have done. Do thou forgive us, our Heavenly Fa-. ther; and blot out our iniquities, and give us grace and strength from heaven henceforth to be thy obedient children. We would remember before thee, O God, our mortality. So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Give us grace to realize that we are but sojourners in our earthly homes, and that we must all, sooner or later, follow on after the generations who have gone before us. Help us, O God, we beseech thee, to be faithful and diligent in our appointed sphere of labor and duty during the time allotted to us in this present life, that we may be prepared for the change which awaits us, and ready for our departure at thine own summons. Impress upon our hearts, we beseech thee, a devout sense of the sacredness of the opportunities and privileges which thou art every day granting us, and, as the time is short, teach us how to make a wise use of them in the days or years which remain to us in this world. O God, at this evening hour we would remember before thee our friends and all who have an interest in our hearts, and commend them to thy fatherly care and blessing, and to the teachings of thy Holy Spirit. Bless the whole world, we beseech thee, with a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ; and may the time speedily come when all nations and all people shall render unto thee the homage of obedience and love. And thine shall be the praise forevermore. Amen. VIII. SEEING GOD IN HIS WORKS. Thou art, O God, the life and light MOORE. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. In the face of the sun you may see God's beauty; in the fire you may feel his heat warming; in the water, his gentleness to refresh you: it is the dew of heaven that makes your field give you bread. - Taylor. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold? He stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches. If the works are so perfect, how glorious must be the Maker of them! If the beauty of that which he has created is inexpressibly great, infinitely greater must be that Being who surveys all creation at a single glance.-Sturm. O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. MORNING. The LMIGHTY God, may the gift of a new day waken our hearts to new thoughts of love and praise. We thank thee for the continual revelations of thyself through the works of thy hand. morning is the light of thy smile. The night is the shadow of thy protecting wing. The bounty which supplies our daily returning wants, is the manna which thou dost shower down upon our path. All the gifts of thy Providence are the manifestations of that love which never slumbers nor sleeps. Thou touchest the earth, and it is covered with beauty. Every bush burns with thy presence. Every flower blooms as a fresh token of thy love. Thou settest fast the mountains, and spreadest out the seas as symbols of thy power. Thou crownest the years with thy goodness, and sendest the seedtimes and harvests in unbroken succession, to be the constant proofs of thy unchangeable mercy. Heaven and earth show forth thy loving-kindness, and declare thy righteousness. O God, teach us how to read this book of thy love. Send the spirit of Jesus, thy Son, into our hearts, to open our eyes, and unloose the seals. While we see in the splendors of the firmament the disclosures of thy eternal power and Godhead, may we look upon each lily of the field as a symbol of the love which visits every smallest thing, the grace that waits to bless every humble heart. Give us an ear to hear day unto day uttering speech, and night unto night showing forth the knowledge of thee, until the whole world shall seem to be filled with thy praise. And yet, O God, while we learn to see thee in thy works, teach us to feel that all this grandeur and beauty cannot fully reveal thy love. The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. The universe can only give a shadow of thy power and thy mercy. Give to us a perpetual sense of the higher glories of the Holy of Holies, in thy more immediate presence, while we stand here in the outer courts of our Father's house. May the spirit of Him who came to be the express image of thy person, the incarnation of thy love, make us now the sons of God, and prepare us for that higher world where we know not what we shall be, but in which we shall see thee as thou art for evermore. Hear, forgive, accept us, as disciples of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. EVENING. THOU Infinite Spirit, whose creative power and wisdom are revealed in the order and beauty of the universe, filled with grateful wonder at the spectacle of thy works, we worship thee. May our eyes be unsealed to trace more of thy ways in the beneficent arrangements and marvels of nature. And whatever we see of sublimity, loveliness, or blessed adaptation, may it be a symbol to carry our adoring thoughts up to thee. Thus may we walk in the world as in a sacred temple, filled with thy presence, and use all its scenery and phenomena as types and hints through which to commune with the omnipresent Divinity, and discern the indications of his will. We thank thee for the curtain of darkness |