to those who here have listened to the voice of duty and have not been disobedient to the heavenly vision. Hear and accept our petitions, we pray thee, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A EVENING. LMIGHTY God, we have always to thank thee for thy kindness, and again we close the day with our grateful prayer. The events of each day reveal anew thy love and care for us. Do not let us trust in our own wisdom or our own strength, but teach us thy way, and make us rest on thy right arm. Show us what we can do each day, that thy kingdom may more quickly come; and with thy Spirit inspire our spirits, that we may do it bravely and cheerfully, as thy children. May the devotions of this hour help to prepare us for tomorrow's duty, help us to stand firmly and labor faithfully. Bless us with thy watchful care as we retire to rest, and may our sleep be peaceful and refreshing. We know that thou wilt hear our prayer, because thou hast promised in thy Son that thou wilt give thy little flock the victory. We come to thee in his name. Amen. XXX. THE LOVE OF GOD. O Source divine, and Life of all, STERLING. We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us. How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. If God be for us, who can be against us? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. The love of men is good, whilst it lasteth; the love of God is better, being everlasting.— Warwick. IN MORNING. N the light of this new day, thou Father of lights and of mercies, we rejoice to behold a new token of thy goodness. While day unto day uttereth speech, may our ears be open to hear, and our hearts to welcome, the glad tidings which heaven and earth are telling of thee. May we learn to see thee in all thy works, and, amid the bountiful gifts of thy Providence, feel more the kindness reaching down to us than the gift which it bestows. May all that is bright and beautiful around us speak to us of thy transcendent goodness, thine unchanging love. May all that is endearing in our friends remind us of a friendship more dear and sacred. Through things seen and temporal may we learn to behold the riches and the glory of thine unseen and eternal kingdom. By the daily consecration of ourselves to thee, by prayer, by devout and holy living, may we experience in our hearts the exceeding richness of thy grace and the tenderness of thy love. May we live on earth lives of thankfulness and praise, and having, each day, finished the work which thou hast given us to do, may we enter into the rest which remaineth for the people of God, through thy great mercy in E bless thee, O God, for all thy gifts, but W most of all for the gift of thyself. We ask for thine help, that we may receive all familiar blessings as from thy bountiful hand; but yet more fervently do we pray that in them we may receive thee, and by them be made to live and move and have our being in thy love. May we thus take our daily bread from thee, and find in it the food alike of the soul and of the body, knowing that we are not to live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God. On thy living and eternal word may we day by day be fed, and do thou graciously give us evermore this heavenly bread. In the things that thou hast made may we seek and enjoy thee, the Maker. May the light be to us the brightness of thy glory, the air the breath of thy spirit, the water the fountain of thy truth, and the worlds the work of thy power. We bless thee for the gift of love, and for the crown of this gift, the faculty of knowing and loving thee. We rejoice that thou hast condescended to draw near to us, thy dependent, waiting creatures, and as the known God, the Father in heaven, to visit us with grace, and to ask to abide with us in thy comforting Spirit. Thou art more ready to bless us than we are to ask thy blessing, and what thy work and thy providence have always signified, thy gospel fully declares, that thou wouldest give thyself to us, the children of men, and make us the children of God. All glory be to thee, the Heavenly Father, for him in whom thy love dwelt and dwells in such unspeakable fulness, Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Saviour. May we love thee in him, and him in thee. Give us, O give us, through him and by thy Spirit, a blessed sense of oneness with thy family on earth and in heaven, that, no longer broken branches, we may abide in the true vine, and, no longer lost sheep, we may be of the one fold and the one Shepherd. Hear us in this our lowly prayer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. |