME WORSHIP. Rebuke those feelings of vanity that lead us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. Take away from us that spirit of pride which makes us so prone to look down with contempt or indifference or reproach on others, and to demand the tribute of praise or homage from our fellow-creatures. Remove far from us that selfishness which makes us regardless of the rights and interests of others, and lead us to pur- sue our own welfare as the chief and only good of life. Subdue that impatience of spirit which is restless and unhappy and rebellious under opposition and disappointment and adversity. Save us from the dominion of that unbelief which leads us so often to depart from the living God, dishonoring thy glorious name, thy precious word and thy righteous providence. And, O Lord, conquer in us all those forms of sin which fill every pathway of life with thorns, which make us unworthy of the confidence of the good, which grieve away thy Spirit and shut out from us the light of thy countenance. O Lord, who can bring a clean thing out of this unclean ? Do thou put within us new hearts and renew within us right spirits, that, the body of sin being de- stroyed, we may no longer serve sin, but be the servants of righteousness. O Thou who art the strength of all that put their trust in thee, protect us from the open and secret influences of Satan, who is the great adver- WORLD, FLESH AND DEVIL. JO/ sary of souls. Oh, let us not be heedless of the truth that he exerts his power even on the hearts of thine own chosen people. If the innocence of Paradise and the spotless purity of Jesus himself were not exempt from his devices, we surely can- not hope to escape his assaults. But we implore aid of thy grace that we may resist them and triumph over them. Bestow on us the shield of faith, wherewith we may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Give us wisdom to detect and virtue to repel all his temptations. Arm us, we pray thee, with the sword of thy truth, that we may resist the devil, so that he may flee from us. Gracious God, while we would supplicate thee to keep us from the evil that is in the world, and from the corruptions of our own hearts, and from the power of Satan, we would seek of thee these immunities on behalf of others. Oh, do thou di- minish and destroy every form of enticing pub- lic or social vice. Cleanse the hearts of men by sanctifying grace. Overthrow the dominion of Satan in every bosom. And oh, let the moral as- pect of mankind speedily become such as will fill all human hearts with joy and all angelic bosoms with gladness and the universe with glory in the highest unto God the Father, Son and Spirit. Amen. 108 HOME WORSHIP. GOD. As THE OBJECT OF ADORATION, HUMILITY, FEAR, CONFIDENCE, LOVE AND OBEDIENCE. GREAT GOD, thou art exalted above every name, that at thy name every knee should bo\v and every tongue confess. Oh, thou art infinite^ ly worthy of the adoration of all thy creatures. Thou art everlasting in being, almighty in power, infinite in wisdom, inflexible in justice, eternal in truth, spotless in holiness and boundless in mercy. All thy works praise thee and thy saints bless thee. Help us by the influences of thy Spirit to appreciate the infinite excellences of thy character and to bow before thee as over all, God blessed for ever. Grant us, O Lord, with these contemplations of thy character such views of our own unwor- thiness as will humble us in the dust before thee. We are creatures of yesterday ; we dwell in houses of clay and live from moment to moment at the expense of thy goodness. We are ignorant, not knowing what a day may bring forth. We are helpless, not being able to make one hair of our heads either white or black. We are by nature the children of wrath, and in our best estate it becomes us to say, " God, be merciful to us sin- ners." Lo ! the angels of heaven veil their faces before thee in expressive token of inferiority and unworthiness. What, therefore, is man that thou GOD. lOQ art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him ? Oh, give us that purity of spirit which has the promise of thy kingdom, and that contrite heart which thou makest thy dwelling- place. Gracious God, bestow on us that fear of thee which is the beginning of wisdom, which is also a fountain of life that is clean, enduring for ever. Let not our fear of thee be the dread of a slave nor the terror of a criminal, but the awe of a servant mingled with the love of a child. May it lead us to shun thy displeasure, to desire thy favor, to hate evil and to do thy pleasure in all the walks of life. Enable us to confide in thee, for thou art the strength of all that put their trust in thee. Thou art boundless in wisdom, omnipotent in power and infinite in goodness. Thou wilt not withhold any good thing from him that walketh uprightly, and thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Give us grace to cast all our cares on thee in perils, in wants, in losses, in griefs, in sickness and in death. Say unto us in every tribulation, " What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." Assure us that thou makest all things work together for good to them that love thee, and that as thou didst not withhold thine own Son, but didst de- liver him up for us, thou wilt with him freely give 110 HOME WORSHIP, us all things. O Lord, suffer us never to cast away our confidence, which hath great recom- pense of reward. Gracious God, put into our hearts the spirit of ardent love to thee. Thou art infinitely worthy of our best and strongest affections ; for if we can esteem purity and benevolence among our fellow-creatures, how infinitely more ought we to admire and regard that holiness which cannot look upon sin without abhorrence, and that good- ness which brings with every moment of life some record of thy mercy ! Fill our souls with an affectionate admiration of thy character and dealings. As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so may our hearts pant after thee and our desires be continually unto thee and the remembrance of thy name. Lord, bestow on us the spirit of full-hearted and unreserved obedience to thy will. Thou hast an infinite right to our services, for thou hast made us and nurtured us and protected us ; and when we had made ourselves unworthy of thy life-giving favor and worthy of eternal death, thou didst offer unto us the atonement of Jesus Christ, by which we might be redeemed from end- less wrath and made heirs of eternal life. Lord, help us to avoid everything thou hast forbidden and to do everything thou hast commanded. En- able us to present ourselves to thee, living sacri- fices, holy and acceptable, which is our most KNOWLEDGE, HOLINESS AND ZEAL. 1 1 1 reasonable service. Do thou make us zealous of good work, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. O Lord, grant that the multitudes of mankind who live regardless of their obligations to thee may be brought to acknowledge with adoring hearts the infinite perfections of thy name and to humble themselves before thee in their unworthi- ness and ill-desert. Put into their hearts that fear which has the promise of thy mercy. Teach them to trust thee in all thy ways and in all thy word. Call forth the warm and steadfast affections of their hearts to thee as their enduring portion, and make them thy willing servants in the ways of salvation. Heavenly Father, shed on us now the refresh- ing and sanctifying power of thy Spirit, and give us grace to ascribe the kingdom, power and glory unto the Father, Son and Spirit for ever. Amen. KNOWLEDGE, HOLINESS AND ZEAL. GREAT GOD, thou art the Source of every blessing. Thou art the Fountain of wisdom, sanc- tification and obedience. Without thee we can acquire nothing and be nothing and do nothing. Thanks be unto thy name, thy blessing can make us wise and pure and dutiful Lord, we would re- 112 HOME WORSHIP. member, in seeking these things and all others, that our only hope of success is in the advocacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, receive us in his name. Let his worthiness be the reason of our accept- ance and his intercession the ground of our blessing. Lord, we thank thee that thou hast had com- passion on the ignorance of our race and hast given us a revelation of truth. Alas ! the world by wisdom knew not God, for whilst they were professing themselves to be wise they became fools. We bless thee that, though they did change the truth of God into a lie, thou didst send thy word as a light shining in a dark place. And we especially thank thee that to us who live in the ends of the earth thou hast given line upon line and precept upon precept, so that we may learn what we should believe concerning thee and what duty thou requirest of us. Yet we desire to realize that the provision thou hast thus mercifully made to remove our ignorance will be fruitless unless thou give us the enlightening in- fluences of the Spirit. Oh, may we ever seek his light in the pursuit of truth. Do thou grant it unto us, according to thy promise that if any man lack wisdom and ask it of thee, it shall be given to him. Lord, keep us from every form of error in seeking religious knowledge. Guide us to the possession of every truth in relation to thee, our- selves and our fellow-creatures. Give us grace to KNOWLEDGE, HOLINESS AND ZEAL. 113 hold fast the form of sound doctrines and to maintain the truth at the sacrifice of ease, prop- erty, reputation and life itself. Especially do thou bestow on us that wisdom from above which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, with- out partiality and without hypocrisy. Grant us the spirit of holiness. We confess that we are by nature the heirs of transgres- sion, and that the works of sin develop them- selves continually in our thoughts, words and actions, so that we are often constrained to cry, " Who can bring a clean thing out of this un- clean ?" But the things which are impossible with man are possible with God. Thou canst purge these chambers of iniquity and make them temples of the Holy Ghost. Oh, bestow on us, we pray thee, that work of thy free grace whereby we shall be renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and be enabled more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness. Teach us to be holy because thou art holy. May we remember that it was sin brought death into the world with all its woes, and that it nailed the Son of God to the accursed tree. May the hope of his purchased redemption be a strong motive to purify ourselves, even as he is pure. Warn us from the commission of sin by deep and alarm- ing convictions of its guilt and misery and dan- ger. And may we ever remember that without 114 HOME WORSHIP. holiness no man shall see the Lord. Oh, let thy grace be in us as a perpetual fountain of godli- ness, and may we go from strength to strength and be as the shining light that shineth more and more to the perfect day. Lord, teach us that he who knoweth his Mas- ter's will and doeth it not shall be beaten with many stripes. Not every one that saith, " Lord, Lord !" shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of our Father in heaven. Suffer us not to be content with a passive exemp- tion from error and an indolent knowledge of truth, nor yet with a personal security from the guilt and misery and danger of sin, but do thou make us zealous of good works. Lead us to in- quire diligently what thou wilt have us to do, for we are bound to glorify thee in our bodies and spirits, which are thine. Create us in Christ Jesus unto good works and make us as branches abiding in the vine bearing fruit. Teach us that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. May thy word be in our hearts as good seed that beareth an hundredfold. Oh, give us patient con- tinuance in well-doing, and let our obedience have that symmetry and fullness which consists in adding to faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly-kindness and char- ity. Nevertheless, O Lord, do thou keep us from thoughts and boastings of righteousness, for it is not by works we can do that we shall be TRINITY. 1 1 5 justified, but by thy grace through Jesus our Saviour. Gracious God, hear and answer these our im- perfect petitions, and the praise of every bless- ing we will render to the Father, Son and Spirit, now, henceforth and for ever. Amen. TRINITY. BLESSED and triune Jehovah, give us grace at this time to approach thy mercy-seat, enjoying those perceptions of truth which agree with thy word, and those exercises of feeling which are in harmony with thy will. Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the as- surance given us that if earthly parents know how to give good gifts to their children, much more will our Father in heaven give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Oh, may we indeed claim the relation of children, not alone that of nature, but that also of grace, in which we can look to thee as our reconciled God and Father in the Lord Jesus. Oh, bless us with thy paternal gifts. Guide us by thy counsel, for our wisdom is folly ; and if thou leave us to the dictates of unaided reason, we will run the giddy mazes of vanity and become the prey of error. Protect us by thy power, for our strength is weakness ; Il6 HOME WORSHIP. and if thou dost not succor us by thy might, we will be crushed before the moth. Oh, supply us by thy goodness, for we are the pensioners of thy bounty, and without thy sustaining mercies we must perish. We thank thee that we have so often and so long and so richly enjoyed thy counsel and protection and mercy, that thou hast given us thy word and Spirit to teach and guide us, that thy power has been exerted to defend and uphold us, and that thy loving-kind- ness has sought every moment for occasions to nourish and bless us. Oh, let gratitude, love and obedience animate our hearts in view of our obligations to thee, that henceforth we may be worthy to be the children of thy love. Blessed Jesus, we would come to the mercy- seat remembering that he that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent him. Thou art worthy, O Lord, thou wast before all things, to receive honor and glory and power, for thou hast created all things and thou knowest all things. Oh, may our hearts acknowledge the truth that in thee dwells the fullness of the God- head bodily. Blessed Saviour, reveal to us by thy word and Spirit the will of God for our salvation. Let thy truth be a savor of life unto life and thy grace teach us to deny ungodliness and live righteously. And help us to acknowledge thee as our great High Priest, who, though thou wast rich, for our TRINITY. I \7 sakes became poor that we through thy poverty might be made rich, and though thou knewest no sin wast made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God through thee, and though thou wast the Prince of life, yet didst die, the Just for the unjust, that thou mightest bring us to God. Yet thou didst not see corrup- tion, but rose again the third day to the right hand of God, there to plead for the purchase of thy blood. Gracious Saviour, be thou the Author and Finisher of our faith. Let thy precious sacrifice satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God. And do thou make intercession for us with the Majesty on high. Lord Jesus, we would submit to thy sceptre. Subdue us to thyself, rule over us, defend us, and restrain and conquer all thine and our enemies. Blessed Spirit, do thou exercise toward us all the gracious offices of thy divine character. Convince us of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. Justify us freely by thy grace through the redemption there is in Jesus. Give us the spirit of adoption by which we may cry " Abba, Father !" and do thou bear witness with our spirits that we are thy children. Sanctify us by thy grace that we may be enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. Lead us into the knowledge and love of the truth. Redeem and preserve us from error. Teach us Il8 HOME WORSHIP. to pray and make intercession within us. Restore us in all our backslidings and establish our go- ings. Be thou our Comforter in every affliction of body and in every distress of mind and in every sorrow of spirit. And, O Thou whose ministrations are life because of righteousness, seal us with that holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemp- tion of the purchased possession. Gracious Jehovah, subdue unto thyself those who, though thou hast nourished and brought them up as children, have rebelled against thee. May they kiss the Son lest he be angry and they perish from his way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Cast out of them the unclean spirit and make them temples of the Holy Ghost. And now, Lord, grant that the love of the Father and the fellowship of the Son and the communion of the Spirit may rest upon us henceforth and for ever. Amen. NATURE, GRACE AND GLORY. GREAT GOD, we would not draw nigh unto thee with our mouth and honor thee with our lips while our hearts are far from thee, but we would worship thee in the name of Jesus in spirit and in truth. NATURE, GRACE AND GLORY. 119 Lord, thou didst make man in thine own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness. But he abode not in honor. The crown of glory thou didst give him fell from him, his gold be- came dim and his most fine gold was changed, and he to whom thou didst give dominion over the creatures, and whom thou didst make a com- panion of angels and an heir of heaven, became the slave of his own perverted and corrupted passions, a comrade of devils and an heir of hell. When thou didst look down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God, behold, they had all gone aside, they had altogether become filthy; there was none that did good, no, not one. We were by nature the children of wrath even as others. Our hearts were full of evil and we went astray from our birth; our carnal minds were enmity against thee, so that from the crown of our heads to the sole of our feet there was nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. Oh, do thou give us those feelings of humility and penitence which become us in view of our degraded and condemned estate. We lay in the open field, polluted in our own blood, a spectacle of shame to every holy being. Thou didst put on the garments of vengeance for clo- thing and wast angry with us every day. And it was only because thy mercy restrained thy judgment that thy wrath was not revealed from I2O HOME WORSHIP. heaven against our unrighteousness and ungod- liness. Gracious God, we magnify thy mercy that in the midst of deserved wrath thou didst remember undeserved mercy. Thou hast not left the chil- dren of the apostasy to perish in their guilt, but hast proffered to them a covenant of grace by which they may be rescued from the degradation and guilt and punishment of sin, and be honored and sanctified and blessed in the plan of salvation by a Redeemer. O Lord, grant that we may have personal experience of all the benefits of that precious redemption. Grant us that repent- ance for sin that needeth not to be repented of. Blot out our manifold and aggravated transgres- sions for Jesus' sake. Give us the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Build us up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner- stone. Accept of us as righteous in thy sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. Grant us the assurance that we are no longer the children of wrath, but sons of adoption. Renew us day by day in thy holy image that our path may be like the light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Teach us to pray that we may wor- ship thee in spirit and in truth. Oh, make us servants unto thee that our fruit may be holi- ness and the end everlasting life. NATURE, GRACE AND GLORY. 121 Lord, we thank thee that thou hast revealed to us the glories of thy heavenly kingdom. Thou hast not only translated men from darkness into light, bringing them from a state of nature into one of grace, but thou art willing to crown every other mercy with a place at thy right hand, where there is fullness of joy and pleasures for ever- more. Oh, give us hearts to understand and love and seek after that glory. Here we see through a glass darkly, but there we shall see face to face. Here we know but in part, but there we shall know even as we are known. Oh, enable us to lay up treasures in heaven that where our treasures are there our hearts may be also. Grant that we may run so as to obtain that, casting aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, we may run with patience the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and that, forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth toward those things which are before, we may press toward the mark for the prize of the high call- ing of God in Christ Jesus. Lord, redeem the world from the fruits of the apostasy. Let thine image, marred and dis- figured by the fall, be restored to the human fam- ily, that the beauty of Eden may again bless and adorn the earth, that He by whose mediation sal- vation has been offered may rule in a kingdom of grace over every human heart, and that man- 122 HOME WORSHIP, kind, rejoicing in love and holiness and obedience and wisdom, may reflect, even in the imperfection of human life, that kingdom of glory where wis- dom and obedience and holiness and love shall be perfected for ever. Amen. THE GOSPEL ARMOR. GREAT GOD, we come to thee in the name of Jesus in need in pressing need of thy sovereign help. We carry corruption about with us in our own natures, we meet temptation from the world wherever we go, and we wrestle not against flesh and blood only, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. But we bless thee that thou hast promised help in every hour of need to those who trust thee with all the heart. And we would come to thee in dependence and faith to ask thee to clothe us with the whole armor of God, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Lord, gird thou our loins about with truth. We thank thee that thou hast revealed to us what we are to believe concerning thee and the duties thou requirest of us, and that thou art teaching us by thy word and Spirit the will of God for our sal- THE GOSPEL ARMOR. 1 23 vation. Oh, gui ie us into the fullness of righteous and holy knowledge and preserve us from every error. Let not the condemnation rest upon us that we have known our Master's will, but did it not. Let us not hold the truth in unrighteous- ness, but in love and obedience. Sanctify us by thy truth : thy word is truth. Lord, bestow on us the breastplate of right- eousness. Make us obedient toward thee and upright toward our fellow-creatures, so that we shall have a conscience void of offence toward God and man. Oh, do thou so purify and elevate our habitual thoughts and feelings that temp- tation shall find in us less and less proneness to sin and more and more delight in righteous- :-. E - ~ Grant that our feet may be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In all the rugged and thorny and miry and steep pathways of life, may we run in thy strength and not be weary, walk and not feint. In the midst of the vexation and toil and pollution of this world's pilgrimage, may the peace which it cannot give nor take away keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Give us that shield of faith wherew'th we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Grant us such strong and abiding views of the excellence of thy character, the claims of thy precepts, the faithfulness of thy promise and 124 HOME WORSHIP. the justice of thy ways such perceptions of things not seen, but hoped for that we shall stand unmoved and unhurt in the contest with the world, the flesh and the devil. Vouchsafe unto us the helmet of salvation, that hope in the redemption of Jesus which will assure us that, though thou wast angry with us, thine anger is turned away, and that thou wilt help us in every struggle and bring us off more than conquerors through Him that has loved us and given himself for us. Lord, if thou art for us, who can be against us ? Oh, do thou animate us in every contest by visions of heavenly glory, where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. Give us the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Oh, may the righteous pre- cepts and bright examples and fearful warnings and precious promises of revelation be treasured up in our affections and memories, and be ever ready for use in our contests with sin. Make these weapons of our warfare mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Gracious God, grant that in all the strife of this militant life we may watch with persevering prayer in the Spirit, that we wrestle not in our own strength, which is weakness ; nor in our own wis- dom, which is folly ; nor in our own merits, which are worthless ; for our deliverance is in thee, whence alone help cometh. FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 12$ Graciously give us the spirit of supplication for all saints, that thou wouldst bestow on thy people that truth and righteousness and peace and faith and hope which will enable them to stand against the wiles of the devil, and to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Great God, thou hast taught us that thou rulest in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth, and that there is none who can stay thy hand or say unto thee, What doest thou ? Oh, take unto thee thy great name and go forth conquering and to conquer until great voices shall be heard in heaven crying, "Alle- luia ! alleluia ! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Amen. FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. GREAT GOD, we would come to thy mercy-seat looking to the Father as the Hearer and to the Son as the Intercessor and to the Spirit as the Helper of prayer. Oh, give us grace to worship thee in spirit and in truth. We thank thee for that work of the Holy Ghost by which those who were once dead in trespasses and sins awake to newness of life and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Oh, do thou break up the fallow ground of our hearts, 126 HOME WORSHIP. and sow there the seed of truth, and refresh them even as showers that water the earth. Oh, give us the grace of love, which is the ful- filling of the law. Be thou our chief good, for thou art lovely in thy character and word and works. And may we love all thy creatures, especially those that are of the household of faith. Cause our affections to go forth to thee with the confidence of children to a parent, and toward mankind as brethren of one family whose head is the Father of spirits, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift. Lord, grant us the joy of the Spirit. Manifest thyself unto us as thou dost not unto the world. Enable us to rejoice in the forgiveness of sins. Give us that precious faith that will enable us to repose on thee for wisdom, strength and bounty. May we find all the means of grace, springs of gladness and streams of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. And oh, do thou throw around all our pathways the light of the upper sanctuary, that even in this world we may enjoy foretastes rich and abiding of the joys of endless life. Grant us that fruit of righteousness which is sown in peace of those that make peace. Give us that trust in God which will bring qui- etness into our own spirits, and that good-will to man which will gain us the friendship or save us from the enmity of our fellow-creatures. Lord, FKUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 12? enable us, if possible, to live peaceably with all men, and do thou promote peace between man and man and between nation and nation until con- tention and war cease unto the ends of the earth. Vouchsafe unto us, O Lord, the grace of long- suffering. Give us a frame of mind that is not easily provoked, that beareth all things and endureth all things, that suffereth long and is still kind. Thou hast taught us that if we do well and suffer for it, and yet take it patiently, this is acceptable to God. Oh, grant that we may not be overcome of evil, but that we may overcome evil with good. May we ever remember that the servant of God must not strive, but be gentle to all men. May we remember Him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep dumb before his shearer opened not his mouth ; who when he suffered threatened not, but committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously, leaving us as an example that we should follow in his steps. Oh, give us that wisdom from above which is gentle and easy to be entreated. Lord, incline us to do good as we have oppor- tunity. Let the wants and woes of mankind ever excite our sympathy. May we remember that the love of God dwelleth not in him who, having this world's goods and seeing his brother have need, yet shutteth up his bowels of com- passion from him. May we desire and seek by 128 HOME WORSHIP. acts of benevolence the blessing of those who are ready to perish. And oh, may we so act that in life we may be the stewards of thy bounty, in death our memory may be blessed, and in eternity we may shine as the stars and as the brightness of the firmament for ever. Imbue us with the grace of faith. Oh, en- able us to cast aside the sin of unbelief, which so easily besets us, and to run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, de- spising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Oh, may we like him triumph over the world, the flesh and the devil, and receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls. Grant us the spirit of meekness. May we learn of Him who was meek and lowly of heart ; for if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Oh, give us that child-like and gentle temper which thou hast promised to guide in judgment and beautify with salvation and make the dwelling-place of thy power and mercy. Lord, give us a holy and temperate use of all thy mercies. In the enjoyment of temporal good restrain us from indulgence in pride and luxury. May we use this world as not abusing it. In religious duties keep us on one hand from luke- GOSPEL BLESSINGS. 12$ warmness and formality, and on the other from enthusiasm and extravagance. Enable us to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things, so that our path may be as the light which shineth more and more to the perfect fe. Amen. GOSPEL BLESSINGS. HEAVEXLY FATHER, enable us to approach thee in the name of Christ with thankful hearts, for we are pensioners upon thy bounty and live every moment at the expense of thy goodness. Above the multitude of every-day comforts we would ac- knowledge and praise the blessings of the gos- pel. Although we had forfeited thy favor and had not even a right to thy compassion, thou didst pity and succor and bless us. Though men had shrouded their minds with ignorance and steeped their souls in sin and earned the retribution of wrath, thou didst send, in the per- son and work of thy Son, light for the benighted, purity for the unholy and the hope of salvation for the heirs of perdition. Grant us a rich experience of the consola- tions of the gospeL May we forsake our broken cisterns that can hold no water, and go to this fountain of living waters that is full to overflow- ing of the healing streams of life. Give us, O Lord, the grace of repentance. 9 130 HOME WORSHIP. May the multitude and guilt of our sins be remembered with feelings of deep humility and strong penitence and earnest revulsion. And may we wonder and adore and bless thee that ever thou hadst thoughts of mercy for our unworthy and hell-deserving souls, for we ought now, instead of a place of prayer, be tenants of despairing woe. Lord, give us that faith in Jesus Christ which, springing from a deep con- viction of our hopeless estate by nature and the fullness of thy mercy in him, receives and rests upon him as he is offered in the gospel. As thou hast made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, may we be made the righteousness of God in him, receiving the pardon of our sins and the acceptance of our persons through his ransom and mediation. Lord, graciously grant us assurance of thy for- giving mercy. May we know Him whom we have believed, and be persuaded that thou art able to keep that which we have committed to thee until the great day when those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb shall have an entrance min- istered abundantly unto them into the everlast- ing kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father, give us hearts to esteem thy service richer pleasure than any human joys, lobler honor than any worldly fame, greater GOSPEL BLESSINGS. \$\ riches than any earthly treasure. If we have indeed been bought with a price, let us not live to ourselves, but glorify thee in our bodies and spirits, which are thine by creation, preservation and benefaction and redemption. Lord, enable us to rejoice in thy word as they that find great spoil. May it ever bring us light when we are in darkness, joy when we are in sorrow, rest when we are heavy-laden, food when we hunger for righteousness, holiness when we are assailed by sin, and hope when we are sinking in despair. Make it profitable to us for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness, that we may be perfect, thor- oughly furnished unto all good works. Bless to us the appointment of the Sabbath, that day which in mercy thou hast made for man. Enable us to profit by all its opportunities for receiving and doing good. Oh, may we ever keep it holy according to thy commandment, not doing our own ways in it nor finding our own pleasure nor speaking our own words, but calling the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and honoring thee in it by a holy obedience. Lord, may we love the habitation of thy house, for strength and beauty are in thy sanctuary. Make us faithful to all its services. Enable us there to make melody in our hearts unto the Lord, to worship thee in the beauty of holiness, 132 HOME WORSHIP. and to receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. Lord, teach us to pray. Show us our need and helplessness and thy sufficiency and willingness. May we ever go to thee in the faith of thy prom- ise that none shall seek thy face in vain. Draw nigh unto us in all our efforts to draw nigh unto thee, and quicken us by thy Spirit, that we may not call upon thee with feigned lips, but in spirit and in truth. Grant us that hope of glory which is a chief end and the final blessing of the gospel. Assure us that when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved we shall have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, where there is fullness of, joy and pleasures for evermore. Grant all thy people a full and abiding enjoy- ment of gospel blessings. And oh, do thou bestow them on all the children of the apostasy, until its good tidings of great joy shall reach all people. And thine, Father, Son and Spirit, shall be glory in the highest. Amen. DUTIES TO GOD. OUR Father in heaven, our hearts' desire and prayer to thee is that thou wouldst teach us our DUTIES TO C-OD. 133 duties to thee, our Creator, Preserver, Benefactor and Redeemer, and that thou wouldst enable us so to perform that we shall escape the punish- ment of those who know their Master's will and do it not Great God, we would acknowledge thy being, which is over all, blessed for ever ; thy wisdom, which is infinite ; thy power, which has made and upheld all things ; thy holiness, which is spotless ; thy justice, which is righteous altogether; thy goodness, which is over all thy works ; and thy promises, which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Whom, O Lord, shall we praise but thee ? for thou art God alone, and beside thee there is none other. Let men say among the nations, " The Lord reigneth," and let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Gracious God, we bless thee that in sundry times and in divers manners thou didst speak in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, and that thou hast in the last days also spoken unto us by thy Son, whom thou hast made heir of all things. Oh, may we receive the truth in the love of it, giving the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest at any time we let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and every transgression and disobe- dience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the 134 HOME WORSHIP. Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him ? Lord, teach us to pray. Thou art indeed not worshiped as though thou needest anything, for thou givest to all life and breath and all things. But thou hast commanded the service of prayer and hast made it the channel through which to enrich us out of thine abundant fullness, and hast thus made our duty and privilege one and indis- soluble. Help us to worship thee in the beauty of holiness ; for if we regard iniquity in our hearts, thou wilt not hear us. May we draw nigh to thee with a true heart, that our prayer may not go out of feigned lips. May we ever present ourselves as humble penitents, for we are un- worthy of the least of thy mercies. Enable us to go to thee with the full assurance of faith, be- lieving that thou art the Rewarder of them that diligently seek thee. May our petitions always be presented in the name of Jesus, whom thou ever hearest, for in him thou art ever well pleased. Oh, grant that our supplication may be that effect- ual fervent prayer that availeth much, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Gracious God, make us penitent for all our transgressions against thee ; our sins against light and love; our sins of omission and commission; our sins in secret and in public ; our sins in seasons of recreation, in business and in holy DUTIES TO GOD. 135 things. Oh, let not our repentance be the sorrow of the world that worketh death, but that godly sorrow that worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of. Give us, O Lord, the bless- ings that are promised to the broken heart and contrite spirit. Grant us, we pray thee, redemp- tion through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins. And do thou mercifully turn us from the error of our ways to the wisdom of the just. O Lord, enable us to cherish all those feelings which become us in view of thine infinite perfec- tions. May we put our trust in thee and commit all our ways to thee, with the hope that thou wilt bring forth our righteousness as the light and our judgment as the noonday. Oh, teach us thy fear, which is the beginning of wisdom and a fountain of life that is clean, enduring for ever. May we love thee with all our mind and strength and heart, and let every token of thy mercy be precious to us, especially that great love where- with thou hast loved us, in that while we were sinners Christ died for us. And now, Lord, the blessings we would ask for ourselves we would seek for others. Give thy people grace to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith thou hast called them, that they may adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things. May the multitudes who are living with- out God in the world be brot ght to reverence 136 HOME WORSHIP. thee, to delight in thy commandments, to seek thy grace, to mourn over their multiplied trans- gressions, to trust all their interests to thee, to cherish thy fear and to love thee as their chief good. O Lord, our souls would ascribe the praise of every mercy and blessing to thy matchless grace in Jesus our Saviour now and for ever. Amen. DUTIES TO MAN. O LORD, we thank thee for the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves, and for the injunction that whatsoever we would that others should do unto us we should do even so to them. Write these laws upon our hearts, and give us wisdom to know and faithfulness to do all our duty to our neighbor. Our Father in heaven, enable us to meet and discharge all the duties which may devolve on us in the various relations of life. As superiors, make us kind, forbearing and just, ever ready to exert the influence of our station for the temporal and eternal welfare of those whom thou hast put below us. As inferiors, make us meek, patient and faithful, with good-will doing service, yet not unto man alone, but unto the Lord. As equals, let the law of brotherly kindness animate DUTIES TO MAN. 137 our hearts and move our lips and control our actions. O Lord, thou hast taught us that we must not only not spill the blood of our neighbor, but that whosoever is angry with his brother with- out cause is in danger of judgment. Keep us from that anger which is heart-murder. Let no prejudice, resentment or malice be nourished in our bosoms. When we are tempted to wish evil or to do evil to any one, change our feelings and purposes into forbearance and good-will. Lord, keep us from thoughts and purposes and deeds of dishonesty toward our neighbor. May all his rights be sacred in our esteem. Make us honest in that which is least as well as in that which is greatest. May we be far more ready to discharge than to contract debts, and may we owe no man anything without his cheerful con- sent. Oh, preserve us from the vanity and im- piety of covetousness, and graciously give us such contentment with our condition in life as will make us happy with what we possess and indifferent to- ward what thou hast denied to us. Let the good name of our fellows ever be precious in our sight. Let us never disparage it by falsehood nor degrade it by slander. It the ends of public justice or self-defence or social and individual welfare require the exposure of folly, error or iniquity, may we discharge our duty with- out malice and with a heart of pity toward the 138 HOME WORSHIP. offender. And do thou, moreover, keep ts from exciting ridicule toward any, and make us cau- tious of those censures we are so prone to cast on the common follies and weaknesses of man- kind. May we do for the reputation of others as we would wish others to do for our own good name. Make us lovers of truth in all our inter- course with our fellow-creatures. Let no motive, either of amusement or gain or fear or favor or plea of doing good, lead us to practice deceit. And while we would not make, suffer us not to love, a lie, or regard with any complacency its apparent advantages. Oh, may sincerity dwell in our souls and verity have its image in our thoughts and truth animate our tongues. May our hearts be set on thy promise that the lip of truth shall be established for ever. O Lord, if we suffer wrong from any, make us ever ready to forgive. As we seek from thee forgiveness for our trespasses, may we forgive others their trespasses against us. Though our motives be aspersed, our characters slandered, our persons injured and our rights violated, may we not return railing for railing nor injury for injury, but rather seek to bless the offender. Make us willing under every trespass to say, " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Make us merciful even as thou art merci- ful. Give us hearts of pity for the poor, the DUTIES TO OURSELVES. 139 bereaved, the down-trodden, the sick, and for every one that suffers adversity. May we be enabled to give help to the needy, comfort to the sorrowful, deliverance to the oppressed, health to the diseased, and the ministry of good- ness to every form of affliction. And whatever we do, let it not be done to be seen of men, but of our Father in heaven, who will reward us openly. Give us earnest desires and dispose us to make diligent efforts in behalf of the spiritual interests of mankind. May the cause of Zion be near and dear to us and share our steadfast zeal. May we love all her members and seek diligently her strength, wisdom and purity. O Lord, excite our deep anxiety for those who live without God in the world. May their folly excite our pity, their guilt our compassion and their danger our solicitude, and may we be led to seek and use those means which thou wilt bless for the conversion of many sinners. Lord, give these petitions a gracious audience through Jesus Christ, and the praise shall be ascribed to thee for ever. Amen. DUTIES TO OURSELVES. O THOU that hearest prayer, unto thee must all flesh come. Whom is there in heaven but thee I4O HOME WORSHIP. to whom \ve can offer worship ? and on earth whose communion can we desire but thine ? We come in the worthy name of Jesus to seek wis- dom to learn and strength to perform all the duties we owe to ourselves in relation to the lawful things of earth and the precious interests of eternity. O Lord, give us a becoming diligence in those avocations of life which we have undertaken. We thank thee for that law of our nature by which thou hast connected the industry of thy creatures with their happiness and welfare. Let all our employments be lawful in thy sight. Let us not be slothful in business, but fervent in spirit ; and whatsoever our hands find to do in any useful business, may we do it with our might. Especially in religious duties make us fer- vent in spirit, serving the Lord. May we give diligence to add to faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kind- ness and charity. Dispose us to seek thy kingdom and that treasure in heaven that fail- eth not. Great God, incline us to seek useful knowledge. May we open our ears to wisdom and our hearts to understanding. Oh, let not the noble faculties of memory and reason thou hast given us be neglected amid the treasures of wisdom thou hast put within our reach. And oh, do thou give us that true, that heavenly wisdom the DUTIES TO OURSELVES. 14! merchindise of which is better than silver and its gain better than gold. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to all them that lay hold of her, and happy is every one that retaineth her. O Lord, we thank thee for thy bounteous provi- dence. The eyes of all are unto thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desires of every living thing. Oh, may we use these gifts as not abusing them. May we keep the body under and bring it into subjection to reason and piety. Let us not be like him who said in the pride of self-indulgence, " Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years : eat, drink and be merry," to whom the fearful message came : " Thou fool ! this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Gracious Lord, enable us to control and subdue the evil passions of our nature those feelings of covetousness and pride, selfishness and anger, envy and revenge, which, while they are the in- struments of evil toward others, destroy our own peace, injure our souls and put our immortal in- terests in jeopardy. O God, help us to keep our hearts with diligence, for out of these proceeds all evil. Lord, search us and try us and see if there be any evil way in us, and do thou restrain 142 HOME WORSHIP. it and conquer our unholy propensities and lead us in the way everlasting. Heavenly Father, teach us that godliness which with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. May we be careful for nothing, but in all things, by prayer and sup- plication, make known our requests to God. May our prayer be that of Agur : " Give me neither poverty nor riches." Induce us, O Lord, to seek our portion where the righteous obtain joy and gladness, and where murmuring and want and sorrow shall flee away for ever. Heavenly Father, give us habits of honest and searching self-examination, that we may know all our motives and prove all our principles and try all our ways. Let not pride nor self-love nor indolence hinder us from an impartial estimate of our character. Show us the plague of our hearts, the sin that doth so easily beset us. Teach us all our errors, weaknesses and sins. And if in the exercise of a candid judgment any of us are in the gall of bitterness, or have only a name to live, while we are dead in tres- passes and sins, oh, give us repentance for sin and faith in an atoning Saviour, that so the bond of our iniquity may be loosed and we enjoy peace of conscience through the blood of Christ. And PASTOR, ELDERS, ETC. 143 if in this trial of the heart and life we may still judge ourselves to be in the faith, though our light be sometimes clouded and our faith feeble and our hope fickle, still may we be confident of this that thou hast begun a good work in us which thou wilt perform until the day of Jesus Christ. O Lord, we would realize in all these duties that our strength is weakness, our wisdom folly and our righteousness filthy rags. Oh, help, instruct and sanctify us in the name of Jesus, to whom, with thee and the Spirit, shall be all the praise for ever. Amen. PASTOR, ELDERS, CHURCH AND CONGRE- GATION. GREAT GOD, thou hast the hearts of all thy creatures in thy power, and thou canst do with them and for them as seemeth good in thy sight We come before thee in the name of our great Advocate to seek thy blessing on all the members of the community with whom we have fellowship in the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Bless our pastor. Supply his temporal wants, so that he shall be above the perplexing cares of earth. Give him vigorous health that he 144 HOME WORSHIP. may be able to sustain the toils of his arduous: commission. Furnish his mind abundantly with the treasures of knowledge that he may bring forth things new and old wherewith to teach this people. Above all, do thou give him the unction of thy Spirit that thy work may prosper in his hands. As thou hast set him an ambassador for Christ, make him like his Master in knowledge, holiness and zeal. Let him not be compelled to say, " All day long have I stretched forth my hands to a gainsaying people," but may his preaching be in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, putting to silence the ignorance of foolish men, diffusing abroad the wholesome in- fluences of morality, bringing sinners from dark- ness unto light, and building this church up in holiness and comfort through faith unto sal- vation. Bless the eldership of this church. Let it not be a merely nominal office, but may those who hold it learn their duties and discharge them re- sponsibly to the church and to God. May they so act that no impeachment of dishonesty, world- ly-mindedness, lukewarmness, backsliding or hy- pocrisy may with any justice lie against them. Make them examples of good works to the church over which they are placed, and epistles of godliness known and read of the whole com- munity. Let faith abide in their hearts and love upon their lips and good fruits in their lives, and PASTOR, ELDERS, ETC. 145 let their reward be with those that shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever and ever. O Lord, bless the church with which we are connected. Thou hast planted her with thine own right hand; look down, therefore, from heaven, and behold and visit this vine. Thou hast brought her out of darkness; may she arise and let her light shine. Thou hast set her as a city on a hill; make her beautiful in the moun- tain of thy holiness. May all that call upon thy name be careful to depart from all iniquity. May none of them dishonor themselves before the world or before their brethren or before God by anything inconsistent with their high and solemn obligations. Make them zealous of good works, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. May they have in all things and at all times the Spirit of Christ. Oh, let not the gates of hell prevail against her ; and when her enemy comes in like a flood, lift up a standard against him. Revive thy work in her midst, give her beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Lord, add to her numbers many very many of such as shall be saved. Lord, bless the congregation who worship with us in our sanctuary. Increase greatly their num- ber. Let not thy word sown among them be as the seed that fell by the wayside, nor like 10 146 HOME WORSHIP. that which fell among thorns, nor like that which fell up:>n stony ground, but let it be like that which fell upon good ground and brought forth some thirty, some sixty and some an hun- dred fold. Let them not abuse their precious privileges, lest their doom be that of the servant who knew his master's will and did it not, and was beaten with many stripes, but may they so profit by the instructions and prayers and praises of thy house that their souls may abound with wisdom and their thoughts with supplications and their speech with thanksgiving. O Lord, remember in mercy the aged impenitent among us, and let their hoary heads become crowns of glory, being yet found in the ways of righteous- ness. Regard in mercy those who spend the vigor of their days in sin, and lead them to devote their strength to thee. Visit in mercy the young who are wasting the dew of life in foolish and sinful pleasures, and induce them to remember their Creator before the evil days come and the years draw nigh in the which they shall say they have no pleasure in them. Oh, may thy rich and abiding blessing overshadow this people, that where there is darkness there may be light, that where there is chaos there may be order, that where sin hath abounded grace may also much more abound, through Jesus Christ our Lord, unto whom, with the Father and Spirit, one God, be endless praises. Amen. PLEASING GOD. 147 PLEASING GOD. ALMIGHTY GOD, enable us to worship thee acceptably in the name of Jesus. Let us not draw nigh unto thee with a lip-service while our hearts are far from thee. Oh, pardon the sins of our holy services, and mingle not (as thou often mightest justly) our blood with our sacrifices, but sprinkle on the altar of our offering the reconcil- ing blood of Jesus. Give us grace to do those things which are well-pleasing in thy sight We cannot indeed merit thy favor by any work of faith or labor of love, yet thou hast given us so many promises of the light of thy countenance on the condition of our obedience to thy will that we may seek with a grateful confidence thy favor and loving- kindness. Grant us that faith which is accepted in the Beloved. Let us not displease thee by un- belief in regard to thy character or word or work, nor by looking at or living upon the things which are seen and temporal. But may we adore thy perfections and rely upon thy word and trust thee in all thy ways, and so live by faith and so look at things that are not seen and that are eternal that we may enjoy day by day the joys of thy complacency. We bless thee, O Lord, that thou waitest to be gracious to those who call on thee in prayer. 148 HOME WORSHIP. Oh, may we realize the fullness of thy grace in rewarding those that diligently seek thee. We thank thee for all thy forbearance toward us in our neglect and abuse of prayer. Alas ! we have often lived as though we were the proprie- tors of life and all its blessings, and often when we have professed to seek thee it has been with corrupted or wandering or averted thoughts. Oh, henceforth let us have grace whereby we may worship thee in truth, so asking that we shall receive, so seeking that we shall find, so knocking that it shall be opened unto us. Enable us, Heavenly Father, to order our thoughts and feelings according to thy holy pleasure. Help us to keep our hearts with all diligence. Let no sentiment be cherished there which is inconsistent with the love we owe to thee and our neighbor. Cleanse us from secret faults, purge us from indwelling sins, make us temples of the Holy Ghost. May our desires be contin- ually unto thee and the remembrance of thy name, and our affections go forth freely and steadfastly toward all thy creatures. Lord, grant us that ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which in thy sight is of great price-. May we walk humbly before thee, remem- bering our unworthiness and ill-desert, and re- garding it as a great mercy that our unprofitable lives have been spared and that we are still per- mitted to seek thy face. Keep us from anger PLEASING GOD. 149 and resentment toward our fellow-creatures. Thou hast taught us that he who ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city, and that if we forgive not others their trespasses thou wilt not forgive us our trespasses. The preroga- tives of vengeance, O Lord, are thine. Give us. therefore, patience under provocation, meekness under injury, and good-will under revenge. Oh, grant that we may ever seek the blessing of the meek, whom thou guidest in judgment and makest the dwelling-place of thy mercy. Give us grace, O Lord, that our daily deport- ment may be well pleasing in thy sight. In the duties of the family, in the intercourse of society, in the business of life, in all our works and ways, may we act under the consciousness that thine eye is upon us and that we are responsible to thee ; that if we demean ourselves unworthily thy condemnation will rest upon us, while if we do thy will thou wilt smile upon us and bless us. Lord, incline us to do good and communicate, for with such sacrifice thou art well pleased. As we have opportunity may we do good to all men, especially to those that are of the household of faith. Thou hast taught us that even a cup of cold water given to a disciple shall not lose its reward ; may we seek, therefore, to bless thy chosen ones with every benefaction in our power to bestow ; and as thou makest the sun to rise 150 HOME WORSHIP, on the evil and sendest rain on the unjust, make us merciful to such even as thou art merciful. O Lord, we look humbly to thee in the name of Christ for the enjoyment in this world of thy favor, which is life, and in the world to come for that recompense of reward which thou wilt bestow with the plaudit, " Well done, good and faithful servant ! Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Amen. MORNING. THOU that makest the outgoings of the morning to rejoice, suffer us, who are unworthy of an audience with thy majesty, to come to thy footstool and with thankful and dependent hearts to praise thy mercy and supplicate thy favor. We bless thee for the repose of the night through which we have just passed. To many it has been a season of watching and fear and pain 1 danger and death. We thank thee that we have been kept from these trials, and we pray that this exemption may be continued, so that our nights may be times of refreshing rest and our mornings seasons of unalloyed thanksgiving. But if at any time thy will be otherwise, give us grace to say with sincerity, " We have re- MORNING. 151 ceived good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil ?" Lord, speak peace to our hearts now in the morning of this day, and let the light of thy countenance be lifted upon us, filling our spirits with gladness. Ere the cares of business and the pleasures of life crowd themselves into our hearts, take possession of our souls and reign there throughout the day without a rival. Oh, may we enjoy in all its hours the assurance of thy love and be governed continually by thy Spirit. Gracious God, we humbly ask thee, for Christ's sake, for thy protection this day. We thank thee that thy care has been round about us in days past, sheltering us from dangers seen and unseen ; otherwise we would long ago have been the vic- tims of disaster and death. Oh, it is in thee we live ; and if thou shouldst suspend for a moment thy care, we would perish at once. Ever give us, we pray thee, a strong sense of our dependence on thee for protection from surrounding evil. And this day may we realize that we need from moment to moment thy watchful eye and pre- serving hand. Shelter us, O Lord, from every form of afflicting accident. Keep us from every attack of sickness. Preserve us, we pray thee, from sudden death, to which, while we are insensi- ble to its danger, we are continually exposed. Yet if it be thy will to permit any of these evils, give us that patient submission and faithful trust in 152 HOME WORSHIP. thee which will be worth more to us than bodily comfort or life itself. Guide us by thy counsel in all the duties and pleasures of this day. O Lord, while our hearts devise our ways, may we do so in reliance on thee to direct our steps. We thank thee for thy directing wisdom in times past. All our errors have been the fruits of our own folly, and whenever we acted wisely it was because thou didst lead us. We acknowledge we are not wor- thy of the boon we ask when we implore thee to direct us this day by thy counsel, yet we have been assured that if any man lack wisdom and ask it of thee it shall be granted, and we know that without thy counsel we will wander in the paths of folly and sin. Lord, instruct us, there- fore, what thou wilt have us to do, and let thy Spirit help our infirmities, so that we may choose aright and act aright all the day long. And when we come to its close, may we be able to look back on it as a period of peculiar exemption from those errors and transgressions into which our corrupt natures are so prone to lead us. Lord, give us this day our daily bread. The eyes of all are unto thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season ; thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desires of every living thing. We have been pensioners on thy bounty all our days, and yet we have been for the most part unmindful of thee, the Giver of every good and MORNING. I 5 5 perfect gift. O Lord, forgive in thy mercy all our forgetfulness and ingratitude toward thee. Let not our past neglect and transgression work a forfeiture of thy bounty henceforth. Again we supplicate thee to supply the wants of this day from the stores of thy fullness. And grant us from day to day a competent portion of the good things of this life and let us enjoy thy blessing with them. But let us not be anxious what we shall eat or drink, nor wherewithal we shall be clothed, but incline us first to seek thy kingdom, and these things shall be added unto us. Now, Lord, the blessing we ask for ourselves we seek on behalf of mankind. Let thy pro- tecting care be over the children of men every- where. Let thy controlling wisdom direct all their ways and let thy providing bounty supply all their wants. Oh, glorify thy mercy in the welfare of all thy creatures. O Lord, give us a state of preparation for that great day for which all other days were made, and grant that then we may be openly acknow- ledged and acquitted and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity. Amen. MORNIXG. LORD, thou art our God ; early will we seek thee. Every blessing we have ever enjoyed 154 HOME WORSHIP. came from thee, and thou art the Source from whom we must derive all future good. It be- comes us, therefore, to present ourselves with thanksgivings and supplications, and to withhold these sacrifices from this altar would be to forget and deny thee, our gracious Benefactor. Amid the multitude of thy favors we would remember the blessings of the past night, in which thou hast kept us from alarming disaster and distressing sickness and sudden death, and in which we have enjoyed refreshing repose, so that our bodies and spirits have been recruited and prepared for the duties of this day. And now, O Lord, we supplicate thee for the light of thy countenance. As thou art cheering the earth and all thy works in it with the return- ing light of day, do thou refresh and revive us with the beams of thy love, chasing away dark- ness from our minds and sorrow from our hearts and sin from our souls. Lord, qualify us for our duties this day. Whether they be discharged in private or in the family or in society or before the public, let our responsi- bility to thee ever rest upon our minds. Thou art our Lawgiver and our Judge ; let, us therefore not break thy precepts nor ir cur thy displeasure. Give us this day some seasons of leisure which we may spend in humble prayer and useful thought and profitable reading, that thus our hearts may be made holier and our spirits wiser AlORWING. I 5 : and our souls happier, and our whole nature better qualified for the high and blessed purposes for which thou hast made us. Grant that our deportment in the household this day may be right in thy sight. Enable us to perform the duties which belong to us in our several relations as superiors, inferiors or equals. May mutual kindness, forbearance and assistance mark all our intercourse. Let peace and friendship abide among us, abating every occasion for offence and injury and promoting every opportunity of good- will and kindness. Es- pecially let our intercourse this day promote the influences of piety in our hearts, that we may be a household of faith, rejoicing in thee as our heavenly Father. Bless us in our social relations this day. We thank thee for that intercourse with our fel- low-creatures by which we are taught our com- mon nature and our mutual dependence. May we ever use it for the exercise of sympathy and benefit, and never abuse it by selfishness and unkindness. As far as possible may we live peaceably with all into whose society we are thrown, promoting their interests and striving to commend our consciences to them in the fear of the Lord. Direct us, O Lord, in the business of this day. Let all our employments be lawful in thy sight and be pursued in honesty. Keep us from envy, 156 HOME WORSHIP. jealousy, anger and collision with mankind. Enable us in the widest sense to render to all their dues, and to do to them as we would they should do to us. May we continually seek thy blessing upon our employments, submitting with patience to every disappointment and giving thanks for every occasion of success. Lord, make us thoughtful about our precarious tenure of life. We know not what a day may bring forth. The end of our day of probation may soon come and the night of death draw nigh, when the account of our stewardship will be sealed and carried to the great day of audit. Oh, grant that it may not come as a thief in the night, but may it find us watching with our lamps trimmed and our lights burning, and we wait- ing for the coming of the Lord. Gracious God, regard in mercy our fellow- creatures of every condition. May they all be fed from the stores of thine infinite fullness and enjoy every needful temporal mercy. And oh, may the better benefits of thy grace be diffused everywhere, that this day may have its seals of blessings in the righteous being made to enjoy thy justifying, adopting and sanctifying love, and in the ungodly turning from darkness unto light and from the dominion of Satan unto the service of the living God. O Lord, remember and bless us this day. Guide us by thy wisdom, shelter us by thy power, NIGHT. 157 supply us by thy bounty, and make us meet for that inheritance where there shall be no more night, where the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. We invoke all these mercies in the name of Jesus, our Saviour and Mediator. Amen. NIGHT. LORD, give us grace now at the close of this day to approach thy mercy-seat and find accept- ance and blessing through the merits and inter- cession of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee that thou hast spared our unprofitable lives and hast not cut us down as cumberers of the ground, but hast renewed for us our season of probation that we may still exercise repentance for transgression and seek grace that our future life may better conform to thy holy will. O Lord, we thank thee for the mercies of this day for cheering light, for abundant food, for convenient raiment, for social pleasures, for useful duties, for profitable meditation and for seasons of prayer. We would remember also with thanksgiving thy protection and guidance this day, by which we have been sheltered from harm and directed in the paths of life. Oh how precious are thy thoughts unto us, O God ! how 158 HOME WORSHIP. great is the sum of them ! If we should count them, they are more in number than the sand. Yet, O Lord, we must ever mourn before thee that whilst thou hast been loading us with bene- fits we have forgotten in the enjoyment of them thy dispensing hand. Lo ! the ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib, but we do not know, we do not consider. If we had committed no other sin but that of thoughtless ingratitude, it would be more than enough to con- demn us. Oh, forgive in the greatness of thy compassion this wickedness, and henceforth let our hearts recognize thy hand in every good, and our lips acknowledge it with sincere thanks- giving. And now, Lord, we humbly ask thy protection during the silence of the night. Cover our de- fenceless bodies with the shadow of thy wing, that accident and pain and sickness and death may not come nigh us. May our sleep be un- disturbed and refreshing that our wearied natures may be invigorated and fully prepared for the duties of the coming day. Yet if in any of these thy will be otherwise, prepare us for it. Thy protecting goodness to us in nights past has been infinitely beyond our deserts nay, we have de- served judgment instead of mercy and thou hast a sovereign right to change at any time thy dis- pensations of kindness toward us. Oh, give us grace through Jesus Christ to say from the NIGHT. 159 heart in 2very vicissitude of life, "Thy will be done." Teach is, O Lord, to look on the season of night as the emblem of death. As thou drawest the curtains of darkness over the scenes of the day, so thou wilt bring the dark shadows of death over the light of life to each of us. Oh. let the admonition of thy word appeal with power to us, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goesL" Make us, therefore, ever thought- ful of death and its issues when we seek the repose of our beds. Prepare us for the mandate of the King of Terrors, so that if we die we may awake to newness of life where there shall be no night where they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light and they reign for ever and ever. Heavenly Father, grant the blessings of rest and protection to our fellow-creatures. Refresh every fatigued body and soothe every wearied mind. May thine unslumbering eye watch over them and thine unwearying hand avert evil from them. Or whenever thou hast calamities in store, prepare those who shall suffer them, that their afflictions may work out for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Let thy favor, O God, abide this night upon our relations and friends, especially upon those l6o HOME WORSHIP. of them who are separated from us, and for whom in their distance we can do nothing but pray. Keep them in safety, and do more and better for them in all their precious interests than we are worthy to ask. Gracious Lord, we now commend ourselves fully and unreservedly to thee. If it be con- sistent with thy pleasure, grant us the temporal blessings we ask, but if not may our hearts never falter from the conviction that thou doest all things well. But, O Lord, bestow on us those spiritual favors which it is our duty and privilege to seek with unfailing confidence at thy hands, and which we are assured we will receive unless we ask amiss. Graciously pardon all our sins and accept us in Jesus our Saviour. Amen. THOUGHTS, WORDS AND ACTIONS. GREAT GOD, thou art the Source of wisdom to direct and strength to perform and grace to sanc- tify. Oh how blessed is our privilege to go to thee in all our wants with the assurance that thou art the Rewarder of all that diligently seek thee ! Fulfill unto us, we beseech thee, thy promise that where two or three are met in Christ's name thou wilt be with them ; and thy saving pres- ence is our richest blessing. THOUGHTS, WORDS AND ACTIONS. l6l Lord, grant us wisdom and strength and grace to keep our hearts with diligence, for out of them are the issues of life. By nature they are de- ceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and often we are constrained to cry, " Who can bring a clean thing out of this unclean ?" Thou knowest how prone our thoughts are to pride and vanity and selfishness and resentment, and how thoughtless we are of our obligations to thee and our duties to mankind. Oh, it be- comes us to confess the depravity of our na- tures ; for if we should think or say, " We have no sin," we would only deceive ourselves and prove that the truth is not in us. And, blessed be thy name ! thou hast told us that if we con- fess our sins thou art faithful and just to for- give them and to cleanse us from all unrighteous- ness. O God, forgive, for Christ's sake, the sins of our hearts, and send thy Spirit into the hidden chambers of our souls to purify us, that our thoughts may be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. And, O God, we rejoice in the glorious truth that thou hast the hearts of all in thy hands and canst turn them as the rivers. Give glory to thy power and mercy in turning "he thoughts of the ungodly, who throng the iarth, unto the wisdom of the just, that their sel- fishness toward man and their enmity toward thee may give place to good-will to mankind ind love to God. 11 1 62 HOME WORSHIP. Grant us, O Lord, wisdom, strength and grace to govern our tongues. We thank thee for the gift of speech, which thou hast given us for pleasant and profitable communion with our fellow-crea- tures, and by which we may praise thy holy name. But oh how often and how long and how much we have abused its noble powers ! Set a watch, O God, before our mouths and keep the door of our lips. Let this fountain send forth sweet water, and not bitter. Keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking guile. Put away from us all bitterness and evil-speaking and let no corrupt communication proceed out of our mouths, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers. And while we would seek to bless mankind by words fitly spoken, dispose and enable us to glorify thee our God with our lips. In the song of praise, in the utterance of prayer, in the words of instruction, let our voice render thee a full and hearty tribute of honor. And, Lord, we pray thee that all may beware lest the tongue become an unruly member, a world of iniquity and full of poison, setting on fire the course of nature, itself set on fire of hell. Instead of these fear- ful evils, may it bring forth good things out of the good treasure of the heart, blessing man and praising God. We beseech thee to give us wisdom, strength and grace to do thy holy will in all our outward THOUGHTS, WORDS AND ACTIONS. 163 lives. Oh, may all our actions be right in thy sight, and such as shall commend themselves to the righteous judgment of our fellow-men, and such as shall be approved by our own consciences. Yet oh how imperfect is all human obedience! There is not a just man on earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Even when we best fulfill thy will we are unprofitable servants, and we shall never be accepted in thy sight for our own merits, but through thy grace in Jesus Christ our Saviour. Lord, suffer us not to neglect nor abuse our privileges, nor to commit any trespass on the rights of our neighbor; not to do an}-thing to bring shame on ourselves or dishonor on thy cause. And let us not be content with avoiding everything that is displeasing to thee, but may we strive to do all that is well-pleasing in thy sight. Make us zealous of good works, relieving the wants of the needy, ministering comfort to the afflicted, promoting the interests of morality and religion, and doing good whenever we have opportunity. And, O Lord, bring the actions of all men into conformity to thy will. May conscience and thy word and Spirit restrain the wicked from transgression and bring them in penitence to the Saviour for pardon. And let the multitudes who now seek their own selfish pleas- ures regardless of thy precepts be found in those ways which only are pleasantness, and in those paths in which alone is peace. 164 HOME WORSHIP. Lord, give these petitions gracious ai dience through the merits of Jesus Christ. Amen. RE VIVAL. BLESSED GOD, revive thy work ; in the midst of the years make known ; in wrath remember mercy. Let not thy heritage lie in bondage to sloth or sin, nor the ungodly go down to death without the strong and special and redeeming influences of the Holy Spirit. Let thy work ap- pear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children, and let the beauty of the Lord God be upon us. Make the wilderness like Eden and the desert like the garden of the Lord ; let joy and gladness be found therein, with thanksgiv- ing and the voice of melody. Great God, may all that minister in holy things be indeed preachers of righteousness and am- bassadors for Christ. Sanctify tl eir motives and inflame their zeal. Give them wisdom to devise and faithfulness to execute such efforts as shall promote thy glory in the salvation of souls. Let them not heal the hurt of the daughter of thy people slightly, saying, " Peace ! peace !" when there i? no peace. May they search Jerusalem as with lighted candles, and apply the truth to all th hearers with plainness, fullness and pun- REVIVAL. 165 gency. Bless the word of their mouth and accompany it with the demonstration of thy Spirit. O Lord, if need be, let judgment begin at thine own house. Take away the hopes of those who have the form of godliness without its power. Convince thy people of sin against thee and against each other and against the souls of the ungodly. Bring them to repentance that needeth not to be repented oC Break from them the fet- ters with which the world, the flesh and the devil have encompassed them. Give them that clear- ness and strength of faith by which they shall learn the value of their own souls and the worth of the souls of perishing sinners around them. Heavenly Father, burden the hearts of thy people with earnest desires for the revival of pure and undefined religion. May they present fer- vent, importunate and believing prayer at the throne of thy grace for the prosperity of Zion and the salvation of the ungodly. Oh, fill them with thy Spirit and cause them to abound in love, real and holiness. May they love the places where supplication is wont to be made and where souls have been born to God. Give them grace to uphold by prayer the hands of thy ministers whilst thou art using such to earn,- forward the triumphs of the gospeL Make thy people willing to adopt and sustain those measures which are agreeable to thy will, and which receive the abid- 1 66 HOME WORSHIP. ing sanction of thy Spirit. Lord, cast up and remove every stumbling-block out of the ways of Zion. Give thy servants unity of feeling and action, and lead them to act in the faith of thy word wherein thou hast said that if two shall agree on earth as touching anything they shall ask, it shall be done for them of our Father in heaven. Oh, let the blessing of the Lord our God be upon them and establish the work of their hands upon them yea, the work of their hands, establish thou it. O Most High, visit with convincing and con- verting power the consciences of sinners. Bring them within the reach of the preached gospel and the hearing of fervent, effectual prayer. May thy Spirit set home to their hearts the truth which is able to make them wise to salvation. Make them feel deeply that they are guilty before thee, and that, instead of having the offer of salvation, thy righteous retribution would blast them in ever- lasting death. Oh, may they cherish the in- fluences of the Holy Ghost within them, and fear lest he give them up to blindness of mind and hardness of heart. Let that godly sorrow which worketh life possess every feeling of their souls. Show them that now is the accepted time and this the day of salvation. Give them clear and convincing and persuading views of Christ as the only and all-sufficient and infinitely willing Saviour. O God, grant, we pray thee, for the Axi VIVAL. 167 sake of thy well-beloved Son, that now, whilst thou art waiting to be gracious, they may re- nounce their iniquities, receive Christ as he is freely offered in the gospel, and give themselves to thee in a covenant never to be forgotten. Lord of hosts, make the fruits of revivals glorious in the history of thy Church. May con- verts to righteousness be for multitude as the drops of dew in the morning. May they be distinguished for consistent piety and holy zeal, and be honored instruments in multiplying the trophies of redeeming grace, until the Lord shall have made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall have seen the salvation of our God. And unto God the Father, Son and Spirit shall be all the praise in earth and heaven, now, henceforth and for ever. Amen. REVIVAL. LORD, let thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. We thank thee that thou hast shown us in the history of thy Church, and especially by reviving thy work in the hearts of thy people in these days of thine outpouring Spirit, that thou hast taught us no vain petition to say, " Thy kingdom come." Oh, l6S HOME WORSHIP. that we could prefer it with that feeling of its value which is in sympathy with thy love of souls, and that faith which rests on thy promise as yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Lord, we thank thee that thou art turning sin- ners to righteousness. Oh, let these fruits of the gospel be the wave-offering of the future and speedy harvest. Though they be but as a handful of corn on the tops of the mountains, let the fruit thereof shake like Lebanon. Visit with thy mercy those who have recent- ly indulged the hope of eternal life. Let them not be satisfied with one act of consecration to thee, but may they make a daily, an hourly, a continual, dedication of their bodies and spirits to thee, which is their most reasonable service. Mercifully chase away every cloud from their minds and give them bright and strong and abiding hopes in thy mercy. May they feel that though they are by nature the children of wrath, and though they have by a long and black cata- logue of sins invoked the heaviest penalties of guilt, yet by faith in the blood of Christ that storm of condemnation which hung over them so long has passed away, and now in the clear heavens the Sun of righteousness has arisen upon them with healing in his wings. O Lord, may Jesus Christ be the centre and sum and sub- stance of all their hopes. May they now and henceforth take him as their Teacher to show REVIVAL. 169 them by his word and Spirit the will of God for their salvation. May they cordially and with the whole heart receive him as their Priest, who hath once offered up himself a sacrifice to satisfy di- vine justice and to reconcile them to God. and who now ever liveth to make intercession for all who come unto God by him. May they acknow- ledge him as their King to rule in their hearts and to reign over them, restraining and conquer- ing all his and all their enemies. May they fol- low his blessed example, doing good as they have opportunity, remembering that if any one have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his. Oh, unite them by a living faith to that blessed Saviour as the branch is united to the vine, bear- ing fruit, and build them up on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone, in whom the whole building, fitly framed, groweth unto a temple of the Holy Ghost Lord, keep them from error, teach them the truth and guide them in duty, and let their light go forth as brightness and their salvation as a lamp that burneth. Lord, we plead with thee in behalf of those who are inquiring what they must do to be saved. Give them, we pray thee, an adequate view of their sins. We ask thee not to show them their sins as thou seest them we ask thee not to show them even as angels and pure spirits see them for this would drive them to madness l?0 HOME WORSHIP. and despair, but we do ask thee to show them what human nature will bear, how they have abused mercies and despised afflictions, how they have scorned privileges and slighted instruction, how they have neglected thy word and grieved thy Spirit. Oh, if they could remember and re- count all their transgressions, their tongues would grow weary and their hearts would sicken with the recital. Oh, may they feel in view of their sins how justly they have incurred thy wrath how heavy is the penalty due to their transgres- sions ; for if thou shouldst lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet, or reckon with them for one in a thousand of their iniqui- ties, they must be for ever condemned. Oh, give them grace now to flee from the wrath to come and lay hold on eternal life. Thou hast sent thy Son that whosoever believeth in him shall have everlasting life, and he is now offered as the only name by which they can be saved, and as One that is able to save unto the uttermost all that come to God by him. We pray that thy Spirit may now help them to exercise that act of faith by which they shall fully receive him as he is offered to them in the gospel ; to rely on him for the pardon of their sins ; to take him as their Saviour from the guilt of sin ; to make his will their will, his people their people, his kingdom their kingdom, his glory their glory. So help them, great God, in Christ Jesus. Amen. REVIVAL. I/I REVIVAL. O LORD, we bless thy mercy in Jesus that thou art still waiting to be gracious. Neither our own sins nor the sins of a world that lieth in wick- edness have sufficed to seal up the fountains of thy mercy. Oh, thou art good and lovest to do good ; and though we seek the evidences of thy temporal goodness continually around us, yet thou dost infinitely more commend thy love to us in this, that though we continually offend thee thou art still waiting to be gracious. We desire to renew our supplications before thee in behalf of those who are living without God and without hope in the world. Oh, we bless thee that they are still within the reach of the gospel, and we pray thee that this present blessing may not be a curse by their neglect and abuse of it, but that it may be a savor of life unto life. We pray that thy Spirit may commend the truth to the reason of sinners. Show them that the claim thou art urging upon them for the conse- cration of their bodies and spirits to thee is their most reasonable service. Thou hast imbued their natures with cravings that find no satisfaction short of thyself; for if they run the lound of earthly pleasure and explore every form of hu- man knowledge and fill up treasures of worldly wealth, they find all to be vanity and vexation \J2 HOME WORSHIP. of spirit. Show them that he only is happy that findeth the wisdom of godliness, whose ways are pleasantness and her paths peace. Lord, pour the light of truth into the con- sciences of sinners. Show them how they have worshiped the idols of their own hearts and re- jected God from ruling over them ; how they have treated with irreverence or profanity thy holy name and the things by which thou makest thyself known ; how they have broken thy Sab- baths, sent in mercy to win them to God and heaven ; how they have violated filial obligations and cherished malice and impurity, and sacrificed or have been regardless of the interest of others that they might advance their own ; how they have (by the verdict of inspiration) gone astray from birth, speaking lies, and instead of a right and charitable spirit toward their neighbor and all that is his, they have courted an evil covetous- ness. Oh, show them that they have sinned in thought, word and deed in doing what thou hast forbidden and neglecting what thou hast com- manded, and against light and love. Oh that their slumbering consciences might be awakened and quickened, and that every violated law might burn there as a living coal until repentance, deep repentance, might possess their souls and bring them to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. O God, let thy truth appeal to their fears. REVIVAL. 173 Show them that thou art angry with the wicked every day, that even now sentence rests upon them, for he that believeth not is condemned already, while they are from hour to hour treas- uring up wrath against the day of wrath, for thou hast appointed unto all men once to die, and after death the judgment. Oh, how shall their hand be strong and their hearts endure in the day when thou shalt deal with them, when the wrath of God shall be revealed against the children of disobedience, and they shall cry to the mountains and rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb ? O God, give them now a fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour thine adversaries. But, O God, we pray that thy truth may also appeal to their hopes. Thou hast presented to them the sad alternative of thy vengeance that they might flee from the wrath to come and lay hold of eternal life. Thou hast sent thy Son to earth to die, the Just for the unjust, that he might redeem men from the penalties of a violated law ; and he was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, and instead of being heirs of perdition might be made heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ in that inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away. And now, O God, we pray that thy Spirit may 174 HOME WORSHIP. so carry the truth to the reason and conscience and fears and hopes of sinners that they may now strive to enter in at the strait gate, that they may now repent of sin and now believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and now be saved. Oh, let them not put off the claims of God and their own welfare with the vain hope of a more con- venient season, lest they harden their hearts and aggravate thy wrath, and at last take up the lamentation, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." But may they in this accepted time and this day of salvation find peace in believing and joy in the Holy Ghost. O God, let thy kingdom come in the hearts of all men, and thy glorious will be done on earth as it is done in heaven, for Christ's sake. Amen. REVIVAL. O THOU that nearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. We desire to feel that to thee alone can we go in seasons when thou art displaying thy power and mercy in quickening thy people into new and increasing diligence in Christian duties, and turning sinners from darkness unto light and from the power of Satan unto the ser- vice of the living God. We bless thee in the name of Jesus for these works of might and REVIVAL. 175 grace, and supplicate thee to increase them by new trophies among those who still refuse the offers of mercy. Lord, send conviction to the hearts of those who make the pleasures of earth their chief good, who dig out for their thirst broken cisterns which can hold no water and strive to feed the cravings of an immortal mind with the bread of vanity. Oh, show them that these cherished pleasures perish with the using, and that though they may seem fair to the eye while they pursue them, and sweet to the taste in the moment of enjoyment, yet their end is bitterness, when they will bite like a serpent and sting like an adder. Oh, let thy Spirit lift up their wishes and pursuits to that fullness of joy which is in thy presence and those pleasures which are at thy right hand for evermore. Lord, send conviction to the hearts of those who put off to what they vainly think a more convenient season the things which belong to their everlasting peace. Let them not grieve thy Spirit by an equivocation so unreasonable and so hopeless. Teach them that now is the accepted time and this the day of salvation. To-day, if they will hear thy voice, let them not harden their hearts. Now thou art waiting to be gracious, while every postponement of duty increases their distance from thee and renders their return more hopeless. Oh, may thy Spirit beget in their 176 HOME WORSHIP. hearts the present purpose, " I will arise and go to my Father, and say, ' I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight.' " Lord, send conviction to the men and women of care, those who are cumbered with much serv- ing and who are careful and troubled about many things, but neglect in all their toils the one thing needful. Oh, startle them with the solemn ques- tions of the Son of God, " What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? and what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?" Help them to cast aside the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, and seek those duties of godliness which will sweeten all the necessary toils of life, and those treasures which moth and rust do not corrupt and into which thieves do not break and steal. Lord, send conviction to the hearts of those who build on their own morality and vainly plead that they have kept thy commandments from their youth up. Yet thou seest, O God, that they have wrapped up their souls in a flimsy delusion and with a righteousness of filthy rags, for they have broken the spirit if not the letter of every commandment thou hast given them. Lo ! there is not a just man on earth that doeth good and sinneth not; how much less, then, those who refuse to love thee with all the heart with all that love which is the fulfilling of the law ! Oh, speak to them by thy word and Spirit. " By the deeds of REVIVAL. 177 the law shall no flesh living be justified." Oh, let that law slay them that now they may be made alive in Christ Jesus, that thus they may enjoy the benefits of that free grace by which all their sins shall be pardoned and they be accepted as righteous in thy sight only for the righteous- ness of Christ imputed to them and received by faith alone. O Lord, send conviction to the hearts of those who cherish the sentiments of infidelity, who against the cloud of living witnesses, and against the glorious testimony for thy word, within and without it, and against the deep cravings of their own needy and unsatisfied and fearful souls, reject the Bible as the gift of God's mercy to an ignorant, depraved and perishing race. O God, thou seest that these sentiments, however much or little they are indulged in, are not the defences of enlightened understanding, but of the corrupt heart. Thy Spirit, O God, can strip off from these deceived souls this armor of unbelief, so that they shall stand in the nakedness of their depravity and be slain by the truth, the glorious truth. Oh, go to them with this weapon though they shelter themselves with munitions of rocks, and let it be mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. O Lord, let thy word have free course every- where and be glorified, instructing and quickening and sanctifying thy people and converting sinners i;8 HOME WORSHIP. from the error of their ways, that so thy kingdom may come and thy will be done on earth as in heaven, through Christ Jesus. Amen. REVIVAL. O LORD, revive thy work ; in the midst of the years make known ; in wrath remember mercy. Oh, give thy Church an increasing spirit of prayer and zeal, and do thou honor thy great name, O Lord, in the conversion of many sinners. Lord, remember in mercy the little ones, the lambs of thy flock. Feed them, take them to thy bosom ; and if any of thy disciples should rebuke them or those that bring them, say to them, " Forbid them not, but suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Oh, shelter them and nurture them, and as they increase in years may they increase in grace, and as they grow in stature may they grow in favor with God and man. Remember those who, having passed out of childhood, are now passing through the season of youth. Though they have abused many mer- cies and despised many privileges and neglected many counsels, say to each one, " My son, my daughter, give me thy heart." Incline them now REVIVAL. 179 to seek thy service ere the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of the flesh harden their hearts, stifle their consciences and cause them to turn a deaf ear to the calls of mercy. May they learn that youth is the time to serve the Lord, that now is their accepted time and day of salvation, while, if they put off repent- ance and faith, sin will gather fearful strength in their souls and make their salvation more hope- less. Remember the young men in our midst who are now rejoicing in the elastic vigor of life, and on whom thou art laying the responsibilities of society. Turn them now from the error of their ways to seek that righteousness which will qual- ify them for all their personal and relative duties, and which will prepare them for an inheritance of bliss. Lord, shall any of these who are chil- dren of the kingdom be cast out when the chil- dren of idolatry shall come from the north and from the south and from the east and from the west, and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven ? Oh, startle in their memories the echoes of long-forgotten pa- rental instructions, and grant that the prayers of parents which have gone up to thy throne, and have been treasured there as vials full of golden odors, may be poured out and so answered that many may be made to rejoice in beholding their children born again to an endless life. t8o HOME WORSHIP. Lord, remember those who boast the strength of middle life, but who use it all in selfishness, regardless of the righteous claims of thy service. Say not to them in thy wrath, " Ephraim is joined to idols ; let him alone." " Cut it down : why cumbereth it the ground ?" but oh, lead them to give thee the strength of their days, and thou wilt smooth for them the journey of life and lead them in those ways which are pleasantness and those paths which are peace. Remember the aged impenitent on whose head weary and fainting nature is holding forth the signal of surrender to death ; who, however long others may live, must soon lie down in the nar- row house appointed for all the living, and say to corruption, " Thou art my mother," and to the worm, "Thou art my brother and sister." Oh, bring them yet into the ways of righteousness, that their hoary heads may be crowns of glory here on earth and that they may wear crowns of gold in the general assembly and church of the first-born in heaven. And, Lord, we pray thee to remember those of every class and age who are drawing nigh to death, and who are soon to exchange this state of probation for one of retribution. If there be any of these who are careless of eternal interests, oh awake them to an earnest solicitude to have their peace made with thee ere the day of thy wrath comes, when there shall be none to deliver. REVIVAL. l8l If there are any on whom the speedy sentence of death is to fall among those who inquire what they must do to be saved, oh cut them not off till they have fled to the city of refuge and laid hold of the hope of mercy in Jesus Christ And, Lord, if there are any of thine own justified and adopted and sanctified ones whose end cometh quickly, prepare them thoroughly for their sol- emn change, that in the full assurance of hope they may exchange the earthly house of this dissolv- ing tabernacle for a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Lord, again we implore thee in Jesus Christ to revive thy work ; in the midst of the years make known ; in deserved wrath remember undeserved mercy. Amen. REVIVAL. To whom, O Lord, but unto thee shall we go with thanksgiving and supplication ? We bless thee that thou hast revived thy Church and con- vinced and converted sinners. Yet oh how faith- less and unbelieving have we been ! We said if our hearts, " If the Lord would make windows ir. heaven, this might be." But notwithstanding our backsliding and unbelief and unworthiness. thou hast come among us to refresh us with thy sav- 1 82 HOME WORSHIP. ing presence. Oh, give us grace to raise our Ebenezer and to say, " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." And now, O Lord, shall thy work cease ? Shall thy people in their rejoicings over those who are saved forget those on whom the condemnation for sin unforsaken and a Saviour rejected still rests ? Shall the love and zeal of thy Church grow cold, and the anxieties of sinners fade away as the early cloud, and the heedless go down un- disturbed to everlasting death ? Oh, we plead with thee against these fearful evils by thy glory, that the ungodly may not say, " Where is their God ?" We plead before thee thy power, wis- dom, holiness, justice, goodness and truth, which will be tarnished in the eyes of men if thou wilt withdraw thy saving influences from our midst. We plead before thee these precious souls, which thou hast made in the image of thine own eter- nity, with boundless capacities of endless bliss and eternal woe. And, O God, we plead before thee the Redeemer's incarnation and poverty and reproach and suffering and death and resurrection and ascension and glorious intercession. Oh, shall not these pleas, offered, we trust, in concur- rence with thy holy will, avail at thy mercy-seat ? Lord, let not thy work cease. We would be- lieve : help thou our unbelief. O Lord, make thy people feel their solemn re- sponsibilities in regard to the present advance- REVIVAL. 183 ment of thy kingdom. May they seek a re- newed and increasing conviction of the worth of the soul now in fearful peril of eternal death. Give them a realizing conviction that every soul that has not believed on Christ is condemned already, and unless converted will go on from day to day and hour to hour and moment to moment treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. Oh, may they feel for perishing sinners in some degree as they would for themselves if their eternal interests were in such dreadful jeop- ardy. And, Lord, whatsoever they would that others would do for them in that condition of dreadful peril may they do even so to them, in- structing and warning them and striving to pluck them as brands from the burning. Let them not be content to dwell at ease in their possessions, nor nourish their hearts with an indolent enjoy- ment of personal salvation, but may they seek to be co-workers with thee in the salvation of men. O thou Hearer of prayer, teach thy people to pray for sinners, and quicken them by the Spirit with that grace of intercessory prayer which, animated by a love of souls and reliance on thy promises of mercy and yearnings after displays of thy glory in the conversion of the impenitent, will lead them in the closet and in the family and in the social meeting and in the great congrega- tion, and everywhere and continually, to plead 1 84 HOME WORSHIP. with thee fervently and importunately for thine enriching blessing in giving newness of life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. O God of truth, give success to thy preached word and make it thy power and wisdom to sal- vation. As the rain cometh down from heaven and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so let thy word be that goeth forth out of thy mouth. Let it not return unto thee void, but accomplish that which thou pleasest, and prosper in the thing whereto thou hast sent it. May it quicken thy people in knowledge, zeal and holiness. May it convince the ungodly of sin and righteousness and judgment, leading them to the atonement thou hast made in the person of thy Son for the sins of the world, and persuading them, by the influence of thy Spirit, to receive and rest on him as the only name given under heaven among men whereby they can be saved. And these blessings we ask only in the name of Jesus, our blessed Redeemer, to whom, with the everlasting Father and eternal Spirit, be all the praise now and for ever. Arnen. REVIVAL. 185 REVIVAL. BEHOLD, now, O Lord, we who are but dust and ashes have taken upon us to speak to thee who art infinite, eternal and unchangeable in all thy perfections. Oh, we are constrained to adore thy condescension and mercy that, though thou inhabitest eternity and* the praises thereof, thou wilt in answer to the prayer of faith strengthen us by thy power and teach us by thy wisdom and sanctify us by thy holiness and justify us by thy righteousness and save us by thy mercy in Jesus Christ, so that in the dispensations of thy grace toward weak and erring and sinful and condemned and lost men every perfection of thy character shall be displayed and glorified. Lord, bless now thy preached word. As it is exhibited by thy ministering servant, let it be the counsel of God in its freeness, fullness, pungency and power. Let it not fall by the wayside nor upon stony ground nor among thorns, but into good ground. Thou hast given us this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God. Oh, display that excel- lency on the hearts of its hearers in our midst that it may be the power of God for their salva- tion. Oh, let thy preached word reach the hearts of thy believing people. May its entrance give light to their undei standings, teaching them its beauty 1 86 HOME WORSHIP, and fullness and value. Sanctify them by th> truth : thy word is truth. Let thy word, O Lord, quicken them in every duty, and especially now in earnest prayer and faithful labor for thy king- dom in the hearts of men. Oh, let thy truth be profitable to them for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness, that they may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works. O Lord, let thy truth reach the hearts of those who are inquiring what they must do to be saved. Do thou teach them their sins in the light of thy law. Show them that they lie under a just sentence of condemnation for sin. Give them deep penitence of heart for their transgressions. Reveal Jesus Christ to them as the atonement for sin, infinitely able and infinitely willing to save all that come unto thee by him. Oh, incline them at once without reserve and with fullness of heart to take him as their Saviour from the guilt and punishment of sin, to instruct them in the will of God for their salvation, and to reign in their hearts without a rival. And, O Lord, give them thence- forth an assurance of thy love, peace of con- science, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace and perseverance therein to the end. Let thy truth reach the hearts of those who live regardless of thy claims on their obedience and of the precious interests of their undying souls. Show those who are lovers of pleasure REVIVAL. 187 more than lovers of God their folly and wicked- ness in pursuing the joys of earth. Teach those who wait for a more convenient season that there is no promise of pardon for to-morrow. Show those who forget God in the toils of business that thy favor only can bless their efforts, and let the covetous know that they cannot serve God and mammon. Lord, teach those who would work out a righteousness of their own that by the deeds of the law no flesh living can be justified. Show unbelievers their blindness and open their eyes to the light of truth. Teach the proud humility, that in the abasement of the gospel they may be exalted. Let the tongue that has been defiled by profanity speak the words of praise. Let the hand of dishonesty make restitution and steal no more. Teach the Sabbath-breaker to remember thy day to keep it holy. Smite hypocrites with repenting convic- tion, and lead them to worship thee in spirit and in truth. Let the scoffers' words of scorn be turned into words of praise. Turn back the profligate from his career of infamy and ruin into the pathways of holiness. O Lord, grant the influences of thy Spirit in such measure and power that many in every class and grade of sin may learn their guilt and see their danger, and then, beholding the door of escape in the atonement of Jesus Christ, strive to enter in at that strait gate that leads to eternal 1 88 HOME WORSHIP. life, exercising faith in thy promise that he who cometh to thee thou wilt in no wise cast out, and receiving Jesus as their hope of pardon and their everlasting portion. Enable them to give up their hearts to thee with an unconditional and complete submission. Help them to make with thee a covenant of obedience that knows of no reserve and no limitation but eternity. And, O God, do thou shine into their hearts to give them the light of the knowledge of thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ, that they may now have a sweet foretaste of the end of their faith, the salvation of their souls, to the praise of God the Father, Son and Spirit. Amen. RE VIVAL. O LORD, bestow on us at this time for the sake of Christ the grace of prayer. May we feel our special wants in relation to thy work of grace among us, and seek the supply of them with that strength of desire and faith without which it is impossible to please thee. We thank thee for the ministry of reconcilia- tion, and that we have so many of its fruits in our midst. Oh, do thou, Lord, bless him who ministers to us in holy things. May he enjoy in his own heart a rich experience of gospel bless- REVIVAL. 189 ings, and by prayer and study and the influences of thy Spirit be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. May he speak the words of truth and soberness, and so reason with this people of righteousness, of temperance and of a judg- ment to come that his church may be made wise and holy and zealous, until sinners shall be con- victed of sin and brought in an humble penitence to the footstool of mercy to receive remission of sins in the Redeemer's blood and acceptance in his justifying merits. Make him now and hereafter the honored instrument of turning many to righteousness, that his reward may be with those that shine as the brightness of the firma- ment, and as the stars for ever and ever. O Lord, bestow on thy Church new and increas- ing manifestations of thy goodness. We thank thee for the love of souls which has animated her, and we pray thee that it may become the ruling and abiding passion of the hearts of all thy people here. We thank thee for the increase with which thou hast already blessed her. Oh, let these be but the first fruits of an abundance of overflowing harvest. And for this end we be- seech thee for a baptism of thy Holy Spirit, so that every motive may be sanctified, that every feeling of dependence may be deepened and made to fasten on thee, and that every impulse of zeal may be quickened, that so this Church may take its place (furnished with the whole armor of God) 1 90 HOME WORSHIP. in that great sacramental host which thou art now leading forth conquering and to conquer. Look with compassion on those in our midst whose anxieties about eternal life have been stirred up by thy Spirit. Oh, let them not grieve thy Spirit by indecision in this great question of everlasting interest. Press upon them the great crisis of immediate repentance and im- mediate faith and immediate conversion. En- able them at once to decide by thy Spirit to for- sake sin, to believe in Christ, to submit to thy will, and to give their hearts to thee in a cove- nant of pardoned sin and holy living and eternal salvation. Regard in mercy those amongst us who care for none of these things, who live as if there was no God to offend, no hell to risk and no heaven to gain, and who as to eternity live as the brutes that perish. O Lord, do thou startle with a sense of their guilt and danger those youth who live in thoughtlessness and pleasure, and do thou draw them with cords of love away from the broad road on which they are now running with heedless steps down to perdition, and bring them into the strait and narrow way that leads to everlasting life. Lord, reach the hearts of those that dwell in the meridian of life whose thoughts are immersed in care, and whose habits of sin have by long and unrepented indulgence grown into a hardness like adamant. Oh, thy REVIVAL. ipl word can be to them by thy Spirit as a hammer that breaketh and as a fire that melteth the rock. Give them hearts of flesh for their hearts of stone alive to every sentiment of sorrow for sin and faith in Christ and love to God and good-will to men. And, O Lord, remember the impeni- tent aged amongst us who are traveling on the steep declivities of life, carrying on their heads and in their features and in their limbs the tokens of approaching death, but who live as if they had made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell. O God, thou seest that these hearts have lain fallow through scores of seed-time and harvest, until they are as the heath of the desert that knoweth not when good cometh. Oh, break up these dry and barren and hardened soils and cast in the seed of truth, and rain righteousness upon them that they may bring forth even at midwinter the blade and the ear and the full corn in the ear, that these for whom fear almost tri- umphs over hope may still be brought as a shock of corn cometh in his season fully ripe. Lord, grant us answers to our petitions through Jesus Christ, and thine shall be the praise for ever. Amen. 192 HOME WORSHIP. RE VIVAL. BLESSED GOD, we come to thee in the name of Jesus Christ to plead thy promises of mercy to a sinful world. Thou hast told us that thou hast no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but would rather he would turn and live, and that thou wilt be inquired of by thy people to save perish- ing souls, declaring that thou art more ready to answer than they are to ask. Lord, we humbly ask thee to magnify thy great name in the salvation of sinners. Oh, do thou glorify thy wisdom in translating them from dark- ness unto light, and by turning them from the error of their ways unto the wisdom of the just, and by giving them a saving knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. Lord, glorify thy power in breaking the stony heart and bending the stubborn will, and bringing every wayward and rebellious thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Lord, glorify thy holiness in bringing transgressors from sin to righteousness, and from the dominion of Satan to thy holy service. Lord, display thy justice by extending to them that act of thy free grace by which thou wilt pardon their sins and accept them as righteous in thy sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to them and received by faith alone. Lord, magnify thy goodness in making them the recipients not only of those tender mercies which are over all REVIVAL. 193 thy works, but also partakers of that peculiar mercy in the redemption purchased by Jesus Christ by which they shall rejoice "in sin par- doned, wrath averted and salvation secured. Lord, glorify thy truth in fulfilling amongst us the precious promises that thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, and that thou wilt give repentance and remission of sins to multitudes who are now without God and hope in the world. Oh, glorious Jehovah, honor thy great name and magnify all the perfections of thy character in reconciling to thyself those who are now thine enemies by wicked works, not imputing unto them their trespasses and their sins, but that, being justified by his blood, they may be saved from wrath through him. Blessed Jesus, Friend and Saviour of sinners, fulfill thy promise to us that wherever two or three shall be gathered in thy name thou wilt be with them ; and oh, thy presence is always our blessing. The special blessing we ask of thee is that thou wouldst reveal thyself unto this people as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Be thou to the ungodly here a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. Thou wast lifted up that thou migbtest draw all men unto thee. Oh, grant that sinners may come to thee under a sense of their sins and a conviction of the condemnation due to them for transgres- 13 194 HOME WORSHIP. sion ; and believing that thou wast wounded for their transgressions and bruised for their iniqui- ties, may they receive thee as thou art offered in the gospel for their salvation. And oh, may they find in the peace of sins forgiven that it is indeed a faithful saying, and worthy of all accep- tation, that thou didst come into the world to save sinners. Oh, be thou their Prophet to teach and their Priest to atone and their King to rule over them. Blessed Spirit, come, we pray thee, among us, and do thine own office-work in the conversion of sinners. Without thy blessing every work of man will be fruitless. Convince the impenitent of sin, of righteousness and of a judgment to come. Show them their guilt in the light of thy holy law. Teach them the wrath that shall be revealed against them in the retribution of the ungodly at the last day. Give them deep and sincere repentance for a life of transgression. Make them acknowledge in their hearts the jus- tice of the penalty thou hast denounced against their sins. Exhibit Christ crucified as the way the only way, the all-sufficient way appointed by God for their reconciliation to him. Oh, we pray thee, dispose and enable them to take him as their Redeemer and to trust him for their salvation, and to resolve that God shall henceforth have the affections of their hearts and the praise of their tongues and the service of their lives. REVIVAL. 195 O blessed Spirit, be not grieved at the unbelief and sins of thy people, nor at the impenitency and rebellion of sinners. Leave, oh leave us not, as we deserve for our neglect and abuse of thy mercies, to lukewarmness on the part of the Church and to reprobacy on the part of sinners, but come amongst us as the rain that refreshes the parched earth, and give us in undeserved but needful mercy the ministrations which are life be- cause of righteousness. O Lord, for Christ's sake revive thy work with new and increasing power, that souls may be converted and the grace of thy people replenish- ed and thy name be for ever glorified. Amen. REVIVAL. O LORD, we come to thee again in the name of Jesus Christ to supplicate thee to revive thy work in the hearts of thy people. Oh, do thou bring them up to the gospel, the revival, the mil- lennial standard of duty. Oh, may every believer renew his assurance of a personal interest in the merits of Jesus, again seeking repentance for sin, faith in the Saviour and the hope of acceptance in him. And then, remembering that they are bought with a price, even the blood of Jesus, and that they are bound to glorify God in their ig6 HOME WORSHIP. bodies and spirits, which is their most reasonable service, may all make it their serious and prayer- ful and continual inquiry, " Lord, what wilt thou have us to do ?" Lord, teach us to pray. Oh, give us an abiding, absorbing conviction that thou art the Source of every blessing and that without thy help we can do nothing. May we keep in mind that thou art the Rewarder of those that diligently seek thee, and cherish that faith in prayer without which it is impossible to please thee. Oh, let the love of souls excite our strong and persevering desires. May the same yearnings of spirit be in us which moved the blessed Saviour to come to earth that he might save guilty sinners from an eternity of woe and exalt them to fellowship with him in everlasting bliss. Oh, may thy people select from the crowd of deathless condemned souls around them those for whom to offer special, fervent, persevering and believing prayer. And let our earnest desires go up to thy throne of grace for every one who is still without God and hope in the world, that people of every age and rank and character may be made to see and feel the truth which maketh wise unto salvation. O God, teach us to pray and quicken us by thy Spirit in prayer for souls. Give us grace, O Lord, for Christ's sake, so to live and act before the world that we may teach transgressors thy way and thus sinners may be REVIVAL. 197 converted f o thee. Make us living epistles, hold- ing forth the word of life, putting to silence by well-doing the ignorance of foolish men, reprov- ing the unfruitful works of darkness, showing to the world that we have been with Jesus, and let- ting our lights so shine before men that they, seeing our good works, may be led to glorify thee and become followers of those who follow Christ Lord, send thy servants forth to call those who are bidden to the gospel-feast. And may they go also to the highways and bring those that were not bidden, that thy courts may be filled. Oh, may thy people feel their obligation to bring sinners to the house of God, and go forth with cheerfulness and alacrity to gather the careless and gainsaying within the reach of saving truth. And, O Lord, we pray that we may not be satisfied with the duties of prayer and example and soliciting the attendance of the impenitent in the house of God, but may we go forth in personal efforts as thy disciples in the days of pentecostal effusion, preaching the gospel every- where, and carrying home to the reason and con- science and hope and fear and love of the un- godly the truths of that gospel with the same directness of purpose and intention and expecta- tion of success which we use in the common interests of life. Oh, excite us to do this by a sense of obligation to thee as our Lord and 198 HOME WORSHIP. Master, who hast made us stewards of thy bounty to a perishing world. Animate to this discharge of duty by the glorious hope that he who con- verteth a sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death, and by the glorious re- ward promised to those who turn many to right- eousness that they shall shine as the stars and as the brightness of the firmament for ever. O Lord, rebuke our pleas of ignorance and diffi- dence and unfitness and want of character and influence, but may we go forth, even in our infir- mities, with the messages of repentance and faith in the spirit of fervent love, zealous purpose and prayerful trust in God. O Strength of Israel, make us wise to win souls. And, O Lord, we humbly ask thee to set the seal of thy blessing on every work of faith and every labor of love which we may undertake in reliance upon thee. Oh, may we behold with pleasure thy work prosper in our hands, hear sinners inquire the way of salvation, see them led to the cross of Christ in repentance and faith, and behold them consecrating themselves to God in a new and saving and everlasting covenant. Lord, let thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth everywhere, even as it is done in heaven. Send the gospel on its errand of saving mercy to every people, and give thy Son speedily the uttermost parts of the earth for his DEPRECATIONS. IQ9 possession, to thy, praise Fathei, Son and Spirit. Amen. DEPRECA TIONS. AGAIXST CARE, WAXT, SICKNESS, DEATH. GRACIOUS GOD, we would come to thee crying, "Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reign- eth." We bless thee that thou hast pledged thy power in behalf of believing prayer and hast promised thy help in every hour of need to all that wait upon thee. We come to thee now, O Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ, to ask thee to avert from us or to sanctify to us those evils which beset human life. Preserve us from perplexing care. While we may not expect and should not desire to be ex- empt from the toils and responsibilities of life, we pray that we may be enabled to encounter them with a cheerful fortitude and a persevering diligence, relying on thee as our infinite Helper. Nevertheless, we humbly ask thee for Christ's sake that we may not be cast into such circum- stances as shall be calculated to excite anxiety of mind and strife of soul. O Lord, so direct our emergencies and employments and so control our spirits that we may enjoy peace of mind con- tinually, not being anxious or careful about any- thing, but in all things by prayer and supplication 200 HOME WORSHIP. making known our requests to God. And, O Lord, thou seest how the cares of this world choke the gospel as it springs up in the hearts of men. Oh, abate and remove, we pray thee, this hindrance to the truth. Open human hearts everywhere to the influence of saving grace, and let thy word have free course and be glorified in the redemption of a host which no man can number. O Lord, preserve us, if it please thee, from want. Oh how prone are we to forget our dependence on thee, and to think that our own industry and skill furnish us with the means of support ! We deserve in our ingratitude and pride to be im- poverished and made to suffer distressing penury, that we might learn beyond forgetfulness that it is from thee we derive ever)'' good and perfect gift. Yet we pray that this truth may not be taught us thus, but that with grateful hearts we may acknowledge thy dispensing hand in all our bounties, and be led in dependence and fervency of spirit to pray, " Give us each day our daily bread ;" bestow on us a competent portion of the good things of this life and grant us thy blessing with them. Lord, pity the poor. Relieve their wants ; console them in their destitution ; protect them from oppression ; let thy gospel be preached to them, that many of them may be r.iade rich in faith and heirs of salvation. Preserve us from sickness. We thank thee DEPRECA TIONS. 2O I (or exemption from this evil in days past, and that thou hast made its seasons but few com- pared with those of health. We know indeed that thou canst glorify thyself and give us wis- dom and sanctification by this form of trial, yet thou canst also accomplish these ends by thy grace in giving us the healthful exercise of our bodies and minds. Oh that we might make the desire and pursuit of health the means of useful- ness to others, of personal piety and of obedience to God. But if in thy wisdom we are called to endure sickness, let this trial of our faith work patience. May the light of thy countenance be more precious to us than the joys of the most vigorous health. And, O God, regard in mercy all who surfer this form of adversity. If consist- ent with thy will, give them speedy deliverance from it. If they are thy children in the new birth, make it the means of renewing their Chris- tian graces. If they are the children of the world, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, oh lead them to Jesus, the Physician of the soul, that even in the pangs of a distempered body they may learn and rejoice in thy saving health. Preserve us, O Lord, from death, especially from sudden death. Thou hast indeed taught that it is appointed unto all men once to die, yet our timid nature and conscious guilt make us shrink back from this great crisis which will decide our destinies for eternity. We pray that we may not 202 HOME WORSHIP. be unduly fearful of it, but that we may seek diligently that preparation of heart which will enable us continually to look on it without terror and meet it with composure. May we ever re- member that the fitness of spirit which will best qualify us for the duties of a religious life will best prepare us for the trial of death. Oh, grant that we may so act that whether we live we may live unto the Lord, or whether we die we may die unto the Lord, so that, living or dying, we may be thine. And, O God, look in mercy on those who draw nigh unto death. Give sinners repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, so that with thy saints death may open to them an inheritance in thy kingdom for ever. Amen. DEPRECA TIONS. AGAINST THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL, AND AGAINST SlNS OF THE HEART, TONGUE AND LlFE. OUR Father in heaven, thou who alone hast power to deliver, we come to thee in the pre- vailing name of Jesus to ask thee to preserve us from those sins which so easily beset us, which our strength cannot baffle, but which thy grace is abundantly able to subdue. Lord, keep us from conformity to the world. Suffer us not to adopt its maxims nor follow its DEPRECATIONS. 203 examples. Let not its pleasures or riches or honors attract our wishes or engross our pursuits, but may we live above it, seeking our pleasures in the ways of wisdom and our honors in the favor of God and our riches in the kingdom of heaven. Thou hast told us, moreover, that there is no profit if we should gain the whole world and lose our own souls ; for what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? O Lord, let us not seek to unite the service of God and mammon, but let us strive to hold to thee and hate and despise the other. Oh, make us feel as we go through this world that it is a foe to grace, and so enable us to use it in our neces- sity as not abusing it, seeking here no abiding- place and setting our affections on things heav- enly and divine. O Lord, keep us from the lusts of the flesh. Let not our eyes covet or our hearts desire those things which are unlawful in themselves or which belong to others or which in the enjoyment would mar our true welfare. Make us indif- ferent and averse to the seductions of vain dis- play and of worldly luxury and of carnal pleas- ure. Lord, subdue our vanity and pride and selfishness, and bring all our passions into sub- jection to thy will ; for, lo ! this world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. Lord, keep us from the snares of Satan. We 204 HOME WORSHIP. acknowledge and mourn over our unbelief in this matter. Oh, if thine own image in our first pa- rents, if the purity of Christ, was each exposed to his temptation, what risks do not we run from his deceit ? Give us that shield of faith which will quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Give us that watchfulness over our spirits which will enable us to detect every ap- proach of his temptation. Give us that holiness of heart which will allow no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. And, Lord, grant us that spirit of prayer which will enable us to resist the devil, that he shall flee from us. We beseech thee, O Lord, to keep us from sins of the heart. By nature it is desperately wicked ; and even when it has been renewed by thy power and sanctified by thy grace, it is prone to evil. Oh, let us not cherish unholy thoughts or sinful desires or ungodly purposes, but let all our medi- tations and wishes and plans be subject to thy will. May we ever remember that as we are in heart so we are in life, for out of it are the issues of life. Lord, cleanse us from secret faults. Re- new within us right spirits. Subdue our stub- bornness, melt our hardness, and oh, bring thou (for thou only canst bring) a clean thing out of this unclean. Lord, keep us from sins of the tongue. Keep us from those idle words which thou wilt bring into judgment. Let us not be rash with our DEPRECATIONS. 20$ mouths nor speak unadvisedly with our lips. Let us not be of those that speak with flattering lips out of a double heart. Enable us to put away evil-speaking from us. Let no corrupt communication proceed from our mouths. Let no guile be found in our mouths nor falsehood in our speech, for a lying tongue is but for a moment, but the lip of truth shall be established for ever. Grant that our speech may be always with grace. Keep us, O Lord, from sin in our outward life. Suffer us not to be unkind or deceitful or unjust in our intercourse with mankind. Keep us from doing those things which have not the sanction of thy will, or on which we cannot ask thy bless- ing, or which thou hast forbidden. Let us not do anything which will offend thee or bring on us the reproach of our conscience or work injury to our fellow-creatures or dishonor the cause of righteousness before men. Let our walk be in everything such as becometh the gospel of Jesus Christ ; such as shall please thee ; such as con- science shall approve ; such as shall benefit man- kind ; and such as shall advance thy kingdom on the earth. We beseech thee, O Lord, to overthrow the power of the world and the flesh and the devil in all human hearts. Redeem all thy creatures from sins of the heart and of the tongue and of the life. And, O Lord, where : n any of us fall 206 HUME WORSHIP. short or offend, do thou most graciously and freely and fully forgive for Christ's sake. Amen. DEPRECA TIONS. AGAINST ANGER, BACKSLIDING, CENSOR IOUSNESS, COVETOUSNESS, DISHONESTY AND ENVY. O LORD, thou art rich in mercy to all that call upon thee in the name of Jesus. We would come to thee in that appointed way, disclaiming all per- sonal merit, acknowledging our unworthiness and ill-desert, and yet trusting in thy covenanted mercy. We come now to plead the prayer of Jesus that thou wouldst keep us from the evil that is in the world, and that those sins which beset us here may lose their power over us, and that we may be made to rejoice in the exercise of a sanctified nature. Keep us, we pray thee, O Lord, from the sin of anger. When we are tempted to it, may we con- sider Him who endured the contradiction of sin- ners, and seek not to avenge ourselves, but rather give place to wrath. Teach us that he who ru- leth his own spirit is greater than he that taketh a city, while he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly, and that he who soweth to the wind shall reap the whirlwind, while the fruit of righteous- ness is sown in peace of them that make peace. Keep us from the sin of backsliding. Oh, may DEPRECATIONS. 2O/ we avoid the appearance of evil and watch against the first encroachments of sin both in the heart and Ufe. Make us steadfast in the per- formance tf every private and public religious duty not formally, but in spirit and in truth. We would remember that if any man draw back, thou hast no pleasure in him. But, O God, if we should ever fall into snares, recover us speedily and establish us with penitent and steadfast hearts in the ways of righteousness, that we may again press toward the mark for the prize of our high calling in Jesus. Oh, let us not be of those who draw back unto perdition, but of those who be- lieve unto the saving of the soul. O Lord, keep us from the sin of censoriousness. Make us ready rather to discover merits than to find faults in the character of others. When we are inclined to behold the mote in our brother's eye, may we consider whether there is not a beam in our own, and that with what judgment we judge others we shall ourselves be judged. Enter not into judgment with us as we are tempted to do with our fellow- creatures, for then we could not stand before thee. If we have sinned in this matter (and oh, who has not ?), for- give us, and grant us henceforth that humility and forbearance which will keep us from this trans- gression. Keep us from the sin of covetousness. Give us full contentment with our own condition and 2O8 HOME WORSHIP. a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor and all that is his. Take from us all discontentment with our own estate, all envy- ing and grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate emotions and affections toward anything that is his. Let us not set an undue estimate on any earthly thing, whether it be friendship, pleasure, honor or wealth, but oh, may we set our affections on things above, that where our treasure is, there our hearts may be also. Keep us from the sin of dishonesty. Let no temptation, great or small, subvert, or even dis- turb, our integrity. May we be ever ready to ren- der to all their just dues. If it please thee, give us such a competent portion of the good things of this life as shall raise us above the temptations of poverty, and such contentment with what thou hast given us that we shall not be inclined to tres- pass on the rights of others. May we ever remem- ber the woe of him that buildeth his house by un- righteousness and the reward of him that walketh righteously, whose name shall be as ointment poured forth, while his memory shall be blessed. Keep us from the sin of envy. Let us never look with unkindness on the advantages of others. May we rather rejoice in all their law- ful prosperity; while, if their success has been procured unlawfully, teach us to pray for them that their iniquity may be revealed to them and through penitence be forgiven of God. Teach DEPRECATIONS. 2CK) us that our portion in life is the allotment of thy will, and make us content in thee as our Sover- eign and Benefactor. We beseech thee, O Lord, to subdue human rage and promote peace between man and man. Keep thy people from backsliding from the ways of godliness. Banish evil-speaking and slander from every community. Supplant in every heart the power of covetousness. Give to every con- science an inflexible law of honesty. And let the baneful dominion of envy be expelled by that love which thinketh and speaketh and worketh no ill to a neighbor. Graciously blot out our transgressions, lift on us the light of thy countenance and bestow on us eternal salvation, for Christ's sake. Amen. DEPRECA TIONS. AGAINST ERROR, EVIL, FALSEHOOD, FEAR OF MAN, HYPOC- RISY AND IDOLATRY. O GOD our Helper, we come to thee in the merits of Jesus Christ to offer thee that petition which he taught us, " Deliver us from evil." Thy name, O God, is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe. Blessed Jesus, who came to save thy people from their sins, do thou keep us from falling and present us faultless before thy glory with exceeding joy. 210 HOME WORSHIP. Keep us from error. Oh, let not ignorance nor prejudice nor sin obscure or prevent what is right either in principle or practice. Thou hast taught us that he that doeth thy will shall know the truth ; do thou give us, therefore, that obedience which will secure this blessing. Enable us to detect and hate and shun what is false, and to know and love and obey the truth in good report and in evil report. Keep us from evil. We would humbly ask thee to protect us from accident and pain and bereavement and want and sickness and death. Yet we would bow to thy will in the infliction of these, for they are the desert of our sin, and we deserve, instead of temporal woe, eternal wrath. We pray chiefly that we may be deliv- ered from the evil of sin, that its dominion in our hearts and lives may be overthrown, and that the grace that bringeth salvation may teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust and live righteously in the world. Keep us from falsehood. Let no love of amusement or gain, let no fear of man, lead us to speak or do anything prejudicial to truth. May we love it and maintain it, though it be at the present sacrifice of interest. Oh, may we remember that nothing can enter the holy city that maketh or loveth a lie, and that the lip of truth shall be established for ever. Keep us from the fear of man. Let no dread DEPRECA TIONS. 2 1 1 of the opinions or reproaches or punishments of men lead us to do what is wrong or deter us from doing what is right. All the issues of life are in thy hands, and we shall not suffer in any wise from our fellow-creatures except by thy permission. Thou hast taught us for our en- couragement and warning that he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe, while the fear of man bringeth a snare. Lord, be thou our shield and exceeding great reward. Keep us from hypocrisy. Oh, let us not be as whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful without, but within are full of dead men's bones and all manner of uncleanness. May we consider that if we should escape the detection of men, thou searchest the heart and triest the reins and knowest every evil way in us. Let not our prayer go out of feigned lips, but may it be the lifting up of our souls unto thee. Make us guileless in our intercourse with mankind. Whatever we do, may we do it heartily as unto the Lord, remembering that the hope of the hypocrite shall perish and his trust be as the spider's web, while light is sown for the right- eous and gladness for the upright in heart. Keep us from idolatrous affections. Oh, let no created good supplant thy dominion in our hearts. Abase in our hearts everything that exalteth itself against thee. Let us not seek to unite the service of God and mammon. As- 212 HOME WORSHIP. sert by thy Spirit thy supremacy over us as our Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, Redeemer. May we regard thy favor only as life, and thy loving- kindness as better than life, and thy blessing as that which alone maketh rich and addeth no sorrow therewith. May we ever be able in sincerity to say, " Whom have we in heaven but thee ? and there is none we desire on earth beside thee." Gracious Lord, overrule and overthrow every form of error in the world and let the truth have free course and be glorified. Give deliverance to the human race from every evil. Do thou promote truth between man and man over the whole earth. Oh, let not men fear their fellow- creatures, who have power at the utmost only to kill the body, but may all fear thee, who hast power to destroy both body and soul in hell for ever. Rebuke hypocrites and give them repentance ere their redemption ceaseth, when a great ransom cannot deliver them. And, O God, exalt thyself supremely in every human heart, that each may acknowledge thee as over all, God blessed for ever. Hear us, O Lord, in thy mercy through Jesus Christ. For his sake blot out all our transgres- sions and receive us graciously, and the praise of every blessing shall be thine. Amen. DEPRECATIONS. 2 13 DEPRECA TIONS. AGAINST LUKEWARMNESS, OSTENTATION, PRIDE, RESENTMENT, SELF- DECEPTION, SELFISHNESS AND UNBELIEF. O THOU that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. We thank thee for the promise that he who cometh unto thee thou wilt in no wise cast out. Oh, fulfill unto us thy word that thou dost save unto the uttermost those who come unto thee by Christ, for it is in the shelter of his atonement, it is in the merits of his righteous- ness, it is in the prevalence of his intercession, we present ourselves. Blessed Jesus, be thou our Saviour from the power of sin. O Lord, we come to seek deliverance from lukevvarmness in our religious duties. Suffer no indolence or selfishness of spirit, no worldly- mindedness or allurement of Satan, to abate our religious feelings or energies. Teach us our obligations to thee and the value of our eternal interests, and lead us to act in relation to them with a fervent spirit. Oh, may thy Spirit that quickeneth give us such spiritual life that we may mount up as on eagle's wings, run and not be weary, walk and not faint, and always abound in the work of the Lord. Deliver us, O Lord, from ostentation both in our secular and religious duties. Let us not do any- thing merely to be seen of men. All that we are, all that we can be, all that \ve can do, we 214 HOME WORSHIP. owe to thy wisdom, power and meicy. We pray that the love of human applause and the fear of human censure may be controlled and subdued by a sense of responsibility to thee. Oh, let us do nothing through vainglory, re- membering thy commandment, " Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord." O Lord, deliver us from pride. Oh, why should we need to deprecate this evil ? Lo ! we are ignorant, helpless and sinful, and there is noth- ing in us to warrant self-exaltation, but, on the contrary, much to mortify and abase us. And yet it is the besetting sin of every heart. Lord, give us release from its power. Oh, give us such views of thine exaltation and our abasement, of thy majesty and our blameworthiness, as shall check and expel every rising sentiment of pride. Oh, let the warnings of thy word against this sin and thy promises to the humble be blessed of thy Spirit for our redemption from its foolish and wicked power, so that we may be even as little children, for of such is the kingdom of God. Deliver us, O Lord, from feelings of resentment. May we remember thy long-suffering toward the contradiction of sinners, and the example of Him who when he suffered threatened not, but com- mitted himself to Him that judgeth righteously, and also the condition that unless we forgive others thou wilt not forgive us. Oh, give us DEPRECATIONS. 21$ that spirit of love which even amidst injury worketh no harm to its neighbor, but, contrari- wise, blessing. Deliver us from self-deception. Let us not in anything think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. But especially let us not cherish the hope of eternal life if our course is downward to eternal death. Oh, if there lies any film of deceit on our eyes or mist of delu- sion on our souls, take it away that we may see our sins and feel our danger and flee for refuge to that Rock which is higher than we. Lord, let our hope be only that of the gospel, an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast. Lord, deliver us from selfishness. Let us not set an undue esti- mate or exercise an undue solicitude upon our own interests. We would remember that thou hast taught us we should not look on our own things, but every man also on the things of others, for they all have a like concern with us of comfort and well-being in the pursuits of life. Thou hast shown us that he who would follow Jesus must deny himself; let us not, therefore, live unto ourselves, but may we do good and communicate, for with such sacrifices thou art well pleased. O Lord, deliver us from unbelief. Let not ours be the doom of him who believ^th not and is condemned already. Or if we have in any measure the faith of the gospel, let it never be 2l6 HOME WORSHIP. eclipsed in any degree by the influence of this evil. Oh, let us not dishonor thee, nor shut out the light of thy countenance, nor bring desola- tion upon our hopes, nor paralyze our zeal in well-doing, nor provoke thy wrath by any indul- gence in this sin. But oh, may the eye of our faith be clear and steadfast, that we may ever- more believe with the heart unto righteousness. Lord, we would believe ; help thou our unbelief. O God, strengthen us with might by thy Spirit that we may thus come off conquerors in all our contests with these evils, but oh, wherein we fail do thou mercifully forgive in Jesus Christ. Amen. SABBA TH MORNING. GREAT GOD, thou hast commanded us, saying, " Seek ye my face." Thy face, Lord, we will seek, and oh, as thou art now pouring on the earth the refreshing light of morning, so do thou in our approach to thee lift upon us the light of thy countenance and shine into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ, for it is in his merits we would seek acceptance and in his name we offer our petitions. O Lord, we lift up again to thee our voice of thanksgiving for renewed mercy. We thank thee SABBATH MORNING. 2 1/ that thou hast not cut us off as cumberers of the ground, but hast given us another week of pro- bation and hast brought us again under the gra- cious influence of the Sabbath. We bless thee, O God, for this day of rest from earthly toil, and of fellowship with thy people in solemn worship, and of meditation on our character and duties, and of communion with thee, the Father of spirits. We pray that no thoughts of worldly pleasure or honor or riches may intrude upon us this day. We pray that we may not be debarred from, the privilege of meeting with thy people in the sanc- tuary, and while there may we sing thy praises, making melody in our hearts unto the Lord, in prayer lifting up in fervency and faith our desires unto thee, attending to thy word with diligence, preparation and prayer, receiving it with faith and love, laying it up in our hearts that we may practice it in our lives. We pray that those por- tions of this day which we may pass at home may be spent in the spirit of thy commandment. " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." Suffer us not in our household intercourse to break this statute by word or deed, but let there be a savor in our speech and actions in sacred harmony with this consecrated day. We pray that our minds may be directed to such themes of meditation and reading as will sanctify our spirits and quicken us in the Christian life. And we pray that we may enjoy a spirit of supplica- 2l8 HOME WORSHIP. tion before thee this day, with reverence and confidence and importunity seeking thy bless- ing on ourselves and on thy Church and on a perishing world. Lord, bless those who shall minister in holy things this day. Give them the unction of the Holy One. Let the love of God and of truth and of souls animate them in all the duties of the sanctuary. Give them wisdom to under- stand and zeal to declare the whole counsel of God. Oh, may they, as they stand between the living and the dead, encourage thy people in the narrow way of righteousness and salvation and warn the ungodly to flee from the broad way of sin and death. Oh, give them a precious reward for their labor in beholding thy people quickened according to thy word, in being instruments of converting sinners unto thee, in the enjoyment of gospel-blessings in their own souls, and in the reward of those that shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever. O Lord, bless thy people this day. Let the worship they shall offer thee be full of faith and fervency, and be answered by blessings on them- selves and others. Let the truth they hear in- struct and quicken and sanctify them, that they may cry out, " How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. We had rather be doorkeepers in thy house than to dwell in the tents of wick- SABBATH MORNING. 21 9 edness." Make their necessary household and social intercourse this day consistent with holy time and mutually profitable for Sabbath-day blessings. Let thy testimonies and works and ways be their meditation. And, O Thou that seest in secret, but rewardest openly, may they en- ter into their closet and enjoy to-day precious seasons of communion with thee, the Father of spirits. And now, Lord, we pray that thy precept, " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy," may have unwonted power over the consciences and conduct of the impenitent. Oh, let an in- creased number of the careless and ungodly be gathered at this time into thy sanctuaries. May they join in every service with respect and seri- ousness and listen to the preached word with attention and conviction. Oh, let the truth be seasonable to every mind, and be to many a savor of life unto life. Gracious God, send thy Spirit into every assembly, that the careless may be alarmed and the impenitent convicted and the stubborn subdued, so that in every temple of God souls may be converted to thte and this be a day of the right hand of the Most High. Amen. 22O HOME WORSHIP. SABBA TH MORNING. GRACIOUS GOD, we thank thee for the mercies of the last week, that thou hast nurtured and pro- tected us, so that we behold the light of another Sabbath in peace and comfort. We come now to thee in the name of our Mediator and Advo- cate for that frame of spirit which becomes this sacred season, and for those blessings which the proper use of these consecrated hours will se- cure to us. We beseech thee to enable us to remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. In six days thou didst make heaven, earth and sea, and didst rest the seventh day; wherefore thou hast blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it. We thank thee, God of mercy, for this consecrated season, in which thou givest rest to our wearied natures and affordest us leisure for reflection on our duties in this world and our destinies -in the world to come. We thank thee for its privileges of praise and of prayer and of instruction, by which thy saints are built up in faith and zeal and sinners are brought from the darkness and iniquity of carnal nature to the light and holiness of heavenly grace. We would praise thee that there still remaineth this rest for the people of God. Thou hast made the Sabbath for man, and thou hast abolished neither its privileges nor SABBATH MORNING. 221 duties, but wilt continue them down to the end of the world. Oh that we might always be in the spirit on the Lord's day. May we remember that thou hast given us six days of the week for our own em- ployments and hast challenged a special own- ership of the seventh, and that thou hast given it the sanction of thine own example and blessing. Oh, let us not profane that holy time by idleness, nor by doing that which in itself is sinful, nor by unnecessary thoughts, words or works about worldly employments or recreations. May we sanctify it by a holy resting, even from such avocations as are lawful on other days, and spend all its sacred hours in the public and private ex- ercises of thy worship, except so much as must be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. Oh, let this day ever be a precious occasion, wherein thy love shall be richly manifested to us and our affections hold free and holy and rejoi- cing communion with thy Spirit May we be prepared by its sanctifying duties and reviving pleasures for serving thee and mankind better in all the relations of life. Oh, make it a blessed type of that eternal Sabbath which is reserved for the pure in heart in the regions of unmingled bliss. Lord of the Sabbath, save this holy day from the desecration which has been so fearfully brought upon it. Thou seest how men pursue 222 HOME WORSHIP. on it their carnal pleasures and worldly interests regardless of thy statutes and the ultimate wel- fare of their country and of mankind. Even those who have made a covenant with thee by sacrifice sometimes join hand in hand with the ungodly in these profanations of sacred time. Oh that thy people would set their faces as flint against these transgressions and bear the testi- mony of their voice and conduct against them. Bring not thy wrath upon our land because its inhabitants make the Sabbath their season of amusement, convenience and gain. Oh, teach all men that it is thy will that they sanctify that day, and that thou hast judgments in store for its transgressors ; whilst they who turn away their feet from polluting it and from doing their pleas- ure upon it, and who shall call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, shall be fed with the heritage of Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Lord, bless, we pray thee, in the name of Jesus, thy preached word this day. Give wisdom, grace and fervor to those who shall be called to preach the words of life. Let not thy word be as the seed which fell by the wayside, nor as that which fell on stony ground, nor as that which fell among thorns, but as that which fell upon good ground. Oh, do thou seal instruction upon every heart. Teach the ignorant, arouse the careless, alarm the stupid, turn the gainsaying, melt the hard- SABBATH MORNING. 223 ened, sanctify the unholy, encourage the timid, strengthen the zealous, and let grace, mercy and peace rest upon every worshiping assembly. O Lord, we humbly pray in Christ's name for the remission of all our sins, and for a new and sanctified consecration of ourselves to thee for time and eternity. Amen. SABBA TH MORNING. LORD of the Sabbath, we thank thee for another of the days of the Son of man. Oh, let it be like the sun which brings it, a messenger of light and joy to the world. We thank thee for its abundant blessings to us in times past, and we supplicate thee that its return to-day may bring us new and increasing benefits. But we have come to thee this morning in the name of Jesus to plead specially for thy blessing on thy word as it shall be preached to those to whom the Sab- bath has never yet come with sanctifying and saving power. O Lord, let the ministrations of thy house this day instruct the ignorant. Oh, gather into thy courts many who have kept away from instruc- tion until their foolish hearts are darkened, and who live in a land of gospel light in almost heathenish ignorance of religious truth and duty. 224 HOME WORSHIP. Oh that they might incline their ears to wisdom and apply their hearts to understanding. And, Lord, we pray that thou wouldst instruct by thy truth this day those who sit from Sabbath to Sabbath under the gospel with ears that hear not and hearts that perceive not the truth. Oh, dis- pel their listlessness and vagrancy of mind, and let scores and hundreds of unthinking hearers be made wise unto salvation. Let the ministrations of thy house this day arrest the careless and bring them to an anx- ious inquiry what they must do to be saved. How long, O Lord, shall the corrupting cares of earth absorb the solicitude of beings whom thou hast made in the image of thine eternity, who are living in a state of trial for an endless life, on whom condemnation for sin even now rests, whose days on earth are a shadow, and who, if death finds them unconverted, must dwell with ever- lasting burnings ? O God, startle the deep anx- ieties of their souls. Make them cry out in anguish of spirit, "Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" And make the way of truth so plain, so clear, to them that by thy grace they may believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. O Lord, alarm this day stupid sinners whose consciences are seared as with a hot iron. Lo ! the creatures whom thou hast made to know thy name and love thy character and enjoy thy bounty and do thy will live almost as heedless of thee as SABBATH MORNING. 22$ the brutes that perish. Lord, awake such speed- ily from their guilty and degrading and ruinous stupor. Arouse them by thy Spirit to a sense of their sin and misery and danger, and give them newness of life through the Lord Jesus Christ O Lord, convince the gainsaying. Oh that those who doubt or deny or oppose the truth as it is in Jesus might have every thought of their hearts brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Thou hast magnified thy mercy in sparing these scoffers and blasphemers. Thou hast glorified the truth in those defences of religion which have restrained the influences of infidelity. Lord, magnify thy name, and with increasing glory, by turning th s unbelief to faith and this scorn to praise and this hatred to love. Subdue the hardened. Let thy word this day be as a fire that melteth and as a hammer that break:th the rock. Oh, there is no heart so stony but thou canst turn it into a heart of flesh ; there is no will so stubborn but thou canst make it pliant. To thee they are all as clay in the hands of the potter. Gracious God, make them examples of tender-hearted submission to thy will. Sanctify the unholy. Let the great commis- sion of thy Spirit to convince men of sin be con- summated in all thy sanctuaries this day. Let penitence work in every heart May the grace 15 226 HOME WORSHIP. that bringeth salvation teach men to deny ungod- liness. Make them clean through the word that shall be spoken to them. Sanctify them by thy truth : thy word is truth. O Lord, encourage the timid. If there be any who halt between two opinions and tremble to choose the Lord lest he should not choose them, assure them that whosoever cometh unto thee thou wilt in no wise cast out. If there be any who have made a covenant with thee by sacrifice, but whose hope of acceptance is disturbed by fears, enable them this day to know Him whom they have believed. Strengthen the zealous. Refresh and increase their knowledge of truth and duty. Give them new motives to obedience and new purposes of well-doing. While they strive to work out their own salvation, make them zealous of good works toward a perishing world and instruments for its redemption from woe to bliss. O Lord, we humbly and earnestly pray in the name of Jesus that thy preached word may have free course everywhere and be glorified. May it benefit our souls in all our spiritual wants. And the praise of all shall be thine for ever. Amen. SABBATH EVENING. 22/ SABBATH EVENING. OUR Father in heaven, we have come to thee this night to thank thee for the privileges of this day. Oh, let the meditations of our hearts and the words of our mouths be acceptable to thee through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who is Lord of the Sabbath. Gracious God, we acknowledge thy distinguish- ing mercy in making us partakers of Sabbath-day blessings. Though this day has come with the light of the sun upon all the tribes of earth, yet it has brought no dayspring from on high of spiritual blessings to many, very many, nations of the world. For, lo ! in thine inscrutable wis- dom they dwell in the shadow of death. Thou hast not withheld from them any right or done them any injustice, and in that day when thou wilt justify thy ways to men we all shall see and own that justice as well as judgment is the habitation of thy throne. But any privileges above them which we are permitted to enjoy we humbly and thankfully acknowledge to be the fruits of free, sovereign, distinguishing, un- merited grace. Give us now an abiding conviction that these repeated and increasing mercies demand repeat- ed and increasing exercises of thanksgiving and acts of obedience. Thou hast taught us that thou wilt require much of him to whom thou 228 HOME WORSHIP. hast given much, and that he who knows his mas- ter's will, but does it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. Oh, let not this condemnation rest upon us ; let not these Sabbaths be so neg- lected or abused as to prove witnesses against us, either in thy dispensations of justice on the earth or in thy retributions in the world to come. But may we use them so diligently that we shall continually grow in grace and in meetness for the heavenly Sabbath that rest which remaineth for the people of God. O Lord, let thy blessing rest upon the services of this Sabbath. Hear and answer the supplica- tions which have this day gone up from the closet sacrifice and from the family altar and from the temple-offering. Wherever thy word has been read in retirement or among the household let it be a savor of knowledge and life. Let thy life- giving favor abide upon those whose meditations have been heavenward. But chiefly we desire that thy blessing may rest with unwonted power upon thy preached word. Make it an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners and building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation. Thou hast indeed put this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency might be of God. We seek not the glory of any human instruments, but do thou honor thy power in using them as means for human salva- tion. Oh, let not the truths which have been SABBATH EVENING. 22Q spoken be lost in the air like the sounds which uttered them, but let them be so commended by thy Spirit to those who heard them that they shall be impressed on their reason and memory and will and conscience and affection, convincing the impenitent of the 'enormous guilt of their transgression, showing them the fearful danger of their rebellion, inclining them to deep repent- ance for their wickedness, displaying to them the countless riches of salvation in Jesus, and persuading them to a saving faith in his precious atonement. Lord, let this Sabbath be signalized in the history of man's redemption by manifold displays of converting grace. O Lord, we humbly invoke thy blessing in be- half of those who profess thy name. Let thy word be a discerner of the thoughts of their hearts. If any have been deceived by a name to live, reveal to them their true character and give them repentance and remission and a new and sanctified and unreserved consecration of themselves to Christ, and let none such be suf- fered to draw back to perdition, but be enabled to believe unto the saving of their souls. O Lord, let rich and rejoicing and everlasting blessings follow thy truth in the hearts of all who belong to the commonwealth of Israel and the covenant of promise. Let it increase their know- ledge and strengthen their faith and elevate their hope and inflame their love and quicken their 230 HOME WORSHIP. zeal. Let this Sabbath send its influence upon their character and conduct through the coming week, and onward through life and upward through eternity. Forgive wherein we have thought or said or done amiss this day. Pardon the sins of our holy services. Blot out all our transgressions of every kind and degree. Make us clean through the word thou hast spoken unto us. Sanctify us by thy truth : thy word is truth. And thine, Father, Son and Spirit shall be the praise. Amen. SABBATH EVENING. O LORD, the eyes of all are unto thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season ; thou open- est thy hand and satisfiest the desires of every living thing. But if thy care and compassion are thus exercised toward our temporal wants, may we not hope that when our desires for spirit- ual favors are directed to thee thou wilt satisfy them? Nay, thou hast told us that if we seek thy kingdom and righteousness all these things shall be added to us. Give us, therefore, in the name of Jesus, a gracious acceptance while we seek thy blessing upon this Sabbath. We mourn before thee, O God, that there are any around us (and, alas ! how many there are !) who have forgotten to remember this Sabbath- SABBA TH E VEXING. 23 1 day to keep it holy, and who, whilst thou hast been giving them its sacred hours that they might learn repentance and faith and salvation, have sought their own pleasure and dishonored this day and offended God. Lord, arouse them by a conviction of their folly and guilt, incline them to forsake their profanations, and lead them to a consecration of this blessed season to thy service. And we ask this result not only for those around us, but for Sabbath-breakers every- where. Wherever this iniquity has been framed by law let it be blotted from the statute-book, and let this people and every other so act in their national and individual relations as to re- ceive the promised blessing of those who keep thy Sabbath from polluting it We thank thee. O Lord, for the multitudes who have been gathered this day into thy courts for thy worship. Though this earth is a degenerate, apostate, rebellious world, yet in these precious Sabbaths we behold the hope of its recovery to God. We thank thee for those ministrations in which we have shared this day. Forgive where- in we have been thoughtless or irreverent. Re- member those praises which we sung to thy name. Oh, give us an increasing impression of thine excellence, so that these ascriptions of honor may be the honest expressions of our hearts. Remember the prayers we offer to thee in thy house. Answer them, we beseech thee. 232 HOME WORSHIP. according to thy merciful wisdom and our rea. wants. Bless unto us thy preached word, and make it profitable to us for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness. Sanctify us unto all our domestic and private use of this day. If we have been led into thoughts or words or works inconsistent with it, forgive us and grant us purposes of new obedience in keeping it holy. Let the truths and duties on which we have conferred and read and meditated, and about which we have prayed, be treasured in our hearts and practiced in our lives. Let gracious influences abide upon all who this day have sat under the droppings of thy sanctuary. Oh, let not its words of praise and prayer and instruction be as sounds that die in the air, or as water that is spilled on the ground and cannot be gathered. Let them not be swift witnesses against any for neglect or perversion or gainsaying. Make them in every congrega- tion a savor of life unto life, rejoicing and quick- ening the hearts of thy people, convincing and converting sinners, and adding to thy Church many of such as shall be saved. O Lord, we ask thy blessing upon the instruc- tion given this day in Sunday-schools. Let every faithful teacher carry in his own bosom a reward for his labor of love, and come back to it with renewed and enlarged zeal and knowledge and THE WORD OF GOD. 233 prayerfulness. If any have been unfaithful in their work, show them their delinquency, give them repentance for it, and bring them again to their duty resolved in thy strength to seek thf blessing of those whom, being faithful over a fev things, thou wilt make rulers over many things Lord, seal instruction upon the youthful mind May they acknowledge thy claims upon theii hearts, and now, while they are in the dew of their youth, and before the evil days come, may they remember their Creator and serve thee in newness of life. Gracious God, we beseech thee to grant us thy favor in all the things thou seest we need. If we ask amiss, forgive ; if we fail to ask, bestow ; and let our persons and services be accepted before thee in Jesus our Redeemer. Amen. THE WORD OF GOD. IN ITS ISSTMCTING, CONVINCING, CONVERTING, REJOICING, QUICKENING AND SAXCTTFTING INFLUENCES. To whom, O Lord, shall we go but unto thee? Thou only hast the words of life. We bless thee that in compassion upon our ignorance and apostasy thou hast revealed them unto us in the Scriptures. We would come to thee with thanks- giving for that boon, and with supplication that 234 HOME WORSHIP. we may receive the help of thy Spirit through the Lord Jesus Christ to appreciate and improve that priceless gift. We thank thee, O Lord, that the Scripture given by inspiration is profitable to us for instruction. Thy testimonies are sure, making wise the sim- ple ; thy commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes. Without it we have been as the nations who think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device, and we, like them, had lived without God and hope in the world. Lord, open thou our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Oh that it may keep us from every error and guide us into every truth. Let thy word dwell in us richly in all wisdom. And, Lord, make all men partakers of the truth. Direct by its pure light every Christian pilgrim as he goes through this wilderness-world. Let its counsels of repentance and faith teach and win all who inquire what they must do to be saved. Let thy word have free course and reach every benighted heart, whether dwelling in gospel lands or in the region and shadow of death. O Lord, we thank thee for the convincing pow- er of thy word. Oh, let it be for each of us a dis- cerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, revealing to us the power of the world, the flesh and the devil in our natures, and showing us our sins in all their number and wickedness, until we THE WORD OF GOD. 235 shall turn from them with repentance and new obedience. Lord, let the secrets of every heart be made manifest by the truth. May thy Spirit speedily fulfill by it his great work of convincing men of sin, of righteousness and of judgment to come, so that every transgressor on earth may know his rebellion against God, and the atone- ment thou hast, made for sin. and the retribution of that great day when the righteous shall be received into eternal life and the wicked be driven away into everlasting death. Lord, we bless thee that thy law is perfect, con- verting the soul. If we have been made by it, through the Spirit, new creatures in Christ Jesus, let all its renewing power be felt by us, redeem- ing us from every remnant of conformity to the world and transforming us into thine own image. But if we have only a name to live, or if we are dead in trespasses and sins, oh quicken us by it into newness of life. Lord, gather new trophies of honor to thy name and to thy word of truth by making it the instrument of the conversion of many souls, who shall be born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible ; by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. We thank thee that thou hast made thy word precious to every believer. Oh, let thy statutes be our songs in the house of our pil- grimage. Let the law of thy mouth be better to us than thousands of gold and silver. May 236 HOME WORSHIP, we take thy testimonies as our heritage for ever, and oh, remember unto us thy word, upon which thou hast caused us to hope, thy promises that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us as thou dost not unto the world, and that thy rod and staff shall comfort us in the valley and shadow of death, and that thou wilt give us fullness of joy at thy right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore. Oh that foolish and sinful men would forsake their broken cisterns that can hold no water, and go to this fountain of living water that they may drink and forget the pleasures of earth in that joy which is full of glory. O Lord, we thank thee for the quickening power of thy law. When our souls cleave to the dust, quicken us according to thy word. We desire not that zeal which is without knowledge, but that we may gather diligently from the Scriptures those motives to fervency of spirit which will lead us to serve thee with all our heart, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and to do good as we have opportunity. Oh, may that faith in thy gospel which works by love dwell in every breast, that none may be weary in well- doing, but that all may be zealous of good works. Lord, we thank thee for the sanctifying power of truth. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Oh, do thou sanctify us by thy truth : thy word is truth. THE LORD'S PRAYER. 2tf Wherewith shall we cleanse our way ? By tak- ing heed thereto, according to thy word. Order our footsteps by it, and let not any iniquity have dominion over us. Purify our hearts by faith, making us meet for the inheritance above. And, Ix>rd, do thou choose multitudes unto salvation through belief of the truth. Make clean through the word spoken unto them many who yet resist its power, but whom thou canst make willing in the day of salvation, washing their robes and making them white in the blood of the Lamb. Amen. THE LORD^S PRAYER. OUR Father in heaven, thou hast told us that there is no earthly parent who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone, or if he ask a fish will give him a serpent, and that if these, being evil, know how to give good gifts to their children, much more will our Father in heaven give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Oh, give us the spirit of adoption, by which we may cry, " Abba, Father!" looking up to thee as our reconciled God and Father in the Lord Jesus Christ, being made partakers of that act of free grace whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God. Lord, regard 238 HOME WORSHIP. in mercy those prodigal children who have left their Father's house and are now feeding on the husks of earth, and oh, bring them back to thy household touched with a conviction of their want and guilt, that they may receive the adop- tion of sons. Hallowed be thy name. Thou art worthy of the praise of all creation, for thou art glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. The heavens declare thy glory, and all thy works praise thee. Lord, let our hearts bless thee. Open thou our lips, and our mouths shall show forth thy praise. Give us grace to honor thee in all the works of our hands. And let the people praise thee. O God, let all the people praise thee. Oh that thy Church, which thou hast purchased by thine own blood, might hon- or thee continually by acts of holy and zealous obedience. Oh that the wicked here amongst us and over the whole earth, who have so long de- spised thy name and dishonored thy law, might bow to thy sceptre and acknowledge thee as over all, God blessed for ever. Thy kingdom come. We pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed, and that the king- dom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened. Oh, give us that spirit of prayer which will give thee no rest until thou establish, until thou make THE LORD^S PRAYER. 239 Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Overturn and overturn and overturn until He comes whose right it is ; until the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heav- en. Merciful God, thou mightest have left us to live in disobedience and die in impenitency, and reap through eternity the fruits of transgression. But thy mercy has not left us to this abandon- ment and retribution. Thou hast sought to win us back to our allegiance, and hast held up for our example and imitation the fealty of those spirits who never knew sin, and who without delay and with the whole heart and continually do thy pleasure. Oh that our hearts, like theirs, would at once and cheerfully and steadily do thy holy will. Oh that thy whole Church might thus learn and love and do its duty, and that sinners of every grade and of every nation might know and obey and submit to thy will in all things as the angels do in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. We ac- knowledge and mourn that we often forget thee as the Giver of every good and perfect gift, and seek our provision as though thou hadst no dis- pensing hand in it O Lord, rebuke our thought- lessness and teach us our dependence. We bless thee for the plenty thou hast bestowed upon us in times past, and we ask of thee, as the unde- 24O HOME WORSHIP. served gift of thy mercy, that thou wouldst still give us our meat in due season. We desire not that plenty which will nourish indolence and pamper luxury and engender pride, but that thou wouldst give us neither poverty nor riches, feed- ing us with food convenient for us, lest we be full and deny thee, and say, " Who is the Lord ?" or lest we be poor and steal and take the name of our God in vain. Lord, remember the poor. Open thy hand and satisfy their desires. Remove those social evils which grind so many in the dust and shackle so many in the bonds of pov- erty. Lift up the downtrodden, restore the un- fortunate, deliver the oppressed and give relief to every child of want. O Lord, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Make us meek, forbearing and forgiving when we suffer evil at the hands of others. Though our property be despoiled, though our persons be assaulted, though our feelings be outraged, though our reputation be injured, let us not return evil for evil, but may we love our enemies, blessing them that curse us, doing good to them that hate us, praying for those that despitefully use us and persecute us. Give all men the spirit of the gospel, which is peace on earth and good-will to men. May they remember that if they for- give not men their trespasses, neither will their Father in heaven forgive them their trespasses. THE LORD'S PRAYER. 24! Teach us also that besides this condition of pardon we must also seek forgiveness through the blood of Christ, in whom only we have re- demption and the remission of sins. We would come to thee in that new and living way, bur- dened with a sense of our sins, confessing their guilt, acknowledging thy righteous condemna- tion, humbly and penitently seeking pardon and reconciliation, that so our iniquities may be blotted out, and that thou mayest receive us graciously and love us freely. O God, make sinners feel the power and the mercy of thy pardoning love. Let their sins be blotted out in a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Lord, lead us not into temptation and keep us from running into it. Make our hearts in- creasingly insensible to sinful objects and more and more susceptible to holy motives. May we remember our weakness, and how often we have fallen and how we are surrounded by temp- tation, and so take heed lest we enter it. And, Lord, destroy that power over the human heart which the sinful attractions of this world possess, and make mankind feel the allurements of a religious life and the powers of a world to come, thus redeeming them from the world, the flesh and the devil. Lord, deliver us from evil. If the adversary ensnare us, if the things of earth entangle us, if 16 242 HOME WORSHIP. our hearts betray us, deliver us from our captiv- ity. And oh, do thou lift up those whose feel are in the miry clay, and set them upon a rock and put a new song of deliverance into their mouths. Lord, we offer these petitions in the name of Jesus, that thine may be the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever. Amen. ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. GREAT GOD, thou inhabitest the praises of eternity. Those pure and lofty spirits who have dwelt before thee for ages, who have seen the glories of thy character and the wonders of thy ways, they can adore and praise thee in some measure as thou art. But thou art above even their blessing and praise, for thou humblest thyself to behold the things which are done in heaven. What, then, is man dwelling on the footstool of thy dominion, ignorant, feeble and sinful that thou shouldst give audience to his praise? Yet, O God, it is because thou hast revealed thyself in Jesus Christ, exalted above principalities and powers, as an object before which every knee should bow, that we lift up our voices in worship before thee. Thou art the Alpha and Omega, the beginning ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 243 and ending, which was and is and is to come. The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, and thou art the same yesterday, to-day and for ever. Oh how short-lived, how feeble, how fickle, are we in the contrast ! We humble ourselves before thee and confess that we are not worthy to come into thy presence, nor to lift up our eyes to the place where thine honor dwellest. We give thee thanks, Lord God almighty, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. In the beginning thou didst create the heavens and the earth, and thou hast ever since upheld all things by the word of thy power. Thou dost according to thy will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Lord, make us the willing subjects of thy power. Thou canst glorify it in destroy- ing us for our sins, but thou canst honor it still more by bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ Thou couldst reveal thy might to the universe as thou didst in cast- ing out the rebel angels, by turning sinners to destruction, but oh, do thou glorify it by sub- duing them from rebellion to obedience, from hatred to love, making them willing in the day of thy power. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom of God ! Lord, how manifold are thy works ! In wisdom thou hast made them all. Known unto thee are all thy works from the foundation of 244 HOME WORSHIP. the world. Thou art acquainted with all our ways. Alas ! how limited, how feeble, is our knowledge ! Our memory of the past is like a dream, our knowledge of the present is but a fleeting shadow ; we know not what a day may bring forth, and we are often the victims of error, deceiving and being deceived. Lord, strengthen our powers to acquire and retain useful know- ledge, but give us especially the wisdom from above. Oh, subdue every form of error in the world. Let many run to and fro, and knowledge be increased. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou art holy. Thou canst not look upon iniquity. But, alas ! we are guilty and unclean. Oh that thou wouldst transform us by the renewing of our minds into thine image, that our fruit may be unto holiness. And, O Lord, turn men from their captivity to sin that they may put on the new man which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. Just and true are thy ways, O King of saints. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. We bless thee for that display of thy justice which thou hast given to us in the work of thy Son. Without it we had lived and died in unpardoned sin, and had gone to the world to come to suffer endless punishment. But thou didst lay help upon One who was mighty to save, who gave himself for us. Lord, justify us freely by his ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 24$ redemption. And oh, let many who are under the curse of the law be reconciled to thee by the death of thy Son, taking away the hand- writing of ordinances against them and writing their names in the Lamb's book of life. O Lord, thou art good and lovest to do good Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits. But oh how excellent is that loving- kindness which thou hast shown to the children of men in the gift of thy Son ! Oh that this dis- play of thy love to us might win our hearts to thee and make us holy and without blame before thee in love. Oh that it might turn the enmity of every carnal mind into that love which casteth out fear and keepeth thy commandments. O Lord, thou abidest faithful and keepest truth for ever. Make us hate every false way and love and speak and keep the truth. And do thou pro- mote truth between man and man, until falsehood of every pretext shall be abhorred and no guile be found in any mouth. Lord, hear and answer and bless us for the sake of Jesus our Redeemer. Amen. 246 HOME WORSHIP. FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY. O LORD, increase our faith. We would believe : help thou our unbelief. Give us implicit confi- dence in the perfections of thy character, in the purposes of thy will and in the dispensations of thy providence. Let us never stagger at thy word through unbelief, nor hold the truth in un- righteousness, but confide in all its precious prom- ises and solemn warnings and sacred examples and holy precepts. Lead us to look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith, taking him as our Prophet, Priest and King, receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is of- fered in the gospel. Increase our reliance upon thee by the examples of the saints, who by that grace wrought righteousness and out of weak- ness were made strong. May we remember we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Make us followers of those who by faith and patience do .now inherit the promises. Give us faith in prayer. Make us feel not only our wants and our dependence on thee, but thy fullness and willingness to bless us. Oh that we could ever knock at the door of mercy, believing that thou wilt open unto us, and go with boldness to the throne of grace in the strength of Christ's mer- its and of that intercession he ever loveth to make for those who come unto God by him. Give us grace to show our faith by our works, FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY. 247 adding to it virtue, knowledge, temperance, pa- tience, godliness, brotherly kindness and char- ity. And, O Lord, may we walk by faith and not by sight, looking not at the things which are seen and temporal, but at those which are not seen and are eternal. Make multitudes who live now in unbelief partakers of the like pre- cious faith with ourselves, that they may enjoy the victory that overcometh the world, through Him who is the end of the law for righteousness to all that believe in him. O Lord, give us a good hope through grace. Oh, let it be the fruit of thy Spirit and spring out of that faith by which we receive the atonement of Jesus, for other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid in Jesus Christ Every other refuge is a refuge of lies, every other hope is as the giving up of the ghost. Grant, O Lord, that we may build so that when the rains descend and the floods come and the winds blow and beat upon our house, it shall fall not, because it is built upon a rock. Thanks be unto thy name, the hope of the righteous is gladness and assurance for ever. Teach the wicked, O God, that a door of hope has been opened for the chief of sinners, a way of access to pardon, by which thou canst be just and still the Justifier of them that believe in Jesus. Let not their hearts be deceived by those hopes of earthly good which are either nipped in the bud or blasted in the flower or ripen into 248 HOME WORSHIP. bitter fruit Show them that the expectation of the wicked shall perish and the trust of the hypocrite shall be as the spider's web. Oh, bring many sinners to the footstool of thy throne, to learn there the blessedness of putting their confidence in the blood of the everlasting cove- nant, from which only can they receive the prom- ise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. And now abideth faith, hope and charity, but the greatest of these is charity. Giver of all good, grant us that fruit of the Spirit which is love. May this be the element where our souls will live and move and have their being. Oh, may we feel that if we could speak with the tongues of angels, and have not charity, we are become as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, and though we should bestow all our goods to feed the poor and give our bodies to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth us nothing. Lord, grant that thy holy commandment and the countless examples of thy good-will and the various wants of our fellow-creatures may be heart-stirring motives to this law of kindness. And may the love of Christ constrain us to love thee with all our heart, and our neighbors as ourselves. Oh, give us this bond of perfectness, this end of the commandment, which springeth out of a pure heart and a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. Let this grace abound CONFESSIONS. 249 in thy Church, binding thy people to thee in cords of love that cannot be broken and giving them zealous sympathies for the welfare, tempo- ral and spiritual, of all mankind. And, O God, hasten that time when charity shall fill the hearts and control the conduct of all men ; when all the enmity of the carnal mind toward God shall be transformed to love, and all its selfishness and envy and anger toward man into good-will, and Jesus, the Prince of peace, reign over an undis- turbed empire of love. Heavenly Father, our petitions for these things and for all we need we offer in the merits and cross and intercession of the Redeemer, to whom, with the Father and Spirit, be endless praise. Amen. CONFESSIONS. WEAKNESS, IGNORANCE AND SIN. O LORD, we come to thee in the name of Jesus acknowledging our unworthiness. We bless thee that thou art never weary of giving us audience at thy mercy-seat nor of supplying our wants. We come to thee now confessing our weak- ness. We cannot make one hair of our heads either white or black. We cannot add one hour to our lives. We cannot of ourselves 25O HOME WORSHIP. add one cent to our property. All our ability to think and feel and speak and move comes from thee. If thou shouldst take away but for a moment thy help, we should die. And yet, O Lord, we go about our employments and rec- reations often as if we were independent of thee and had power in ourselves to sustain life and make our own destiny. Lord, we deserve for our pride and self-sufficiency and forgetfulness of thee to be cut off and made the victims of our sinful folly. But thou art long-suffering and full of goodness. And yet we would not presume on thy forbearance ; we would not abuse thy mercy. We pray that we may continually feel and acknowledge our dependence on thee in every hour of need ; and oh, every hour of life is an hour of need, in which we require thy sus- taining and supplying mercy. We pray that thou wouldst keep us from those diseases and accidents which weaken and destroy life, and that thou wouldst give us that health and strength of body which will enable us to discharge all our duties with comfort to ourselves and usefulness to others. And, Lord, give us strength and res- olution to do thy will. But oh how weak are our purposes, how feeble are our actions, when we do desire to obey thee ! But our help in these also must come from thee. Strengthen us, therefore, we pray thee, with might, by thy Spirit, in the inner man, that in the spirit of reliance on CONFESSIONS. 2$ I thee we may do with our might whatever thou hast commanded. O Lord, we come to thee to confess our igno- rance. When we compare what we know with what we are ignorant of, it is but a grain of sand com- pared with the earth. How little do we remember of the past ! how little do we know of the present ! whilst of the future we know nothing absolutely nothing ; we know not what a day may bring forth. Yet we sometimes boast among ourselves of what we know, little as it is, with far more confidence than angels would, who have been learning for ages with ceaseless diligence and with lofty intellect the wonders of thy works and the mysteries of thy ways and the treasures of thy word. Lord, rebuke our vanity and teach us our ignorance and make us diligent to learn everything we ought to know. May we gather wisdom every day and every hour from the skies above us and from the earth beneath us and from creation round about us. But chiefly do thou make us wise to salvation. Teach us what we ought to believe concerning thee and the duties thou requirest of us. And may all we learn make us holy and happy and useful, and fit us for that blessed world where ignorance shall be unknown and knowledge made perfect. Lord, we come to thee to confess our sinful- ness. We have gone astray from our birth. We daily break thy commandment in thought, word 25^2 HOME WORSHIP. and deed. We have sinned against light, because when we knew thy will we did it not. We have sinned against love, for whilst thou hast been nourishing us and bringing us up as children we rebelled against thee. Our sins are more in number than the hairs of our heads. Oh, it was an infinite mercy for us that we did not die in our sins, and that we were not called into judg- ment for our transgressions. But though we thus confess our iniquities, how little do we feel them ! How prone are we to self-righteousness, whilst in thy sight we are guilty and unclean ! But, O God, we bless thee that though we are guilty and unclean we can go to thee crying, " God, be merciful to us sinners !" There is a name given under heaven among men whereby we can be saved. It is the name of Jesus. Lord, in his name give us repentance and remission of sins. For his sake accept and treat us as righteous. Be in him our reconciled God and Father. And may the hope of his salvation purify us even as he is pure, that, being made free from sin and ser- vants unto thee, we may have our fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. Gracious God, we commit to thee all the in- terests of our perishing bodies and of our death- less spirits. Choose our changes for us. Adapt us to all thy dispensations. Make us submissive to all thy will. And finally make us joint-heirs with Christ in an everlasting inheritance. Am^n. REDEMPTION. 253 REDEMPTION O LORD, we come to thee in die name of Jesus as needy creatures who are dependent on thee for every mercy. The air we breathe, the food we eat, the raiment we wear, and every comfort of life, is each a gift from thy hand. Still more are we dependent on thee for religious blessings ; for while our desires are ever ready to pursue tem- poral comforts and our hands to toil for them, our hearts are prone to turn away from spirit- ual good. Lord, the blessing we would seek of thee at this time is that thou wouldst teach us the truth as it is in Jesus. Oh, do thou unfold to us, we beseech thee, the deep depravity and lost estate into which our guilty race had fallen. The whole head was sick and the whole heart faint, and from the sole of the foot even unto the head there was no moral soundness in it. All flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth and the whole world was guilty before God. Oh, if thou hadst not laid help upon One mighty to save, all men would have had their portion in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Gracious God, make us sensible of that love whereby thou didst give thine only-begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not per- ish, but have everlasting life, and which thou 254 HOME WORSHIP. hast commended to us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us. Though thou hast shown thy loving-kindness in the works of cre- ation and in the developments of providence, in this thou hast gathered as into a bright and burn- ing centre the matchless proof of thy good-will to man. Oh, the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge ! Lord, show us the excellences of Christ's glory and the depths of his humiliation. Though he dwelt in the bosom of the Father and in- habited the praises of eternity and exercised the powers of the Godhead, yet he took upon him our sinful nature, was born in a low condition, was made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God and the accursed death of the cross, and was buried and continued under the power of death for a time. Oh, teach us that he was thus made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. O God, show us that though he thus gave his life a ransom for many, still there is none who can have redemption through his blood without the convincing, renewing and sanctifying power of thy grace. Lord, may we know our sin and our need of a Saviour, and incline us to turn away from all our transgressions and to lay hold of the hope set before us in the gospel. REDEMPTION. 2$$ O Lord, impress on our hearts the features of the Redeemer's lovely character. May we learn of Him who was meek and lowly, kind and pa- tient, obedient and forgiving, wise and holy. Let the same mind which was in him be also in us. Show us that he is glorified in the bodies and spirits of those whom thou hast given to him, and that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his. Oh, may the grace that has brought salvation teach us to deny ungodliness and every worldly lust and to work righteousness, that his image, destroyed by the fall, may be renewed in us, and that thus the life of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh. God of grace, excite our faith in this blessed Saviour by clear visions of that heavenly glory which he has prepared for those that love him. Oh, thanks be unto thy name ! thou hast not only redeemed thy saints from the wretched dominion of sin and the fearful penalties of guilt, but thou hast given them thine unfailing promise that they shall go into life eternal and dwell before thy throne and serve thee day and night in thy tem- ple. Lord, grant that through his merits an entrance may be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Merciful Father, persuade the ungodly, who are rejecting the Saviour, that without his atoning righteousness their souls must endure the perdi- 256 HOME WORSHIP. tion of eternal death, while through his blood they may have remission of sins and an inherit- ance among them that are sanctified. Reconcile them unto thyself through him, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Oh, dispose them to join with fullness of heart that heavenly an- them which heralded his birth in our nature : " Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will toward man." And thine shall be the praise in earth and heaven. Amen. NEW YEAR. O THOU Giver and Preserver of being, we would lift up our thanksgivings to thee for hav- ing continued and blessed our lives through another year. There has not been a day nor a moment of it which has not brought us tokens of thy care and kindness. Here we would raise our Ebenezer and say, " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." And, O Lord, we would look back with min- gled feelings of wonder and love on the way in which thou hast led us through life. If thou hadst measured out to us according to our de- serts, our days of probation would long ago have been ended and we would now be reaping the fruits of sin in a world of despair. But, NEW YEAR. 257 thanks be unto thee through Jesus Christ ! thy mercy rejoiced over judgment, and we, who might have been monuments of thy justice, are now witnesses for thee that thou art long-suffering and abundant in goodness. Accept our gratitude for the many tokens of thy favor which we have enjoyed during the past year. We thank thee for our food and rai- ment, for our home and friends, for our health and our countless comforts. We praise thee that the means of grace, the institution of prayer, the oracles of truth and the fellowship of saints have all been continued to us. And to all these thou hast added the teaching and sanctifying and rejoicing influences of thy Holy Spirit. Lord, thou hast crowned the year with thy goodness and thy paths in it have dropped fatness. O Lord, help us to review closely and seriously our transactions during the last year. May we realize that though the memory of them is fast fading away they are written indelibly on the book of thy remembrance, where they will re- main until that fearful hour of trial when the books shall be opened and all men shall be judged out of the things that are written therein, whether they be good or evil. We desire to acknowledge before thee with godly sorrow that we have neglected many duties and abused many privileges during the last year. Our hearts and lips and hands 258 HOME WORSHIP. have often been the agents of transgression. Many of thy mercies have been ungratefully perverted or forgotten, and thy chastenings have often been despised or have gone unheeded. Oh, our tongues would grow weary and our hearts would sicken if we should undertake to recite all our iniquities before thee. Help us, we pray thee, in the name of our great Advocate, to repent over them, to loathe and forsake them, and to look to thee for strength that the time past of our lives may suffice to have wrought the deeds of the flesh, and that henceforth we may live according to the will of God. O Lord, we desire to enter this year feeling the solemn responsibilities of human life. We know not what a day may bring forth, nor what the approaching months may reveal respecting us, except that they will bring us nearer eternity and be full of records of our growth in grace or of our backslidings from thy holy law. We thank thee that our span of life is still lengthened out, and that we may indulge the hope that we shall still be permitted to enjoy the precious opportu- nities that have been vouchsafed to us in days past. O God, assist us, we beseech thee, to discharge aright all the duties which lie before us. Make us understand the uncertainty of time, the worth of our souls, the multiplied interests of our fellow-travelers to eternity and the righteous claims of thy service. Make us NEW YEAR. 259 watchful against the many dangers to which we are exposed. Strengthen our love to thee, deepen our convictions of sin, animate our desires after holiness, increase our spirit of prayer, enlarge our benevolence and lead us in thine own way for thy name's sake. Lord, protect us by thy power, supply us by thy bounty, direct us by thy wisdom, and give us an increasing meetness for that state where these changing seasons will give place to an endless life. Lord, make this opening year a year of the right hand of the Most High. Pour the healing of peace on all the bleeding wounds of thy Church. Give her the spirit of holiness. Invig- orate her by the reviving power of truth. Awaken her to renewed efforts in doing good. Oh, may these months stand forth in the history of re- demption as precious seasons of refreshing from thy holy and life-giving presence, in which thou wilt give thy people the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness, in which sinners shall be brought from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the service of the living God. O Lord, we humbly prefer these petitions in the name of Jesus. For his sake grant us par- don and acceptance. And thy name, Lord, shall have all the praise now, henceforth and foi ever. Amen. 260 HOME WORSHIP. NEW YEAR. O THOU God of the rolling year, we would de sire to come before thee this morning of a new year acknowledging thee as the Fountain of all our mercies in days past, as the Source of all our present comforts and as the Hope of future good. Thou hast given us the spring with its green cov- ering, the summer with its golden harvest, the autumn with its crowded fruits, and the winter with its icy mantle, beneath which thou art pre- paring the earth for a new life of beauty and plenty. And in all these seasons thou hast crowned us with thy loving-kindness and tender mercy. We have indeed had our trials and toils and afflictions ; but when compared with our mer- cies or with our sins, they have been few in num- ber and short in continuance, and they have been merciful in design, and we trust that some of them have been blessed in their results to us, working out for us and in us the peaceable fruits of righteousness. But oh what a series of bounties present them- selves to our minds as we look back through the year that has just passed ! Health, strength, food, clothing, home, friends, relations, comfort, pleas- ure, hope, usefulness, have all been furnished by thy bounteous hand, so that day unto day uttered speech concerning thy goodness, and NEW YEAR. 26l night unto night brought forth knowledge of thy mercy. And, O Lord, we would not forget what is worth more than all these that throughout the whole year thou hast offered to us the blessings of salvation. If we have indeed availed ourselves of them and have lived worthy of them, we need not fear the flight of time, for every fleeting year will only bring us nearer an endless life of hap- piness. But if we have rejected those blessings, then the flight of the past year may have brought us twelve months nearer perdition. And now, O Lord, we know not what will be- fall us during the year that is before us. It may be that afflictions sore and protracted may be before us. If so, Lord, sanctify us in our suffer- ings. It may be that some of us may go to the narrow house appointed for all the living. May we, then, pass the time of our sojourning in fear, waiting for the King of Terrors. And if he come, may his death-warrant be our passport to eter- nal life. O God, help us to ponder and fulfill all the duties of heart and life which lie before us in the untraveled and uncertain, but important, period of time on which we are now entering. While we are thoughtful of death and eternity, suffer us not to forget that while it is called to-day and before the night cometh, in which no man can work,- thou hast appointed to us spheres of duty 262 HOME WORSHIP. which thou requirest us to occupy till thy com- ing. Give us, we beseech thee, for Christ's sake, an eye of wisdom to discern and a heart of love to do all thy requirements. And if it be thy pleasure to prolong our years, may we look back on them as spent in thy service, and say, " For us to live is Christ." But if thou wilt bring our season of trial to an end, oh, grant, we beseech thee, that we may be able to say with an ex- ulting, never-ending joy, " For us to die is gain." O Lord, let mercy mark all thy dispensations to our fellow-creatures this year. Have pity on the poor. Raise up the bowed down and speak peace to the mourner. Release the oppressed. Comfort and sanctify the afflicted. O God, bless thy Church. In the midst of the years revive thy work ; in wrath remember mercy. Give her beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning. Imbue her plenteously with the wisdom that is from on high. Perfect in her that work of thy free grace by which thy children die unto sin and live unto righteousness. Animate her with the love of good works, that she may be a branch that abideth in the vine, bearing fruit. Oh, send thy rod out of Zion, and make thy people will- ing in the day of thy power. And, Lord, let this year be distinguished by multitudes of converts to righteousness. Wher- ever the gospel is now preached, let it have free ffEA VEN AND HELL. 263 course and be glorified. Oh that thy love to sinners in the mercies of thy providence, in the pleadings of thy word, in the gift of thy Son, in the strivings of thy Spirit, might win them from the service of Satan to the allegiance of God. Lord, increase the number of those who run to and fro upon the earth with thy knowledge. Oh, let their message of salvation this year reach many tribes and nations to whom the everlasting gospel has never been preached, and be honored in redeeming them from the toils of the adver- sary and bringing them into the adoption of the sons of God. O Lord," we would ascribe the kingdom and power and glory unto thy great name through Jesus our Saviour, for ever. Amen. HEAVE. AND HELL. O LORD, we thank thee for the revelation thou hast given us of our immortal nature and of the destinies of weal or woe which await human souls beyond the grave. Oh that we might ponder well the worth of the soul in relation to that future being, that so we may escape hell and gain heaven. O Lord, assist our feeble powers to contem- plate the bliss of heaven that blest land where 264 HOME WORSHIP. the righteous shall hunger no more nor thirst any more, and where God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and they shall sing the new song of praise to the Lamb, who has re- deemed them to God by his blood out of every people and tongue and kindred and nation ; where thy saints serve thee with fullness of joy and holiness of heart and obedience of will, and where they are for ever with the Lord. We thank thee, O God, that thou hast made known to us the glories of that heavenly state and hast taught us how we may obtain them. Life and immortality have been brought to light by the gospel ; and though the carnal eye hath not seen nor the ear heard the things thou hast prepared for them that love thee, yet thou hast revealed them to thy children by thy Spirit as a foretaste of that glory which shall be made known in the eternal life. O Lord, shall we be partakers of that blessing ? Oh, grant that the contemplation of it may make us feel the vanity of earthly things and lead us to set our affections on things that are heavenly and divine. May we follow after holiness, without which no man can see the Lord, and seek a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Lord, grant that visions of the heavenly glory may quicken the hope and purify the heart and animate the zeal of thy chosen people. May HEAVEN AND HELL. 265 they live here as having no abiding-place and no continuing city, but as seeking a better, even a heavenly. And while they strive diligently to work out their own salvation, lead them to seek to bring sinners into the path of eternal life. Blessed Lord, convince the worldly-minded and sinful of the depraved and perishing nature of temporal things, and of the exalted and eternal treasures thou hast laid up in the home of the righteous. Oh, give them that repentance and faith and holiness and obedience by which they shall be made meet for the inheritance purchased by the blood of Christ. Great God, we pray that thou wouldst give us, with these views and feelings respecting heaven, a deep conviction of the awful truth that thou hast ordained and fixed a place of tor- ment for all the finally impenitent, a bottomless pit where there is blackness of darkness, a prison where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, a lake of fire where the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever, where they will remembei their ungodly deeds, their multiplied mercies^ their abused privileges, thine enduring patience.! and their reckless impenitency while treasurino^ up wrath against the day of wrath. O Lord, suffer not our hearts ever to question or rebel against the wisdom and righteousness of thy punitive justice. Just and true are all 266 HOME WORSHIP. thy ways, thou King of saints. Teach us, O God, by the deep damnation of the wicked, that thou hatest sin and lovest holiness, and that thou art thus promoting the obedience and welfare of the universe and sustaining thy character as the moral Governor of creation. Assist us, O God, to flee from the wrath to come and to lay hold of eternal life through the Saviour. But let us not be satisfied merely with our own safety. May we seek also the salvation of those who are in the broad way to ruin. Impel us by keen sympathy for their danger and love for their happiness to put forth such efforts of prayer and labor as shall be the means of saving some that are ready to perish. O God, do thou arouse thy Church to a con- viction of her duty to a perishing world. Let none of thy people dishonor their calling by indifference to the eternal welfare of the impen- itent. May every one feel the powers of the world to come, and by earnest supplication and fervent activity strive for the blessedness of con- verting sinners and saving souls from the second death. O Lord, we beseech thee to give the wicked such views of the everlasting destruction awaiting the unrepenting sinner as shall lead them to consider the mercy that has provided a way of escape from perdition. Drive them by the terrors of the law or draw them by the cords of love to the blood GRATITUDE, REPENTANCE, FAITH. 267 of the everlasting covenant. Oh, let many who now seem to be vessels of wrath fitting for de- struction be changed into vessels of mercy pre- paring for glory, who shall be kept by thy power through faith unto salvation, where the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost, which are begun on earth, shall be perfected in heaven for ever. Amen. GRATITUDE, REPENTANCE AND FAITH. GREAT GOD, thou hast told us in thy word that thou sittest upon the circle of the heavens and humblest thyself to behold the things that are done upon the earth. We know that we are not worthy of thy notice, nor even to lift up our eyes to the throne of thy mercy, and that if thou shouldst treat us as we deserve we would not be allowed to pray to thee. But thou art merciful and good; and instead of turning us away un- heard and unblest, thou hast invited us to come to thee in the name of Christ for things that are agreeable to thy holy will. And now, O Lord, if thou art the Hearer and Answerer of prayer, if thou art waiting to be gracious, and if all things are ready on thy part to bless us, make us ready and anxious on our 268 HOME WORSHIP. part to seek thy blessing-. May we pray with a right spirit, and seek those things which, while we need them, it would be good for us to receive. Lord, make us feel our dependence on thee, for unless we do we will never pray aright. Make us realize also that thou art able to give us everything, for all that is in the universe is thine. O Lord, one thing we need and one that is agree- able to thy will is the spirit of gratitude. Thou art giving us food every day and rest every night. Though death has sometimes come among us and taken away from us those whom we loved, yet we are still surrounded by friends. Though we sometimes suffer pain and sickness, yet we almost always enjoy health. But these are only a part of our blessings, all of which come from thee, for thou art the Father of lights, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift. Yet we often forget this and live like the beasts of the field, which feed upon the fruit which falls to the earth from the trees above and look not and know not whence it falls, for so thy paths drop fatness, yet we look not whence our help cometh. Lord, let us not continue to live so ungratefully, but may we every day and every hour and continually feel in our inmost heart that every comfort of life is given by thee, and so may we be led to love thee with all our heart and serve thee with all our might. GRATITUDE, REPENTANCE* FAITH. 269 O Lord, another thing which we need and which it is in thy heart to give us is the spirit of re- pentance. Our ingratitude makes us sinners if there is nothing else in us to offend thee. We have not kept strictly at all times our covenant with truth. We have often coveted what was not our own, and we have sometimes thoughtlessly or purposely taken what was not our own. W T e have often broken the Sabbath, which thou hast commanded us to remember and keep holy. And these are only a part of our sins ; for if we would count them, they are more in number than the hairs of our heads. We should be deeply pen- itent for them, and we ought to turn from them, striving to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. And we would now lift up our voices in supplication to thee, that we may hate every form of sn and resolve, in reliance upon the gracious influences of thy Spirit, that we will sin no more. Lord, one thing else we would seek as a prom- ised blessing, which is faith in Jesus Christ. Every sin we have committed deserves thy wrath and curse, both in this life and in that which is to come ; and unless our sins are pardoned, we will be lost for ever. Our repentance cannot save us. Our good works cannot save us, for our righteous- ness is but filthy rags. Nothing but the blood of Christ can save us. Oh, we thank thee that, however numerous, however aggravated, our sins 2/O HOME WORSHIP. may be, the blood of, Christ cleanseth from all sin, and that, however much we have deserved to be punished, whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Lord, help us to believe in him, to feel that there is no other way of salvation, and to receive and rest upon him as he is offered to us in the gospel. O Lord, let thy goodness, as it is exhibited in the works of creation, providence and redemption, commend itself to the admiring gratitude of all thy creatures, that there may be none thoughtless of thee, the ever-living and overflowing Fountain of good. Touch every impenitent heart with the conviction of its deep criminality in thy sight, and give it repentance unto life. Lord, let the truth as it is in Jesus have free course and be glorified in bringing multitudes in faith to the foot of the cross, seeking pardon and reconcilia- tion through Him who was lifted up that he might draw all men unto him, O Lord, we would ascribe every mercy bestow- ed on us and on others to thy matchless grace in the Redeemer, both now and for ever. Amen. GOD>S MERCIES. BLESS the Lord, O our souls, and forget not his benefits, for God is love. Thou art good, O GOD^S MERCIES. 2/1 Lord, in giving and in preserving and in blessing the lives of thy creatures. They are thine offspring and have their being in thy mercy. The eyes of all are unto thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season ; thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desires of every living thing. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. Thou hast shown thy mercy in thy forbearance ; for if thou didst mark iniquity, who could stand ? Yea, thou art long-suffering and art not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But thou hast exhibited thy goodness above all in the gift of thy Son. Thou didst so love the world as to send him that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, and thou didst so commend thy love to us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us. Though we had turned every one to his own way, the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Blessed God, thou hast been merciful to us in the gift of the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation, and in the bestowment of that Comforter whose ministrations are life be- cause of righteousness. Even our afflictions have been blessings in disguise, for thou hast chastened us for our profit that we might be par- takers of thy holiness ; and though thy chasten- ing s were not joyous, but grievous, yet afterward they worked the peaceable fruits of righteousness. 2/2 HOME WORSHIP. Lo ! thou hast made even the sins of thy crea- tures subservient to good ; thou hast made the wrath of man to praise thee ; and where sin hath abounded, grace doth much more abound. Who- so is wise and will observe these things, even he shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. Great Giver of every good and perfect gift, grant to each of us a sanctifying and saving knowledge of thy mercy. Thou hast a perfect right to withhold it from us yea, even to visit us with unmixed and irretrievable evil ; for we are not only unworthy of the least expression of thy goodness, but we deserve the severe retributions of thy wrath. Nevertheless, thy goodness has pursued us in all the walks of life. It has stayed or soothed or healed the inflictions of merited evil, and it has bestowed on us uncounted tokens of unmerited good. When we have been thought- less of thee, thou hast been mindful of us ; when we hated thee, thou didst love us. Verily, thou art long-suffering and abundant in compassion. Thou dost not mete unto man evil for evil, but dost crown him with loving-kindness and tender mercy. Lord, we would that our memories could re- tain and our hearts could properly value all thy merciful dealings with us. Enable us to set a proper estimate upon that bounty which supplies our wants, upon that care which watches over GOD'S MERCIES. 273 every passing moment of life, upon that wisdom which devises for us all our changes, and that skill which makes all things work together for good to them that love thee. Oh, may thy mercy lead us to love thee and do thy will ; may it ever succor us when we are tempted and comfort us when we are grieved and supply us in every hour of need. May it strengthen us in the hour of death and be the song of our rejoicing through- out the ages of eternity. O Lord, enable thy people to cherish a suitable estimate of thy goodness, and to use it as not abusing or neglecting .L May they ever remem- ber that they are not worthy of the least of thy mercies, and that they have deserved wrath in- stead of kindness. Bind them to thee and thy cause by a strong and abiding gratitude. Let none of thy mercies be witnesses against them. And oh, do thou lead them to imitate thy good- ness by labors of love and by seeking occasions to do good in every relation of life- Gracious God, deal not in strict justice with those who are now rejecting or abusing thy mer- cy. Say not in thy wrath that they shall not enter thy rest. Make them hear thy tender and oft-repeated entreaties to turn from their wicked- ness whilst thou art waiting to be gracious. Dis- play to them the number and value of thy mer- cies, and especially the fullness of that compas- sim which brings the Sovereign of heaven to 274 HOME WORSHIP. plead with them and to pursue them that they would turn and live. Extend to them thy golden sceptre of grace that they may touch it and live. Oh, forsake them not, but multiply thy mercies upon them until their hardness of heart shall be melted down in humble sorrow and love, until their rebellious wills shall be brought to serve the living and true God. Lord, let these our ascriptions and supplica- tions be accepted in our blessed Redeemer. Amen. NIGHT. O THOU that makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice, we come to thee with grateful hearts and thankful tongues for the mercies of this day. Yet this day has been only one of many days which have been crowned with thy goodness. Indeed, they have been repeated so often as to beget a thoughtless indifference to their value and to their Giver. Alas that the very multitude of thy mercies, instead of quick- ening our perceptions of thee and deepening our sentiments of gratitude, should make us thought- less and ungrateful ! Lo ! the ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib, but we do not know or consider. NIGHT. 275 O Lord, we thank thee for the light of this day. It is one of those mercies so common and familiar to us that we are unmindful of its worth. Oh, if thou shouldst seal up our eyelids in blindness, how would we then value the blessings of light, which comes every day to quicken the face of Nature, to cheer our hearts, to enable us to meet our lawful employments and to enjoy our ration- al pleasures ! We would remember thy power and wisdom and goodness in this wonderful agent, which ever since that day when thou didst say, " Let there be light, and there was light," has been flooding the firmament and the earth with its heaven-born radiance. But, O God, who didst thus command the light to shine out of darkness, do thou shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And oh, let this Dayspring from on high give light to all that sit in darkness, and to all that dwell in the shadow of death, that it may guide their feet also in the path of peace. O Lord, we thank thee for our daily bread. If we have murmured at its quality, or if we have been impatient at the toil or care necessary on our part in seeking it, or if we have received it without gratitude, forgive us, and grant us a spirit of humble contentment and patient perseverance and grateful enjoyment Bestow thy blessing upon our food, that it may give us health and 2/6 HOME WORSHIP. strength. May we use the vigor derived from it to do thy will. But give us, Lord, that bread that cometh down from heaven. Let thy Spirit nourish us with the food that angels eat, that so we may. grow in grace and attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Lord, minister to the wants of the poor, and abate and remove those vices and evils which impoverish the people, and give the competence of honest and frugal industry to all. Break thou the bread of life to those who are perishing for lack of knowledge, and feed the nations with that heav- enly manna of which, if a man eat, he shall live for ever. O Lord, we thank thee for the social intercourse of this day, whether enjoyed at home or abroad. We bless thee for that constitution of our nature by which our spirits are quickened and our hearts are refreshed and all our toils lightened and all our griefs soothed by the kind eye and sympa- thizing voice and helping hand of our fellow- creatures. We thank thee that we have not been bred in the monastery or cloister, but can seek freely the lawful fellowship of those who can re- joice with our gladness and mourn with our sor- row and help us in our common need. Lord, suf- fer us not to pervert this provision of thy mercy. Let it everywhere and continually be a ministry of love, which even in every common and secular avocation of life shall work no ill to a neighbor, NIGHT. 277 but, contrariwise, blessing, and which wil. make the fellowship of thy children here a foretaste of the peaceful communion of the just made perfect. Lord, we thank thee for the duties of this day. We desire not to spend our time in idleness, cor- rupting and unprofitable to ourselves and useless to others, but in lawful employments, which will give us mental and physical energy and diffuse well-being around us. Let thy blessing, O God, abide on the work of our hands this day. Where- in we have done amiss, forgive ; and grant that we may gather wisdom from all our errors, and also from our sins. Give the health and strength requisite for all the duties that lie before us in the pathways of life, and suffer not all our industry to be engrossed by secular toils, but may we seek and find opportunities for doing God service in the higher and nobler duties of religious effort. And in all that we undertake endue us with power from on high and make thy strength perfect in our weakness. O Lord, let these thoughts of our hearts and words of our mouths be acceptable in thy sight through Christ, our Advocate, and to the Three that bear record in heaven shall be the glory and honor for ever. Amen. 2/8 HOME WORSHIP. FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY. GREAT GOD, we come again to thy mercy-seat to seek thy blessing. We praise thee that thou art never weary with prayer, but that thou givest liberally and upbraidest not. Oh, let our desires now and ever find acceptance and favor through our Lord Jesus. We humbly pray thee, O God, to increase our faith. Thou hast taught us that without this grace it is impossible to please thee, and that he who cometh unto thee must believe that thou art, and that thou art a Rewarder of them that diligently seek thee. Oh that we could endure as seeing Him that is invisible and live under a steadfast conviction that thou, God, seest us. We desire, too, to live by the faith of the Son of God, be- lieving in him as God manifest in the flesh, and making his offices of prophet, priest and king the objects of our delight and confidence. We would trust thee in every dispensation of thy providence, knowing that the very hairs of our head are all numbered, that every measure of tem- poral prosperity or adversity is under thy control, and that, though thou mayest cast a blight on our worldly hopes, it is still our privilege and our duty to rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of our salvation. Oh that we might walk by faith, not by sight, feeling the power of the FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY. 279 world to come ; even in this tabernacle groaning, being burdened ; not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon ; that mortality might be swal- lowed up of life ; and always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord, O Lord, we pray thee to impart saving faith to all men. Let none of those who profess thy name falter in their duty or stagger at thy promises through unbelief. And may those who are now walking according to the course of this world, minding earthly things, be led to set their affections on things that are heavenly and divine, laying up treasures in heaven that their hearts may be there also. O Lord, increase our hope. Yet we desire that it may be built only upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone. Enable us to look upon our carnal nature as enmity against God, and to confess that in our natural state we were aliens and rebels, who deserved to be cast out of thy presence, and to have our portion where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Ex r ery hope of pardon and acceptance and blessing we would base on the gift of thy Son, assured that no acts of penitence or obedience on our part can estab- lish any claim to the annulling of that penalty which was due to us for our sins, or any title to the inheritance on high, and that it is only by his righteousness imputed to us in the exercise 280 HOME WORSHIP. of faith we can expect the forgiveness of sin and bestowment of salvation. And oh, may thy Spirit bear witness with our spirits that we are thy children. Give every believer the assur- ance of hope unto the end. And oh, let many of those who are now leaning on the reeds of earth and feeding their wishes with the perishing expectations of this world seek the certain and satisfying and enduring hope of the gospel. O Lord, increase our love. Oh, may our hearts go after thee in all their fullness for the matchless perfections of thy character ; for whom can we have in heaven but thee ? and there is none on earth that we may desire besides thee. We would love thee for thy works, which thou hast made in wisdom and ordained in mercy, and for thy ways, in which thou makest all things work together for our good, and for thy word, which is able to make us wise unto salvation, and for thine ordi- nances, where we can sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Oh, give us communion of spirit with thee, the Father of spirits, that as the hart pants for the water-brook our souls may pant after thee, and as the parched earth drinks in the rain which cometh from heaven, so our spirits may receive the gifts of thy heavenly and life- giving presence. Oh that we could continually say the Lord is our portion. Lord, make us kin lly-affectioned in brotherly love to those that are of the household of faith, seeking in them GOD. : ? : the image of Christ, cherishing them as the dis- ciples of Jesus, and laboring and praying that their righteousness may go forth as brightness and their salvation as a lamp that burnetb. Oh, if God so loved the world as to send his Son to be the propitiation for our sins, we ought also to love one another. Lord, inspire our hearts with good-will and affection to all mankind. May all men desire and seek the temporal and spiritual welfare of all mankind, that so they may be like our Father in heaven, who sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust. O Lord, if thou grant us these blessings through Jesus Christ, glorify thyself in them. Amen. GOD. "GLORIOUS is HOLINESS, FEARFTI. is PRAISES, DOING WONDERS/' Ex. XT. n. O GOD, behold our shield and look upon the face of thine anointed, for our strength is weak- ness and our righteousness filthy rags. Oh, give us in this season of our communion with thee those adoring sentiments and hallowed desires which befit us in view of thy spotless purity and exalted greatness and mighty power. O Lord, thou art glorious in holiness. Even the heavens are not pure in thy sight, and thou 282 HOME WORSHIP. chargest thine angels with folly. Blessed God, teach us the beauty of thy holiness, for it is the life and perfection of thy character. May we be- hold it in all thy ways in thy providence, by which thou art seeking to make us partakers of thy purity; in thy grace, which teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts ; in the gift of Jesus, who came to save us from the guilt and dominion of sin ; in thy truth, by which we are sanctified ; in the work of thy Spirit, by which we are baptized unto righteousness ; and in the awful decisions of the last day, when the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment and the righteous into life eternal. O Lord, let a sense of thy holiness awe and control our spirits. Let a conviction of thy sinless perfection keep us humble and reverent and obedi- ent in thy sight, that we may continually die unto sin and live unto righteousness, and that, be- holding as in a glass the glory of this attribute, we may be changed into the same image from glory to glory. And, O Lord, give to sinners such a perception of thy holiness as shall lead them to confess, "Guilty and unclean;" such as shall bring them to thee with the supplication, " God, be merciful to us sinners." O Lord, thou art fearful in praises. Thou art glorious in all that thou art and in all that thou doest. The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. From everlasting to everlasting thou art COD. 283 God. With thee there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Thou art infinitely more exalted above us than we are above the smallest insect. Lord, thou knowest all things, the only wise God, wonderful in counsel and infinite in knowledge. Thou art able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can think. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold eviL Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. The works of nature, the movements of provi- dence and the plan of redemption are full of thy goodness. Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Lo ! all thy ways are perfect. Lord, give us such adoring views of thy character as shah* be preludes of that praise which fills the courts of heaven. May we often set our feeble and corrupt powers in contrast with thine infinite and spotless perfections, that we may take onr place in the dust before thee and magnify thy great and glorious name. And, O Lord, give the thoughtless and gainsaying and blaspheming such views of thine excellent greatness as shall turn all their indifference and enmity and pro- fanity to praise. Lord, thou doest great things past finding out and wonders without number. Of old thou didst lay the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. Thou didst speak, and it was done; thou didst command, and it stood fast. Nor has there been any intermission 284 HOME WORSHIP. of thy power from then until now, for thou hast preserved and governed and upheld all things, doing also thy pleasure in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth, no creature being able to stay thy hand or say unto thee, "What doest thou?" Lord, make us humble in the infinite contrast between our helplessness and thy might, and give us sentiments of holy fear in view of this attribute, for thou hast power to destroy both body and soul in hell for ever. Oh, make us the willing subjects of thy power, binding us to thee by the cords of thy love and making thy will the sovereign arbiter of all our desires and purposes and actions. And, O Lord, show the power of thy grace upon the hearts of the ungodly, turning them as thou turnest the rivers of water, and they shall be turned. Great God, perfect thy plans and purposes of holiness, praise and power by speedily redeeming man everywhere from his apostasy in all its forms, and restoring his dishonored and depraved and ruined nature to that primitive state wherein he was created in knowledge, righteousness and true holiness. All these blessings we seek in the name of Jesus. Amen. FAITH, KNOWLEDGE, HOPE, ETC. 285 FAITH, KNOWLEDGE, HOPE, LOVE AND ZEAL. GRACIOUS GOD, we invoke, in the name of Jesus, thy life-giving presence. Vouchsafe unto us those spiritual favors which thou seest we need, and the possession and enjoyment of which will make us more like thee and better qualified for every duty incumbent on us. Strengthen our faith. Oh that we could shake off the fetters of unbelief which bind us to the things of sense, and mount up as on eagle's wings above the entanglements of flesh and sin and rejoice in the unclouded light of thy life- giving countenance. Give our spirits, Lord, a continual perception of thee as over all, God blessed for ever, for according to our faith shall be thy mercy to us. Oh, let us not dishonor thee nor provoke thy wrath nor alienate thy favor by want of trust in thee. Thou hast all the power and wisdom and goodness on which confidence can repose, and thou hast given us the indubitable promise that whosoever cometh unto thee thou wilt in no wise cast out. Lord, we believe ; help thou our unbelief. O Lord, increase our knowledge. Thou hast given us memory and reason, thus endowing us above the brutes that perish, and making us com- petent to learn thy will and glorify thee in the exercises of rational and immortal natures. But 286 HOME WORSHIP. oh, our self-sought wisdom is folly, and without heavenly teaching we shall still abide in darkness or wander in error. Lord, teach us. Reveal to us thy character, for to know thee is eternal life. Open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of thy law, and let thy Spirit pour light over thy ways, that in prosperity we may acknowledge thee and in adversity be still and know that thou art God. Lord, help us to con- secrate every acquisition of truth to thee, and in all our pursuits of saving knowledge and in aU our rejoicings over increasing light may we strive to make everything subservient to thy will and promotive of thy glory. O Lord, elevate our hope. Oh, let us not be governed by desires for sensual pleasure which palls upon the appetite, nor for earthly riches which thieves may steal or the elements may destroy, nor for worldly fame, a crown of thorns to those who gain it, and which is too often purchased at the expense of principle. But oh, lift up our hopes to that spiritual pleas- ure and those abiding riches and that untarnished honor which are at thy right hand for evermore. Show our souls the contrast between earth and heaven until we spurn the finite and cleave to the infinite. Yet let all our hopes of heaven spring from the atonement of Jesus, by whom only we can have redemption from the penalty of sin, by whom only we can be reconciled to FAITH, KNOWLEDGE, HOPE, ETC. 287 God, by whom only we can receive the inher- itance of the saints in light, for there is no other name given under heaven among men whereby we can be saved. O Lord, inflame our love. Oh that thy good- will to us in the bounties of thy providence might win our affections to thee. Oh that thy goodness to us in thy protecting and sparing mercy and directing wisdom might draw us to thee with cords as the bands of a man. Oh that thy love to us in the gift of thy Son that matchless gift might bind us to thee in a cove- nant never to be broken. But oh, thou art infi- nitely worthy of our strongest and liveliest and most enduring affection for what thou art in thyself, glorious in holiness, justice and faithful- ness. There is nothing on earth worthy for one moment to supplant thee, nor in heaven to eclipse thee. Yet our hearts are not thine as they should be, and we often suffer the creature to usurp the place of the Creator. O God, rebuke our languid affections and bid us love thee with all the heart. O Lord, quicken our zeal. Let us not confer with flesh and blood in reference to the claims of duty. Give us that cheerful obedience which will make thy yoke easy and thy burden light Make us zealous of good works, for thou hast com- manded us to go and bring forth fruit, and herein is our Father glorified that we should bear much fruit. Oh, may the abounding transgression and 288 HOME WORSHIP. abasing guilt and impending danger of sinners excite us to works of faith and labors of love. Not that we would ever arrogate to ourselves the ability to save souls, but that we may be used as humble instruments of righteousness in thy hands to save some that are ready to perish. Gracious God, give these our unworthy peti- tions acceptance through Jesus Christ our Re- deemer and Intercessor. Amen. THE LA w AND THE GOSPEL. GRACIOUS GOD, who hearest the thanksgivings and answerest the supplications of all thy needy creatures when they are offered in the name of thy Son, give us again gracious audience at thy mercy-seat in his merits and intercession. We thank thee, great God, for that law of Nature impressed on our consciences by which we are left without excuse in the transgression of thy will. But we would praise thee still more that thou hast given us the law of thy word to convince us of sin, to warn and restrain us, and to lead us in the ways which are well-pleasing in thy sight. Thy commandment, O Lord, is holy, just and good. Till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law until all be fulfilled. THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. 289 Incline us, O Lord, to take heed to our ways according to thy word. Open thou our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Let thy testimonies be our delight and our coun- selors and songs in the house of our pilgrimage, and the daily monitors of our conduct May we make thy will our meditation in the day and our remembrance in the night. Make it a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, and do thou incline our hearts to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end. Impress deeply on our minds the solemn truth that whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all. O Lord, make thy law the sword of thy Spirit in thy dealings with the impenitent May it awaken and alarm their consciences, enlighten and convince their minds and persuade and sanc- tify their wills, so that they may be born, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible ; by the word of God, that liveth and abideth for ever. Heavenly Father, let not our regard for thy commandment create in us a spirit of self-right- eousness, for in the trial of thy justice every mouth shall be stopped and all the world become guilty before God. Make it a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, our only hope of justification. May we remember that while it is the rule of our obedience, it is not the plan of our salvation. He who came to fulfill it is himself the end of 19 290 HOME WORSHIP. the law for righteousness to every one that be- lieveth. Assist us, therefore, gracious Jehovah, to under- stand and love and obey the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We would magnify the riches of thy mercy, which devised these glad tidings of great joy to all people. We would praise thee that thou didst send it in due time in all its fullness of grace and truth, life and immor- tality. It was not because we deserved thy favor, or even sought thy mercy, but because thou didst pity our lost condition. We praise thee that it is offered without money and without price, and that whosoever will may take of the waters of life freely. We bless thy name that it has brought light for the benighted, joy for the mourner, lib- erty for the captive, rest for the heavy-laden, plenty for the. destitute, pardon for the condemned, purity for the unholy, life for the dead, and the hope of salvation for the heirs of perdition. O Lord, help us to lay hold of the hope set be- fore us in the gospel. May we receive it as the only savor of life unto life. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, but may we glory in it as the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. May it teach us to deny ungodliness and to live righteously in thy sight. Make it the instrument of building us up in saving knowledge, holy love and willing obedience to the praise of Jesus. THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. 29! O God, make the impenitent feel that they can- not escape thy wrath if they neglect this great salvation. May it bring them from being strangers and foreigners to be fellow-citizens of the house- hold of faith. May it turn their carnal minds from their enmity unto peace with God, and re- lease them, in justification by faith, from that wrath of God which now abideth on them. Bless- ed Saviour, call them from darkness unto mar- velous light, free them from the bondage of sin, and cause them to stand fast in the liberty wherewith thou makest thy servants free. Lord, may the kingdom of thy gospel come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Multiply the number of those who shall run to and fro increasing knowledge. Make the reading, but especially the preaching, of thy word an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners. Strengthen the minds and sanctify the wills and increase the zeal of thy people. Send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, and make thy people willing in the day of thy power, and may converts be multiplied to them as drops of dew in the morning. O God, redeem thy promise that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord, to the praise of God the Father. Amen. 2p2 HOME WORSHIP. PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY. O LORD, thy kingdom ruleth over all. Every vicissitude of life is at thy control. Thou givest and takest away: blessed be the name of the Lord ! Great Sovereign of human destinies, do thou qualify us, we beseech thee, in the name of Jesus, for those changes which await us in our pilgrimage through earth. Suffer us not to be anxious for worldly pros- perity. Oh, let us not forget its fearful dangers how often it leads the soul away in forgetful- ness and ingratitude from God, how it binds the heart in the fetters of worldly conformity and self-indulgence, how it nourishes pride, indolence and unfeelingness, and palsies faith, zeal and prayer. O Lord, if it please thee to bestow abundance upon us, enable us to use it, not in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, but for thy glory and the good of man. If riches increase, let us not set our hearts upon them. Make us willing to surrender them at thy call. May we remember that the duration of them must be short at best, that their pleasures are mixed with vanity and vexa- tion of spirit, and that thou wilt judge us accord- ing to the multitude of thy bounties. Oh, give us such views of thy better inheritance as shall preserve us from the evils of worldly prosperity. Give such strength to our hopes of the eternal PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY. 293 weight of glory that all the enjoyments of earth shall be barren and tasteless in the infinite con- trast Heavenly Father, let us not be envious nor rebellious when we see the prosperity of the wicked. Surely thou hast set them in slippery places. They that will be rich fall into tempta- tions and snares, and into many foolish and hurt- ful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? God of beneficence, enlarge the souls of those on whom thou hast bestowed plenty. May they bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits. Make them rich in good works and ready to distribute according as thou hast prospered them. Teach them that the silver and the gold are thine, and make them the stewards of thy bounty willing instruments in sustaining and enlarging every work of faith and every labor of love. Oh, give them grace to lay up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal. But, O God, prepare us for encountering the adversities of life, which we may not hope to escape, for they are the lot of all flesh. In the time of trouble hide us in thy pavilion, O Lord. Support or deliver us in poverty, in sickness, in pain, in bereavement, in disappointment, in per- secution, in sorrow, in reproach. Let the trial 294 HOME WORSHIP. of our faith in all these work patience and holi- ness. May we endure as seeing Him who is invisible, and so repose on thy wisdom and goodness that we may say, " Thy will be done ; do with us as seemeth good in thy sight. Thou givest and takest away : blessed be the name of the Lord !" Though thy judgments are unsearch- able and thy ways past finding out, we know that thou art too wise to err, for thine understanding is infinite ; thou art too good to be unkind, for thou dost not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men yea, whom thou lovest thou chastenest, and scourgest every child whom thou receivest. Lord, cause our judgments and hearts and wills to approve of every measure of thy correcting and reclaiming love. Lord, sanctify us in every form of trial we may be called to endure. May we behold thy hand in it, and confess that our sins deserve it and acknowledge that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted us. May we then remember our mer- cies, for the days of our comfort have far out- numbered the hours of our sorrow ; that our griefs are not peculiar to us, for they are the heritage of our nature ; that they are not mere accidents in life, for thou doest all things ; and that we are not called to suffer them alone, for thou hast said, " I will never leave nor forsake thee." Thy rod and staff shall comfort us even in the valley and shadow of death. LOVE. 295 O God, grant that all who suffer affliction may be so influenced by it as to reap the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Let none despise thy chastenings nor faint when they are rebuked of thee. May thy people be brought out from them as gold that is tried in the furnace. And may sinners be thus led to repent and forsake the error of their ways. Lord, glorify thyself in all the classes and con- ditions of human life for Christ's sake. Amen. LOVE. GRACIOUS GOD, thou art uncreated, infinite and everlasting love. Thou art good and thou lovest to do good. Thy tender mercies are over all thy works and thy goodness is seen in all thy ways. But thou hast most commended thy love to us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us. We would praise thee, Lord, for the common and special benefits of thy provi- dence, and for that wise arrangement of the laws of nature which promotes the happiness and well- being of thy creatures, yet we would offer thee loftier strains of praise and stronger feelings of gratitude for thy compassion to our souls in revealing thy will, in teaching us the issues of eternity, and in bestowing thy Spirit to convince 296 HOME WORSHIP. us of sin, to enlighten our minds in the know- ledge of truth, and to persuade us to accept the plan of salvation. Forbid it, O God, that we should ever forget or undervalue thy past favors, or that we should doubt thy suretyship of com- passion for the future. And, O God, continue thy loving- kindness in all its fullness and value and perpetuity. O Lord, why should there be any so carnally- minded as to be enmity against thee, the God of love ? Show them their base ingratitude. Give them such a sense of thy goodness as shall lead them to repentance. May they learn that this world has no charms that will compare with that full tide of affection which flows from the heart of God to those that put their trust in him and make their covenant with him by sacrifice. But, O God, whilst thou art loving us and do- ing us good, draw forth our affections in fullness and power to thee. Besides the claim thy good- ness has on our hearts, thou art worthy in thy nature of every tribute we can pay thee. Lo ! thou art perfect in every attribute of thy cha- racter. No ignorance impairs thy wisdom, no error perverts thy justice, no falsehood clouds thy truth, no spot tarnishes thy holiness. O Thou who art infinitely lovely, be thou our Alpha and Omega, our morning praise, our noonday thought, our evening prayer and our waking meditation. LOVE. 297 Blessed Jesus, help us to love thee with the whole heart. May we cherish the memory of thine example and instructions, thy good-will and promises, as the dearest objects of thought And may these sentiments of our souls urge us to ad- vance thy glory, to desire to be conformed to thine image, to seek communion with thee, and to love thy house, thine ordinances and thy people. Gracious God, may thy people bring thee the full tribute of their hearts. Let the constant bearing of their thoughts be unto thee and to the remembrance of thy name. Fill their hearts with gratitude to thee, and lead them to seek thee with delight in all the exercises of religious duty. And, Lord, bring those who hate thee to esteem and desire thee as their chief good. Oh, cast out their selfishness and aversion, and take the dominion of their hearts in all their wishes and purposes, that they may be able to say the Lord is their portion and his love the fullness of their joy. O Lord, while we would seek thine enriching favor and would love thee with all our mind, give us grace to love our neighbor as ourselves. Let no jealousy or selfishness or anger or malice lead us to forget that all men are our brethren. Thou makest the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and thou sendest rain on the just and on the unjust Why, then, should we shut up our 298 HOME WORSHIP. compassions from any that are our fellow-crea- tures ? Oh, help us to feel for every want and to sympathize with every woe that afflicts humanity. And we pray thee to dispose us in benevolence of heart to do what we can to dry up the foun- tains of human misery and to multiply the sources of man's real happiness. O Lord, incline us to love the souls of men. May we have strong pity for those who are thoughtlessly or willfully destroying their eternal peace, and may we seek to bring them under the influences of the gospel. Grant us that spirit which seeketh not her own and is not easily pro- voked and that rejoiceth in the truth. Cause us to abound in good-will to the brotherhood of faith, and to be kindly-affectioned toward them in broth- erly love. May we seek their fellowship and be glad in their prosperity and make common cause with them in their lawful interests. Lord, give us the love of benevolence toward everything that is capable of happiness or misery, and the affec- tion of complacency toward every creature pos- sessed of holiness. O merciful God, we beseech thee for Christ's sake to pardon all our neglect of these duties and our transgressions of every kind, and glorify thy self in our everlasting salvation. Amen. THE AFFLICTED. 299 THE AFFLICTED. O THOU that givest us both the grace and the answer of prayer, assist us in our feeble suppli- cations, and grant us for Jesus' sake those bless- ings which we should ever seek as the gifts of thy mercy. We would come to thee at this time forgetting our own wants and seeking thy favor in behalf of the sons and daughters of affliction. We thank thee for the exhortation of thy word to make intercession for all men, and for those examples of supplication for others with which it abounds, and for its promises to effectual fer- vent prayer. Oh that all our entreaties may be made prevalent by the advocacy of Him whom thou always hearest and in whom thou art ever well pleased. Lord, pity and bless the poor. Soothe and re- lieve their wants. Protect them from oppression. Save them from the vices which so often accom- pany their lot. Raise up friends who shall feel for their wants and supply their necessities. May thy people especially remember that he that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord, who him- self had not where to lay his head, and who looks upon these stricken ones as his representatives on the earth. Though thou hast said that the poor shall never cease out of the earth, yet do thou abate the sorrows and remove the painful evils which so often beset their condition, and make 300 HOME WORSHIP. multitudes rich in faith toward God and in the hope of salvation. O Lord, pity and bless the sick. May they be led to reflect that disease is a mournful proof of human transgression. May they look upon their affliction as the light recompense of their in- iquities and as the discipline of thy hand, which will either prepare them for better service on earth and nobler enjoyment in heaven, or for greater ' hardness of heart in this world and deeper con- demnation in the world to come. Lord, relieve their pains or give them grace to bear them with an enduring patience. Let them not despise thy chastenings nor faint at thy rebukes. Incline them to renounce every earthly hope, to feel that all the issues of life are in thy hand, and so to consecrate themselves to thee that whether living or dying they may be the Lord's. Lord, pity and bless those who labor under per- sonal infirmities the blind, the lame, the dumb, the deaf and the lunatic. Alas that these wit- nesses and fruits of our lost estate should abound in the earth, and which, if man had not fallen, would have been unknown ! Avert poverty and reproach and accident and evil treatment from these smitten ones. Draw around them the sym- pathies of all who are exempt from these evils. Smooth in every way their paths over the rugged mazes of life. Lord, bless those public charities which seek to ameliorate and remove these ca- THE AFFLICTED. 3OI lamities of life. And if it please thee, give wis- dom to devise such modes of cure as shall greatly lessen or entirely remove these afflictions from the earth. Lord, pity and bless the bereaved those whom thou hast smitten with the loss of cherished friends, and whose hearts are bleeding with the rupture of endearing ties. Let them not rebel against thy will nor provoke thee by excessive grief. Shall they receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall they not receive evil ? Enable them to kiss the rod, and to confide in that wis- dom which inflicts its blows and in that goodness which will overrule it for mercy. Oh, bind up the broken-hearted, and let their afflictions be sanctified to them for their everlasting good. O Lord, teach us that all these afflictions are the fruits of sin, which brought death into the world, and all its woes. We confess that we are partakers of that depravity which we have con- firmed by manifold actual transgressions. Lo ! sin is earth's worst affliction, and its removal would be earth's best benediction. We bless thee for Jesus as the Saviour of sinners, and that as the High Priest he saves them from their sins. Make us partakers, O Lord, in its fullest extent of that salvation. Increase continually and great- ly the number of those who, redeemed from the guilt and condemnation of sin, shall be made new creatures in Christ Jesus, and who, though stil 1 302 HOME WORSHIP. liable in this world to the afflictions which spring from sin, shall find thereby every woe lightened and every blessing of earth enhanced. Lord, we thank thee for whatever exemption we may enjoy from these evils of life. Let us never forget the sympathy and help due by us to those who suffer them. And, God, grant that we may devote ourselves, with all our privileges and benefits, to thy service through Jesus Christ. Amen. EXAMPLE OF CHRIST. GREAT GOD, we would come to thee in the name of Jesus with the prayerful inquiry, " Lord, what wilt thou have us to do ?" We thank thee for those revelations of duty which thou hast given us in the precepts of thy word, which are as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. But we bless thee that thou hast given us an example of godliness in the character of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin, and who has left us the record of his life with the admonition that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his, and the commandment that we ought to walk even as he walked. And we have come to thee, gracious Lord, at this time with the sup- EXAMPLE OF CHRIST. 303 plication that the Same mind which was in Christ may be also in us, that we of his fullness may receive, and grace for grace. Lord, vouchsafe unto us the spirit of meekness. He had wherewith to glorify himself, but made himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant But we have nothing of which to boast, for we are ignorant, helpless and sinful. Oh that we would remember, when we are tempted to the exercise of a violent or over- bearing or haughty temper, how Christ humbled himself, enduring the contradiction of sinners. Teach us what we are in the infinite contrast with Jesus, and may we find rest for our souls in learning of Him who was meek and lowly of heart. O Lord, bestow on us his spirit of forgiveness. Though he could have called legions of angels for the punishment of his enemies, yet he endured their reproach and persecution, and even in the agonies of death prayed for his murderers, saying, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." May we remember the prayer he taught his disciples, " Forgive us our trespasses, even as we forgive those who trespass against us." Alas ! how often do we need forgiveness from others for our offences against them ! O Lord, though we suffer wrong and injury from men, let us not return evil for evil, but, contrari- wise, blessing. 304 HOME WORSHIP. Lord, vouchsafe unto us his spirit of patience. When he suffered, he committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously; when he was reviled, he reviled not again. Oh, let that grace have its perfect work in our hearts in all the trials of life, subduing every peevish and discontented feeling and giving us a peaceful and contented mind. Oh that we might run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. O Lord, give us his spirit of prayer. Though he needed no forgiveness, because he did no sin, yet cold mountains and the midnight air witnessed his fervent supplications for help to bear his mediatorial toils for a perishing world. And he has taught us by his example, as well as by pre- cept and parable and promise, that we ought al- ways to pray and not to faint. Lord, teach us to pray. We need thy help ; thou art ready to sup- ply all our wants, and all that thou requirest is that we should feel our need and acknowledge thy power and confide in thy love. Oh, make us feel our dependence, and that thou art able to save unto the uttermost all who come to thee by Christ, and that thou art more ready to give us good gifts than we are to ask them. Lord, grant us his spirit of obedience. It was his meat and his drink to do his Father's will. Oh that it may be ours also. May we remember his warning that no man can serve two masters. COUNSEL, PROTECTION, ETC. 305 May we, therefore, give our allegiance wholly to God, avoiding whatever thou hast forbidden, do- ing whatever thou hast commanded, plucking out the right eye, cutting off the right hand, sacrifi- cing property, reputation, friendship, and life itself if needs be, to conform to thy will. And, O Lord, imbue our hearts with his spirit of love to man. This brought him from the courts of heaven to abide on earth, that we through his poverty might be made rich, and while he dwelt with men he went about doing good, and even while we were sinners Christ died for us. Oh that we might have the spirit of his gospel good-will to man. May we look upon the human family as our brethren, and shun every- thing that would increase the griefs and woes \\ hich afflict mankind, and give ourselves heartily to every measure which will lessen them and in- crease the happiness and well-being of our race. O God, may we ever remember that, however much we may strive to imitate Jesus, we will still need forgiveness through his death. May that re- mission be now extended to us, and thine. Father, Son and Spirit, shall be the praise. Amen. COUNSEL, PROTECTION, BOUNTY AND GRACE. LORD, remember unto us the word upon which thou hast caused us to hope, that thou art plen- 20 306 HOME WORSHIP. teous in mercy to all that call upon thee. We would come to thee again with the burden of our wants and necessities, asking, that we may receive ; seeking, that we may find ; knocking, that it may be opened unto us. Lord, guide us by thy counsel. Make us feel the imperfection of our own wisdom and our continual proneness to error, for even in the most simple affairs of life we are liable to go astray, and in those of greater moment we con- tinually err. Alas ! we know not how to select our paths, and we cannot keep them wisely when we would walk in them. Oh, choose for us those employments and walks of life in which thou wouldst have us to go, and order our footsteps in them by thy word and Spirit. It is by thy precepts we get understanding ; thy word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Oh that every device of our judgments and every work of our hands in the every-day business of life might be based on the wisdom of thy word and enlightened and controlled by thine unerring Spirit, so that henceforth our lives shall not be disfigured by foolish devisings and fallible doings, but be as the light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. And, Lord, give the bless- ing of thy directing wisdom unto all men. While the hearts of men would devise their ways, do thou direct their steps, and honor thy wisdom and promote the well-being of mankind COUNSEL, PROTECTION, ETC. 307 by restraining their folly and guiding them in the ways in which they should walk. O Lord, uphold us by thy power. The pulses of life are all at thy control. Thou keepest the springs of sickness and health. Thou canst com- mand or avert the disasters of limb and life which are strewn in the history of human existence. Oh, look with an eye of mercy on us in our helplessness and exposure to the dangers which are about us. Preserve for us the faculties of our minds and the powers of our bodies. Keep us from distracting pain and distressing sickness. Cut us not off as cumberers of the ground ; but if it please thee, lengthen out our span of proba- tion, that we may glorify thee and do good to our fellow-men and complete the work of our salvation by an increasing obedience to thy will. Lord, protect those who are near and dear to us. Let their lives and health and comfort be pre- cious in thy sight. But if it please thee other- wise, either in relation to ourselves or them, give us grace to say, " Thy will be done ;" " Even so be it, for so it seemeth good in thy sight." Lord, supply us by thy bounty. Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns, yet our heavenly Father feedeth them. Thou hast promised that if we trust in the Lord and do good, verily we shall be fed. We would not seek the luxuries of life, but that thou wouldst give us food con- 308 HOME WORSHIP. venient for us, and that thou wouldst grant us a competent portion of the good things of this life, vouchsafing continually thy blessing with them. Nevertheless, while we would feel our dependence on thee for these things and would seek them as the gifts of thy mercy, let us not be unduly anxious what we shall eat or drink or wherewithal we shall be clothed, but commit all our wants to thee, seeking first thy kingdom that all needful mercy, according to thy promise, may be added to it. Lord, look with compassion on the wants of all thy creatures. Give to all their meat in due season. Open thy hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. O Lord, sanctify us by thy grace. However we may need thy counsel to direct us and thy power to uphold us and thy bounty to supply us, we chiefly need the influences of thy Spirit to keep us from sin and lead us into righteousness. Oh, there is a natural proneness in us to sin which has been confirmed and made obstinate by habit- ual transgression, so that those things which conscience and the word and the Spirit teach us we should shun we seek, and those we should do we leave undone. God, be merciful to us sinners. Turn us from the error of our ways. Enable us more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. Let the grace which has brought salvation teach us to deny ungodli- ness. Oh, give us that holiness without which DUTY. 309 no man can see the Lord And oh, do thou teach all men the folly and guilt and danger of sin until they turn from it unto thee with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience. O Lord, blot out all our transgressions and receive us graciously for the Redeemer's sake. Amen. DUTY. IN ITS RELATIONS TO GOD, TO OURSELVES AND TO OTHERS. GRACIOUS GOD, we would come to thee in the spirit of one of old who cried unto thee, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" Oh, it is thine to teach and to quicken. Without thy directing wisdom we shall stray from thy ways like lost sheep. Without thy quickening help we shall fall by the way and perish in our sins. O Lord, do thou therefore teach and quicken us in the duties we owe to thee. Oh, put thy fear within us that wherever we go and whatever we do we may feel that thou, God, seest us. May thine infinite excellences inspire us with such deep humility and fervent adoration that we may continually keep our places in the dust before thee and glorify thee as over all, God blessed for ever. Oh that we might trust thee with an unwavering confidence, regarding thy word as the perfection of truth, and thy ways 310 HOME WORSHIP. as the fullness of wisdom and goodness, and thy mercy-seat as the unfailing fountain of bless- ing to all that diligently seek thee. Oh, set the matchless perfections of thy character in such lovely aspects before us that all the deep and strong affections of our natures may go yearning after thee as their chief good and only enduring enjoyment. And oh, while we would fear and adore and trust and love thee, make us outwardly obedient to thy will. Let none of thy commandments be forgotten or dis- paraged or contemned by us, but may they all be cherished in our memory and conscience and affections, and do thou incline us to perform thy statutes always, even to the end. O Lord, teach and quicken us in those duties we owe to ourselves. Though thou hast taught us we must not be anxious what we shall eat and drink nor wherewithal we shall be clothed, yet, as while we live on the earth we must live of the earth, do thou give us those habits of indus- try and providence and frugality which with thy blessing will raise us above want and procure for us a competent portion of the good things of this life. But may we also and chiefly seek thy kingdom. May each of us settle the questions, Am I in the broad or narrow way? Am I in the bondage of sin or the freedom of grace ? If we are in the way that leads to death and in the bond of iniquity, oh unbind us, and guide us into DUTY. 311 that narrow way that leads to life. Give us that repentance and faith in Christ which will make us new creatures in him. But if we have been transformed by the renewing of our minds, en- able us to make a diligent use of the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communi- cates to believers the benefits of redemption. Oh, let us not, while we have the form of god- liness, be destitute of its lifegiving power. But may the grace which has brought salvation teach us to deny ungodliness, so that, while we cherish the hope of Jesus, we may purify ourselves as he is pure, that as we have borne the image of the earthly we may bear that of the heavenly. May we add to faith virtue, knowledge, temperance and godliness, working out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God that worketh in us. O Lord, teach and quicken us in those duties we owe to others. May we add to godliness brotherly kindness and charity. Make us kindly- affectioned to all, but especially to the brother- hood of faith, even doing good to them that hate us that we may be the children of our Father in heaven, who sends his blessings upon the just and unjust. May even the guilty and criminal enjoy our compassionate benevolence. Give us feeling hearts for all the afflictions which beset mankind, that we may love not in word only, but in deed and in truth. Lord, teach us 312 HOME WORSHIP. that in obeying the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves our compassion and good- will must be excited not only toward the bodies, but the souls, of men. Excite us, therefore, to pray and labor and give for the welfare of Zion, and that sinners of every rank and age and nation may learn their guilt and danger and duty, and be brought in penitence to flee from the wrath to come and seek salvation in the obedience of faith. Oh that all men would fear and praise and trust and love and obey God, seeking a personal interest in the covenant of mercy, and doing good to the souls and bodies of men that thy name may be glorified in Christ Jesus. Amen. THE SOUL. IN ITS FACULTIES OF MEMORY, REASON, CONSCIENCE AND WILL. O LORD, we bless thee that we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but one that was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. May we there- fore come boldly to a throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in every hour of need. We thank thee that thou hast made us above THE SOUL, 3*3 the brutes that perish, and we would come to thee for wisdom to appreciate and for grace to use the noble faculties of immortal mind with which thou hast endowed us. Oh, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? What shall it profit him if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? We thank thee for the gift of memory. It is the storehouse of knowledge and comfort, the spring of repentance and hope, the monitor of thankfulness and faith. Oh that it might retain only that which is good and be purged of all that is evil. Let it be full of Him who is the way, the truth and the life. Enable us to remember thee, our Creator, and all thine excellent mercies. Give us an indelible impres- sion of the doctrines, precepts, warnings and prom- ises of thy word. Make us mindful of our transgressions and let our sin be ever before us. Enable us to bring up in review the promises and covenants we have made to thee, and lead us to pay thee our vows. O God, grant that we may so use this precious talent of memory that we may glorify thee in our body and spirit, which are thine. O Lord, we thank thee for the gift of reason. It is the inspiration of the Almighty that giveth understanding. Thou hast made us to differ from the irrational creation, bestowing on us a nobler nature and a higher destiny. Lord, bless 3 H HOME WORSHIP. us in the exercises of our reason. Oh, let it not be impaired nor subverted by anxious care or by debasing sin or by tormenting disease. Preserve it from error and infidelity. Bring it ever into submission to thy will, whether expressed in thy works or thy ways, and however inscrutable it may be to human wisdom. Teach us our mental weaknesses, that we may not lean on our own under- standing, but trust in the living God. Lead us to the acquisition of useful knowledge, and especially of that wisdom that cometh down from above, that we may have the spirit of wisdom and reve- lation in the knowledge of Christ, that, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, we may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. O Lord, we thank thee for the endowment of conscience. Thou hast by this gift left us with- out excuse if we transgress thy will, putting it into our breasts as thy representative in the hu- man soul to excite us in well-doing and to warn us against sin and to reproach us for disobedience. But we thank thee that thou hast given it light and energy by thy word and Spirit ; and when we had stupefied and hardened it by transgression, thou hast taught and quickened it. Oh that thy truth and Spirit may still teach and quicken it more and more, that it may ever be ready to discern evil and faithful to warn us against sin THE SOUL. 315 and prompt to rebuke us for transgression. Oh that we might have a conscience void of offence toward God and man, and purged from dead works to serve the living God. Lord, we thank thee for the faculty of our will, by which we may choose between good and evil, cleaving to the one and rejecting the other. Oh, make it submissive and obedient to thee, so that in every trial and duty of life we may say, " Thy will be done." Forgive us when we forget or forsake or contend against thy holy pleasure, and enable us to make that the standard and law of our purposes and conduct. Lord, sanctify in us this faculty of our nature, giving it the strength and purity it enjoyed when thou didst first send forth man from thy creating power in thine own blessed image. O Lord, teach all men the worth of the soul. Oh, let none forget its precious undying interests. Draw them by the words of thy love or drive them by the terrors of thy law, win them by heavenly joys or alarm them by endless woes, until they make their peace with thee ere the precious redemption of the soul ceaseth for ever. These petitions we offer in the name of Jesus, unto whom, with the Father and the Spirit, be honor and dominion for ever. Amen. 316 HOME WORSHIP. REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION. O LORD, we would come to thee with the filial penitence of the prodigal son, confessing that we have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight, and with the contrite supplication of the publican saying, " God, be merciful to us sinners." Blessed be thy name ! thou givest freely of the bread of life to them that seek thy fullness, and thou liftest up even to the kingdom of heaven those that are poor in spirit, and thou bestowest a father's blessing on every returning wanderer. But oh, as no plea drawn from ourselves is enough of itself to secure thy favor, may our homeless and abject souls find it all secured by Him that maketh intercession for all who come unto thee by him. O Lord, give us the spirit of adoption, by which we may cry, Abba, Father ! Alas, alas ! we have wandered from thee, and we have loved to wander. We have used the portion of goods which thou gavest us as though it belonged to us, forgetting that our life and breath and all things were given us by thee. Often we have lived as if we had no heavenly Father to thank for his goodness, no omniscient God to serve with a fervent spirit, no omnipotent Judge to reward us for the deeds done in the body. We joined ourselves to the alien of a far country, but no man gave unto us that which would feed and nourish us. We REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION. 317 sought food for our wants in earthly pleasures, but they were only as husks to our souls. And now we come back crying-, " Why should we perish with hunger, when there is bread enough in our Father's house to spare?" Oh, we thank thee that we feel our wanderings and have been inclined to come back to thee. But, alas! what multitudes still wander from thee! The earth is a vast court of Gentiles, an alien land, full of prodigals, who know not and care not for the glorious robes and abundant plenty and rejoicing gladness of the household of faith. Oh that they might come unto thee naked, bleeding, needy, ashamed, shelterless, that saints may own them as brethren, and angels rejoice that that which is lost is found, and God acknowledge them as children. We renew our cry unto thee, " God, be merciful unto us sinners." Oh, let it not be the confession of the formalist, but the earnest acknowledg- ment of a felt condition not the supplication which moves the lips, but stirs not the heart with a sense of its perilous wants. We cannot plead against our transgression that we have followed only the bias of our sinful nature, for thou hast made us free to choose good, but we have chosen evil. We cannot plead that we have sinned ignorantly, for thou hast given us line upon line and precept upon precept. We cannot plead that our deeds of sin have been 318 HOME WORSHIP. few and our works of uprightness many. Alas ! our righteousness is but filthy rags and our best works are defiled by sin. Lord, we confess that our hearts have been set in us to do evil of our own willingness, that we have loved darkness rather than light, and that our trans- gressions are as the sands for multitude. But we bless thee that thy will is mightier than ours, the dawn of thy grace can chase away the night of our sin, that thy mercy is greater than our iniquity. Turn us from every evil way, make us to love the light though it reprove us, and purge away all our transgressions. And, O God, be merciful to all sinners. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. Oh, may that fear be to them a fountain of life, that the wicked may forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, that he may return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God and he will abundantly pardon. O Lord, we bless thee for the precious history of redemption, that thou hast in all ages been re- storing thy wandering children to the fellowship of thy house and bringing the impenitent to feel and confess their sins and implore thy mercy. Oh, repeat and multiply these trophies of thy grace until they shall be a multitude that no man can number, the malice of hell defeated, the earth renewed with the beauty of paradise, and glory be rendered to God in the highest. Amen. A 000022095