uş. EVENING. GOD, our Heavenly Father, have mercy upon us. Thou knowest our hearts, and how sorely we are tried. Have pity upon us, and bring us into a perfect submission to thy will. Help us always to accept thy will as the highest end and law of life. If flesh and heart are weak, be thou our strength and our portion. Grant to us our daily bread; grant health, and strength, and friends, and all the earthly comforts that we need. But if, in thy richer mercy and thy more comprehensive love, thou seest fit to withdraw thine earthly gifts, -even those most dear and precious to us, help us to bear the loss with patient and thankful submission. Thou, O God, didst give, and thou dost take away, blessed be thy name. Only draw us more closely to thy bosom. Breathe into us the spirit of thy Son, through which we also may be lifted above our earthly griefs, and, in our sorest privations and afflictions, each one of us may say, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. So may each earthly loss become to us a heavenly gain. So may every new trial, through thy grace, which is sufficient for us, refine and purify our hearts, bring us into closer sympathy with thee, and, transforming us more and more into the image of our Lord, prepare us for that world where there shall be no more sorrow nor crying, neither any more pain, and where God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. LV. HELP THOU OUR UNBELIEF. Father! when o'er our trembling hearts When faith in thee almost departs, BULFINCH. Jesus saith unto them, Have faith in God. Take heed, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. For the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Faith must lay our hearts to rest in the will of God, amid all the changes of life and death. - Baxter. I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. But without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that cometh to him must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus saith, According to your faith be it unto you. Trust in the Living God who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those who believe. Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. Lord, increase our faith. Jesus said, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. MORNING. LMIGHTY God, by whose goodness we again behold the morning light, we desire to begin this day with thee. By looking up unto thee in thankful trust, we would assure our souls of thy nearness to us, and renew the joy and peace of believing. Amid all the scenes through which we are called to pass this day, let our minds rest trustingly and peacefully in thee. For every labor and duty may we receive needed strength from on high. Suffer us not to be led into any new temptation, nor be overcome by easily besetting sins. Let no pleasures beguile us into forgetfulness of thee. Let no disappointments cause us for a moment to distrust thy fatherly goodness. Let no irritations provoke us to anger or to fretfulness; and though clouds should gather in our sky, may there be a clear shining of thy light within us. As thou art to be seen in the face of Jesus Christ, yearning with pity and love to the children of men, so may we ever behold thee; and may this blessed manifestation of thy tender compassions awaken in each of our bosoms continual responses of gratitude, submission, and obedience. May no events ever shake our faith in thee, but may our daily experience confirm and establish it more and more. May our walk with thee be so close, that in every step of life we shall feel that thy hand is leading us. Go with us, we beseech thee, through the hours of this day, defending us from the evil; and so rule in our hearts by thy spirit, that, at their close, we may have the testimony of our consciences that we have failed in no duty, and have kept ourselves unspotted from the world. Unite us all to one another in the closest bonds of purity and affection; and may our kindred and friends, wherever their lot is cast, be joint partakers with us in the blessings of thy providence and the riches of thy grace. Hear us, O God, we humbly beseech thee, in these desires and petitions of our hearts, and accept the homage of our unfeigned gratitude, love, and praise, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. EVENING. THOU whose gracious power has this day defended us from evil, and whose precious promise is that thou wilt be the God of those who shall be thy people, make us to be numbered with thy saints, and grant that we may ever be under the guidance of thy Spirit, as we are under the care of thy providence. We thank thee for all the mercies that thou hast bestowed upon us hitherto, and acknowledge that we have not returned unto thee the thanksgiving of obedience as we ought. O Father, let us now feel the fulfilment of the prophet's word, that at evening time it shall be light; and may the clouds that have arisen and hidden thy throne from us now pass away. Sanctify our hearts, and make us so pure that we may see thee, and see all things transfigured in the glorious light of thy presence. Let the unseen things of faith become to us, as they are in truth, things real and eternal; and let the things of time and sense be to us, as they in truth are, unsubstantial and transient. Whensoever, O gracious Father, our eyes become |