Prayer LVIII

Thankfully, O Lord, would we come to Thee now, rejoicing that we can think of Thee as our unfailing Friend; and praying that Thou wouldst help us to cleave close to Thee, by faith and love, by obedience and desire. Thou art good and upright, therefore Thou wilt teach sinners in the way. Thou art the God of our salvation, and on Thee would we wait all the day; and pray that in our hearts there may ever abide that meekness, the possessors of which Thou wilt guide in judgment and teach Thy ways. We thank Thee that we do know that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth; and we beseech Thee that if ever our feeble sight fails to discern the majesty and the mercifulness of Thy goings, and if ever Thy path seems to us to be in the deep waters, unfathomable and untraceable, Thou wouldst help us to apprehend that every cloud that veileth love itself is love; and that the paths which to us seem to be in the deep are really in the sanctuary. Help us thus to live lords of the world and of ourselves, and in all the duties that devolve upon us.

And strengthen us, we pray Thee, that our vision may not be wholly occupied, nor our hearts entirely absorbed, in the things that are seen and temporal. May they be transparent to our faith, so that through them, and even by means of them, we may be able to bring more closely to our minds and hearts the things and the persons that are eternal. May we live as seeing the Invisible, and may we walk in the light of His face, rejoicing for all that we can see of the brightness, and rejoicing that there is so much of it which is too bright for our eyes.

We thank Thee, O Lord, for what we know of Thee. We would thank Thee not less for what we never can know. We are sure from what Thou hast revealed to us of Thyself that all the rest must be of the same texture, and that nothing that is hid in God can contradict what is manifested of God. And so we fall back upon the plain truth that Thou preservest man and beast, and bow with submission before the judgments which are a mighty deep, believing that deeper than they is the righteousness which is as the great mountains, and spreads its roots beneath the judgments of the Lord.

We beseech Thee, then, to help us thus to live, thus to labour, thus to endure as knowing that Thou art the faithful Creator, the faithful redeeming God. We beseech Thee for Thy blessing to rest upon us gathered here before Thee this morning, that we may enter into the calm sweetness, the stable blessedness, of those who dwell beneath the shadow of Thy wing, and in Thy secret place are kept as in a sure habitation, far from danger and far from fear.

We thank Thee for all Thy great mercies, for the blessings of every day that come punctual, precious, and sufficient. We thank Thee for the greater mercy that lies behind all these, and is but partially manifested by them. Thou hast before the sons of men wrought for us great goodness. We bless Thee that in Thy deep storehouses Thou hast still greater goodness laid up for them that fear Him. And so we would take all the transient blessings, and the things that perish with the using, and use them in that they are perishing for the imperishable good of bringing us to Thyself. And we trust Thee for the things in the future, and beyond the grave, as well as for the future of the next moment, sure that Thou doest all things according to the purpose of Thy own will, which is the purpose of Thy own heart’s love.

Hear us now, O Lord; cleanse our hearts and minds from all evil; break any bonds that may still be knitting us to low things, even whilst we come together thus; and help us now, with true hearts and full assurance of faith, to draw near to Thee, and to rejoice in the light of Thy face. Hear us, we beseech Thee, for our Lord Christ’s sake.