First Week: Thursday Morning
O Lord, Thou art good, and Thou doest good, Thou hast revealed thvself as nigh unto all that call upon Thee, to all that call upon Thee, in truth. May we who now address Thee, be found the heirs of this promise; nor suffer us, to incur the reproach of drawing nar to Thee, with the mouth, and honouring Thee with our lips, while our he.irts are far from Thee. Unite our hearts to fear thy name; and grant th ’ we may worship
Thee, in the and rejoice in Christ Jtsus, and have no confidence in the flesh. We remember that we are sinners, and acknowledge the multitude and of our offences. Conkcious not only of the reality, bui: the greatness of our guilt, we could indulge no hope, hadst not Thou exhibited thy infinite Ijenevolence, and revealed a Mediator, in whom Thou art reconciling the world unto thyseli, not imputing their trespasses unto them.
Thou hast not left thyself without witness, in that Thou hast been doing us good, and giving us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our heai ts with food and gladness. But herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.. Blessed be thy name, we have all the certainty we could desire, that with Thee there is mercy. That mercy the publican sought, and found; thai mercy — has never aisappoinled any that trusted in it; that mercy — at this very moment, cries to us — Ask and it shall tpe given you seek and ye shall find. O Lord, we avail ourselves of thy invitation and plead thy promise. According ta the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out our transgressions. Create ln us, also, a clean heart. ar>’’ renew a right spiri* within us.
We hope we are convinced, that while maiip things are desirable, and some useful, one thing is needful; and that instead of the inquiry, what shall I eat, and what shall I drink, and wherewithal shall 1 be clothed, the suprennKi anxiousness of the soul is, what must I do to be saved? O visit us with thy salvation; m the iMumination of the mind, and the sanctification of the life; in all the comforts of the Holy Ghost,, and in all fruits of the spirit. May we willingly obey all thy commands, D
and cheerfully submit to all thy appointments In the annihilation of self-will, and in the temper oi implicit devotcdness, may we, as to every duly, say. Lord what wilt thou have me to do? And as to every event, here I am, let Him do what seemeth Him good. Grant us piety and wisdom to accommodate ourselves to the allotments of life; and enable us to maintain a christain temper and behaviour in all the changing scenes of providence, that all things may work together, if not for oui ^.ratification, yet for our good.
May we disengage ourselves from the present evil world, and be received and acknowledged as the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. May the righteous be our attraction and delightj and though few in number, and despised by the foolish and wicked, may we go with thein because God is with them: and like Closes may we choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
May we walk by faith and not by sight. May we weiu,h both worlds, and may the future and eternal, preponderate; and may this be our growing experience as well as profession — as for me I will behold thyiface in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness
By thy mercies we renew this morning the consecration of ourselves to thy service. Go forth with us into the concerns of the day. Keep us in all our ways. Innumerable are our dangers; i ut the greatest of all is sin. Uphold our goi’!,!S therefore in thy word, and let no iniquity have dominion over us. May we abstain from all appearance of evil; and the very God of peace sanctify us wholly; and may our whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming o« our Lord Jesus Chrisc.
And 10 God only wise, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all honour and praise, for ever and ever. Amen.